Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • March 20, 2013 Midland Park Midland Park veterans will be asked to weigh in on whether the Midland Park Baseball Association may schedule tournament play at Vererans Field off Dairy Street on the Saturday before Memorial Day. The patriotic holiday is traditionally observed on that day in the borough, and play is not permitted on the town fields before 1 p.m. to encourage participation in the annual parade and memorial services. Borough veterans asked to weigh in on field play The mayor and council decided last week to invite representatives of the veteran organizations and the baseball association to their next meeting on March 28 at 7:30 p.m. to state their positions on the matter. “I want to hear from the veterans. They deserve to be here before we make a decision,” said Councilman Bernie Holst, who served in the National Guard. The council had referred the matter to the board of rec- The Midland Park Borough Council will consider at its next meeting a resolution opposing state legislation that would put in place a system for early voting in certain elections. The proposed legislation would require that for each primary and general election several public facilities within the county, which could be a municipal building, recreation center or library, but not a public school, be open and available to registered voters starting 15 days before an election for early polling. An earlier version of the proposal required locations in each municipality. The early polling locations would be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The proposal is opposed by the NJ League of Municipalites because “it introduces a new, complex, and potentially expensive process without any dedicated funding mechanism,” said League Executive Director William G. Dressel, Jr. “It isn’t necessary, and it would place an extra expense on the municipality or county. We already have an early voting mechanism. It’s called Vote By Mail,” said Midland Park Borough Clerk/Administrator Addie Hanna. “Furthermore, this is another law about elections that is being considered with no input from any election division in the state,” she added. Council opposing early voting legislation The Midland Park resolution states that rather than serving the stated goal of accommodating voters in pursuit of greater participation in the democratic process, the proposed legislation would in reality increase workloads, add more costs to the election process, and ultimately serve to confuse voters more than it would accommodate their needs. Additionally, the resolution opposes the fact that the legislation would require retraining of poll workers and dramatically increased hours, as well as impose chain of custody requirements to protect the voting process, despite the fact that recruiting and training polls workers is already a difficult process. The municipalities affected would incur overtime costs for election officials and poll workers, among others. But the resolution points out that while municipalities would be able to request reimbursement for extra costs, the legislation does not outline a specific amount of dedicated funding, nor the procedure to follow for a municipality whose reimbursement request is denied. Under current state early voting provisions, voters may request and cast absentee ballots without an excuse. Voters may request an absentee ballot be sent to their home, or they may go in person to county locations and obtain a ballot there. This system has been in place and officials say has worked well for a number of years. reation when the request to either change the date of the observances from Saturday to Monday or permit all-day play was first received. The board of recreation voted to recommend that play be allowed with the proviso that the game cease a half hour before the 9 a.m. memorial service at the field and not resume until 20 minutes after memorial service participants leave. All hats, bats, balls and mitts would have to be on the ground. “We want to make sure this day is respected for these men and women who fought for our freedom, including the freedom to play baseball,” Councilman Scott Pruiksma, the recreation liaison, reported to the council. “It’s a way to educate the kids,” he added. Pruiksma said the board of recreation president would be present at the game to make sure the rules were met. “I’m offended by this move,” said Mayor Patrick “Bud” O’Hagan, himself a veteran. “You have no idea the number of people that might attend the baseball tournament, and they won’t follow your rules. Veterans Day in Midland Park has always been that Saturday.” “As a permanent change to our Memorial Day observances, to supplant our Memorial Day remembrance, I object,” agreed Councilman Jack Considine, also a veteran, who said he may consider a one-year exception. Councilman Nick Papapietro said if play were allowed, an area should be cordoned off from tournament attendees for the service and for parking. The baseball association wants to host the Bergen County Charity Classic, a charity baseball tournament traditionally held on that date. Association President Dana Weisbrot said the 1 p.m. start time does not allow for enough games to be scheduled on one day, resulting in the association being rejected as host of the event year after year. Midland Park Baseball would profit from sales of refreshments and t-shirts at its snack bar. He said the association is always looking for new fundraisers to supplement the contributions of more than 100 sponsors to run its programs. The association fields seven tournament teams.