The Westfield Leader Newspaper

OUR 109th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 46-99 FIFTY CENTS 232-4407

The Westfield Leader — Serving the Town Since 1890 —

Thursday, November 18, 1999 USPS 680020 Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J.

Published Every Thursday

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Mayor, Republicans Discuss Literature From ’99 Campaign

By PAUL J. PEYTON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

The Town Council elections might be over but hard feelings remain among the victorious Republican candidates toward what they viewed as negative campaign literature sent out on behalf of their Democratic opponents.

Tom Cusimano of Shadowlawn Drive, a 1998 Republican candidate for the Fourth Ward council seat, appeared at the governing body’s November 9 meeting to ask the council to approve some sort of campaign reform for municipal elections.

While he did not provide a specific recommendation, Mr. Cusimano did indicate that too much money is being spent on mayoral and council campaigns. He also said he believes the practice of distributing negative campaign literature must end.

Mr. Cusimano zeroed in on the Fourth Ward race between Republican Councilwoman Janis Fried Weinstein and Democrat Schuyler Quackenbush.

Mr. Cusimano said he received hand-delivered literature on Octo

ber 31 with a message by Mayor Thomas C. Jardim, a Democrat, supporting Mr. Quackenbush.

The piece indicated that Mrs. Weinstein was attempting to take credit for a number of issues, including securing crossing guards at Westfield High School and implementing traffic calming devices on streets in the Fourth Ward.

In terms of traffic calming devices, the Mayor, in the Democrats’ literature, indicated that Mrs. Weinstein was merely a member of a committee which approved a device known as a rumble strip. The strip causes a car to vibrate when passing over the device, thus slowing traffic.

The councilwoman defended herself by stating that traffic calming measures, used to reduce speed of motorists in an area utilized by pedestrians, actually was discussed by the Transportation, Traffic and Parking Committee back in 1996, when she served as the committee’s chairwoman.

The Democrats’ campaign piece also charged that the matter of high school crossing guards, like other town issues, requires a consensus of the entire council, rather than just one member. Mrs. Weinstein responded that the crossing guards were put into place after she called Third Ward Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chairman Neil F. Sullivan, who, in turn, called Police Chief Anthony J. Scutti.

Chief Scutti contacted Westfield High School Principal, Dr. Robert G. Petix, to arrange for the new crossing guards at the school.

“If it is things like this (the Democratic campaign piece) that it takes to win an election, well, then quite

Claire Lazarowitz Seeks Recount in Council Race

By PAUL J. PEYTON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

The Union County Board of Elections has been asked to conduct a recount of the Third Ward vote in which Republican incumbent Councilman Neil F. Sullivan defeated Democrat Claire Lazarowitz by 19 votes, 698-679.

By virtue of the Republican Election Day sweep, the GOP will maintain its 5-4 majority in 2000. Candidates had 15 days from Election Day, November 2, to file for a recount.

The request by Ms. Lazarowitz was received by the county on Friday. She told The Westfield Leader that the tight margin of victory and confusion at the polls in utilizing the electronic machines were among the reasons that prompted her to seek a recount.

“It was so very close and because of all the questions going on in the Fourth Ward (race) I felt this needed to be done,” she said.

The Fourth Ward race between Republican incumbent Janis Fried Weinstein and Democrat Schuyler Quackenbush is being investigated after a charge of irregularities by poll workers was made by a voter. (Please see related story above.)

Patricia Formato, Administrator of the Union County Election Board, said that Ms. Lazarowitz has asked to examine voting machines for each of the seven districts in the Third Ward as well to see the absentee ballots and provisional votes. Provisional votes are for those persons who, already registered to vote in Union County, moved within the county but failed to notify the Board of Elections.

Mrs. Formato said the recount will be conducted by the County Clerk’s office, assisted by the Board of Elections, this Monday, November 22, beginning at 10:30 a.m. at the Board of Elections warehouse on South

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

School Bd. Unveils Internet-Use Policy; Technology Director Says District Should Be Online by June

By RUSS WATKINS

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

The status of a project to connect Westfield schools to the Internet took center stage at the Board of Education meeting on November 9.

Technology Director Darlene Nowak said she expected the entire district to be online by June 2000.

Board members approved the first reading of an Internet-use policy that would restrict access to the new system once it is in place. The board is expected to give final approval next month.

Ms. Nowak said technology projects like the construction of an Internet network are easier to understand if they are broken down into small pieces.

“People tend to lump a project like this into one big ball and forget the details,” she said. “But it’s rather like building a house. The plumber goes one way, the electrician another, and

in two weeks you get them together again.”

Running separate parts of a project simultaneously can seem confusing, but Ms. Nowak said it really isn’t. In order to connect to the Internet, each Westfield school must first have the appropriate wiring installed.

Then, they must be connected to each other. Finally, the entire district must connected to the Internet through an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Schools are currently being wired and Ms. Nowak said she expects the entire district to be wired by June. Washington Elementary School and Edison Intermediate School will be wired by the end of this week.

Tamaques, Jefferson, and Wilson elementary schools will follow in December, and McKinley, Franklin and Westfield High School will be completed by June. Schools will be able to connect to the district’s ISP,

the Union County Consortium, as soon as they are ready.

Board members were excited about the new system’s potential, but were equally determined to set boundaries on its use.

Board of Education President, Darielle Walsh, told The Westfield Leader that schools, like businesses, are entitled to have policies governing computer use.

“We have to be cautious and sensitive because we’re dealing with children,” Mrs. Walsh said. “We don’t want to expose them to anything that is either inappropriate or out of line with the curriculum.”

Aware of recent controversies over the ease with which children access pornography at some of the nation’s public libraries, board members decided to permit Internet use only when it relates directly to the district’s goal of teaching and learning. The board also reserved the right to moni

tor, restrict and deny the use of its system to anyone using it an illegal or unethical way.

“We monitor and supervise the kids so that what they’re doing on the computer focuses on the curriculum that is taught is the classroom,” Mrs. Walsh said. “We don’t want them to just come in and start arbitrarily searching on the computer.”

Board members stressed that they did not pluck these guidelines out of thin air. The policy was determined after a thorough study of other school district’s Internet policies and after consultations with parents and teachers.

Superintendent of Schools, Dr. William J. Foley, said the unanimous vote to approve the first reading of the policy indicates that members of the board are in substantial agreement with the policy’s objectives. The board will consider a motion to officially adopt the policy next month.

Fourth Ward Race Probe May Be Concluded Tomorrow

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

By KIM KINTER

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

As the investigation into the charge of several polling place “irregularities” in Westfield’s Fourth Ward council election continued this week, Union County Board of Elections Administrator Patricia Formato talked about the difficulty of adequately staffing the places where people vote during elections.

Mrs. Formato said that each April, a pool of board workers is appointed to serve at polling places for elections for an entire year. She said the pool comes from local party chairmen recommendations and from advertisements placed in newspapers.

The only requirements for prospective poll workers are that the person be a registered voter and that he or she attend one training session, Mrs. Formato said. Workers are paid $100 for an entire day of work, which covers the period between the time the polls open until they close.

Despite the effort to maintain the pool of workers, Mrs. Formato said numerous individuals say they cannot work on the actual day of election or just do not show up at the polls.

When workers do not show up, Mrs. Formato said every effort is made to replace them with qualified substitutes and, when in need, actual employees of the Board of Elections will help.

Individuals who worked the Fourth Ward polling location at Westfield High School during the November 2 election are, in fact, one focus of the investigation being conducted by the Union County Elections Board into “irregularities” observed by a Westfield voter.

Robert J. Ratner, a Lamberts Mill Road resident, faxed a letter to Mrs. Formato on November 5, requesting the investigation and detailing what he described as “irregularities” he noticed in the 10 minutes he was in the polling place.

He said he noticed that a poll worker had failed to reset a voting machine

and had failed to ask everyone for socalled confirmation stubs showing that a voter has signed the voting book and that signatures had been compared.

Mr. Ratner, who said last week that he is a registered Democrat and admitted voting for the party’s candidate, Schuyler Quackenbush, explained that writing the letter was a non-partisan gesture.

He stressed that he was surprised by what he had seen that night and wanted the Board of Elections to be aware of it.

He did write in his letter, however, that while he was not alleging that the victorious candidates had a hand in what he saw at the polling place, he did believe “they clearly benefit from it. The candidates in two of the

races were separated by a scant handful of votes.

“Either of those races, if conducted properly, had the potential to shift the balance of political power on the Westfield Town Council,” he continued. The Third Ward race between incumbent Councilman Neil F. Sullivan and Claire Lazarowitz, won by a 19-vote by Mr. Sullivan, is the subject of a recount as sought by Ms. Lazarowitz. That recount will be conducted this Monday, November 22, by the County Clerk’s office assisted by Election Board officials.

Mr. Ratner is a voter in the Fourth Ward, Third District. In a race this year for a Fourth Ward seat on the Town Council, Republican incumbent Janis Fried Weinstein beat Mr.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

Council Expected to Introduce Ordinance Tuesday To Create Local Television Advisory Board By PAUL J. PEYTON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

The Town Council is expected to introduce an ordinance this Tuesday, November 23, to establish a Television Advisory Board for TV-36, Westfield’s local cable television access channel.

The establishment of the board is the first major step by the town in revamping the station’s programming into what will now be known as Westfield Community Television, or WCTV.

Once the 11-member board is appointed and officers selected, one of its first priorities will be the recommendation to the Town Council of a person to serve as the station’s Director of Operations. The governing body has budgeted $25,000 for the position.

The advisory board will consist of nine at-large members as well as representatives from the Board of Education and the Town Council. On

Monday, the council opted to expand the board from eight, as originally recommended by the council’s Laws and Rules Committee, to 11 members.

The council designee will be appointed by Mayor Thomas C. Jardim with the consent of the governing body. School Board President Darielle Walsh has indicated she will appoint herself to represent the Board of Education on the advisory panel.

According to the ordinance, “appropriate policies which would insure that the community television channel is used in the best possible manner to serve the needs of the community with programs which would cover community events, cultural and athletic events and other programs of interest to the community.”

The board will also be responsible for implementing promotional strategies to enhance community awareness of WCTV. It will additionally

serve as liaison on cable TV matters between the town, schools and Comcast, Westfield’s cable television provider.

The panel will also have the authority to apply for and receive contributions, grants and donations to support the station.

In other business during its Monday meeting, the council, in a straw vote, approved the placement on next week’s agenda of an ordinance to lower the speed limit on East Broad Street, between Gallows Hill Road and Mountain Avenue, from 35 to 25 miles per hour. Currently, the speed limit does not change until Euclid Avenue.

Republican Second Ward Councilman James J. Gruba joined the four Democrats on the governing body in supporting the introduction of an ordinance introducing the ordinance on Tuesday night while the other four Republicans voted against taking action at this time.

The strongest dissenter was Third Ward Councilman Neil F. Sullivan, who said he believes setting a new speed limit alone will not increase public safety along the thoroughfare.

He said a comprehensive plan addressing enforcement of the new speed limit by police, along with other efforts such as installing traffic calming devices, is needed. Mr. Sullivan cited various studies around the country where reducing speed limits in itself had little impact in actually lowering how fast motorists were traveling.

Mayor Jardim indicated that county officials have told him that they have given Westfield the authority to change the speed limit on East Broad, even though the county has jurisdiction over the thoroughfare.

Town Administrator Edward A. Gottko informed the council that to date, no studies on traffic speeds on East Broad have been conducted by

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader

AT ATTENTION...United States military veterans stood before the Westfield World War I Monument near the intersection of Broad Street and North Avenue, on Veterans Day, to pay their respects to those men and women who served this country and sacrificed their lives in its wars. At exactly 11 a.m., the bell at the First United Methodist Church chimed 11 times as the area was blanketed in melancholy silence.

William A. Burke for The Westfield Leader

A DAY FOR ALL AGES...Members of Cub Scout Troop No. 172 participate in Westfield’s Veterans Day program.

INDEX INDEX INDEX INDEX INDEX

A&E...............Page 21 Business ........ Page 17 County .......... Page 2

Editorial ........ Page 4 Mountainside Page 3 Obituary ........ Page 10

Religious ....... Page 11 Social ............ Page 6 Sports ............ Page 13

Leader Offices to Close For Thanksgiving

The offices of The Westfield Leader will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 25 and 26, in observance of Thanksgiving.

We remind everyone in our coverage area that all copy and lettersto-the-editor must be submitted by tomorrow, Friday, November 19, for consideration in next week’s publication.

The deadline for placement of classified advertisements is Monday, November 22, at noon.

Page 12 Thursday, November 18, 1999 The Westfield Leader and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

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WESTFIELD VOLUNTEER RESCUE SQUAD BLOTTER

Statistics for October 1999 Top 10 Response Categories 1. General Illness/Weakness (25) 6. Unconscious (9) 2. Cardiac Pain (21) 7. Soft Tissue Injury (9) 3. Respiratory (21) 8. Head/Neck Injury (8) 4. Motor Vehicle Accident (18) 9. Lift Assist (7) 5. Falls (14) 10. Diabetic Reaction (6) In-Town Emergency Calls: 174

Out-of Town Mutual Aid Calls: 5 Non Emergency Calls: 10 Total Calls: 189 Total Hours Out: 626:18 Total Volunteer Hours: 2,097.25 Year-To-Date Calls 1,710

WESTFIELD POLICE BLOTTER

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9

· A burglary to the second floor of a Park Street residence was reported, although it was unknown at press time what items, if any, were removed from the premises.

· A South Avenue resident reported that someone kicked in the door of his second-floor dwelling. Nothing was reported missing.

· Three peoplereportedhavingmoney stolen from their wallets at a local health care facility. A Westfield resident told authorities that $40 was removed from her purse, while two others, both from Sewaren, reported thefts of $50 and $10 each.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10

· Joseph Barbini, 21, of Cranford was arrested in the 100 block of Park Street and charged with possession of hypodermic needles and a contempt of court warrant from Berkeley Heights for $250. He was issued a summons on the Westfield charge.

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11

· Damage to a sign was reported at an East Broad Street fur salon.

· A 60-pound cement lion ornament was reported stolen from the front lawn of a Boulevard residence.

· Valve caps were removed from two vehicles in the 600 block of Stirling Place. Chewing gum was also placed on the hood of one vehicle, while the other was sprayed with green paint.

· A resident of the 600 block of Clark Street reported that someone shattered the plexiglass on a gaslight post in his front yard.

· Aaron C. Lee, 19, of Roselle was arrested at Lenox Avenue and St. Paul Street and charged with possession of less than 50 grams of suspected marijuana, possession of an alcoholic beverage underage and a contempt of court warrant from the Cranford Municipal Court for $144. He was issued a summons on the Westfield charge.

Lee and Nikia Johnson, 20, also of Roselle, were charged the same day with theft from the East Broad Street toy store where both are employed. The pair is alleged to have placed merchandise from the store in a dumpster to be retrieved after work, according to police. Each was released on a summons.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 12

· Brian Caldwell, 30, of Plainfield was arrested in the 600 block of South Avenue, West, following a motor vehicle stop and charged with possession of suspected heroin. Authorities also discovered Caldwell was wanted on a contempt of court warrant out of Hudson County for $411. He was issued a summons on the Westfield charge.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 14

· A Mountain Avenue resident reported that an unknown person entered his unlocked motor vehicle and removed $5 in coins.

frankly, I’m glad I lost,” Mr. Cusimano told council members.

Based on the most recent council campaign, it appears that “who gets credit is more important than what gets done” on the council, he said.

Mayor Jardim said at the November 9 meeting that he stands by all comments he made in the literature sent out on behalf of the Democratic candidates. The Mayor said he was “somewhat resentful” of the claims made by Republicans in their campaign literature as to who was responsible forcouncilinitiativesraised during the campaign.

Mrs. Weinstein said she stands by her campaign statements “100 percent.”

Mayor Jardim agreed with Mr. Cusimano in stating that “mudslinging has no place in any local campaigns.” He also said the costs associated with running for office in Westfield need to be addressed.

First Ward Councilman Carl A. Salisbury, a Democrat, said he believes governing body members should raise issue with an incumbent council member if they believe their literature is inaccurate.

Mr. Salisbury said the conflict revolves around whether governing body members have the right to raise issue with another council member when they believe a campaign piece is inaccurate. He said all candidates must be held accountable for any statements they make during a campaign.

Fourth Ward Councilman Lawrence A. Goldman, Chairman of the localDemocraticParty,responded that he is a proponent of changing the mayoral and council terms in Westfield to three years, “so we can focus more on the work of the town government and less on campaigning.”

Mr. Goldman noted that up until a few years ago there were only a few council races in town, as most GOP incumbents ran unopposed.

He said that during election season, council members work together one night and hold strategy sessions againsteachother theverynextnight.

Councilman Sullivansaidhewould like the issue of term lengths to be discussed this year so as not to impact next year’s municipal elections.

Mr. Sullivan said he hopes that in the future there will be “accountability and responsibility because negative campaigning has no place in neighborhoods.”

Second Ward Councilman Matthew P. Albano suggested that Westfield’s new ordinance banning political fundraising on government property be expanded to prevent the mayor and council members from using their office titles for political purposes, a direct reference to the mayor’s statements in literature on behalf of this year’s Democratic candidates.

Mayor Jardim added that he would liketosee localnewspapersfactcheck campaign releases rather than running them verbatim.

In other business, the council adopted an ordinance to regulate the use of newsracks in the downtown. The new law, while not placing limits on the number of machines at any one location, does include restrictions in terms of how close they can be located to crosswalks, fire hydrants, driveways, bus shelters and bus stops. The size of the machines andtheir conditionarealsoaddressed within the new law.

Hugh Covington of Bradford Avenue said he would prefer a total ban on the newsracks. Mr. Covington saidtheuseof newsracksinthedowntown “generally flies in the face of all the efforts” being made to improve the aesthetics of the downtown.

He said the machines should be of the same color with no advertising permitted on them. He indicated that the racks would best be located in municipal lots on both sides of town including the train station.

Councilman Salisbury, a Laws and Rules Committee member, said most of Mr. Convington’s recommendations have been discussed during the past year by the committee, where the ordinance was reviewed. He said the New Jersey and United States Supreme Courts, through past court rulings, have set the basis for how communitiescanregulatenewsracks.

Mr. Goldman said the council workedwith attorneysfromthenewspapers in crafting the new town code in an effort to ensure compliance.

“Time will tell, when the ordinance is implemented and the enforcement procedure is realized, whether we did this in the right way,” he added.

Councilman Sullivan, a member of the Laws and Rules Committee, said the main reasons behind the newsrack regulation were pedestrian safety and aesthetics. He said on the latter issue, he believes the town has not gone far enough. Mr. Sullivan said he would like to see Westfield implement a uniform style of newsracks similar to what exists in New York City.

The new Westfield ordinance sets a fee of $25 for the first machine installed by a newsrack owner and $10 for each subsequent machine. The permits are good for one year.

The ordinance will be enforced by a town employee who has yet to be designated. Upon notice of non-compliance with the ordinance, a newsrack owner will have 14 days to correct the violation. The owner of a machine faces a $500 fine and/or a prison term of up to 90 days upon failing to comply with violation notices. Newsracks which are found to violate the ordinance in terms of their location will be impounded by the town.

The council also adopted an ordinance waving fees for construction permits or fees for improvements that are “designed and undertaken solelyto promoteaccessibilitybydisabled persons to an existing onefamily or two-family private residential structure.”

Mayor, Republicans Discuss ’99 Campaign Literature

Avenue in Scotch Plains. Followinga checkofthemachines, Mrs. Lazarowitz will be brought to the election board’s administrative offices located on North Broad Street in Elizabeth. There, she will have the opportunity to review the absentee ballots and provisional tallies after the recount has been completed.

After reviewing the information, Mrs. Lazarowitz has until Thursday, December 2, to contest the election results if she so chooses. If the candidate opts for that route, she would have to appear before a Superior Court judge who would decide if a special election is warranted based on the testimony and information presented.

Mr. Sullivan said he was confident that his victory will be upheld.

“It’s (the recount) not going to change the outcome of the election,”

he said, noting that the number of absentee and provisional votes he received is far less than his margin of victory. He received nine absentee tallies and three provisional votes.

He said information is stored on computer diskettes and matched with printouts from the voting machines. The information on the diskettes is transmitted to the County Clerk’s office on Election Night. Union County began utilizing electronic machines last year.

“Errors would have to be made from both sources to constitute a change in the Third Ward election result,” Mr. Sullivan explained.

“The proper checks and balances are in place to make sure that the original numbers are accurate,” he added. Quackenbush, with unofficial tallies

of 789 to 729. Mr. Quackenbush, however, beat Mrs. Weinstein in the Third District by an unofficial vote of 174 to 153.

Mr. Quackenbush and Mrs. Weinstein have said separately that they are glad that Mr. Ratner’s charges are being taken seriously and are being investigated.

Mrs. Formato said that immediately after receiving the letter, one of her investigators left a message on Mr. Ratner’s answering machine at work and confirmed receipt of the letter. Later that day, Mr. Ratner was sent a letter of confirmation, signifying that the Elections Board had received his letter and would be looking into his charges.

She said as part of the investigation, the Elections Board is “reaching out to the other workers” to find out what happened that day. She said last week that she was checking into how one particular poll worker handled voting that day.

Mrs. Formato, however, declined to release any particulars of what her investigation had found thus far, saying only that it may be concluded by the end of this week. She added that candidates had until the close of the day yesterday, Wednesday, November 17, to request a recount, and when the day had closed she would open the voting machines and do some counts necessary for the investigation.

“Until we conclude the review, we are not saying anything,” she said. “Unless it comes from this office, it is not official.”

The Westfield Leader has learned, however, that all of the poll workers at the high school on November 2 were registered Democrats and at least one worker may have been active in the local Democratic Party.

One local Republican who is active in the party, but asked not to be quoted, acknowledged that the party had been contacted near the election by the Union County Board of Elections and told that all the poll workers scheduled to work at that polling place were registered Democrats.

The Republicans were asked to help find some more workers, but had not been able to locate a registered Republican to work the polling place, the GOP representative said.

Westfield Fourth Ward Councilman Lawrence A. Goldman, Municipal Chairman of the Democratic Party, said that he, too, realized all of the poll workers were Democrats.

“The current system for identifying poll workers is a vestige of the old time practice of political patronage,” he said. “Technically, there are supposed to be two Democrat and two Republican poll workers at each polling district for one machine.”

Mr. Goldman added, “The real issue here is the inadequate staffing that often occurs on election days.” He said that for the last eight years, he has been contacted up to the day of an actual election with requests for more workers to staff polling places.

He also suggested that the State Legislature and Governor should devise a new method for attracting qualified individuals to work at the polls, especially with a Presidential election occurring next year.

“Sometimes individuals construe a charge of irregularities as a charge of tampering or fraud,” he said. “In Westfield, I’d like to think that we need not be overly concerned about that kind of conduct. What we ought to be concerned about, however, is ensuring that individuals who do take the time to show up and vote have the ability to do so in an efficient and trouble-free manner.”

the police department. With several other Republican council membersjoiningMr.Sullivan in opposing action on the new speed limit without information from the police department, Second Ward Councilman Matthew P. Albano responded, “Tom, I think everyone wants to see it lowered. The question is, what do we lower it to?”

Third Ward Councilman John J. Walsh noted that a number of residents are seeking action by the council following the deaths of two pedestrians on East Broad earlier this year.

“I don’t see any downside to this,” Mr. Walsh said. He stated that the council would be “irresponsible” if it did not take action on the new speed limit at this time.

A few weeks ago, Mayor Jardim indicated in a memorandum to council members that the County of Union has retained a traffic engineering firm toexaminesafetyimprovements, including traffic signals, at the intersection of East Broad Street, Mountainand CentralAvenues.Thecounty also has requested proposals from firms on conducting a traffic calming study along East Broad.

In addition, Mayor Jardim indicated that the county is considering installation of a lighted pedestrian crosswalk system at Temple EmanuEl. The device utilizes in-pavement, pedestrian-activated lights, as well as flashing yellow lights on stanchions.

On another matter, the council discussed an ordinance that is aimed at the awarding of outside professional contracts. Under the proposed law, all such contracts would be awarded “on the basis of qualification-based, competitive requests for proposals (rfp’s).”

The ordinance is recommended by New Jersey Common Cause, an organization that promotes good government by taking politics out of the awarding of government contracts.

The organization has also pressed to have towns ban political fundraising on government property.

Westfield became the first Union County municipality to pass the law earlier this year.

Professionals, such as outside legal counsel or engineering and professional planning firms, are exempt fromthe state’sPublicContractsLaw. The rfp statute applies to non-professional services such as street construction and paving work. Governing bodies award contracts to the lowest bidders based on bid specifications set by the local government.

First Ward Councilman Gregory S. McDermott questioned why the ordinanceneeded tobeenactedwithin the next few weeks. He and other Republicans said they would like more time for council members and officials, specifically Town Engineer Kenneth B. Marsh, to review the ordinance. Most of the professional firms hired by the town are for engineering work.

Fourth Ward Councilman Lawrence A. Goldman, who chairs the Laws and Rules Committee which worked on the ordinance, said he fears other council business could interfere with getting the ordinance on the books in a timely fashion if the council fails to act next week.

The council also considered a request by the New Jersey Environmental Federation to pass an Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, policy in Westfield. The policy supports the use of natural methods and low toxic chemicals for pest control purposes.

Forty towns in New Jersey, among them Cranford, Rahway and Millburn, have endorsed the policy through passage of resolutions.

First Ward Councilman Carl A. Salisbury noted that the Westfield Board of Health does not support the policy, noting that such a plan is unenforceable on private property owners.

Mayor Jardim said he would like the town to enact such a resolution to raise awareness by the public of the dangers of pesticides.

Westfield Foundation Renews Pledge to Assist United Fund PLEDGING SUPPORT...Alan Gutterman, pictured at left, President of the

Board of Trustees of the United Fund of Westfield, and Frank MacPherson, President of the Board of Trustees of the Westfield Foundation, discuss the United Fund’s goal of $620,000 for its current campaign. The Foundation has once again pledged to assist the Fund with a matching grant.

WESTFIELD – Frank MacPherson, President of the Board of Trustees of the Westfield Foundation, recently announced that the Foundation has again pledged to assist the United Fund of Westfield through a special matching grant.

Alan Gutterman, President of the Board of Trustees of the United Fund, said the special grant will be used to challenge the community in its current fund-raising campaign.

The Foundation will match “dollar for dollar” all new moneys raised up to $10,000, according to United Fund Executive Director Linda Maggio.

Mr. Gutterman explained that the Foundation will match all new donor dollars, whether from new contributions or from increased donations from existing contributors.

“We are grateful to the Foundation for offering us this challenge to stimulate giving. If ongoing contributors dig a little deeper — and if new contributors reach out, the needs of our 21 agencies will be met, our campaign goal will be reached and the quality of life in Westfield will be better for all of us,” he remarked.

Mr. MacPherson noted, “The Foundation is proud to help the United Fund and appreciates the many social servicesit makespossibleinWestfield. We are confident Westfielders will again respond with their continuing generosity.”

Mr. Gutterman continued, “We are grateful to the many Westfielders who have already contributed and we urge

all others to send in their donation today. The support of each and every Westfielder is so important. Someone you may never meet is depending on your help.”

To date, the campaign has reached 74percent,or $458,800,ofits$620,000 goal.

John Ward Retires From Navy Post

WESTFIELD – John Robert Ward, who was reared on Harding Street in Westfield, retired as Command Master Chief of Personnel Support ActivityNorfolkin aretirementceremonyin Norfolk, Va.

After graduating from Westfield HighSchoolin1969, heenlistedinthe U.S. Navy in October, 1969 under the Delayed Entry Program. After completingRecruit TrainingatGreatLakes, Ill. and Quartermaster “A” School in Newport, R.I., then QMSA, Mr. Ward was assigned to the USS Courtney.

While in the service, Master Chief Ward was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal (with Gold Star), and numerous service and campaign medals and ribbons.

Mr. Ward plans to work in the field of human resources. He will continue to liveintheChesapeake-Norfolk-Virginia Beach area with his wife of 23 years, Donna. Say GOOD-BYE To CELL CELL CELL CELL CELLULITE ULITE ULITE ULITE ULITE

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including electric, non-invasive acupuncture to the treatment of ADHD & addictions such as

• Smoking • Over-Eating • Alcohol •

Jeffrey P. Kavalin, DC Jeffrey P. Kavalin, DC Jeffrey P. Kavalin, DC Jeffrey P. Kavalin, DC Jeffrey P. Kavalin, DC 137 Elmer Street, Westfield • (908) 789-3400

Integrated Chiropractic

Do You Know Someone With ADHD We’re There For You When You Need Us!

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Ordinance to Create Advisory Bd. Expected from Council

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Fourth Ward Race Probe May Conclude Tomorrow

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Claire Lazarowitz Seeks Recount in Council Race