Three candidates are competing for two seats on the Morris Plains Council on Nov. 3, 2020.
Republican Councilmen Salvatore (Sal) Cortese and Arthur (Art) Bruhn Jr. face a challenge from Democrat Cara Parmigiani. The terms are three years.
Morristown Green posed questions to the candidates. Here are their responses, in the order they were received:
SAL CORTESE, Republican
NAME: Salvatore Cortese
AGE: 59 years old
TERMS SERVED ON COUNCIL / LOCAL BOARDS: Serving on my second three-year term, which expires Dec. 31, 2020. Also served 16 years on Rec Board
OCCUPATION: Contractor, Real Estate Holdings
EDUCATION: BS from FDU Class of 1983
ACTIVITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, ETC.: Rotary, Morris United Soccer Club, Morristown Columbian Club
YEARS LIVING IN THE BOROUGH.: Since 1982
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: www.electbruhnandcortese.com
Q: WHY SHOULD VOTERS CHOOSE YOU FOR BOROUGH COUNCIL?
My experience as a contractor and having real estate holdings is an asset to the Borough. Also my time on the Recreation Board, 16 years, allowed the Borough to grow and it is a very big part of the residence life in Morris Plains.
Q: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING MORRIS PLAINS DURING THE NEXT THREE YEARS?
Besides Covid-19, traffic and the changing demographic of Morris Plains , as over 750 units are currently being built.
Q: WHAT IS THE BEST PATH FORWARD FOR BOROUGH BUSINESSES AND RESTAURANTS DURING THE PANDEMIC?
Keep up the good work and to follow the instructions of our Governor and our Borough Council, who are actively working with all the businesses to secure their existence.
Q: SHOULD THE BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT HAVE CHOSEN ALL-REMOTE LEARNING FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR? WHY / WHY NOT?
The school district has their own Board and are doing all humanly possible to teach our kids and to provide a safe environment.
Q: SHOULD THE MORRIS PLAINS SCHOOL DISTRICT MERGE WITH THE MORRIS SCHOOL DISTRICT? WHY / WHY NOT?
Again that is a school board prerogative. However the history of events is leaning towards merging smaller districts like Morris Plains with larger districts to lower costs and to pass those savings onto our students and teachers.
Q: WHAT SERVICES SHOULD BE SHARED WITH NEIGHBORING TOWNS TO BOOST EFFICIENCY / LOWER TAXES?
We share a lot with the County and neighboring municipality, from recycling to health inspections. The biggest cost for a municipality are school taxes and usually Police and Fire departments. We are blessed to have a volunteer Fire department. The Police department uses shared services for county dispatch and I feel they will be doing more in the future to cut costs.
Q: MAJOR HOUSING PROJECTS ARE GOING UP ON TABOR ROAD AND THE AMERICAN ROAD. HOW CAN THE BOROUGH PRESERVE ITS SMALL-TOWN CHARACTER WITH THIS INFLUX?
It will preserve it’s small town character by having these new residents shopping downtown and having a much needed positive economic impact to the local shops and restaurants.
Q: HOW MUCH DO PARTY AFFILIATIONS MATTER ON THE BOROUGH COUNCIL?
Party affiliations do not matter very much. I am a Republican and the Mayor is a Democrat. After our daily/weekly challenges the problem we have is where can we get a bite to eat as we missed dinner with our families.
CARA PARMIGIANI, Democrat
NAME: Cara Parmigiani
AGE: 38
TERMS SERVED ON COUNCIL / LOCAL BOARDS: None as yet.
OCCUPATION: Attorney and sole proprietor of a general law practice, Morris Plains third-generation small business owner
EDUCATION: Law degree from Seton Hall University School of Law; undergraduate degrees in Genetics and Psychology from Rutgers University.
ACTIVITIES, ORGANIZATIONS, ETC.: As an attorney, organized expert testimony opposing a fragrance company’s application to build a manufacturing facility in Morris Plains; as co-founder of the Committee of Caring, offered input to the Planning Board for the 2018 re-examination of the Morris Plains Master Plan; member, Mountain Lakes Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (Accessory Apartments Subcommittee); member by appointment, New Jersey State Bar Association Diversity Committee; Sergeant at Arms, Morris Plains Democratic Committee; Chair, Morris County Democratic LGBTQA+ Caucus; Chair, Morris County Pride.
YEARS LIVING IN THE BOROUGH: My family moved to Morris Plains in 2015. Prior to that, I lived in Morris Township and Morristown.
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: MPDems.org/cara-for-council; Facebook.com/caraforcouncil
Q: WHY SHOULD VOTERS CHOOSE YOU FOR BOROUGH COUNCIL?
As parents of a toddler, my wife and I represent the concerns and needs of many young families who have settled into Morris Plains. We are very invested in our town’s future. Representing the interests of young families and future generations is crucially important. They must be given a voice in our local government.
New residents moved to Morris Plains because of its close-knit, small-town atmosphere that is so valued by families who have called Morris Plains home for generations. And as someone with childhood ties to Morris Plains, I understand how to maintain our Community of Caring as we adapt to the future.
Small businesses form a crucial part of our community. My family has owned rental properties and small businesses in Morris Plains for about 76 years. I know what it takes to create a vibrant downtown that we can all enjoy and be proud of, and how important the health of our downtown is to the overall health of our community.
Like many small towns in New Jersey, Morris Plains is dealing with development issues. We need leaders who will make wise decisions to block development projects that would be against the interests of our community and approve projects that would enhance Morris Plains economically while meeting fair housing obligations.
Together with other community leaders, I organized expert testimony proving that a proposed fragrance factory would have been dangerous to the health, safety, and welfare of borough residents.
Soon after that, I worked with a group of concerned citizens who shared with town officials a 10-year vision for the borough’s 2018 Master Plan re-examination. Our recommendations addressed traffic, small businesses, greenspaces, transportation, and environmental issues. Many of these recommendations were accepted by the borough and are being implemented.
In 2019 I ran for Morris County Freeholder knocking on nearly 5000 doors. This valuable experience gave me a broad overview of the challenges and opportunities facing Morris County and its residents. It helped me understand how municipalities function in the county and the connections necessary to work as a whole community.
Finally, as an attorney, I solve a wide variety of problems every day to assist folks through many of their life challenges. I have appeared in courtrooms in 15 counties and in almost every division of the Superior Court. I have represented children, patients in psychiatric facilities, including Greystone in Morris County, and I have provided pro-bono legal assistance for women in arranged marriages.
I have experience with municipal governments, appearing before municipal and county planning and zoning boards on behalf of clients and objectors. As a member of the Mountain Lakes Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (Accessory Apartments Subcommittee), I worked with a team to develop housing ordinances to fulfill COAH/fair housing obligations.
Q: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE FACING MORRIS PLAINS DURING THE NEXT THREE YEARS?
The biggest challenge facing our community is small business development–an issue that has grown more urgent yet more problematic because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to the pandemic, I had outlined a plan to
- Promote more downtown attractions, including pop-up businesses, tastings featuring local restaurants, art shows, and performances highlighting local talent
- Encourage businesses to work together to create new opportunities
- Support efforts to lower barriers and encourage diverse businesses to open in our downtown area.
While those are still important long-term goals, we need innovative solutions to keep our small businesses alive during the pandemic, protect the livelihoods of local families who own those businesses, and preserve our downtown for the residents who rely on the services our small businesses provide.
If elected, I will work with our mayor, Jason Karr, and all council members to create an association of local business owners that will collaborate with the Borough to ensure their businesses’ long-term viability.
Q: WHAT IS THE BEST PATH FORWARD FOR BOROUGH BUSINESSES AND RESTAURANTS DURING THE PANDEMIC?
We need to provide creative and innovative solutions to incentivize people to choose our small, local businesses over other options. To do this, we need to refocus on working, living, and playing here in Morris Plains. A survey of Borough residents showed that they want a walkable, bikeable downtown that supports commuting. They like to go our downtown to sit and chat, and meet their neighbors while enjoying a meal. They like to browse in our small shops.
The changes to the Morris Plains Master Plan that I recommended support those activities. The Borough needs to keep lowering barriers to entry of businesses into Morris Plains. I recommended expanding permissible uses to include a wider variety of businesses. I further advocate for making the application process transparent, online, and expedited.
Morris Plains provides insufficient help or visibility to its businesses. The Borough lacks a business improvement district or any type of business group. We do not have an arts council or group to promote our downtown as other towns such as Boonton or Morristown do.
Morris Plains could benefit from activities highlighting local businesses, such as pop-up businesses and festivals. Other towns, like Boonton, Madison, Denville, and Morristown, have vibrant downtowns. I made those recommendations when seeking Mayor Karr’s vacated Council seat in 2018.
Last spring, when COVID hit hardest, I provided real support for Morris Plain restaurants by boosting their social media platforms and cross posting to drive more business to them. See https://www.facebook.com/CaraForCouncil/videos/1268051320236025.
As the holidays draw near, Morris Plains should run gift card drives and other incentives to encourage safe holiday shopping and patronage. We all know that the winter months will be challenging. Our support will be needed for order-out initiatives, local holiday shopping, and shop locally activities.
Together as a community, we can continue to support these initiatives. The Council’s role is to encourage these opportunities and to keep an open door to our business community to quickly respond to their needs in these challenging times. We then need to be available to them when COVID is behind us and they need our support to stabilize their businesses back to normalcy.
Q: SHOULD THE BOROUGH SCHOOL DISTRICT HAVE CHOSEN ALL-REMOTE LEARNING FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR? WHY / WHY NOT?
The Morris Plains School District is blessed with an engaged Board of Education dedicated to the welfare of our students, a highly competent and caring administration and staff, an active Home School Association, and parents participating with all elements of their children’s education and school life.
A Council member’s role is to support our school district by exploring areas of mutual cooperation, such as shared services, which our Borough Council has done. I have great faith in our school district to make decisions with the participation of our school community with regard to this issue.
Q: SHOULD THE MORRIS PLAINS SCHOOL DISTRICT MERGE WITH THE MORRIS SCHOOL DISTRICT? WHY / WHY NOT?
Some years ago, the Morris Plains Board of Education (BOE) researched this issue inviting all major constituencies in the community to study the pros and cons under the leadership and facilitation of the BOE, the superintendent, and a consultant. At the time, their research indicated a merger would not result in a significant tax savings for Morris Plains residents. I am confident the BOE, if warranted, would approach the topic again with broad community input.
Our high school students and their parents are proud of their association with Morristown High School. We are also proud of our Morris Plains School District. We all recognize our schools are an integral part of our community life and are part of our identity as a Borough.
It is important for Council Members to listen to community members, leaders and experts and to be fully informed in order to ensure the best possible outcome for our children.
Q: WHAT SERVICES SHOULD BE SHARED WITH NEIGHBORING TOWNS TO BOOST EFFICIENCY / LOWER TAXES?
Shared services are not a new concept. Morris Plains is already participating in shared services agreements with Morris County, Morris Township and Morristown, Southeast Morris County MUA, Morris Plains Board of Education, Hanover Township, Hanover sewer authority and the Morris School District. These relationships benefit all our communities.
Morris Plains can do more. Other municipalities are leading the way in additional energy efficiency cooperatives and waste tonnage reduction. We can also work better with neighboring towns to handle traffic flow and development that keeps us gridlocked.
On Oct. 10, we held a virtual event with Mayor Cathy Wilson and Bud Ravitz (candidates for Morris Township Committee), myself, and special guest Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. Joining us were Committeeman Jeff Grayzel and Councilwoman Joan Goddard. The event was sponsored by the Democratic municipal committees of Morris Plains, Morris Township, and Morristown.
We discussed with enthusiasm being able to work together in the future to reduce costs and improve the quality of services. I have great relationships with these leaders, which is necessary for this type of engagement to be successful.
We need to work with the County Board of Freeholders (soon to be called County Commissioners) and local municipalities, regardless of political party, to resolve the challenges facing our communities.
Q: MAJOR HOUSING PROJECTS ARE GOING UP ON TABOR ROAD AND THE AMERICAN ROAD. HOW CAN THE BOROUGH PRESERVE ITS SMALL-TOWN CHARACTER WITH THIS INFLUX?
Communication with our new residents and a welcoming atmosphere are key to successfully including them in our community. The Council must lead a planned approach to ensure our new residents are provided with opportunities to engage in our community life.
We, as a community, work to preserve our small-town character – – a place where families, young and old, can flourish. It is part of our town identity, one we all cherish. Our Community of Caring is an aspirational statement. It takes an inclusive, welcoming community to make it a reality.
Q: HOW MUCH DO PARTY AFFILIATIONS MATTER ON THE BOROUGH COUNCIL?
Although party affiliations should not matter on the Morris Plains Borough Council, our Democratic leaders have been at the forefront of fulfilling promises made by improving communication, modernizing our online system, providing more government transparency, and making efforts to reach out to our business owners.
Our Democratic Mayor Jason Karr and Councilwomen Joan Goddard and Nancy Verga are providing the leadership, the experience, and the know-how to move our community forward, mindful of our residents’ priorities. They are joining with Councilman Dennis Wagner to establish a “Business Advisory Committee” as a first step to revitalizing our downtown area, and are taking measures to improve the Borough’s website, and modernize municipal processes.
Our goal is a truly bipartisan council working together for Morris Plains’ future. Only in this way will all Morris Plains residents feel welcomed. Only in this way can Morris Plains be a Community of Caring for all its residents. It would be my honor to be the Council Member who brings bipartisanship to Morris Plains governance.
ART BRUHN, Republican
