This document summarizes the comments of a candidate for local government office, Frank Lazzaro, at a campaign event. Lazzaro criticizes high salaries for government employees that are paid for by taxpayers. He also emphasizes his experience owning a small business and wants to preserve the rural character of the county. The document provides context on other candidates and attendees at the event.

1. He added: “While we’re all
struggling here to pay taxes,
there are those people who
are negotiating bigger and
better salaries, and that all
falls back to the taxpayer ..
And the people running
against us are of that same
mindset — that the taxpayer
has an unlimited pocket from
which you can draw to make
things better for them.”
Though he did not identify
his opponents by name, both
of the other two Republican
candidates who have
announced their candidacy in
the June primary — incum-
bent Freeholder Dennis
Mudrick and Frankford
Mayor Gary Larson — have a
background in public educa-
tion. Mudrick is a principal at
the Cedar Mountain Primary
School in Vernon, and Larson
is a retired Sparta public
school teacher.
Mudrick and Larson have
both gone on record in sup-
port of the solar rescue plan.
Mudrick, as a sitting free-
holder, voted for the plan to
avert what he said would
have been the potential for
financial uncertainty and
costly chaos had the rescue
plan not been approved.
Mudrick and Larson also sup-
port the freeholder board’s
agreement, in principle, to
ask the state comptroller’s
office to review the entire
process.
Lazzaro also spoke of his
roots growing up in a rural
upstate New York farming
community, one he said was
“about half the size of
Andover Borough,” and start-
ing his insurance business in
1980 on a computer that his
11-year-old son showed him
how to operate.
Since then, he said, his
business “has grown, it’s kept
me alive, it’s helped other
people, and the business
hasn’t changed: It’s about
service and helping other
people get what they want ...
and that’s what makes the
world go ‘round.”
The same principles, he
said, apply to government. He
added that the roots of
Sussex County’s economy are
in agriculture and in mom-
and-pop businesses like the
one he started.
Lazzaro also spoke of want-
ing to preserve Sussex
County’s rural character — a
feature he said makes the
county different from any-
where else in the state. When
people elsewhere in New
Jersey “want a vacation and
want to go fishing, they don’t
go to Elizabeth. They come
up here,” he said.
Others in attendance
Sunday included state Sen.
Steve Oroho, Assemblyman
Parker Space, Andover
Borough Mayor John Morgan
and Sussex Borough Mayor
Jonathan Rose.
Those planning to run in
the June primary have anoth-
er week — until March 30 —
to file.
One of the more lightheart-
ed moments of Sunday’s
gathering came when
Graham asked if anyone else
in the room had a birthday, at
which point he turned to
Lazzaro and wished him a
happy birthday. Graham then
led the attendees in serenad-
ing Lazzaro with an improm-
pu rendition of “Happy
Birthday.”
Lazzaro closed by saying
“this is your government, and
this election belongs to you.”
Eric Obernauer can also be
contacted on Twitter: @
EricObernNJH or by phone at
973-383-1213.
A2 | Monday, March 23, 2015 LOCAL New Jersey Herald | njherald.com
According to the Rossis,
some projects so far have
included the creation of a
public service announcement
video for a student’s missing
relative using the lab’s green
screen and camera equip-
ment, the building of trebu-
chets by a class studying
medieval history and numer-
ous other projects that have
utilized the lab’s two 3-D
printers.
Tara Rossi, who serves as
the lab’s literacy coach, said
the space has proven to be
revolutionary in allowing
teachers to bring book-taught
concepts to life for students
at the school.
“I think that what it’s doing
is taking critical thinking
skills and allowing students
to learn those skills and uti-
lize them and apply them and
synthesize them in a way
that’s completely innovative,”
she said. “I think a lot of peo-
ple feel that that’s impossible
with standards, but it’s actu-
ally the total opposite. You
just have to find the right
arena and those skills
become not only real world
and relevant, but almost con-
crete and free of boundaries.
It’s a different way of teach-
ing. Not often do teachers
and students have the oppor-
tunity to take a journey not
knowing where they’ll end
up.”
One of major projects in
the Innovation Lab is the
school-wide Project Malaria,
which the school is working
on in collaboration with an
organization called Nets for
Life. The goal of the project
is to provided mosquito nets
to the residents of sub-Saha-
ran African to reduce infec-
tion and mortality rates from
malaria. Since the nets were
first introduced, the mortality
rate has been cut in half,
dropping from one death
every thirty seconds to one
death every sixty seconds,
Tara Rossi said.
The goal now, she
explained, is for Green Hills
students to use the 3-D print-
ers to develop better clips or
harnesses for the nets or bet-
ter uses for them so that they
will be more usable for vil-
lage residents. Additionally,
students are encouraged to
come up with any other ideas
that might lead to a solution
to the malaria problem.
“What we’re doing with the
kids is sort of breaking the
problem down into smaller
parts and not only focusing
on the 3-D printer part but
the fact that this is an
Innovation Lab,” Tara Rossi
explained. “So they’re work-
ing on researching and iden-
tifying some of these other
problems that lead up to and
build toward this larger dev-
astating toll of malaria.”
“So we’re looking at the
whole problem and we’re
seeing what else we can do
and the kids are working on
tackling different compo-
nents of it,” she continued.
“Ultimately the coolest part
of it all is that any solutions
and prototypes and things
that we might be able to
bring to fruition here will be
able to be trialed through the
organization in real African
countries to try to see what
impact they might have. It’s
giving the kids such an amaz-
ing experience to let them
know that their impact can
reach a global society and
that the things they do here
can save and impact other
people all across the world.”
Louis Rossi said kids
across the school have
responded to the challenge
with almost unbridled enthu-
siasm.
“We have kids that are cur-
rently so inspired by the proj-
ect that they’re staying after
school, they’re giving up
lunch, they’re giving up
recess, they’re doing any-
thing they can,” he said.
“They’re even emailing us in
the middle of the night. It
goes to show how much they
really care about real world
issues.”
Julia Jeffer, an eighth-
grade student working on
Project Malaria, said she
enjoys the creative freedom
and purpose that the lab pro-
vides.
“It’s fun coming up with
your own ideas and being
able to help in your own
unique way,” Jeffer said.
Though no clip or other
design prototypes have yet
been completed since the
project began two months
ago, one component of
Project Malaria that is cur-
rently under way is an under-
taking by the eighth-grade
students to produce video
presentations to explain the
malaria issue to both the
Board of Education and their
second grade peers.
Eighth-grade language
arts teacher Aimee
Castellana said the
Innovation Lab has provided
an excellent supplementary
learning experience for her
students.
“We integrate a lot of
research into our class, but
here they’re trying to com-
municate this information to
two very different audiences,
which is something totally
new for them,” Castellana
said. “We try to impart to
them how powerful their
writing and communication
is and this is just an great
outlet for that.”
Though it has become an
integral part of Green Hills
School this year, the Rossis
said the Innovation Lab
would not have been possible
without the support of
Superintendent John Nittolo.
“The whole reason this is
possible is (Nittolo),” Louis
Rossi said. “He’s totally for-
ward thinking. His first ques-
tion is always ‘Is it good for
kids?’ and if you can describe
it and defend it, he’ll let you
try anything and work to find
the space and funding for it.”
Rossi said the eighth-grade
students should be giving
their presentation to the
Board of Education some-
time in May.
Videos of completed proj-
ects and classes in action in
the Innovation Lab can be
seen at http://istem.web-
starts.com/codes.html.
For more information
about Nets for Life, visit
www.netsforlifeafrica.org.
Diana Goovaerts also can
be contacted on Twitter: @
DiaGoovaertsNJH or by phone:
973-383-1194.
bed may redirect the flow of
water during storm events
and cause scouring, or the
erosion of sediment around
bridge abutments and piers
caused by fast-moving water.
In severe cases, scouring can
cause damage to a bridge’s
structure.
On Dec. 23, 2014, the asso-
ciation’s executive director
Beth Styler Barry emailed a
letter to officials at the DOT
and Department of
Environmental Protection
explaining that the conserva-
tion group takes issue with
the height of the cut-down
cofferdams in Lubber’s Run
and requesting action.
According to the letter, the
association asked the DOT to
provide “details from the
scour analysis that contribut-
ed to the decision that the
existing condition represents
a reasonable final grade” and
strongly requested “that the
pilings be cut to at least 12
inches below grade.”
Last week, Barry said that
while she had technically
heard from both, she had yet
to receive a satisfactory
response from either.
“The DOT did respond and
their reply was, to me, not
satisfactory,” Barry said, not-
ing that she was waiting to
have an expert review the
scour analysis the DOT for-
warded to her. “Basically
what they said is that they
cut (the cofferdams) to grade
— but part of our argument is
that no they didn’t because if
they cut them to grade I
wouldn’t be looking at them
— because when they com-
pleted their scour analysis it
said that that was an OK
thing to do.”
“We see this piling used in
other projects and it always
comes out,” she continued.
“They’re making the case
that this is some sort of regu-
lar practice and it isn’t.”
Barry said that the reply
stated that the DOT would go
back to the site to evaluate
existing conditions and grind
down any rough edges that
they find, but said she has not
been out to the site recently
to check if any work has been
completed.
The only response she’s
received so far from the DEP
was an email stating that her
message would be forwarded
to a more appropriate person,
Barry said.
Despite the setbacks and
disappointment, Barry said
she plans to continue seeking
answers and corrective
action.
“I didn’t expect them to
budge because honestly what
we’re asking them to do
would be extremely expen-
sive,” she said. “It is a chal-
lenge. It’s like a hot potato
but we’ll keep persisting and
see what happens.”
Diana Goovaerts also can be
contacted on Twitter: @
DiaGoovaertsNJH or by phone:
973-383-1194.
Byram
Continued from Page A1
Learning
Continued from Page A1
Photo by Diana Goovaerts/New Jersey Herald
Green Hills School eighth-grade students Julia Jeffer, left, and Skylar Robinson work on a computer under a malaria net in
the school’s Innovation Lab Thursday.The net is part of the students’ project to help those in need in Africa.
Photo by Marie Dirle/New Jersey Herald
Firefighters from four departments worked to put out a fire on Longbridge Road
in Frankford on Saturday. At right, the house is shown fully engulfed. Photo by Shawn Mills
FRANKFORD — A Longbridge Road
house was destroyed by a fire late
Saturday that left its residents homeless
and their two dogs dead, fire officials said.
The blaze, which was reported shortly
after 7 p.m., began while the house was
unoccupied.
One of the residents residing there, a
woman, later came home and began suf-
fering from anxiety. She was then trans-
ported to Newton Medical Center by volun-
teers with the Blue Ridge Rescue Squad.
No other injuries were reported, said
Frankford Fire Chief Mike Dann.
Assistant Sussex County Fire Marshal
Dan Stoll said the fire itself, which is not
considered suspicious, was brought under
control within an hour.
Volunteers from the Frankford,
Branchville, Montague and Sandyston fire
departments all had a hand in putting out
the blaze. Backup was provided by the
Fredon and Beemerville fire departments.
The cause of the fire remains under
investigation.
Fire destroys
Frankford home,
kills two dogs
Lazzaro
Continued from Page A1
WANTED BY THE SUSSEX COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
'HYLRQ 6ZHHOH
DOB: White Male
Wanted for: (OXGLQJ 3ROLFH
Violation of Probation 6WDWHV
If you have seen this person or have any information about his/her whereabouts, please contact
the Crime Stoppers Office at 973.300.2746 or crime.stoppers.net. Do not attempt to apprehend
or detain any of the individuals. Every effort is made to keep this information as current as
possible, however, the information provided should be verified before taking any action.
Sussex County Sheriff’s
CRIME STOPPERS
973.300.CRIME
Crime doesn’t pay, but we do!