Clifton's Fulbright Scholar

CHS '04 Kathleen Bakarich is studying in Germany

Story by Jordan Schwartz

A Nobel Peace Prize winner, the President of Brown University and the Chairman of the Board at Intel Corporation are just some of the previous recipients of the Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship.

This year, 2004 Clifton High School alum Kathleen Bakarich joins this prestigious group.
The recent Fairfield University grad left in August for an 11-month stay in Germany, where she will be doing research and taking classes in international accounting and European Union business at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University in Frankfurt.

“I’ve always been interested in the international side of business and I studied German for four years at CHS,” said Bakarich in an interview conducted before she left.

The School 3 and Christopher Columbus Middle School alum is one of more than 1,450 Americans who are traveling abroad for the 2008-2009 academic year through the Fulbright program.

The most recent Cliftonite to receive the award was Carlos Lopez, who went to Australia in 2005.
Bakarich wrote her thesis at Fairfield on the political and social factors that affected German accounting after WWII and throughout the second half of the 1900s. She then expanded this research to propose studying the impact the EU has had on the country’s accounting for her Fulbright trip.

“The trip is a great opportunity to just see other cultures and other ways of doing business,” she said. “It’s a way to gain more experience with a different perspective of where business and people are coming from.”

When Bakarich returns next summer, she will begin her job at RSM McGladrey, a public accounting firm in New York City.

She’d like to eventually get her MBA and work abroad in the international side of accounting.
Bakarich graduated third in her class from CHS, where she also played outside hitter on the volleyball team.

At Fairfield, she was a member of the Jesuit Honor Society, Business Honor Society, and Foreign Language Honor Society. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with the highest GPA in the Charles F. Dolan School of Business Kathleen was also involved in community service, spending one spring break in Portland, Maine with eight classmates, volunteering with Habitat for Humanity. In addition, she was an officer in the Accounting Club, helped with Office of Admissions’ events, and was an accounting tutor.

The Ultimate Fighter

Brooke Mullen is training to become an MMA expert

by Jordan Schwartz

When you see Brooke Mullen’s petite frame, you could imagine her doing somersaults and cartwheels across a gymnastics floor.

What you may not envision is her applying arm bars and choke holds in a caged octagon that is the Ultimate Fighting Championship ring.

“I’ve always liked to beat up the boys,” said the 2008 Clifton High School grad, who began training in June at Jerry Jones Ultimate Martial Arts on Franklin Ave. in Nutley.

“I’ve been a gymnast my whole life and I always wanted to do something that I could do when I grow up,” she said. “I figured I could get somewhere with fighting, so my boyfriend and I decided to sign up.”

Mullen grew up a tomboy, wrestling with her older brother, Eric.“He used to beat me up all the time,” she remembered. “I was his punching bag.” But that was just fine for Brooke, who admits she prefers hanging out with guys rather than girls.

“I always wanted to be ‘Daddy’s Little Boy’ instead of ‘Daddy’s Little Girl,’” she laughed.

As a little girl, Brooke would climb the furniture and jump down the stairs, so her mom signed her up for gymnastics at the age of one.

“I didn’t really have a life when I was little,” she admitted with no regrets. “It was all about training and I loved it.”

Mullen became a star pupil at Rick’s All American Tumbling in Fairfield, where she now teaches. When she got to CHS, Brooke immediately joined the gymnastics team, earning numerous All-League and All-County honors.

Last year, Head Coach Judy D’Argenio told Clifton Merchant Magazine that she credited her senior captain for her leadership and ability to keep the rest of the girls focused and organized.
Mullen also competed on the outdoor track team at Clifton High. She specialized in the pole vault, but also participated in the hurdles, triple jump and high jump. This past spring, Brooke was part of the first outdoor track squad in school history to capture the state sectional crown, and only the second in the past 34 years to win the Passaic County title.

So how does a young woman make the transition from gymnastics and track to hand-to-hand combat? Apparently, the sports have a lot more in common than you might think. “I’m kind of used to falling and getting beaten up from gymnastics,” said the athlete. “If you’re a gymnast, it gives you the flexibility and the mindset to take more damage. You know how to fall properly so you don’t break your arm or anything.”

The fighting background will come in handy if Mullen accomplishes her goal of becoming an FBI field agent. She’s attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan to study forensic science.

The Main Ave. resident decided she wanted to work for the government during her junior year of high school when she joined the ROTC program.

Meanwhile, Mullen continues to train six hours a week from Tuesday to Saturday at Jerry Jones. She often stays after class to perfect her technique, and then goes home and watches UFC fights on television with her boyfriend and fellow CHS ’08 alum, Danny Platt.

Mullen is hoping to become good enough to make the school’s competition team, which is currently made up of nearly all men. “I won’t hit a girl,” she said with a smile.

They’re lucky.

School's Back in Session

Changes on the way for this year and beyond

by Jordan Schwartz

New Clifton Schools Superintendent Richard Tardalo has held the position for just two months and already changes are being seen in the district.

Five buildings have new principals this year, including four that were hired in-house.

“It doesn’t hurt to let people know that you’re looking inside,” said Tardalo, who added that the district has hired from outside Clifton as well. “It’s good to know that you can climb the ladder in town.”

Jimmie Warren, who has been principal at Christopher Columbus Middle School since 2004, takes over for Tardalo as the top administrator at Clifton High School. Meanwhile, Mark Tietjen (pictured above) replaces Warren at CCMS. At the elementary level, former Little Falls principal Jennifer Montesano is the new leader at School 15, pushing David Montroni to School 4 and Luca Puzzo to School 1. Puzzo takes over for Leslie Mozulay, who was let go after just one year at the Park Slope building.

Tietjen may have the toughest job of all as CCMS attempts to rebound after failing to meet Adequate Yearly Progress standards last year.

Tardalo said a Readers/Writers Workshop will be put in place at the middle school level in the fall of 2009 in an effort to improve test scores.

But double periods are needed to effectively implement the program and so class scheduling with be altered so that children will have enough time to read, write and edit with their peers.

“The philosophy is that the student is an active learner and the teacher is the facilitator,” said the superintendent. Another way in which Tardalo hopes to improve student performance is through technology.

By the spring, the school chief would like parents of students in sixth to twelfth grade to be able to access their child’s report card online.

Further down the road, the district may also provide internet access to homework and attendance data, and possibly even grade books if teachers okay the proposal in their next contract, which will be negotiated next summer.

It’s all part of the new superintendent’s five-year strategic plan that he will present in the middle of this school year.

“The long range goal is to get as much information as possible out to parents,” said Tardalo. “The more information that parents have, the more support we’ll get from them.”

Support often means money and taxpayers might have to shell out some more cash with the pending requirement to create a pre-school program in the district.

The state is initially supposed to provide funding but it could become another unfunded mandate.

“We’re going to have a pilot program of 80 to 100 students in 2009, but eventually we will have all students in pre-school,” said the superintendent, who added that additions on some schools may be needed in a few years in order to accommodate the younger kids.

This follows the recent implementation of full-day kindergarten, which has already caused more of a space crunch at the elementary schools.

Last year, kindergartners at Schools 3, 13 and 14 were forced to take classes at the Boys & Girls Club because it was said that there wasn’t enough space to house the program at the elementary buildings.

However, Tardalo said room has been found so that all kindergartners will be located in their own elementary schools this year.

Montclair State in Botany?

Preliminary plans are being discussed to bring a dorm to the area

by Joe Hawrylko

Montclair State University and Clifton haven’t exactly been amicable neighbors as of late—there has been an ongoing squabble over the controversial proposal for an expanded entrance on Clifton’s Quinn Rd. However, a new idea could potentially mend some of the bridges that have been burned.

At the end of July, MSU announced that it intends to enter a 30-year lease with a private developer to build a new dormitory to accommodate the school’s rising enrollment.

Neighborhood leaders in Botany Village have been exploring the possibility of building a 1,000-student dorm in the district.

“Anytime you can bring 1,000 students into your community with a disposable income, there’s a value,” said Greg Mayo, Executive Director of the Botany Village Special Improvement District. “The city has been looking to redevelop the area and this might be a potential option for the city.”

Montclair State has said that the school wishes to have the students in the facility no later than the summer of 2012. The school is looking at many options within a five-mile radius of MSU and is reviewing plans from municipalities in the designated area.

Montclair State’s enrollment has grown exponentially over the years, and as a result, the demand for housing has increased. The school already houses many students at the LaQuinta Hotel on Route 3 in Clifton, and there are still 450 students on the waiting list for living space.
This search for housing is meant to be a more long-term solution. However, Mayo stressed that this proposal is entirely in the preliminary planning stages. There are no specific sites being considered, no contracts drawn up or anything of that nature.

“We have a meeting with the city the first week of September,” he added. “We’re going to sit down with (the economic development director), the city manager and the city engineers to see what the feasibility would be if we were to look into bringing those dormitories to Botany Village.”

Mayo said if the city leaders support the idea, the next step would be to try and get a developer willing to invest in such a project.

Benefits such as increased business for merchants aside, Mayo said the project would bring plenty of other things to the community. Security to the dorm would be provided by the developer or MSU, and would naturally overlap with existing services in the area.

“The city could come through and say, ‘If you’re going to build this, we need additional parking for residents,” added Mayo, noting how municipalities will often negotiate with developers to get things like parking or open space into projects.

He also stated that while there are no specific plans drawn up, if the project comes to fruition, they certainly will include parking facilities for the students. One solution could be having parking on the ground level, with dorms above.

Busing to and from MSU would be included in the deal. That, combined with the proximity to Botany’s shopping district, will limit car traffic, Mayo added.

“We’re a business community, but we’re also a residential community,” he said. “We have to keep in mind how it will effect our residential neighborhood.”

With the potential to revitalize Botany Village, it’s no surprise that Mayo is anxious to get a deal worked out. However, any action will likely take time, and that’s before it even gets a green light from the city and MSU.

A City-Owned Eyesore Decays

Vacant since April 2007, the old vets hall drags down the neighborhood

Story by Joe Hawrylko

It’s a $3,100 question: what’s the difference between the cracked sidewalk in front of Ellen Woodham’s home and the one just across the street? The city owns the property on the other side of Lake Ave., the former home of the American Legion Post 347 in Botany Village.

The almost four-inch raised slab of concrete has been there since the city purchased the building in April 2007 for $415,000 (Clifton already owned the land on which it sits). Meanwhile, Woodham has fresh concrete drying in front of her home and a large bill to pay awaiting payment inside.

“I saw an old man fall there back in the spring,” claimed Woodham, pointing across the street.
City Manager Al Greco stated on Aug. 25, that the city was moving forward with repairs.
However, the story of the city’s negligence goes much deeper than this issue with the sidewalk. The property has been in disrepair since the city acquired it in April 2007.

“A year-and-a-half ago, we had a bunch of homeless people living over there,” recalled Woodham. She said that the city finally came to board the windows and doors in the spring. “That was the city’s way of dealing with that problem.”

The city also sent out workers to build a fence around the property, as a way to keep out the homeless and children who would frequently play ball in the lot.

According to these residents, the city has been rather mum about what they intend to do. Lee Scobel, Woodham’s neighbor who owns a coffee shop in Botany Village, says that Mayor James Anzaldi told her that condos may be coming in.

“I don’t think anyone wants condos to come in here,” she said. However, Scobel doesn’t believe anyone in government will listen. “We get no attention down here.”

“We’re like the unwanted stepchild of Clifton,” offered Woodham, a resident for five years. “We shouldn’t have to think about them putting something here that’s going to take more parking spots.”

The two claim that most neighbors want the city-owned lot to be converted into either a grassy area for the kids to play in or more parking. “It would be easy for them to patrol,” claimed Woodham. “There is access from both ways (Center St. is on the opposite side).”

Scobel, who has a grown child, says that since School 17 was built in 2004 over the sole playground in the neighborhood, children have no place to go. “Is it better to let them play in the street?” asked Woodham.

Both Woodham and Scobel want their neighborhood preserved, saying that additional housing will ruin the area.

However, other plans are in the works. Officials have designated the area as a location for affordable housing, in accordance with the Council on Affordable Housing. COAH is the state mandate that dictates that each of New Jersey’s municipalities must build a certain number of affordable units of housing. For Clifton, this means 663 new or rehabilitated units by 2018, or developers can sue to force the construction of units.

“Clifton had approved a COAH plan a number of years back and we were well on our way to meeting the requirements,” said Anzaldi. Subsidized senior housing, such as the new project on the former Richardson Scale plant off of Van Houten Ave., gives the city 180 credits towards its pledged goal.

“The concept of buying Lake Ave. was this: encourage others (property owners) in the area to possibly sell their property or home, and they would go into a brand new unit in Lake Ave.,” explained the Mayor. “The developer would continue to take down and rebuild houses.” Anzaldi noted that COAH has recently added new requirements, furthering the city’s burden and delaying the Lake Ave. project. Clifton and other municipalities are actively opposing the changes.

“There was this whole issue of COAH going on, and we had to watch for that too. We have to make a good thing for the city and not a bad thing,” said Anzaldi, who added that as part of the agreement, the city provided Post 347 an office in the Main Ave. Recreation Center.

City Manager Al Greco said Clifton currently has $1.8 million set aside for COAH projects, which is funded by a 2.5 percent tax applied to commercial developments. Clifton, which lacks large swaths of open space, can opt to pay another city to take over its burden of the COAH mandates. “We think we can handle it internally through the rehabilitation process,” said Greco. “But it’s always an option that we’d look into if we needed to.”

Where Are We Now?

Editorial by Joe Hawrylko

Over the 13 years of this magazine, reporting and commenting on city development projects and the controversies surrounding them had been a staple of our publication. And this month, we decided it was time to get back to our roots.

The long-delayed Athenia Steel park project, the dilapidated former American Legion Post on Lake Ave., the beautiful but outdated Recreation Center in Downtown Clifton and the ever changing plan for Schultheis Farm on Grove St. are a few of the major city-sponsored projects that have stagnated over the years.

Some of these boondoggles have been a thorn in the side of the city since 1999—has it really been that long that politicians have been promising an expansive park and ballfields on the former Athenia Steel property off of Clifton Ave?

Naturally, in a democracy, we don’t expect things to happen overnight—or in a few months. But it’s almost a decade later and we still only have a small portion of Athenia Steel developed, and ironically, it’s subsidized housing, probably the one thing this city can do without.

Trying to put a finger on the root of the delays and problems, it seems to always comes back to a lack of planning. One would assume that before purchasing a property, those responsible would know the problems and have a solid plan in place before entering into a contract. But looking back to 1999 at the purchase, that wasn’t the case.

Did the Mayor and Council determine how extensive and how long remediation of the former steel factory would take and what it would cost? And did they have a plan to get cars and people on and off the property?

We can’t change the past. There’s no way to turn back the clock on the Steel deal. But we can learn from our mistakes—that’s why history is important—we learn from the past. But assessing Clifton in 2008, it sure seems like some politicians are on the path to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

Take a look at the old American Legion Post on Lake Ave. on our cover. It was purchased in 2007 and was going to be at the center of a strategy to bring newly constructed housing into an older and cramped neighborhood, Botany Village, while also satisfying requirements from the Council On Affordable Housing.

However, there’s a catch—the plan banks on homeowners voluntarily selling their houses to the city or a designated developer. They would then have first priority in moving into the new homes, which would be constructed on properties that have already been acquired.
It’s a slow-moving domino theory but no one’s knocked over the first tile.

With the little information we know about the project, it seems that it could go on for decades. There’s already plenty of variables that could delay or completely derail the plan.

Are we going to be housing residents in hotels for a few months while construction takes place? What if some residents in the middle of the proposed development don’t want to sell? These and other scenarios could through a monkey wrench into the process and delay the project.

There’s no set timetable—no plan—for this project, and that’s just bad planning. What will the city do when the second or third tile in this domino housing strategy does not want to sell? Will the Mayor and Council use eminent domain?

Lake Ave. homeowners seem to be in the dark about this Botany housing project. On the street, residents we chatted with only heard rumors about plans, and nothing official from the city.
Some neighbors say a parking lot or a small green park is what is needed for the area, but remain cynical about the chances of anything coming to fruition. And sadly, no one from the city has solicited them for their opinions.

Think this would happen in another Clifton neighborhood, one with more affluence and voters? Do you think an old, boarded-up building would sit decaying elsewhere in Clifton? It sure seems that Botany residents are being marginalized by the elected leaders, and that’s not fair.