Secaucus Animal Shelter fundraiser
Buy a cup of java and help an animal live and find a home. The Meadowlands Parkway Dunkin’ Donuts will hold a “Paws for coffee day” to benefit the Secaucus Animal Shelter on Saturday, June 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Fifteen percent of all proceeds, including all coffee, donut and all food purchases, will go to the shelter. In addition, representatives of the shelter will be at the store at 20 Meadowlands Pkwy with pets who need to be adopted.
Friends of Library hosting OEM’s talk on preparing for storms
The Friends of the Secaucus Public Library will hold its spring general membership meeting on Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m. The meeting, open to all residents, will feature a presentation by the Secaucus Office of Emergency Management (OEM), according to Friends president Zinnia Miller.
“Many local residents were hard hit by Hurricane/Super Storm Sandy last October and had to leave their homes until repairs could be made,” Miller said. “Others were able to stay in their homes, but lost valuables and irreplaceable items that were in basements or ground floor apartments.”
Because some that experienced storm water in their homes had never had this problem before, they were unprepared for the devastation that would follow. At the presentation, OEM staff will instruct on how to prepare for future storms and how to create personal “Go Packs” that can be ready to be taken to safety.
“This information can prove invaluable in the case of an emergency, and the time to learn what to do is now—not during the height of the storm,” Miller said.
The OEM’s presentation will follow a brief business meeting.
Complaint against Meadowlands Hospital filed by labor board
The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against Meadowlands Hospital Medical Center based on union allegations that the owners laid off workers without regard to seniority, failed to pay $4 million in salary and retirement contributions, and refused to negotiate major contract changes, a report on nj.com said.
A Health Professionals and Allied Employees spokeswoman said the complaint is based on unfair labor practice claims filed on employees’ behalf from August 2012 through March of this year. The health union represents nearly 300 nurses, technicians, and service workers.
An administrative law judge is expected to hear the case next month in Newark.
A Meadowlands’ spokesman said the hospital’s management is “cooperating fully” with the hearing process of the National Labor Relations Board.
The clash between the union and the owners has gone on since shortly after December 2010, when the for-profit investor group MHA, LLC bought the then-troubled hospital.
Recently, the hospital told the state health department it would hire a financial consultant to help produce a missing audit, as well as a plan that would show Meadowlands will be viable through 2014.
CAST sets auditions for fall production
The Community Arts Scholarship Theater has set auditions for its November production, “Great American Songbook,” which will be a mix of standards from Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Ella Fitzgerald, Rosemary Clooney and others, along with Broadway show tunes.
Auditions will be held on Monday, June 10 and Tuesday, June 11, from 7 to 10 p.m., at the Senior Center, 101 Centre Ave.
Those auditioning should prepare 16 bars of a song in the songbook style.
Former Assemblywoman to lead NHCAC
The North Hudson Community Action Corporation Board of Directors voted unanimously on May 21 to appoint former New Jersey Assemblywoman Joan Quigley to the position of president and chief executive officer, effective July 1.
The NHCAC is a non-profit organization, based in Hudson County, that provides a variety of low-cost and free health services to area residents.
Quigley will oversee an agency with 750 employees working at 22 sites and manage a $48 million budget.
“I am very pleased and honored to accept this important new responsibility leading this outstanding organization that is constantly proving its effectiveness in meeting the health care and social service needs of our families and our communities,” Quigley said.
NHCAC Board Treasurer and Executive Search Committee Chairman Robert DiVincent noted that Quigley’s 33 years of experience in health care administration makes her extremely well qualified for her new position. Quigley currently serves as a Hoboken University Medical Center vice president, a post she will leave on June 21.
“She is a perfect candidate to lead our organization through the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act that is so vital for the residents that we serve,” said DiVincent.
Assemblywoman Quigley represented Hudson County from 1994 to 2011, serving on the Assembly Health Committee for 16 years and on the Budget Committee for 10 years. As a health care professional and a legislator, she was deeply involved in critical issues like the development of Charity Care and the expansion of Medicaid.
Quigley graduated from Hudson County Community College and Saint Peters University and earned a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Rutgers University. She is a lifelong Jersey City resident.