Ab’deen GOP eyes council majority seats

Martin Mabe

ABERDEEN — Four Republican candidates hope to break the Democratic stranglehold on the governing body in this year’s election.

Candidates will run for one term of four years on Nov. 4.

Gus Toomey, 44, 8 Jordan Place; Martin Mabe, 43, 387 Line Road; Arlene Borg, 42, Atlantic Avenue; and Anthony Smith, 38, 170 Cliffwood Ave., are looking to unseat the Democratic majority.

Toomey said if the Republicans take the majority, he would vote out Township Manager Mark Coren

Anthony Smith

Toomey said Coren has a poor history with Matawan and any other municipality or official who does not agree with him.

Coren said he has a good relationship with his peers and state officials.

Toomey served a full term as a Democrat on the Aberdeen council from 1997 to 2001. Prior to the end of his term, Toomey switched to the Republican Party but did not run in subsequent elections, he said.

From the beginning of his term, he did not get along with the council and Coren, he said.

Arlene Borg

"All those guys that are on council are nice individuals, but the problem is, they are rubber stamps," Toomey said. "[While on the council] I didn’t mind getting voted down by my fellow council, but I didn’t want to get voted down by Mark [Coren]."

Coren said in Aberdeen’s form of government, he is responsible for creating policies and programs that improve the township through its council.

"If you don’t think I have an ongoing dialogue with the council on a daily basis, you are grossly mistaken," Coren said. "There isn’t a move I make that is material to this town that doesn’t go through the council."

In Toomey’s last year on the council, he asked Coren for a list of all municipal employees and their salaries, and Coren said no, Toomey said.

Gus Toomey

"That’s a bold-face, factual lie," Coren said. "Every budget that is presented to a department, their salaries are in there."

Contrary to claims by the Democrats, nothing the Republican Party has put in its ads is untrue, Toomey said.

"Everything that we say is by the book," he said. "I’d like to know where the lies are. I’m not going to put things out there in print and put my name around something that isn’t true."

Mabe said sharing services with other municipalities is one way to save the township money.

He said sharing the township’s maintenance facilities and mechanics with other municipalities may be an option for the council.

Mabe objects to the Freneau project despite a 1990 state Superior Court ruling mandating residential development in the area, he said.

The township Planning Board is in the process of approving 630 age-restricted and about 80 low- to moderate-income housing units in the Freneau section.

"I would never force a 700-plus unit development down the throats of Aberdeen residents, the way this administration is doing," he said. Those residents will have to live through a five-year construction project.

During school budget defeats in the past two years, the council has said it does not have anything to do with the Board of Education, which is an "abdication of leadership," Mabe said.

"The ball dropped in their court the last two years, and they blew it," he said.

Train station development is an issue for Borg. She said she does not want to see large buildings over three and one-half stories at the train station.

"I would really like to see the township land there to be dedicated for township residents to use," she said.

The station is right in the middle of the township, and she would like to see it used as a community facility, she said. It should be used as a community gathering place where high school students can go to play basketball and others can view antique car shows.

The township has not kept its promises on what will happen at Freneau, she added.

"They make it sound so nice, that they are doing what’s best for the town, but whatever happened to the ball field we were promised [in Freneau] six years ago?" she said.

The township’s theory of providing housing for its senior residents looking to leave their single-family homes, but still remain in town, makes sense, but it may not be necessary to use that whole section of town, she said.

Smith said he hopes voters realize the importance of the majority being at stake this year.

"This is a very important election, and I hope that the voters take it very seriously," Smith said. "What they have at stake is the enhancement and future of this town."

If elected, Smith would use his voice to work closer with the school board to resolve its issues, he said.

"Being in the real estate industry, working as a mortgage broker and Realtor, the one most important aspect in finding a home for my client is how a school district rates in a town," he said.

Smith would like to keep that suburban feel in Aberdeen, he said.

"In general, I would say the Garden State is being more and more referred to as the garage state because of the developing that is going on in its towns," he said.

The council has not adequately used its budget surplus to benefit its residents, he said. Smith would like to see that extra money used for things such as a multi-purpose recreation center for children and seniors at Cliffwood Beach, he said.

"It’s [now] a basic open skating rink which is marred by graffiti and garbage," he said. "It’s a very unattractive site that residents hardly ever use."