Matawan resident not optimistic about new Borough Council’s leadership abilities Your Turn Tom Fitzsimmons Guest Column In the weeks since Election Day, I’ve spoken with quite a few of my fellow Matawan residents about the outcome of the election, and the future of our town. To a man or woman, nearly all were frustrated by the lack of progress in the train station redevelopment negotiations, the continued deterioration of the downtown area, and the general lack of anything “happening” in Matawan. To that end, it seems many of my neighbors voted for the victorious Matawan Democrats, not because they were particularly impressed with the individual candidates, but more as a protest vote in favor of that ever-elusive political goal — change. One of my neighbors put it bluntly when he said, “It didn’t seem like anything was happening under the old council, so I voted for the new guys. If they can’t get it done, I’ll vote them out too.” I don’t agree with that sentiment, but whether you believe the previous council was ineffective or — as I would argue — did a poor job of communicating to the public all the things they were doing and how they were doing it, especially with the status of the redevelopment, we had an election, the Democrats won fair and square and the change people voted for is at hand. Is it the change people were hoping for? I’m not too optimistic. Here’s why: After being sworn in as mayor at the borough’s reorganization meeting, Mary Aufseeser gave a short speech where she recounted talking with residents during the campaign about “common problems which required common sense solutions.” She and her fellow council members then proceeded to appoint 23-year-old Meghan Mullaney as council president (which, in Matawan’s form of government, actually gives her more power than the mayor), and further appointed her chair of the Public Safety and Finance Committee, which gives her primary responsibility for Matawan’s $7.5 million budget, as well as the police and fire departments. Let me say that again — Ms. Mullaney is 23 years old. She graduated from college last year. She lives at home with her parents (none of those pesky property taxes for her). She manages a gift shop. When the Democrats had four slots to fill in the spring, Ms. Mullaney wasn’t even one of the four originally chosen to run; she was a last-minute replacement for someone who dropped out. What possible reasons could there be to give such an inexperienced young woman so much power? One is that she’s actually the best choice for positions, which if true, speaks volumes about the quality of the other council members. The other — which is more likely — is that her father, who runs a successful business in town, was the biggest single contributor to their campaign. This is their idea of “common sense solutions” — to put a 23-year-old in charge of the budget and the borough’s first responders, in return for campaign dollars? The people who agreed to this devil’s bargain are the people who promised to end back-door dealings and make our government more open and honest? How are we to trust these people to conduct a tough, complex negotiation with a major developer or stand up to our neighbors in Aberdeen and their plan for “Metropark South” in our backyard when they can’t even stand up to a major contributor? (Oh, and if that weren’t enough, the mayor then appointed Ms. Mullaney’s brother to the Planning Board, Recreation Commission, and Property Maintenance Board. Man, talk about a great return on your investment. No wonder the father is a successful businessman.) Those of you who voted for “change” — is this what you voted for? Matawan is now at a pivotal point in its history. Our ability to survive as an independent municipality is at stake in the next few years, and the train station redevelopment will be the major determining factor. Already we have seen our neighbors in Aberdeen taking an interest in the goings on in our town; surely they must be pretty happy they now have an inexperienced council to deal with in the redevelopment process (Aberdeen’s mayor was so happy he called one of our newly elected councilmen 12 hours after the polls closed.) We need a council that is able to resist outside influences and have the courage to do what’s right for our town. If they can’t do it with something as simple as choosing a council president or assigning committees, what gives us the confidence they’ll do it when the stakes are much higher? Tom Fitzsimmons is a resident of Matawan