Dems to abstain from vote on union contract BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer MATAWAN - At the urging of the borough attorney, the four Democrats on the Borough Council will abstain from voting on contract negotiations with Local Union 400. The contract in question is for the public works union which affects such public services as road repair and upkeep of borough property. Mayor Mary Aufseeser and council members William Malley, Meghan Mullaney and Neil Mendelsohn will not vote on the upcoming contract negotiations with the union that represents borough Department of Public Works employees in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety. Since 2004, the Local Union 400 Political Action Committee (PAC) has contributed more than $7,300 to the campaigns of Democrats in Matawan, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). While the contributions create no legal restriction for the four members to vote on the contract negotiations, there is a feeling that the council members would be better off not taking part in the vote. "I just want to avoid even the appearance of a possible conflict," Borough Attorney Pasquale Menna said of his urging those members to abstain from voting. The contributions were made during Malley's unsuccessful bid for the council in 2004 in the amount of $2,500. Contributions for both the 2005 primary election and general election were made to Democrats for a Better Matawan, a campaign committee that included all four Democratic contenders for council that year. Those totaled $4,800. Fred Carr, the borough administrator, said that having all four Democrats abstain from the vote will not hinder the process or the time table because the negotiating committee does not specifically include any of the council members and is comprised solely of himself and the borough's labor attorney, Tim Averell. Carr said that all that is needed for the council to accept or deny the end product of the negotiations are, in fact, only two yes or no votes. All those who abstain will be counted as a vote for the majority decision. "You don't need a quorum for a vote, just for a meeting," Carr said. Abstentions vote with the majority, so since all four Democrats have pledged to abstain, those votes will go along with the votes of the three Republican council members. Carr said that the contract negotiations will have no affect on the borough's 2006 road program because the work on that capital improvement project has gone out to bid and will not include Local Union 400.