Mayor to Short: Resign Group's lone Democrat says Republican majority can't handle his dissent BY DAN NEWMAN Staff Writer Patrick Short MIDDLETOWN - Contending Committeeman Patrick Short has bashed the Township Committee on numerous occasions and has put his political party ahead of his own town, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger publicly called for Short's resignation last week. The request, made at the Aug. 6 committee meeting, wasn't the first time that the mayor and the group's lone Democrat have had it out in public view. Days later, Short responded the same way that he did on Monday, by saying that he had no intention of resigning and that he "represents the people." "This group of committee people has been together for a while now, and they have never been challenged in any way at all, and they have never been questioned either," Short said. "With me, though, I am somebody who is willing to do things a bit differently and they want nothing to do with it, and so of course they want me gone. They don't like the fact that I am now here on the committee, and I think it's ridiculous that the mayor would ask for my resignation." Scharfenberger said that on numerous occasions, he and the other committee members have tried to reach out to Short to offer him help and advice in his first year on the job but that he has never responded and has quite often not been easy to work with. Gerard Scharfenberger "We're doing the best we can as a committee, but it's not very easy when you have one person who doesn't want to work with the others," Scharfenberger said. "He merely wants to campaign for the Democrats and not work for the people that voted him in. His behavior is damaging and it is destructive. It's very hard to move forward and accomplish things at this point. I don't really expect him to resign, but by now, with all that has gone on, I really don't know what else to do. This has become a huge problem with the way that he does things." Scharfenberger said the last straw for him came when he read an article in a local newspaper in which Short made disparaging remarks about other committee members. "Now he's starting to attack people in print, and it's not right. He really felt the need to bash the township and that wasn't a good move. Plenty of people in town called and asked me what was going on and why Mr. Short would do that. We're supposed to be working together, and apparently he does not want to," Scharfenberger said. "He's been wrong in the past, and he's wrong again." The mayor also noted that his criticism of Short has nothing to with his political affiliation. "I consider [Congress-man] Rush Holt, [Freeholder] Barbara McMorrow and [Holmdel Committeeman] Larry Fink friends and have a great relationship with them all," Scharfenberger said. Short fired back, saying that he has plenty of support from people in the community, not just fellow Democrats. He said he will continue to do the things the way he's been doing them during his first seven-plus months in office. "I listen to the people and formulate my own opinions, not ones that people want me to have," Short noted. "I'm not bothered by what Dr. Scharfenberger has to say about me. I'm just doing what I have to do in order to help Middletown succeed."