Aberdeen voters have a dozen choices for council Democratic majority hopes to continue work started in recent years Twelve, count 'em, 12 candidates are vying for four seats on the Aberdeen Township Council Nov. 6. Running on the Democratic slate are three incumbents Vincent Vinci Janice Gallo Wilhelmina Gumbs Owen Drapkin and one former Board of Education member. All four say they want to finish what the Democrats have started. Incumbent Owen Drapkin, who declined to disclose his age along with the rest of his ticket, has served on the council for 12 years. Married with three daughters and one granddaughter, he owns a printing company in Rahway. Drapkin said one of his top reasons for seeking re-election is to keep the road program afloat. The candidate said the council has invested between $2 million to $3 million a year in Aberdeen's roadways. "That is very important," Drapkin said. "If you don't invest in the infrastructure of the town, the town goes to pot." Drapkin is also interested in maintaining a stable municipal tax rate. "One way to do that is to try to get ratables for the town," Drapkin said. "Right now we have a couple of projects in line." Why should he be re-elected? "Look at the town and see how much it's improved," Drapkin said. "We're not throwing garbage at the wall and seeing if it sticks." Janice Gallo is the only nonincumbent running on the Democratic ticket this year. A longtime resident of the township, she works as a financial administrative assistant at the Home Away From Home Academy, Route 34. She is married with three children. She is proud of her work as a founding member of the Matawan Aberdeen Education Foundation, a volunteer group that raises funds for the school district. Gallo said she joined the Democrats because she's "concerned about our community." She believes her experience on the Board of Education (1997-2003) and current role on the Planning Board will enhance the council's understanding of township issues. "There's only one woman on the council," Gallo said. "Having another woman's opinion is very important. Women tend to look at the gray area instead of black and white." Why vote for her? "I have a lot of ideas I'd like to bring to the table that would benefit the community," Gallo said. Wilhelmina Gumbs is the other woman on the Democratic ticket. Gumbs has served four years on the council and is a retired toll-booth collector for the New Jersey Highway Authority. She is married with two children and has five grandchildren. A former chairman of the Planning Board (2001-03), Gumbs said she is proud of her party's work toward building the town's first senior citizen complex. The council has secured a developer, Gumbs said, and is working toward creating new recreation programs for the seniors. In addition to her service to the council, Gumbs is a longtime volunteer at her church's soup kitchen in Perth Amboy. Gumbs is the soup kitchen's coordinator, feeding 125 hungry mouths every Thursday. Why should the public re-elect her? "To finish the projects we've started," Gumbs said. "The roadwork, to finish that." Vincent Vinci has been a member of the council for 12 years and has also served on the Planning Board. A lifelong resident of the town, Vinci retired from the Aberdeen Police Department in 1988. He is married with two children and is a former baseball and softball coach. Like his running mates, Vinci's top priorities include the road program and keeping the municipal tax rate down. "We're concerned about the infrastructure of the town," Vinci said. "We've done 125 streets since 1997; that's like 25 miles of repaving and reconstruction. A lot of sewer systems and pumps we've fixed. We've put new ones in. And all this was done without raising [municipal] taxes." Why should he be re-elected? "Because of the job we've done keeping taxes down," Vinci said. Vinci also pointed to the addition of new soccer fields, the roller-skating rink at Cliffwood and the ongoing beach project as reasons to be re-elected. - Karen E. Bowes