Dems, mayor square off over boro attny
Matawan council votes down rehire of four professionals
BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer

Pasquale Menna

MATAWAN - Council Democrats voted down a resolution to rehire the current borough attorney at the April 1 council meeting.

After the motion failed, Pasquale Menna, borough attorney for Matawan for the past two years and a Democrat, remained silent while the council members disagreed over fees for his services.

Council Republicans Mayor Paul Buccellato and Councilwoman Linda Clifton voted to retain Menna.

"I picked Pat Menna because of his qualifications and the fact that the Democrats praised him last November," said Mayor Paul Buccellato, a Republican. "Mr. Menna was instrumental in the revitalization of Red Bank and I felt he would be able to best serve us with that knowledge. He also often made himself available to the borough and its department heads when we needed him."

Menna, of Menna, Supko and Casagrande, Shrewsbury, is mayor of Red Bank. He declined to comment last week, citing the fact that he is still borough attorney for Matawan until a successor is named.

The council also voted down the resolution approving the retention of the borough planner, Beacon Planning and Consulting Services, Colts Neck, and the rehiring of the borough bond attorney and labor attorney.

"Beacon Planning had originally done the Main Street revitalization study and had performed all of the necessary paperwork for our COAH [Council on Affordable Housing] obligations as well," Buccellato said. "I didn't think it was necessary to reinvent the wheel."

Residents in attendance voiced their dissatisfaction with the council's decision to remove Menna.

"Do we have an agenda other than the best interests of Matawan?" asked Anthony Lopez. "Mr. Menna is more than qualified, and his hourly rates are among the lowest."

Resident Agnes Falk also expressed dismay.

"Mr. Menna, I would like to apologize. You may be a Democrat, but we all can't be perfect," she laughed. "This sounds like something is wrong, and I intend to follow up on this."

Falk went on to say that political infighting seems to be impeding the progress of the council.

Resident Jerry Hourihan called Menna a "good, honest man."

"I have been through a lot of borough attorneys," Hourihan said. "They [the Democrats] brought you in, and now they're taking you out. This all goes back to the head of the party and that's all I will say."

"I am not going to comment on any of the professionals or their services at this time," said council President Michael Cannon, a Democrat. "I am refraining from comment until our professionals are in place, and that will be around May 1."

According to Cannon, the borough has 30 days to put professionals in place after their appointments have been voted on.

Buccellato said that his biggest concern was that the fair and open process of choosing professionals had been violated because other council members had indicated that they had contacted other professionals during the bidding process without consulting the entire council.

"As mayor I am rejecting all of the professionals because there is a clear intent to manipulate the respondents," Buccellato said.

The council reviewed a new round of proposals from professionals seeking to be retained by the borough, because a resolution, approved at the Feb. 19 meeting, rejected the previous Request for Qualifications (RFQ) issued Nov. 15, 2007, and returnable Dec. 19, 2007.

Under former Mayor Mary Aufseeser, a Democrat, an RFQ was issued in November after the election and in January prior to the special mayoral election.

At the Feb. 19 meeting, the resolution authorized the borough clerk to re-advertise for RFQs for all professionals on the list that were noticed on the original RFQ, except for the Unified Planning- Zoning Board professionals and the position of alternate municipal prosecutor, which has been deleted from the list.

According to the resolution, "the governing body … did not have sufficient time to meet and discuss the solicitation of request for professionals contracts as a consequence of the special election."