Residents question candidates on the issues

The two Middletown Township Committee candidates outlined their political stances and plans in an open forum Oct. 14.

Middletown Township Committee candidate Steve Massell delivers his opening speech during a public forum presented by the Greater Red Bank League of Women Voters Oct. 14 at Lincroft Village Elementary School. Republican candidate Stephen Massell and Democrat incumbent Patrick Short handled questions submitted by the public at Candidates Night held in Lincroft Village School. The Lincroft Village Green Association hosted the event, which focused mostly on the municipality's finances, traffic in Lincroft, and zoning for the Council on Affordable Housing.

Massell, a member of the Middletown Planning Board, said he was compelled to run for office by the "disastrous effects" that Gov. Jon Corzine's administration was having on Middletown, specifically COAH mandates and a lack of return on state taxes.

Massell, who read his opening statement, appeared stiff at the beginning of the forum but seemed to gradually grow comfortable as the two-hour forum progressed.

Middletown Township Committeeman Patrick Short (second from left), who is running for re-election, along with Massell and candidates for county freeholder fielded questions at the forum, which was sponsored by the Lincroft Village Green Association. Short, who is seeking his second term in office, highlighted his accomplishments in office. He pointed to his work on revoking health benefits of part-time employees as a cost-saving measure and his efforts to find a solution to the flooding problem along the Raritan Bay. Short was in full campaign mode, speaking in a confident manner from the start.

The candidates differed most in their stances on COAH, a state mandate that requires municipalities to provide low- to middle income housing. This summer, the Planning Board and Township Committee approved zoning changes to meet the COAH requirements, but many residents objected. The most disputed rezoning was the Avaya property on Middletown Lincroft Road.

Massell blasted the rezoning of the Avaya property and the heavy traffic it would bring to Lincroft.

"This is the reason why I'm running," he said. COAH, he said, is an unfairmandate imposed on the municipalities. If elected, Massell said, he would fight against it, pointing to his no vote on the Avaya project. Massell then attacked Short for not supporting a township resolution that asked Corzine to end COAH. The three Republicans on the committee passed the resolution.

Short argued that the Avaya property was part of a larger plan that passed the Planning Board and was unanimously approved by the Township Committee.

"It's a nonpolitical issue," he said.

He added that he would have signed the resolution, but that it greatly overstated the burden COAH placed on the township.

"I will not allow inaccurate information to have my signature on it," he said.

The candidates also differed on their approach to lowering taxes in the township. Short repeated the call for a finance subcommittee that would control large portions of how the budget is formed. A group dedicated solely to the budget would be better able to control costs, he said.

Massell opposed the formation of a finance subcommittee, saying the Township Committee effectively served as one. The creation of another subcommittee would only create another layer of bureaucracy. Instead, he called for expanding green energy and exploring interlocal agreements with surrounding towns.

Otherwise, the two candidates agreed on most issues. Both threw their support behind the traffic circles and other traffic-calming devices along Newman Springs Road in Lincroft. Massell and Short acknowledged that leaf collection needed to be improved in the township, potentially through outside contractors.

On the flooding problems in the Port Monmouth and Belford areas, the two men agreed that steps needed to be taken. Short focused his own efforts on getting the township to draw up a three-phase plan to improve the drainage system along the Brainard Avenue area.

Massell called for putting more pressure on the county and federal governments to replenish the berm systems in the area. The scope of the greater problem, he said, was beyond the township's ability to solve on its own.

The candidates were given a minute and a half to answer questions read by moderator Kristine Floren, a member of the League of Women Voters.

The three candidates running for a seat on the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders also answered questions from the public. Former Red Bank Councilman John Curly (Republican), Middletown Committeeman Sean Byrnes (Democrat) and independent candidate Stan Rosenthal are looking to replace Democratic Freeholder Barbara McMurrow, who is not seeking re-election.