Manalapan Dems select Roth, Gennaro to run

BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

The Manalapan Demo-cratic County Committee has selected two candidates to run for a pair of seats on the Manalapan Township Committee and indicated it will fully endorse both individuals.

Michelle Roth, a member of the committee in 2004 and a former chair of the Planning Board, will run with Anthony Gennaro, a current member of the Planning Board.

The terms presently held by Democrats William Scherer and Rebecca Aaronson will expire on Dec. 31.

Aaronson is running for election as a Monmouth County freeholder and is not seeking re-election to the committee.

Scherer was not selected by the Democratic County Com-mittee to run to retain his seat on the governing body.

“Manalapan will be well served by Mrs. Roth and Mr. Gennaro,” said Gerard Ward, municipal chairman of the Democratic committee. “Both are highly successful in their respective businesses and neither depend on the government or political connections for their livelihood. They will never be beholden to any special interests, such as developers. In fact, both have reputations of being tough on overdevelopment while on the Planning Board. Mayor Scherer, a registered Democrat, was rejected as a candidate and was not considered because of his support for the Locricchio-Lucas ticket last year.”

Republicans Joseph Locric-chio and Andrew Lucas were elected to three-year terms on the committee in the November 2004 election. They defeated Roth and former Committee-woman Beth Ward.

Gerard Ward said Scherer has supported the Republicans’ agenda since that time and in a previous municipal election.

Roth said she and Gennaro are running to reverse the damage that she said the new committee members have done in just three months in office.

“When people voted for this new administration they had no idea they would be voting in favor of a mega-mall at Route 33 and Millhurst Road,” Roth said, referring to The Village at Manalapan proposal. “In addition, the residents of Holiday North had no idea they were voting for a cell tower in excess of 140 feet in their backyard.

“The residents also had no idea that the new administration would reward their campaign manager and adviser, Stu Moskovitz, with a lucrative job as the township attorney. They had no idea because Mr. Locricchio and Mr. Lucas never told anyone what they would do once elected,” she said.

The candidate said she and Gennaro will make it their job to make people aware of exactly what has happened in Manalapan since January and to hold the Republicans accountable for their future actions and who stands to benefit.

“It is certainly not the people of Manalapan,” Roth said.

Roth and her husband, Larry, operate an investor relations company.

Gennaro is a professional engineer specializing in structural design. He said he is running for a seat on the committee because he believes Manalapan is heading in the wrong direction.

“As a resident and a Planning Board member, I am concerned about the proposed mega-mall project and the manner in which it is being handled by the new majority of the Township committee,” Gennaro said. “The developer is asking for blanket approvals in order to completely bypass the zoning board and tie the hands of the Planning Board, by changing the zoning to tailor fit this project. A project of this scale requires impact studies describing the overall financial benefit to township residents, as well as engineering studies that are required to make this project work. These studies must be objective and thorough, which takes time and community participation.

“The mega-mall project as it is currently being presented to the Township Committee puts this town squarely in danger of looking like another Paramus, with over-congested highways and every inch of open space consumed by high-density development,” Gennaro said. “Some people may want that for Manalapan, but I don’t. As an engineer, it is my professional opinion that a great deal of study is required to make sure this project is done correctly.”

Roth added, “By the recent actions of the two new committeemen and Mayor Scherer, you have to ask who is being served. It should be the residents. Their actions do not support this statement. I’m running to change that.”

Responding to the announcement of the Democrats’ selection of Roth and Gennaro, Scherer said, “Even though I’m a proud member of the Democratic party, I’ve always tried to operate in a bipartisan way for the benefit of the residents of Manalapan and not for political party agendas.”

Scherer said while he is proud to say he voted for Locricchio and Lucas last time, he said he had nothing to do with “aiding or abetting” their campaign in any way.

“I voted for them because I felt they were far better candidates, whose own interests were not on display,” said Scherer. “[They] looked out for the residents of the town rather than the opposing candidates, even though [Roth and Ward] were from my own party. I wish the old regime could just get over [the fact] that they were soundly defeated in a mandate by the people by more than 2,000 votes and would grow up and look to benefit the town in the future, rather than dwelling on their mistakes in the past. I understand that not everybody can operate that way.”

Scherer said he is considering his options relative to making another bid for office. He said he will let residents know what his decision is when he reaches it.