Plan to appoint new official hits a snag in Manalapan BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer MANALAPAN - It appears as if the appointment of a resident to fill an unexpired term on the Township Committee is on hold due to a request from members of the governing body that the prospective candidates have refused to satisfy. A seat on the committee opened when Republican Committeeman Joseph Locricchio resigned on May 1. Republican municipal officials have submitted three nominees to the committee, which is charged with selecting a person to fill the seat through Dec. 31. The names submitted by Republican Municipal Chairman Stephen McEnery were Susan Cohen, Kalman "Butch" Budai and Susan Heckler. Cohen is running with Andrew Lucas on the Republican ticket seeking two three-year terms on the committee in the November election. Lucas is serving as Manalapan's mayor this year and completing the final year of his first three-year term on the governing body. The committee discussed the issue at its May 9 meeting, but the naming of a successor to Locricchio did not materialize. Democratic Committeeman Richard Klauber suggested that the committee interview Cohen, Heckler and Budai before choosing who would join them on the governing body. Klauber said the committee set a precedent earlier this year by requiring people seeking professional appointments with the township to submit to a public interview. He said the same should be done for candidates for a seat on the committee, which he said is a position of trust and power. Deputy Mayor Michelle Roth agreed with Klauber's suggestion, but was challenged by independent Committeeman Anthony Gennaro, who asked Roth why she did not sit for an interview when she sought to fill an open seat on the committee several years ago. Roth said she would have done so had she been asked by the committee to do so. A motion was then made to name one of the three GOP candidates. The motion ended in a 2-2 vote and did not carry. Roth and Klauber voted against the motion and Gennaro and Lucas voted for the motion. A motion to hold interviews with the three candidates was then made and carried in a 3-1 vote, with Gennaro voting no. The answer to the question of whether the interviews will occur is not yet known. When contacted by the News Transcript to ask if she would consent to be interviewed by the committee, Heckler said, "Absolutely not." She said McEnery would release a statement on the matter. Budai and Cohen said they preferred not to make a comment and deferred to McEnery. McEnery said state statute does not require an interview. He submitted a written statement in which he stated his unequivocal opposition to the idea of the three candidates having to sit for an interview. McEnery said he and the three candidates satisfied all of the statutory requirements in preparing the names for the committee to choose from. He said the statutory process does not require the submission of a political resume for each candidate, nor are they required to submit to any interview other than the Republican County Committee process, which then introduces the three names for the municipal governing body to choose from. In his press release, McEnery said, "It is the party's responsibility to screen the candidates for their views, integrity, opinions and their value to the community. That was done. There is nothing in the statute that even suggests that any type of review process should take place by the Township Committee." According to McEnery, the Republican County Committee "fulfilled their obligation; the obligation now rests with the Township Committee. If the Township Committee cannot reach an agreement, the names are returned to the Republican County Committee; one of the individuals will be selected and that person will assume the duties and responsibilities of the position." Despite Klauber's assertion that a precedent for a public interview was set with the public interviews this year of prospective professionals seeking to do work for the township, McEnery disagreed, stating, "No precedent exists in Manalapan for a review of candidates." "I believe the township is well intentioned. It has set up procedures for an open government and they should be commended for their efforts to change the face of this town's government," he said. "Having an open review of all professionals applying for a position should give residents a sense that integrity has been restored; we now screen anyone coming into contact with our children, including Township Committee members, we can all sleep better when our kid are playing sports. These are all good things. However, asking to expand on procedures put in place by the state is going a bit far. We trust our elected officials to appoint those that sit on the Planning Board, the recreation committee, etc. We expect them to hire qualified people to fill positions in the township; no one asks to screen all these individuals. The government would grind to a halt if we did. They should extend the same confidence to the municipal committee." Budai is the president of the Manalapan Republican Club and was a member of Manalapan's Economic Development Council in 2005-06, the Manalapan Recreation Advisory Committee in 2005 and 2007, is a member of the Manalapan Arts Council and also volunteers as a baseball coach. Cohen has been a member of Manalapan's domestic violence team from 1996 to the present and is a member of the Manalapan Heritage Committee. She has been a Republican county committeewoman since 2003 and has sat on the Planning Board from 2004-08. Heckler has been a member of the Manalapan Shade Tree Committee since 1997, was a member of the Planning Board from 2003-05, was a member of Manalapan's Municipal Agricultural Advisory Committee in 2005 and 2007, and has been a Republican county committeewoman since 2003. "The Republican municipal committee has fulfilled their responsibilities to the letter of the law. It is now up to the four sitting members of the Township Committee to choose one of the three nominees. The spotlight should be on the Township Committee, not on the three nominees," McEnery said. The members of the Township Committee have until May 30 to choose one of the three candidates to appoint to the open seat. If they do not make an appointment, the Manalapan Republican County Committee will have 15 days to appoint Cohen, Heckler or Budai to the governing body.