Marlboro to seek payback of proceeds from corruption
BY REBECCA MORTON
Staff Writer

MARLBORO -- Mayor Robert Kleinberg and Township Council members Joseph Pernice, Patti Morelli, Jeff Cantor, Steve Rosenthal and Rosa Tragni are planning to prosecute a civil lawsuit against people they said have been involved in corrupt activities in Marlboro.

On Sept. 20, the council hired attorney Stephen N. Dratch to prosecute the lawsuit on a contingency basis in an attempt to recoup the ill-gotten gains of people such as former Mayor Matthew Scannapieco, former Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority Chairman Richard Vuola, former Western Monmouth Utilities Authority Executive Director Frank Abate, former Planning Board member Stanley Young and indicted local developers Anthony Spalliero, Steven Meiterman, Bernard Meiterman and Edward Kay. The Meitermans, Kay and Spalliero are all awaiting trial on federal bribery charges.

Kleinberg said, "Corrupt public officials robbed from the people of Marlboro for decades. Now we are using every weapon at our disposal to bring them to justice and reclaim money that belongs to the taxpayers. We will similarly sue any developer found guilty of giving bribes in exchange for favors from public officials." Jonathan Hornik, who is the mayor's opponent in the Nov. 6 election, called the move a political ploy on the part of Kleinberg.

"The proper time to go after Scannapieco was three years ago. This is Robert Kleinberg giving the appearance of fighting corruption," Hornik said. For the complete story see the Sept. 26 issue of the News Transcript.