Dems tab Cozzolino,
Ward in Manalapan
Pair upends Moskovitz,
Pacheco at conclusion
of hard-fought campaign
MANALAPAN — Voters in the June 26 Democratic primary election tapped Mary Cozzolino and Beth Ward to run for two three-year seats on the Township Committee in November.
Cozzolino, a member of the Township Committee who is serving as Manalapan’s mayor in 2001, and Ward, making her first bid for public office, outpolled Township Committeeman Stuart Moskovitz and his running mate, Thomas Pacheco, who was making his first bid for public office.
Cozzolino led all candidates with 1,410 votes, followed by Ward, 1,354 votes; Moskovitz, 926 votes; and Pacheco, 864 votes.
Issues identified by Cozzolino and Ward, who ran under the slogan, "People Not Politics," included controlling growth; acquiring open space parcels; securing state Green Acres funding; saving endangered species; reducing taxes; providing a mobile post office for the Covered Bridge adult community; and making improvements to township recreational facilities.
During the months leading up to the primary other issues surfaced during the Township Committee’s regular meetings. These issues included saving endangered swamp pink plants by purchasing the Autumn Estates parcel on Lamb Lane; billing by township attorneys; completion of municipal services agreements with condominium associations; and amendments to the master plan and the impact of those changes on local farmers.
With their victory on June 26, Cozzolino and Ward will square off against Republicans Neil Herstik and Thomas Toto in November. Herstik and Toto ran unopposed in the GOP primary. In the uncontested Republican primary, Toto received 751 votes and Herstik received 732 votes.
Herstik, one of the founders of the Manalapan-Englishtown Education Foundation, is making his first bid for the committee. Toto, the former mayor of South River, Middlesex County, is making his first bid for elective office in Manalapan.
There are 20,753 registered voters in Manalapan; 2,306 Democrats and 1,025 Republicans cast their votes in the primary election.
In commenting on their victory over Moskovitz and Pacheco, Cozzolino said the number of votes cast for herself and Ward, "is an extremely positive sign. I think it indicates that Beth and I clearly, by the margin of victory we had, have a pretty convincing mandate for our agenda of controlling growth and reducing the number of houses that are built in town."
Ward said, "I think the numbers reflect what the township’s No. 1 priority is, to decrease growth. People are in line with what we are in line with. I think we’re pretty in tune with the town."
The candidate said poor planning over the years is the cause of today’s problems in Manalapan.
"Now we are in a crisis situation," she said. "We have to address this issue. Certainly we are putting ourselves on the line by coming up with a concrete plan. How long are you going to sit around and say that growth is out of control?"
Ward said not everyone will be happy with the Democrats’ plan to control growth, "but we are putting ourselves on the line and we’re going to be coming up with a plan. We’re going to do the best we can and the only way we can do this legally is through zoning, and those are the tools we’re going to use."
Moskovitz, who ran with Cozzolino in November 1998 and unseated veteran committee members James Gray and Jack McKenna, said, "The results are in. There’s still six months left in the term, and I intend to do what I have done for the first two-plus years, which is represent the people of Manalapan."
Pacheco added, "I don’t know how Stuart persevered through the intense personal attack on his character. I thought it was not a campaign about issues, but a campaign about how to destroy Stuart. That’s my personal feelings."
The Cozzolino-Ward campaign "never mentioned me in any of their negative pieces, but it seemed like every day there was another negative piece, and someday Stuart will get justice and be vindicated. But this was just a personal attack on his character," Pacheco said.
Among the areas of town that gave the Cozzolino-Ward ticket a large plurality was the Covered Bridge II adult community, which recently settled issues related to its municipal services agreement with the township. Cozzolino received 120 votes and Ward received 115 votes in Covered Bridge II, while Moskovitz and Pacheco received 47 and 34 votes, respectively.
Residents of the Covered Bridge I adult community split their votes among the candidates, giving Moskovitz 324 votes, Pacheco 294 votes, Cozzolino 290 votes and Ward 282 votes.

