Aaronson, Scherer in Nov.
MANALAPAN — Two incumbent Democratic members of the Township Committee will seek re-election in November against a pair of Republican challengers.
Democrats Bill Scherer and Rebecca Aaronson will seek their second three-year terms on the committee. They will be challenged by Anthony Musich and Tom Toto.
Toto and Musich were both unavailable for comment at press time. Toto is the former mayor of South River, Middlesex County. He ran unsuccessfully for the Township Committee in November against Democrats Mary Cozzolino and Beth Ward. Musich is a former member of the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District Board of Education.
In announcing his bid for re-election, Scherer said, "There remains work to be done and goals to achieve. Three years ago I promised to achieve municipal services agreements with the condominium associ-ations in town so they would receive what they were entitled to and had not been receiving for 15 years. Through hard work and negotiations we now have these agreements in place with all our condo groups."
Scherer said he also pledged to preserve open space and ease traffic congestion which residents are dealing with due to continuing growth.
"We have preserved the Linnett property as a park and will be signing off on the conclusion of the purchase of the Dreyer property for much needed field space for our children," he said. "We have received several million dollars in grants and loans from the state Green Acres program and our town is a model for other towns seeking such state aid.
"Our tax rate has been stable, with basically the same municipal tax rate as 1996," said Scherer. "We have increased services while the town has grown in population and its number of roads.
"We need to keep preserving as much open space as we can," said the candidate. "We will rezone so the number of homes built will be dramatically reduced, while at the same time giving the farming community an equitable way of preserving their family’s history and net worth."
Aaronson, who is serving as mayor this year, said she is proud of the committee’s accomplishments and is looking forward to continuing to serve the town.
"The same things that concerned us during last year’s election as well as the year before are the same goals we’ve set for ourselves this time," she said. "But an important difference for me is that I’ve begun to do something about those issues."
Regardless of political party, Aaronson said, all residents want more open space, good schools, less traffic, municipal services for their tax dollars and elected officials they can count on.
"I’d like the opportunity to build on our accomplishments in all of those areas," Aaronson said. "We’ve built a momentum, and I’d like to continue what I’ve begun, so that the list of issues we hear about year after year can be shorter next time."
— Dave Benjamin