Matawan Dems want to return party presence
Three to vie for two council nominations in Tuesday’s primary
MATAWAN — Candidates say that re-establishing the presence of the Democratic Party in town and gaining representation on the Borough Council are of foremost importance in this year’s race.
Three Democratic candidates will be on the ballot for the June 4 primary election, seeking a pair of three-year terms that will be up for election on the council in November.
Donald Granick, 1 Texas Road; Robert Orlowski, 41 Oak Knoll Drive; and James Shea, 5 Franklin St., will be facing off for the two nominations to be on November’s ballot.
Currently, the council remains under solid Republican control, with the last Democrats to sit on the council departing at the end of 2000.
The winners of the primary will face incumbent GOP council members Joseph Penniplede and Sharon Roselli.
Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Granick, 73, is a real estate agent and a retired educator and school psychologist from the New York City school system. He is a first-time candidate.
Shea, 63, is a familiar face in municipal government, having served several terms on the council over the years. His last term expired at the end of 2000.
Granick and Shea, who are running together without the backing of the municipal or county party, said that they want to return a strong Democratic presence to Matawan.
"I’m mostly interested in seeing some party representation and balance in government here," said Granick Monday. "The main issues all relate back to the fact that there has been one party control in town for a substantial period of time."
"When you have that, you have too much opportunity to cater to self-serving interests," he added.
Shea said that in his opinion the Democrats have not staged effective bids for office over the past three years, and that changes in the party at the municipal level need to be made.
"I want to see the Democrats out there and campaigning again," he said. "They did not campaign one scintilla last year.
"Although there will be plenty of issues for the campaign in November, the main one for the primary and the reason I’m running is to bring the Democratic face back into the sunlight," said Shea.
"The big issue now is that there is only one party running the town, and they need to face the public," he said.
Shea criticized GOP Mayor Robert Clifton and GOP council members for walking out of a recent joint meeting with the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School Board, at which an angry crowd had gathered to discuss recommended cuts to the school budget made by the council in conjunction with Aberdeen Township council after the school budget failed at the polls in April.
"If you are an elected representative, you can’t just decide to leave when it gets too hot in the kitchen," said Shea.
Orlowski did not return calls for comment.