By dave benjamin
Staff Writer
MANALAPAN — Charges and counter-charges were exchanged between two members of the Township Committee during the governing body’s March 26 meeting.
Democratic Mayor Drew Shapiro and Democratic Committeewoman Mary Cozzolino sparred at the dais during the regularly scheduled meeting.
In a prepared statement, Shapiro leveled charges against Cozzolino that targeted her job with the state and her actions as the committee’s liaison to a number of public boards, among others.
Cozzolino rebutted the charges, which she called "garbage," and said they were a product of a situation that involves Shapiro’s conduct in a municipal matter.
The split between the two Democrats had its first public airing at the committee’s reorganization meeting in January, when Cozzolino did not support Shapiro’s bid for mayor and claimed he had committed ethical violations as a committeeman.
Shapiro fired back last week, addressing his comments to Cozzolino and saying, "I am reading all the publicity regarding ‘Pay for Play’ in municipal, county and state government. Unfortunately, we have a case right here in Manalapan. Mary Cozzolino received a state job in the insurance department for New Jersey. I am asking the residents of Manalapan and New Jersey to investigate exactly what Ms. Cozzolino’s experience in insurance was that warranted her a state job. Why didn’t she receive this job before she took elected office?
"Why should the residents care? Since Mary Cozzolino received her political patronage job, she has devoted very little time to the town in which she was elected. Last year, I urged her to devote the time to the constituents that put her in office. I told her, if she did not, I would not support her for her [state] Assembly bid."
Shapiro claimed Cozzolino has not attended meetings of the boards to which she is the committee’s liaison. He said it is the job of the liaison to keep the lines of communication open between the boards and the governing body.
"It is unfortunate that when Ms. Cozzolino was mayor she passionately asked to be the liaison to the 9/11 memorial foundation," said Shapiro. "Ms. Cozzolino found it in her heart to go to only one meeting."
Shapiro said that delayed the process regarding the design and placement of the memorial.
"Why is it Ms. Cozzolino cannot attend her liaison position meetings, but can show up to see our governor when he appears at the high school?" the mayor asked.
Shapiro then addressed what he called "wrongdoing that could possibly sacrifice the safety of the children of Manalapan."
"In 2002 Ms. Cozzolino, while sitting on the Planning Board, took part in hearings on Heritage Hills [a proposed residential development on Gordons Corner Road]. This is the development next to the Taylor Mills School. It is also the development that has a gas line running through it. It has come to my attention that the owner of the property is a woman who has identified herself as Ms. Cozzolino’s aunt.
"Ms. Cozzolino very slyly abstained from voting on the application, but in fact took part in the hearings and quite possibly through her involvement swayed board members. Why didn’t Ms. Cozzolino inform the Planning Board of her personal involvement?" he said.
The mayor noted, "In the end, the owner of the property sold it for $1 million; quite a financial gain. To further the problems, Ms. Cozzolino took part in executive session decisions regarding this application and pending lawsuits. I believe this application is tainted and an investigation should be requested."
The mayor asked residents to conduct their own investigation and to ask Cozzolino to make a choice — either leave her job with the state or resign from the Township Committee, "which is obviously getting in the way of her private aspiration."
Responding to Shapiro’s statement, Cozzolino said, "You made a lot of allegations and I get an opportunity to respond to the garbage that they were."
Cozzolino said residents need to understand what is behind the situation.
"Mr. Shapiro has kept from this committee for a solid year his business relationship with [Manalapan construction code official] Mr. Richard Hogan," said Cozzolino. "We got a legal opinion from one of the best legal advisers when it comes to political corruption. He advised us that we needed to forward the complaint to the Department of Community Affairs, Local Government Services. We did that. That process is ongoing. That’s their investigation. They will complete it and they’re the arbiter of what happens there. As for the retaliatory allegations Mr. Shapiro made against me, let me clarify several things."
Cozzolino said her job at the state Department of Banking and Insurance is in the public affairs department and that she previously worked in that area for a private company.
"That is my expertise," she said.
Cozzolino said the accusation that she used her office at the state to conduct municipal business was untrue and said her supervisors can verify that.
Cozzolino said a state Assembly bid never happened. She said she found it necessary to devote her efforts and her concentration to the people who elected her.
The committee member asked to have the record checked regarding her responsibilities as liaison to municipal boards.
"Do we go to every liaison meeting? No," she said. "Is there anything that requires us to? No."
Cozzolino said she attended more Board of Education meetings than Shapiro during the previous year. Additionally, she said that no liaison was officially assigned to the 9/11 memorial and that she wanted the widows of the township residents who died to steer that project. She said she was there when she was needed.
Regarding the Heritage Hills housing development, Cozzolino said, "I don’t know what Mr. Shapiro is speaking of. When that application was voted on, nobody [who] even remotely knows me was the owner of that property."