BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Like the current Boston Red Sox, three Republican candidates for freeholder hope they can reverse the trend of Democrats controlling the seven-member body.
East Brunswick resident Frank Coury is attempting to return to the Middlesex County Board of Chosen Freeholders after over a 30-year hiatus.
He is joined by running mates Maria Garcia, of Perth Amboy, and Old Bridge resident Peter Trabucco, both of whom are making their first run for the board. Both Garcia and Trabucco assert that two three-year terms are enough for anyone, and many of the board’s current members have been on the dais in New Brunswick for far longer.
All three contenders contend that one-party control leads to rubber stamping of policy and that the board has no checks and balances.
“You can’t have one party having all the power. That’s the definition of tyranny,” said Coury, 79, who served on the county board from 1970-72.
“If you want to have good government, you need a checks and balance system,” he said. “I want to be a watchdog. We need at least two people from the other party up there [on the board].”
Retired after years as a manager for Johnson & Johnson, Playtex and other corporations, Coury now delivers Meals on Wheels to shut-ins and volunteers at the nearby St. Vincent dePaul Society and at a homeless shelter. Firsthand contact with the recipients have heightened his awareness of their needs.
That the current freeholder board has dedicated more money to the arts, recreation, and acquiring open space than to organizations that serve the needy and disabled irks Coury.
Last year, an assortment of charities, including the Salvation Army and The Arc (Association for Retarded Citizens of Middlesex County), requested $1.3 million, but only received a total of $859,000 together, Coury said. That lesser amount included $35,000 to the Salvation Army to build a homeless shelter in Perth Amboy and $42,000 to The Arc, he noted.
Meanwhile, the State Theater in New Brunswick received $3 million, while $4 million was granted to East Brunswick for open space purchases, Coury said.
Having employed the services of a home health aide at one point for his mother-in-law, Coury would like to see the names of those workers placed into a county registry to then be directly employed by those needing their services.
As it stands, home health aides are paid a wage just barely above minimum wage by the agencies they work for, resulting in a substandard quality of life, Coury said. Being paid directly by a patient or patient’s family would benefit to both patient and worker, he added.
About $25 million yearly could be saved in county tax dollars if the freeholders were to institute co-composting, a method of blending both wastewater sludge and municipal solid waste until it decomposes into an odorless and inert fertilizer, Coury noted.
The current disposal system separates sludge and garbage now, resulting in extensive hauling of waste to the county’s three landfills and the filling of those spaces, said Coury, who holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.
If 1,500 tons of waste were co-composted in the county, they could then be distributed at 500 tons each between the landfills in Sayreville, Edison and the Edgeboro Landfill in East Brunswick, he said.
“We could reduce the trucking [of waste] on Route 18 by 65 percent and the amount of needed landfill space by 70 percent,” Coury explained.
Coury also served as a state assemblyman in 1968-69. He has resided in the county since 1949 and lives with his wife Mary. The couple have no children.
Garcia, who ran unsuccessfully for Perth Amboy’s council earlier this year, said she is eager to serve county residents but does not intend to be a “career politician.”
Although she has little political experience, Garcia believes her layman’s background could work to her advantage and keep her in touch with average citizens.
“I am not a political animal,” said Garcia, 44, who works in security for United Parcel Service (UPS) in Mahwah.
“As a citizen, I feel the hurt of the people. I know how hard it is to live in Middlesex County,” she continued.
An advocate of pay-to-play legislation at all levels of government, Garcia pledges
that if she is elected, she would only seek one additional term on the board. Going forward, she would also push for the other freeholders to be limited to two terms as well.
“I think the political system we have now is not what our forefathers wanted,” said Garcia, who immigrated to the United States from Spain at age 10. “We need someone who can do the job and get out.
“It should take no more than two terms to fix a problem,” Garcia said. “We need people with new ideas to come into power.”
Garcia wants to ensure that farmers seeking to preserve their land are not pressured by officials to turn over their farms to the county.
“If the farmer wants to sell his land to us, it should not be under pressure,” she said. “If the farmer wants to sell it, pay him what it is worth.”
Students from the agricultural program at Rutgers University could be recruited to assist the farmers in maintaining their lands, she added.
“Nobody has thought of that and I don’t know why,” she said.
Garcia is particularly concerned with the welfare of senior citizens, many of whom have had to leave the county due to its high cost of living.
As a freeholder, Garcia would aim to stabilize county taxes and improve seniors’ quality of life.
“Our seniors are the best thing we have and they’re moving out because they can’t afford their homes,” Garcia said.
Through her employment, Garcia has been active with the United Way, participating in local food banks and blood drives. She and her husband of 25 years, Hector, have three children.
Like Garcia, Trabucco pledged that if elected, he would serve a maximum of two terms.
The present board has taken public confidence for granted, a circumstance that has led to political scandals right up to the state house, said Trabucco, who formerly served as chief of staff for two state assembly representatives.
“I’m tired of the culture of corruption that has plagued Middlesex County, that is the scandal and FBI investigation that started in Middlesex County and goes directly to the state house and governor’s mansion,” Trabucco said.
“What Middlesex County needs is to go back to basics and to start with ethics for politicians, whether Democratic, Republican or Independent,” he said.
Though he has not held public office, Trabucco considers his job as director of cardiovascular care programs for the American Heart Association a means of service to the community. He is also a pilot in the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary and previously taught English literature and composition at St. Peter’s High School in New Brunswick.
“I care about the community, and ethics have never been a problem for me,” said Trabucco, who ran unsuccessfully for Old Bridge Township Council last year.
Trabucco noted that through his position he pushed for every police department, fire department and school in the county to have automatic external defibrillators (AEDs) on hand to aid sudden heart attack victims.
As freeholder, Trabucco said, he would push for initiatives not just in training first responders, but that will benefit county residents as a whole.
“If something is right for the community, it should go beyond partisan politics,” he said. “Each individual should think about his constituents and not the personal gain [elected office] might bring.”
Trabucco resides with his wife of 16 years, Dorie, and 8-year-old daughter Jennifer.