ROBBINSVILLE: Dissension in GOP ranks? Council members call for change, back challenger

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — Cracks in local Republican Party unity emerged Sunday when Council President Sheree McGowan and Councilman Vince Calcagno publicly endorsed challenger Ron Witt Jr. in the May 10 election.
   Mr. Witt, a Planning Board member and friend of Mayor Dave Fried, is one of five people running for three open Township Council seats. The other candidates are the three GOP council incumbents — Dave Boyne, Christine Ciaccio and Rich Levesque — as well as Democrat Joe Schiavino.
   Ms. McGowan and Mr. Calcagno said in a prepared statement that they were endorsing Mr. Witt because change is needed on the Township Council. They would not say which one of their GOP council colleagues currently seeking re-election should be replaced by Mr. Witt.
   ”Right now we’re just concentrating on getting the word out that we’re supporting Ron,” Councilman Calcagno said when reached by phone Sunday.
   Mr. Witt, 43, of Honeysuckle Drive, is executive vice president of a Cranbury-based construction company. Although registered as an unaffiliated voter, Mr. Witt says he considers himself a Republican and is running on a platform that promotes “balanced growth” for Robbinsville.
   Mr. Witt, who is actively involved as a coach and sponsor of his children’s youth sports leagues, has been a member of the Planning Board since July and also served two years on the Zoning Board of Adjustment.
   Ms. McGowan, the former Planning Board chairwoman before she was elected to Township Council in 2009, praised Mr. Witt’s record of public service on both the planning and zoning boards.
   ”I am impressed with the professionalism and, more importantly, the integrity he brings to these boards for our town,” Ms. McGowan said in her prepared statement endorsing Mr. Witt. “I am proud to support his candidacy and I look forward to serving together with him on Town Council.”
   Asked Sunday whether she would support any of the incumbents on the Boyne-Ciaccio-Levesque slate for the remaining two council seats, she demurred.
   ”I haven’t made up my mind on that,” Ms. McGowan said.
   Both Ms. McGowan and Mr. Calcagno sought to keep the focus on Mr. Witt’s candidacy instead of the apparent intraparty division. They said Mr. Witt would bring an “independent voice and unbiased viewpoint” on township issues.
   Mr. Levesque, who has served on council since 2008, said he attached little importance to the endorsement that his council colleagues gave Mr. Witt. He also dismissed their characterization of Mr. Witt as an independent voice.
   ”Having two politicians endorse you is just about as far as you can get from being an independent voice,” Mr. Levesque said Sunday.
   Ms. Ciaccio, a local businesswoman seeking re-election to a second term, said her council colleagues’ decision to endorse Mr. Witt was not unexpected.
   ”I’m not surprised because I’ve heard that they talked him into running,” Ms. Ciaccio said Sunday night. Asked if “they” meant Ms. McGowan and Mr. Calcagno, she said she was referring to “the mayor and the administration” as well.
   Ms. Ciaccio and others have said Mr. Boyne appears to be the member of the Republican slate who is being targeted for defeat. The CFO of a national transportation firm, Mr. Boyne is known for his propensity to ask tough questions of administration officials at council meetings, particularly on financial matters.
   ”Dave Boyne is his own thinker and asks a lot of questions at council meetings and they don’t like that,” Ms. Ciaccio said.
   Mr. Boyne said Monday that he had no reaction to the endorsement announcement.
   ”They can endorse who they want,” he said.
   Mayor Fried on Monday described Mr. Witt as a good friend, but said he was waiting a while longer before making any official endorsements. The mayor did say he was “frustrated” with Mr. Boyne, who has a seat on the Planning Board, for having told another newspaper in February that he was thinking about voting down the still-pending Gordon-Simpson tract conversion application.
   Due to that published Feb. 16 interview, Mr. Boyne now cannot vote on the application or attend any Planning Board meeting in which it is discussed because to do so would give the applicant grounds for an appeal of whatever the eventual decision may be, Mayor Fried said. Both the township attorney and the Planning Board attorney have told Mr. Boyne to recuse himself, Mayor Fried said.
   Mr. Boyne has not attended recent Planning Board meetings whenever the agendas have included the Sharbell application to convert 150 planned senior housing units near Gordon Road into all-age housing; however, the reason for his absence has never been publicly stated at the meetings. The application has been controversial due to its potential impact on school enrollment and school taxes.
   ”What I said is what everybody else in town is already thinking, but I simply said it at the wrong time,” Mr. Boyne said Monday when asked about the issue. “The attorneys have expressed concern to me and in order to avoid any particular conflict with this issue I am trying to stay clear of it.”
   The Robbinsville council election is technically nonpartisan, meaning the candidates run for election without identifying party labels. However, as a practical matter, a nonpartisan election still entails political maneuvering and partisan brinkmanship. Mr. Levesque is the municipal chairman of the Robbinsville Republican Committee, while Mayor Fried is chairman of the Mercer County Republican Committee.
   The mayor was given the party line on April 7 to run for Assembly seat in the recently realigned 14th Legislative District, which now includes Robbinsville. Should Mr. Fried win the Assembly seat, the five Township Council members would have to choose a temporary replacement for him until a permanent mayor is elected to serve out the remainder of his term, which ends June 30, 2013.
   One political observer, who asked not to be identified in order to avoid irritating the political players involved, speculated that the partisan maneuvering going on now was a just a prelude to bigger council turmoil to come should Mr. Fried win the Assembly seat and depart for Trenton.
   ”It has the potential to get ugly,” the observer said.