BY LARRY RAMER
Staff Writer
MARLBORO — Mayor Robert Kleinberg is charging that Democrats on the Township Council did not do enough to remove convicted felon Richard Vuola from his position as a commissioner on the Marlboro Township Municipal Utilities Authority (MTMUA).
Kleinberg, a Republican, said he believes the Democrats have failed residents by not voting to remove Vuola from the MTMUA within the last year. The mayor has called on the Democrats, who have a 3-2 majority on the council, to act to remove Vuola from his public post several times in the last year.
The Democrats on the council are James Mione, Barry Denkensohn and Grover Burrows. The Republicans on the council are Patti Morelli and Joe Pernice.
According to published reports, Vuola was previously convicted of two felonies — assaulting a police officer in 1987 and making false statements about an election petition in 1997.
Township Attorney Andrew Bayer, who is appointed by the mayor, has said the council could have voted to remove Vuola from his position on the MTMUA.
On Oct. 29, Vuola was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of attempted bribery of elected officials, illegal possession of weapons and tax evasion. He was arraigned in Newark that day and is free on bond.
Following Vuola’s indictment, Kleinberg fired a salvo at the Democrats.
“The Democrats never [previously] said they would exercise their duty to remove Richard Vuola from his position,” the mayor said. “To protect Marlboro residents, the Democrats should have initiated public proceedings to remove Richard Vuola. The more troubling issue is the fact that the Democratic [council] majority appointed Mr. Vuola in the first place.”
Kleinberg said the Democrats should have known about Vuola’s past convictions before they reappointed him as an MTMUA commissioner on Dec. 12, 2002.
In response to the indictment against Vuola released on Oct. 29, Mione said the council is now demanding that Vuola resign from the MTMUA, according to a statement released by Mione, the council president.
If Vuola does not comply with the governing body’s demand, municipal officials will ask Bayer to “formally begin proceedings to remove Mr. Vuola from office, taking any legal steps that are necessary to accomplish this goal,” Mione wrote.
Mione responded to Kleinberg’s comments by noting that the council sent a letter to Vuola in 2003 asking him to resign from his position with the utilities authority. That letter was sent at the initiative of former council president and current state Sen. Ellen Karcher, a Democrat.
The governing body sent the same letter to Vuola this year, said Mione, who requested that the letter be sent in 2004. He said Vuola has refused the council’s requests to step down from the MTMUA.
Mione said Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye sought to have Vuola removed from the MTMUA last year, but was unsuccessful in that attempt.