Mayor Richard Pucci will not resign over connection with developer.
By: Leon Tovey
MONROE Mayor Richard Pucci on Thursday dismissed suggestions that he resign over revelations that he has done political consulting work for an associate of a developer with projects in the township.
The Asbury Park Press reported Sunday that Professional Management Consultants, the firm Mayor Pucci runs from his home, had been paid $168,000 since 2002 by New Directions in Responsible Leadership, the political action committee established by former state Sen. John Lynch.
Developer Jack Morris, whose company Edgewood Properties is currently building the Applegarth Professional Center on Applegarth Road and whose name has been mentioned by township officials in connection with the future development of Route 33, has given $70,000 to New Directions since 2000, according to the Asbury Park Press.
In a Tuesday editorial, the Home News Tribune which is owned by Gannett New Jersey, the company that owns the Asbury Park Press suggested that the mayor should "sever his money-making ties" to Mr. Lynch or step down as mayor.
On Wednesday, an Asbury Park Press editorial called on the mayor to resign his seat on the township Planning Board and on Thursday, the Monroe Township Republican Club issued a statement calling for the mayor’s immediate resignation.
Mayor Pucci on Thursday dismissed the assertion that his work for Mr. Lynch rendered him unable to perform his duties as mayor, as a member of the Planning Board or as executive director of the Middlesex County Improvement Authority.
"In general, I don’t think the media or anybody else is in a position to tell me that," the mayor said. "The freeholders, the (MCIA’s) board of directors and the voters of Monroe Township it’s up to them to decide whether I can do my job, how many hats I can wear."
The mayor also insisted that his 2004 vote in favor of Edgewood’s Applegarth Professional Center proposal was in no way influenced by his association with Mr. Lynch.
"If you look at that application, it was all conforming use in fact they gave us more than they had to," Mayor Pucci said. Edgewood agreed to donate 1 acre of the site to the township for the construction of a new firehouse.
The mayor said that he has asked Township Attorney Joel Shain to render a legal opinion on whether he should recuse himself from future applications submitted by Mr. Morris or one of his companies. While the township charter allows the mayor to appoint a designee to serve in his place on the Planning Board, Mayor Pucci said he does not believe he needs to do so.
Mr. Shain said Thursday that he had finished a draft of that opinion, but he declined to discuss it with The Cranbury Press, citing attorney-client privilege. Mayor Pucci had not seen the opinion by The Cranbury Press’ Thursday afternoon deadline.
Mr. Shain did say that he has advised the mayor and members of the council in the past not to "act in any official capacity in any matter where they, their family, their business interests or partners have any direct or indirect interest or where they might be reasonably perceived to have an interest.
"And I know of no instance where the mayor or any member of the council has violated my past guidance on that," he said.
Mayor Pucci has served as mayor since 1988. He also chairs the Monroe Township Democratic Organization and serves as chairman of the Middlesex County Democratic Organization.
Both the county and local Democratic Organizations have received contributions from Mr. Morris in recent years. Mr. Morris and his companies contributed $6,000 to the Monroe Township Democratic Organization between 2004 and 2005, according to documents filed with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
New Directions contributed $4,000 to the MTDO in November 2004, according to ELEC documents.