Letter to the Editor: Electing Commissioner with No Background Check?

February 3rd's Asbury Park Press article was aptly titled "Shameful Start Out of the Box".  "The new 5-0 Republican majority on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board got off to a disgraceful start this week: Its first order of business was rescinding its tough 2008 pay-to-play campaign finance restrictions. Welcome back to the world of one-party rule."

In Manalapan, the 5-0 Republican Committee is also off to a disgraceful start. The appointment on January 18th of a new commissioner to the  has been a nightmare from the start. First, the candidate was nominated by Andrew Lucas who then voted yes to the appointment. Not only is this person a close neighbor of Mr. Lucas, one of the other elected officials claims that Mr. Lucas and his appointee do business together. Smells like a conflict of interest to me. But wait, it gets better. 

This appointee that Mr. Lucas pushed for pled guilty to Medicaid fraud in 1999 when he worked in the health care field. Yes, he did his mandatory community service and restitution and lost his right to vote. He will also have to suffer the consequences of his actions for the rest of his life. But this is not about him. It is about Mayor Susan Cohen, Deputy Mayor Don Holland, Former Mayor Andrew Lucas and Committeeman Jordan Maskovitz. Were they asleep at the switch or did they think this type of appointment was not a problem?  

Once again there is no resume on file for this person at - just a volunteer form, which does not offer the ability to check credentials or references. His background was easily checked on-line by "googling" his name. The WMUA’s budget last year, including capital expenses, was $15 million dollars. 

Appointments to the WMUA must be taken seriously as the health and well being of Manalapan and Marlboro residents is at risk from poor management of the sewer authority. The two previous Manalapan Commissioners, Eric Abraham and Steve Toubin were evaluated and appointed based on their credentials. Mr. Abraham is a partner at a distinguished law firm in NJ and Mr. Toubin is a CPA. Mr. Abraham and Mr. Toubin also took on the added responsibilities of Executive Director after Frank Abate was convicted of corruption (and is serving a 51 month sentence) in order to save money for the authority and its rate-payers. Mr. Abraham and Mr. Toubin were able to do this because of their experience both at the WMUA and their professional skills. These two gentlemen also cleaned up the budgetary mess created by the Executive Director and overlooked by previous Manalapan Commissioners.

Last year, Mr. Abraham was dismissed by Mr. Lucas without even the courtesy of an interview or notice. Mr. Toubin submitted a review of his work at WMUA to the Township Committee in early December.  He had the support of the other three commissioners at the authority - two of whom are Republicans.  Mr. Toubin asked to be considered for reappointment.  Why wasn’t he even interviewed? Why didn’t the Manalapan Township Committee take this appointment more seriously?

The recklessness they showed by appointing a convicted felon to the WMUA is just another example of why you can’t have just one party in power. Manalapan residents will continue to suffer from these gross mistakes because there is no one left to watch and question what they are doing.  

Gerard Ward

Manalapan