Asbury Park Press from Asbury Park, New Jersey • Page 2

0C oVU fl Dec. 31, 1993 Fair Dover mayor takes look back on year's work If 'r I ilk g5 ff mi iiMfMifmaaiiiiiinftitffliTffNf-'--'- -y i -iicrfft PETER TAYLORAsbury Park Press Top office: J. Mark Mutter's term as mayor will end at tomorrow's organization meeting. From page Bl i Petrizzo, who considered herself apolitical for many years after moving here in 1977, said she would liketo continue to serve in some capacity! She will retain her seat on the Water Resources Task Force when the gbv1 ernment organizes tomorrow, she said. In that role, she will push for legislation and other initiatives to make public water line extensions more affordable.

She also will continue to attend Ciba-Geigy Corp. oversight committee meetings to monitor cleanup efforts at the Route 37 plant, she said. She wants federal tax code changes reversed to stimulate construction in the county. There is a need for better protections against home foreclosures, said Petrizzo, a real estate agent. These opinions began forming wnen Petrizzo realized she was no longer "required as full-time wife and mother.

A longtime Little League volunteer who still serves on its executive board, Petrizzo began looking for more work. She met Lightbody after an auto accident claimed the life of a niece. Lightbody is the county traffic engi: neer and he responded to the scene! Later, she called upon him in his capacity as mayor to help her with a problem getting a certificate of occu-pancy for her new house. The certificate and her dealings with the township building department were her first real encounters with local government. She didn't like what she saw, and Lightbody encouraged her to get involved.

She began as a volunteer with the traffic safety committee that he chairs. Soon, she was his running mate. Petrizzo realized she had walked into a long-simmering feud between Lightbody and other committee members. "There was definitely a separation." Petrizzo said this week. "The problem was there well before I was there Roden had the name recognition.

I had none." Lightbody and Petrizzo no longer speak. He does not speak to the other committee members either, which is By CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS PRESS TOMS RIVER BUREAU TOMS RIVER A fully dressed man walking the sand in Ortley Beach last summer was not someone out of step with the seasons. Dover Township Mayor J. Mark Mutter just wanted to know whether people had any ideas for making government work better in Ocean County's largest municipality. Looking back at the beach outreach program, Mutter recalls the series of strange looks and reactions his efforts provoked among his sunbathing constituents.

Some people did take the time to fill out his suggestion form. The fownship received more than 200 during his tenure, with most requesting help with neighborhood problems such as repairing potholes. At the end of his first term as mayor, Mutter says the forms are indicative of a government that wants to hear from those it serves. Mutter, a lawyer who maintained long hours in the municipal building where he was once an employee, said he also likes to speak to people on line in the tax collector's office. "The staff here thought I was going to be ganged up on by a mob of taxpayers," he said, laughing.

Taxes are no laughing matter in a township that has had back-to-back municipal purposes tax rate increases in the past two years. Tomorrow, Mutter begins his second year on the Dover Township Committee. He said he does not mind relinquishing his mayoral seat to Joseph H. Vicari, who will be the 1994 mayor. "I always viewed the job as having two parts: I was chief executive officer but I also was chief goodwill ambassador for the community," Mutter said earlier this week.

"The job is much more than making sure garbage is picked up, and the streets are clean. I think how many times I came to work with a list of things to do that day and I had to put that list down and put my fire hat on and put the fire out." Mutter, a Republican who won election to the committee in November 1992, was the mediator between warring factions. It wasn't easy, he said. "I don't have all the answers," Mutter said. "Any elected official who says that he has all the answers to all the problems, don't believe him." Mutter, who serves as municipal prosecutor in Jackson Township, was the former assistant Dover Township attorney.

He said the overnight jump from employee to employer made for some tense moments. The failure of the Township Committee to settle labor contracts with any of the township's labor unions is on a list of "disappointments" for Mutter's term. Public works employees have been without a contract for two years and the police and white-collar unions have been seeking settlements for a year, he said. "We think everything should be resolved in early 1994," he said. "I know it is affecting morale." Mutter counts among his successes the advent of an automated garbage collection system, now being tested in the Georgetown section but slated for expansion, and the approval of an early retirement program for 19 police officers, both of which are expected to save money down the road.

some Planning Board decisions that he says permitted development at too great a density. Nottingham Manor, which calls for 54 homes on 21 acres on the south side of Dave Marion Road, is one application on which the board could have demanded more concessions for residents, he said. The troubled leaf collection program and a decision about how best to preserve the Sedge Islands are issues that will continue into 1994. The relocation of the Division of Motor Vehicles station, Route 166, still is unresolved, to Mutter's frustration, Mutter said. "I've made some mistakes," he said.

"I've had my share of sleepless nights. It's time to pass the gavel so someone else can have the sleepless nights." Those who adopt the parks would be responsible for two cleanups a year and other projects to beautify and maintain the areas, he said. Mutter's adopt-a-dune program attracted 500 participants in November to help plant dune grass in the Ortley Beach section that was devastated by winter storms in 1992 and 1993. The repairs made the beachfront facilities handicapped accessible and created 800 feet of new boardwalk, he said. The rezoning of the Pleasant Plains section to preserve the rural open space will be good for the township, which should be able to withstand a pending legal challenge, Mutter said.

In the meantime, Mutter said he has been "personally disappointed" by Although the Township Committee refused to approve a resolution cutting $501,000 from the defeated Toms River Regional Board of Education budget, Mutter lobbied the state until those cuts were made, he said. Taxpayers saved a total of $1.4 million in school and township budget cuts, Mutter maintains. The interagency agreements the township is exploring with the school board and the Municipal Utilities Authority already have saved the township about $46,000, and officials are now identifying areas in which joint purchases can be made, he said. Among the quality of life issues Mutter said he championed, was the reactivation of the Historic Preservation Commission, which has helped preserve two historic buildings in the downtown area, he said. Mutter, who will become parks commissioner in 1994, said his goal is to have one park adopted by a community group each month he is in office.

Lightbody From page Bl FACTORY AUTHORIZED REDUCTIONS part of the problem, Petrizzo said. "We stopped talking a long time ago, early last year during the budget problems," she said. "The problem with local government is everything, I 7 DAYS 1 Use these valuable furniture coupons and SAVE HUNDREDS on our 1994 INTRODUCTORY PRICES! Reduced prices are valid with coupons onlyl ATTN: Dealers bring your tax exempt certificates! TffPTTVfvr'n ifiinni ITS' trrvwi rrtv imwhi-ii ber, these two individuals (Aldrich and Fox) were going to work to pull everyone together, to make it smooth. I don't read it that way." Party leaders have described Light-body's behavior as "erratic," "harmful" and "paranoid." Lightbody said he chooses not to speak to the other four committee members. Earlier this year, Committeeman W.

Thomas Renkin called Lightbody "a sick pup." Some trace the feud between Light-body and party officials to 1990, when former Mayor Paul D. Wnek received the club's endorsement to run for an unexpired committee term. Lightbody had thrown his support to Ronni L. Leddy. Others say Lightbody became angry when he was passed over to serve a third term as mayor.

A defeat in his bid for state Assembly made him bitter, they said. But Lightbody scoffs at the theories. "They're always trying to put words in people's mouths," he said. "Why not ask me?" This isn't the first time Lightbody has found himself in the middle of a GOP free-for-all. In June 1985, Robert K.

Haelig former president of the Dover Township Republican Club, tried to unseat Ocean County GOP Chairman Joseph E. Buckelew. Haelig lost the county election by one vote. The move prompted four members of the five-member Dover Township Committee to disassociate themselves from Haelig by calling for his resignation as club president. Eventually, they formed a rival Republican organization.

The only Dover committeeman who backed Haelig was Lightbody. Lightbody's actions now recall a pattern that goes back to the 1970s, said Mutter, an unofficial historian of local Republican politics. "You have 1985. You have it where he is not even talking to his (1993) running mate; you have someone who is of the nature of a lone ranger," Mutter said. "That doesn't work in politics.

Politics is the art of compromise, of working with people, of building coalitions. It's consensus building and you don't build a consensus by being out in left field all by yourself." A maverick is good for residents, Lightbody argues, even if the GOP "bosses" don't approve. Although Lightbody now labels himself as a friend to the environment, he admits it took him a long time to realize what was happening at the polluted Ciba-Geigy Corp. site. In 1985, Lightbody received a "dishonorable mention" award from the Save Our Ocean Committee, which said that as mayor he had been "gambling with our safety by never pi'blicly ENTERTAINMENT CENTER SLEEK OESIQN $128 WW Cokxx or Eq LOWEST PRICES EVER GUARANTEED FREE LAYAWAY WITH TAX REFUND WITH COUPON 4 PC.

WITH COUPON 4 PC. PINE FINISH BEDROOM BLK. MARBLE BEDROOM tion meeting tomorrow. Lightbody, 50, lives on Sica Lane. He is county traffic engineer and chairs the Ocean County Traffic Committee.

He said he knew his days were numbered when he refused to vote the party line on the appointment of Dennis F. O'Neill as township administrator and the 1989 appointment of Albert Lecuyer as police chief, among other issues. "The wheeling and dealing that goes with things like that should be of utmost concern to the people of this township," Lightbody said. His role in prolonging last year's llth-month budget battle did not win him friends in his own party, which has shepherded tax increases through during the last several years, he said. "On some things, I got directly involved," Lightbody said.

"I could have done like the others and just stepped back. I chose to involve myself." Lightbody has a plan for his own political resurrection: He lets the years of tax increases sink in and he gives property owners time to absorb the tax impact of the new revaluation. Then, Lightbody, who was first elected in 1981, can return, a symbol of the booming 1980s. "I've been accused of certain things and time will just play out what is the truth," he said. "Some people think I am the problem but the true problem (the committee) is still before the public." Lightbody won't name names, but he also says the problem involves "personalities" on the committee.

He said the GOP leadership will "self-destruct itself," allowing Lightbody to run again as a Republican. "They have the right to their voices, the right to their own point of view," Lightbody said. "However, I don't believe they have the right to dictate to the majority, especially when it has a direct impact on the direction of the municipality." Dover Township Mayor J. Mark Mutter sees as unlikely any plan by Lightbody to run as a GOP-sanctioned candidate in a local race. "I think it's very hard to come back once you are out," Mutter said.

"I feel very strongly it's time for the township to move ahead with new people, with new thoughts." Despite the bitterness of the past several years, Lightbody said he does not want to do harm to the GOP organization he helped strengthen over many years. "I'm hopeful I can be an asset to the Republican Party," he said. "It may not be Dover Township, but within the county, I'd like to have as much involvement as possible." Unlike the Republican Party in communities such as Tuckerton, Beach Haven and Brick Township, loyalty has no place here, Lightbody said. Many longtime GOP supporters have been alienated, and some will lose coveted political appointments, he predicted. "No matter what it is, it's called damage," Lightbody said) "Remem IRON CANOPY: BED-COUPON MATTRESS AND RAILS ALSO AVAILABLE $1 48 Set includes: gS Dresser, JJ IJLJE 1 wPp Mirror, 11 $Hf Headboard Wft TfJ Set includes: Dresser, Ifftak Mirror.

(TY Headboard i mir lrf i-rame rrame 600 Exp. 2294 4500 Exp. 2294 I yet wtJ 1 2 mean everything, runs on rumor." Petrizzo believes the rumors will get worse as the 1994 Township Committee campaign gets under way. Already the rumors are beginning to swirl. Officials here are busy denying allegations the volunteer firefighters and first aid members will be disbanded in favor of a paid service, which the township clearly cann afford, she said.

"It's playing on people's emotions to create political unrest, to create issues," she said. "That to me is not working in the best interests of the town." Petrizzo says she wi'l not single out individuals for the committee problems. Instead, she points out that many people made mistakes that made the rift more pronounced. And in the simmering mix, Petrizzo and fellow newcomer Committeeman Paul D. Wnek, were trying to educate themselves about the township's budget problems and other issues.

Wnek did not seek re-election. "It was tough going. There was a battle going on," she said. "What I saw and what I think is (wrong) is, it depends on whose idea it is, whether it is given full consideration. That's what has to be changed in government." Petrizzo, the only female committee member, had to learn to temper her directness with diplomacy.

She said she strived to be less emotional and more objective. "What I think is necessary is a little less ego and a little more result-oriented" action from the committee, she said. "I think you need more women involved in government. I think women are more result-oriented, in general." That sentiment drives Petrizzo's continued criticism of Township Administrator Dennis F. O'Neill, who also serves as controller, director of personnel, purchasing agent and insurance secretary.

too much responsibility and power in the hands of one individual, she said. Labor problems, deteriorating morale among municipal employees, stalled contract negotiations and a troubled leaf collection program indicate O'Neill simply has too much to do to be effective, she said. "We all have to realize the buck stops here," she said. "It is the job of local government to see the town operating properly. We need to make sure our professionals are doing the job properly." BRASS HEADBOARD a rniinnu n' YOUR CHOICE ANY SIZE Exp.

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