Officials question process
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer

BRICK TOWNSHIP - Thirty minutes is not enough time to review applications for appointments to township boards.

Councilman Daniel Toth and Councilwoman Kathy Russell both said at the Feb. 26 meeting they did not have enough time to look at résumés for John Ciocco, who was later appointed as an alternate member of the Municipal Utilities Authority and for Jane Salerno, who was appointed to a seat on the township Housing Authority.

Toth, a Republican, made a motion to hold Ciocco's appointment until the next council meeting so he could have time to review his resume. Russell, the lone Democrat on the council, seconded the motion.

"I didn't get a chance to review it," he said. "It was only given to me a half an hour ago. I'm not sure it's a complete list. I think we should be given a little more time to go over this."

Russell agreed.

"I got one agenda on Friday and this evening when I arrived, there was another agenda with these two résumés," she said. "One was even put up here [on the dais] when I sat down. We should have the appropriate time to review the resumes."

Toth made a motion to hold the MUA appointment, which Russell seconded. But the other council members voted against the motion.

Councilman Michael Thulen held up a copy of Ciocco's one-page résumé and said he was "ready to vote."

Toth and Russell then voted in favor of the vote on Ciocco's appointment, which made his appointment unanimous.

Ciocco was in the audience that night.

"Congratulations, Mr. Ciocco," Council President Ruthanne Scaturro said. "I'm sure you will do a fine job for Brick Township."

Toth then made a motion to hold Salerno's appointment, but the motion died for lack of a second.

"Mrs. Salerno has a very nice background," Scaturro said. "I thank you for your willingness to serve."

Council members then voted 7 to 0 to approve Salerno's appointment.

Both Toth and Russell said they were questioning the appointments process, not the candidates themselves.

"I did know the candidates, but I did want a little more time to review," Toth said Monday. Obviously, if the other five people felt it was so important to advance it that night, hey, I'm only one person - I thought they were very qualified candidates."

Toth said the only other applicant for the MUA slot he knew about was former Councilwoman Helen Fayad. He said he would have had to disqualify himself if Fayad's appointment had come up for a vote, since she is his father's fiancée.

"Other than that, I don't know if anybody else applied or not," he said. "I didn't have a problem with the appointments. I mean, come on, give me some notice. Don't just do it at the last minute. We are all grownups here."