22nd District races target dysfunction

Published in the Star-Ledger, Sunday, October 28, 2007

[22nd Legislative District Races]
Hopefuls focus on an ailing Trenton
22nd District races target dysfunction

BY ALEXI FRIEDMAN
STAR-LEDGER STAFF

The four candidates hoping to unseat two incumbent Assembly members from the 22nd Legislative District say this election is about fixing a dysfunctional government.

Cutting taxes, passing tough ethics reform and bolstering the public school system are priorities, the candidates say.

But the Nov. 6 election is also about effectively getting the message out. On that score the two Republicans, Bryan Des Rochers and Robert Gatto -- and Libertarian candidates Sean Colon and Dolores Makrogiannis -- face an uphill battle.

They oppose Democrats Linda Stender and Jerry Green, incumbents who are better financed and organized in the heavily Democratic district, which includes parts of Union, Middlesex and Somerset counties.

In the race for the district's Senate seat, Republican Rose McConnell faces a similar fight against Democratic Sen. Nicholas Scutari.

Gatto, 44, said "our state is in such terrible shape I don't know where to look first. There is stagnation in Trenton and debt is continually rising."

Des Rochers, 29, said the Legislature hasn't properly addressed political corruption and what he calls wasteful spending.

"We need to clamp down and get serious on ethics reform," he added. Des Rochers pointed to Assemblyman Green's recent resignation from a job at a lobbying firm as an example of the problem.

After reports by Gannett New Jersey, Green stepped down from the Alman Group, a Westfield company that represents more than a dozen hospitals, including Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. Green is a member of the Health and Senior Services Committee.

Green, 68, said he hasn't done any work for Alman Group in the last year to avoid any potential conflicts, and added the Assembly ethics committee had approved his work.

First elected to the Assembly 15 years ago, Green said he will continue to address issues like taxes, health care and housing.

"We have to come up with policies that make housing affordable," he said, "not only to young people, but to people in general."

Stender has been an Assembly member since 2002, and said she is running on her accomplishments, chiefly o n the environment. Stender co-wrote the Global Warming Response Act, which has become law, establishing strict limitations on emissions.

Stender has been criticized by her opponents for deciding to seek re-election while also announcing her intention to run for Congress next year. Stender narrowly lost to Rep. Mike Ferguson in 2006.

"I'm focused on running for re-election to the Legislature," she said. "That's the immediate priority."

Libertarians Colon, 23, and Makrogiannis, 58, are running on several issues, including anti-corruption, education reform and tax relief. On taxes, Colon, who is secretary of the New Jersey Libertarian party, said: "What we need here is surgery and that means reform."

On education, Makrogiannis believes in "a separation of education and state," so the average taxpayer without a child in school doesn't have to carry so much of the burden. "We can start by endorsing more charter schools and making home schooling easier," she said.

In the Senate race, Scutari, 38, cited the state's "long-range fiscal stability" as his biggest concern. Noting the rising costs of government worker pensions, he said he would like future employees to receive a different set of benefits. "We can't continue to promise and promise and not pay for it."

McConnell has been involved in Somerset County politics for three decades. At 83, she is retired but volunteers with numerous community organizations and is a county parks commissioner.

The 22nd District includes Clark, Dunellen, Fanwood, Green Brook, Linden, Middlesex Borough, North Plainfield, Plainfield, Rahway, Scotch Plains and Winfield.

Story NOT online; transcribed by DD.

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