Brief makes claim GOP running mates have split

MANALAPAN - Following state Superior Court Judge Richard W. English's decision to let Manalapan proceed with a malpractice complaint against attorney Stuart Moskovitz, the News Transcript obtained and reviewed legal briefs that had been filed by the township's counsel and by Moskovitz.

Upon review, it was learned that Moskovitz's brief contains several allegations regarding the newest member of the Township Committee, Republican Committeewoman Susan Cohen.

Moskovitz asserts that Cohen is not running a campaign for committee with Andrew Lucas, who is listed with her on the Republican ticket, and that Cohen was directed to leave a Township Committee executive session when the litigation against Moskovitz was discussed.

Moskovitz served as Manalapan's municipal attorney in 2005. In legal action filed against him, the township is claiming his actions as the township attorney caused Manalapan to purchase contaminated property near the Manalapan Recreation Center.

In his brief dated Aug. 12, Moskovitz claims one of the reasons a malpractice action is being litigated against him is to keep him from working on Cohen's present campaign for the Township Committee.

Cohen was appointed to the committee in May to fill an open seat on the five-member governing body. That term runs through Dec. 31. She was also selected by the Republican Party to run on the GOP ticket with Lucas for a full three-year term.

Lucas is in the final year of his first three-year term on the committee. He is serving as Manalapan's mayor this year.

In his brief Moskovitz asserts that Cohen is running against Lucas. That statement shocked Lucas and Manalapan's Republican municipal chairman, Steve McEnery.

McEnery said Moskovitz's assertion that Cohen is running against Lucas is "a figment of his imagination."

Moskovitz's brief states, " … Ms. Cohen is running against the current township mayor (Andrew Lucas) and Drew Shapiro for Township Committee this fall … the primary interest here is to derail Ms. Cohen's bid to defeat (Lucas) and Drew Shapiro by violating defendant's (Moskovitz) first amendment right to be involved politically in Ms. Cohen's campaign. Each day this case continues is a serious detriment to Ms. Cohen's ability to run against Mayor Lucas and former Mayor Shapiro."

McEnery told the News Transcript that when Manalapan's Republican County Committee representatives met with Cohen to discuss her appointment to the committee and selection as a candidate for the November election, she gave them her word that Moskovitz would not be involved in her campaign.

"She was asked point blank if Stuart Moskovitz was going to be involved in her campaign and her answer was absolutely not," McEnery said. "Susan was told in no uncertain terms that Stuart Moskovitz was not to be involved in her campaign."

That is absolutely not true, Cohen said. She said she informed the GOP county committee representatives who were present at those meetings that Moskovitz would not be a "major influence" in her campaign and not that he would not be involved at all.

As to whether she is running with Lucas, Cohen said, "I'm running my own campaign."

When asked what he thought about Moskovitz's assertions regarding his running mate, Lucas told a reporter, "I don't know what to make of it."

MaryAnn Musich and Joel Schechter are two of the county committee representatives who were present when Cohen was asked about Moskovitz relative to her being selected to run on the Republican ticket.

When contacted for comment, Musich and Schechter both agreed with McEnery's account of the matter.

Musich said that Moskovitz not being involved in the campaign was a "stipulation of her (Cohen) being chosen as candidate."

"I never would have selected her as a candidate if I thought Stuart Moskovitz was going to be involved in her campaign," Musich said.

Cohen said that until the litigation between Manalapan and Moskovitz is resolved he will not be involved in her campaign, "nor will anyone who is involved with litigation with the town." However, she did not rule out Moskovitz's involvement in her campaign at some point, saying "maybe" he would be involved.

Moskovitz's brief to the court also contains an allegation that was confirmed by Cohen. He stated in his brief that Cohen had been "ordered" out of a Township Committee executive session when the remaining members of the governing body and other municipal representatives were going to be discussing the township's litigation against Moskovitz.

Cohen said it is true she left the room when the Moskovitz litigation was being discussed because it had been the general consensus of the others present at the meeting that she was compromised because her relationship with Moskovitz was personal, in that they are friends, and professional because Cohen's husband has and will continue to retain Moskovitz for certain business affairs.

"I was told I had to leave the room because there was a conflict of interest. I was told that by everybody. I wasn't arguing the point, so I left," she said.

One point the judge made during the Aug. 20 hearing was that Moskovitz's filings were not accompanied by a standard certification in which an individual attests to the truth of his statements and acknowledges that he is subject to prosecution for any willful untruths in that statement.

Moskovitz said he believed that signing the filing was that certification, but said he would file the proper certification in the future.

There are five candidates running for two three-year terms on the Manalapan Township Committee in the November election. The candidates are Democrats Drew Shapiro and Herb Barrack, Republicans Susan Cohen and Andrew Lucas and independent candidate Joseph De- Pasquale.