Council candidates will not file lawsuit against clerk Candidates removed from ballot claimed 'improper action' BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer WOODBRIDGE - Two Republican candidates who said last week they would seek redress in state Superior Court over township Municipal Clerk John Mitch's decision to remove their names from the ballot have decided not to file a lawsuit. "We believe the actions of [Township Clerk] John Mitch were improper; however, the taxpayers of Woodbridge should not pay Mr. Mitch's attorney, which could be up to $10,000 to defend his baseless actions," said Christopher Struben. "Challenging the improper action of the township clerk would require the township to pay for the legal defense of the lawsuit." Mitch made the decision to take Struben of Colonia and Magdalena Curcic of Woodbridge off the primary ballot due to a lack of the required 50 signatures that each candidate must provide with their submitted application. Struben and Curcic submitted a joint petition by the April 9th deadline with fellow Republicans Paul Lund Jr. of Hopelawn and John E. Vieira of Colonia, seeking the four-year council-at-large terms. Township Republican Organization Chairman John Vrtaric is running for the four-year mayoral term. Mitch said the majority of the names signed on the petition appeared to be for Lund and Vieira. The cover sheet had all four candidates' names on the top with 11 signatures, which all the candidates shared. "There were 15 additional pages that could contain additional signatures," Mitch said. "One of the additional 15 pages said, 'Additional signatures for Christopher Struben' on top. There were seven signatures on the front and one signature on the back of the page. The following six pages had signatures supporting Paul Lund Jr. The next seven pages had signatures supporting John Vieira. And the last page was blank." Each candidate must have a minimum of 50 signatures each to be qualified to be a candidate, Mitch said. "The way I interpreted the petition is that Struben provided 19 signatures and Curcic provided 11 signatures," said Mitch. "In my opinion, they fell short of the required signatures. I followed the law." Mitch said he had to disqualify 16 names that were duplicated up to three times among the signatures for Lund and Vieira, but did not have to disqualify names for Struben and Curcic, which led him to interpret that the signatures on the pages, which only had Lund or Vieira on the top of the pages, were for them only and not for the entire running slate. Struben and Curcic said while they believe Mitch acted improperly and would have been successful in their legal challenge against his decision, they said it would be against their promise as candidates to show fiscal responsibility and act in the taxpayers' interest. In response to Struben and Curcic's decision not to file a lawsuit, Mitch said he does not believe the reasoning behind their decision to not file one. "It's not about the cost of the lawsuit because I believe the judge could make a decision on this case within minutes," said Mitch. "There is no basis for their suit, and based on my pure recognition, my decision was proper." The two candidates said the township clerk should only deny petitions that contain blatant and obvious legal deficiencies. "The denial of our petitions was on grounds that have no foundation in the Election Law statutes," said Struben. "If the municipal clerk must make an assumption as to an interpretation of the petition, as in this case, the petition should be accepted. At that point the opposing candidates can challenge a petition based on technical or unique legal interpretations and paid for their own attorney; however, the clerk interjected himself in a political process." Mitch said though he respects the candidates' opinions, he said it is unfortunate that the issue has been categorized as political. "I reviewed all the petitions," said Mitch. "I had to decline the most signatures from the incumbent Democratic mayor [John E. McCormac], and I believe those numbers speak volumes." Mitch said out of 150 signatures that McCormac, who is finishing Mayor Frank G. Pelzman's unexpired term, received, he removed 37. Incumbents James Carroll, Gregg Ficarra, Patricia Osborne and council President Brenda Yori Velasco and newcomer Frederick T. Fry Sr. of Colonia will vie for the four-year, council-at-large terms. Struben's and Curcic's names will not be on the primary ballot; however, they need 50 signatures each on Primary Election Day [June 5] to have their names on the ballot for the November election.