Democrats retain mayor, council seats Mayor plans to address quality-of-life issues, township redevelopment in first full term BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Mayor John E. McCormac will serve his first full four-year term as mayor in January. "It's encouraging to know that the people of Woodbridge agree with the direction that we have taken within this past year," he said. "We will work just as hard for the next four years." McCormac, who served as chief financial officer under then-Mayor James E. McGreevey for 10 years and became state treasurer when McGreevey became governor in 2002, received 14,826 votes while Republican mayoral candidate John Vrtaric received 3,556 votes. McCormac, 49, of Guernsey Lane in Colonia, was voted in last November to complete the late Mayor Frank Pelzman's unexpired term, which ends Dec. 31, 2007. Pelzman, 71, died on June 29, 2006. "We are working on an agenda for next year that will be announced in my State of the Township address," he said. "Right now, we will continue working on the quality-of-life issues and redevelopment plan in the township." Council President Brenda Yori-Velasco of Colonia, Councilmen James Carroll of Fords and Gregg Ficarra of Woodbridge Proper, and Councilwoman Patricia Osborne of Iselin were re-elected for four-year council-at-large seats. With absentee ballots, Ficarra received 9,156 votes, Osborne received 9,006 votes, Yori-Velasco received 8,870 votes, and Carroll received 8,797 votes. About 30 percent of the township's 49,141 registered voters came out to the polls on Nov. 6. On the Republican slate, Paul Lund received 4,730 votes, Christopher Struben received 4,637 votes, John Vieira received 4,524 votes, and Magdalena Curcic received 4,450 votes. Ficarra, who replaced Councilwoman Caroline Ehrlich in January and is the newest council person on the dais, said it was rewarding that the people of Woodbridge put faith in him in such a brief period of time. "I have a responsibility to live up to that [win], and I will spend every day to do that," said Ficarra. Yori-Velasco said the election win was a reaffirmation of what the council and the administration have been doing. "It [winning] felt good and [brought a sense of] relief," she said. Vrtaric, who is not new to the political scene, said at his age (62), he wasn't sure if he would run again in the next elections, but that he would remain the Republican Organization chairman. Vrtaric ran unsuccessfully in the 1997 Democratic primary against Councilman Charles Kenny. He also ran unsuccessfully for mayor as an independent against then-Mayor James McGreevey and Republican candidate Christopher Struben in 1999. He also lost council races for a Ward 1 council seat in 2001 as an independent and in 2004 as a Republican. Paul Lund, who ran for the first time in this year's election, said the elections were encouraging. "[Throughout the state] we can see that people are sick and tired of the same old same old," said Lund. "Our goal is always to have a balance of representatives and make sure that it is not one voice."