Woodbridge Councilwoman McAuliffe: I Stopped Introducing Ordinances I Can't Vote On

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — At the most recent Woodbridge council meeting Tuesday night, Councilwoman Sharon McAuliffe reiterated to the public that she stopped introducing ordinances she cannot vote on.

On several occasions in the past year, McAuliffe has introduced town ordinances for a council vote, but then recused herself, citing a conflict of interest, as she owns Knot Just Bagels bagel store on Main Street. The ordinances, one of which was a Main Street Rehabilitation & Transit Village Plan the Council took a majority vote to approve in April, could benefit her business.

In June, Woodbridge Republican Party chairman John Vrtaric filed an ethics complaint about this with the NJ Local Finance Board, which opened an investigation into McAulffe. That investigation remains open as of September.

McAuliffe said Tuesday night she consulted with the town's lawyer and was told it was a legal grey area. But she has since stopped introducing ordinances she cannot vote on, she said. Starting at minute 4:00 of the meeting, McAuliffe said:

"A few months ago, a question at the council meeting was sought to advise our municipal attorney about my motions on ordinances and resolutions that I planned to rescue myself on, and he suggested that, although it was a grey area, that I refrain from even making the motions. Which I did instantly."

"We have reviewed the complaint filed by the state of New Jersey and it very specifically refers to actions taken before we sought legal advice, and not afterwards," she continued.

McAuliffe said Vrtaric should know this, as he regularly attends Council meetings.

After she spoke, a lawyer who works for Woodbridge Township attorney James Nolan then spoke.

"We disagree that there has been any improper action by Council vice president McAuliffe," said the town's lawyer. "However, out of an abundance of caution and looking into this further, the council has revised its procedures so that when a member of the Council recuses themselves from a vote because of a conflict, that councilperson will no longer participate in any way, including the introduction of the resolution or ordinance by motion."

New Jersey Assembly speaker Craig Coughlin (D) is the attorney for the Woodbridge council; he is paid by the town to give legal advice to the council. Coughlin was at the meeting Tuesday night, but it is unknown why he did not give this legal advice. Coughlin actually got up and left the meeting before McAuliffe gave her statement.

Vrtaric is backing Ken Gardner, a Republican running against McAuliffe, a Democrat, this fall for Woodbridge's First Ward council seat.

Gardner said he supports Vrtaric's filing of the ethics complaint.

He also said he thinks McAuliffe's past actions show a laxity of the rules on the Woodbridge council.

"We think this is the tip of the iceberg in Woodbridge because of one-party rule," Gardner said Wednesday. "They think they can do whatever they want," he said, referring to Mayor John McCormac and his council slate, all Democrats.

McAuliffe also said Tuesday: "Going as far back as 1992, when my First Ward opponent was on the Council, it has been the policy of the Council vice president to make motion to introduce ordinances and resolutions, and I have done so since the beginning of the year."

But Gardner said that is not true. Gardner was Woodbridge Council president when he was an at-large councilman for one term, four years, in the '90s. Gardner then ran for Woodbridge mayor, as a Republican, and lost to Jim McGreevey.

"I did not allow that to happen, and I would never have allowed that to happen," he said Wednesday.

McAuliffe also accused Vrtaric and Gardner of "unwarranted allegations" and "a desperate political attempt to garner headlines weeks before the general election."

"I am confident that the First Ward voters who know me and my record will see through this obvious attempt at political gamesmanship," she said, in part.

First report: Investigation Opened Into Woodbridge Councilwoman After Ethics Complaint Filed (Sept. 17)

Woodbridge Councilwoman McAuliffe Responds To Ethics Complaint Filed About Her (Sept. 19)

The Tuesday night Woodbridge Council meeting: