Mayoral candidates debate borough issues O'Brien, Pollando trade barbs during pre-election forum BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer Kennedy O'Brien SAYREVILLE - Two of the biggest names in borough government will battle it out for mayor next week. But before they compete at the polls, incumbent Mayor Kennedy O'Brien and challenger Thomas Pollando faced off Tuesday in a debate witnessed by scores of residents. During the forum, held at Sayreville War Memorial High School and sponsored by the Home News Tribune, each official criticized the other's policies and elaborated on his own ideas and proposals. Pollando, a Democrat who currently serves as Borough Council president, said that O'Brien, a Republican mayor for the past eight years, lacks a plan for the borough, and cited the need for new businesses and jobs in the business district along Main Street. Pollando said the mayor should work with state agencies to revitalize the downtown area. "Kennedy O'Brien had his chance," Pollando said. O'Brien addressed this criticism, saying that while he was a member of the Sayreville Economic Redevelopment Agency (SERA) for seven years, he had four subcommittees focus on the redevelopment of the Route 35 corridor, the Route 9 corridor, the Raritan Street entrance to the borough, and the business district on Main Street between Washington Road and MacArthur Avenue. Thomas Pollando "I think Sayreville has made great progress," O'Brien said. "I've had a very active administration over the past eight years." O'Brien raised concerns about plans to construct the proposed Main Street Bypass, a two-lane road that would run parallel to Main Street. He said that residents of Main Street communities, including Sheffield Mews and Main Street Townhomes, do not want the bypass built, fearing that their streets will become "cut-through" roads for commuters. He said officials should meet with the residents to discuss the issues. "I would not build something that the people don't want," O'Brien said. Pollando said that the council is willing to address the concerns of residents who will be affected by the project. He added that the Main Street Bypass has been in the works for 20 years. "The mayor knows that for 20 years this has been in place," Pollando said. On the concerns raised earlier this year that a cancer cluster might exist in Sayreville, Pollando said that environmental experts reviewed the matter and determined there was no such cluster in the borough. "Sayreville is no worse off than any other place in Middlesex County," Pollando said. O'Brien said information on the potential cancer cluster has been conflicting thus far, but the amount of testimony that was given at public meetings has given him cause for concern. "We have enough questions that we have to find the answers," O'Brien said. Pollando also spoke of residents who live near the Gerdau Ameristeel mill on North Crossman Road, who allege that black dust accumulating on their property is coming from the mill. He said the steel mill is still in the process of conducting tests, which he feels are long overdue. "We are all waiting to get the results," Pollando said. O'Brien said the steel mill needs to address the concerns of its neighbors now, and expressed an interest in "holding their feet to the fire." "That is a huge problem," O'Brien said. I feel that the steel mill has been dragging their feet. "I am extraordinarily dissatisfied by the slowness and the procrastination by the steel mill," he added. The steel mill has been funding tests of the material and coordin ating information sessions for residents. O'Brien criticized the Borough Council, which is composed entirely of Democrats, on spending, saying that it had political motives for appointing the borough attorney and that the firm is expensive for taxpayers. "We all received our tax bill this year and it was the largest tax bill in the history of Sayreville," he said. O'Brien said that under Republican control, the council had zero-percent municipal tax increases. He added that Democrats did not act on his call for a municipal hiring freeze. "[The Democrats] put it into committee, which means it's never coming out," O'Brien said. Pollando disputed the mayor's assertion that the council has acted in a partisan manner on any issues. He added that most town attorneys are politically connected, and that the law firm used when the Republicans controlled the council was no exception. The Democrats' appointed law firm has saved the borough money by using a flat rate for billing rather than an hourly rate, Pollando said. He said the council has been fiscally responsible by not creating new positions and by working with state officials to bring in monetary aid to the borough. In his closing statement, O'Brien said that controlling spending will be one of his primary concerns as mayor if he is reelected. "I will oppose the hiring of political cronies, political hacks and the wasting of your tax dollars," O'Brien said. Pollando, in closing, said the mayor has failed to keep the promises he made when he was first elected to office, such as controlling development, stabilizing taxes and attracting new jobs. "The mayor still has no plan to address these issues," Pollando said.