1. Ex-mayor wants town to dismiss suit against him | APP.com | Asbury Park Press <http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS01/802200364\ /1004/NEWS01> "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" A New Jersey version of that riddle might ask: "If a local public official takes a bribe and no one knows at the time, is anyone in town actually hurt by it?"
A complaint filed by Marlboro Township in November asserts that the town was indeed damaged by the actions of four former public officials who accepted more than $300,000 in bribes from real estate developers between 1997 and 2004. At the core of the dispute is the township's contention that the four former public officials Scannapieco; Planning Board member Stanley Young; municipal utilities chairman Richard Vuola, and Western Monmouth Utilities Authority executive director Frank Abate conspired with real estate developers to defraud the township. But one of those corrupt officials former Mayor Matthew V. Scannapieco, who admitted accepting $245,000 in cash and awaits sentencing contends that Marlboro has no proof of such harm and is asking a judge to dismiss the township's complaint. The real estate developers named in the complaint are Anthony Spalliero and his son, Joseph Spalliero; brothers Bernard and Steven Meiterman, and Edward Kay, who worked with the Meitermans. The November complaint was filed in federal court and claims the officials and the developers engaged in a pattern of racketeering, in violation of federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act. 2. Shade Tree Department, Monmouth County to oust department head | APP.com | Asbury Park Press <http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS01/802200363\ /1004/NEWS01> Monmouth County government officials have decided to oust the head of the Shade Tree Department from the $78,000-per-year job "Gary Lovallo is not being reappointed. That's all I can say about that," said Heine, noting the subject was "a personnel matter." Lovallo said, "I'm not really contesting anything. I want to move on, though I believe I wasn't given a fair shake on a lot of things."
