West Long Branch councilman quits
Woolley cites health before exiting contentious meeting
BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer

Joseph Woolley

Joe Woolley has stepped down from his West Long Branch Borough Council seat literally.

Just before he made his dramatic exit from the room in the closing moments of last Thursday's lengthy and often confrontational council meeting, Woolley announced that he would resign his council post of 16 years out of concern for his health.

"I spoke to my cardiologist," said Woolley who has undergone quadruple heart bypass surgery in the past. "West Long Branch has taken its toll on me.

"It was a nice ride, but it's over," he added before gathering up his paperwork, walking off the dais and out of the meeting room as his shocked colleagues and others in attendance watched.

Woolley's sudden announcement came just after Councilman Christopher Neyhart had moved to adjourn the meeting and as Mayor Janet Tucci called for a second.

It also capped off about a half-hour's worth of questioning by a handful of residents that was directed at Woolley, Tucci and other officials about the operations of the borough's building department and its lead inspector, Michael Jahn.

Many of the inquiries and comments voiced by residents during the meeting's public portion related to reports that the West Long Branch First Aid Squad had started renovations in the basement of their Monmouth Road headquarters without obtaining proper municipal permits.

The volunteer squad, which operates independently of any borough department, has until Aug. 11 to get the permit from the building department or it would incur fines of $2,000 per week, according to a letter written by Jahn to squad members and read by Woolley during the meeting.

Meanwhile, in a telephone interview on Monday night, Woolley stated that he would submit a formal resignation to borough officials later this week.

Though he cited lingering concerns about his health as the primary reason for his resignation, Woolley acknowledged that what he perceived as attacks by residents on Council President Richard F. Cooper Jr. and Councilwoman Barbara Ruane, both First Aid Squad members, prompted his departure.

The residents who had questioned Cooper and Ruane as to whether or not they had knowledge of the squad allowing a contractor to begin construction without a permit have their own agenda, Woolley said.

"The final straw was when they went after Dick Cooper and Barbara Ruane as if to think they had anything to do with it," Woolley said without naming the residents involved.

Such personal agendas "have no place in West Long Branch," he pointed out.

"It was the culmination of about a year and a half of nonsense," Woolley said of his walking off.

"That just put me over the edge," he went on "I've worked too hard for this town. I want to keep West Long Branch moving."

Locust Avenue resident Mary Lynch, a frequent speaker at council meetings, was one resident who queried Cooper and Ruane about the squad's failure to obtain permits.

Lynch stressed that it was not the actions of the First Aid Squad itself that she questioned, but the operations of the building department.

"This seems to be the only town around where people do not understand that they need permits and inspections," Lynch said during the meeting.

"I think as a taxpayer, I'm entitled to know why [the squad] didn't follow the law," Lynch continued. "They broke the law when they did not get a permit. They broke the law when they did not get an inspection."

A number of construction projects in the borough have gone forward without needed permits because, Jahn who is available from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. in the building and code enforcement offices, also works full-time as an inspector in Asbury Park, Lynch said.

"Why are we paying someone a full-time salary of $49,000 a year to do something part-time when he does the same job in Asbury Park?" Lynch asked the council.

In addition, Lynch mentioned that investigators from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office had visited the building office to probe the First Aid Squad matter, but found no one there.

Woolley admitted that county investigators had been to the building office, but were not continuing the probe.

Calls to the Prosecutor's Office in Freehold were not returned by press time.

Meanwhile, Cooper and Ruane told Lynch that as members, they had not been involved in the squad's renovations, which were overseen by the organization's construction committee.

Both officials stated that up until this spring, they had not attended squad meetings because they had been held on the same night as council meetings. However, they had continued to respond to first aid calls.

"I've been a member of the first aid squad for 30 years," Cooper told Lynch. "If you want to hold me responsible, go ahead."

Ruane, the council's liaison to the borough's emergency responders who also serves as the squad's corresponding secretary, said that she had only learned that the construction had begun without a permit after Lynch had raised the issue at a previous meeting.

"We got on it and I told them they needed a permit," Ruane told Lynch.

As for the building department, Woolley indicated that a full-time technical assistant would soon be hired to support Jahn and to help process applications for permits.

Geraldine Fawcett of Beechwood Avenue questioned Woolley about that plan.

"Why would you give $49,000 to Mr. Jahn and then hire a full-time assistant?" asked Fawcett, another frequent speaker at meetings.

The assistant would cover the building department office during those times when Jahn, who is also the borough's electrical inspector and fire inspector, could not be there, Woolley replied.

As of Tuesday, Tucci, Cooper and Ruane, who along with Woolley are all members of the local Republican Party, said they were still dealing with the aftershocks of Woolley's resignation.

Because Woolley has not formally submitted his resignation in writing as of Monday night, no action had been taken by the West Long Branch GOP to nominate a successor, according to both Tucci and Cooper.

Tucci, a first-term mayor, said she hopes that Woolley will reconsider and stay in office at least until his current term expires at the end of 2007.

"I'm still in a state of shock," Tucci said. "Joe is an invaluable member of the council."

"It would be a great loss to the town if he leaves," she continued. "He puts a lot of time, energy and talent into his committees."

Both Tucci and Cooper, however, admitted that Woolley's health and personal well-being must come first.

"I respect his wishes," Cooper said. "He's had serious heart problems. I can understand if it is becoming stressful for him."

Woolley's experience in hands-on building trades has also proven invaluable in relation to construction issues, Cooper noted.

"I hate to see him go," Cooper said.

Woolley put in endless hours on behalf of the town, Ruane said.

"I will miss him terribly," Ruane said in an e-mailed message. "It is so disheartening to lose a hardworking, conscientious person like Joe."