At meeting, some call for councilman to step down
Official’s drunk driving arrest major topic
at meeting
BY ELAINEVANDEVELDE
Staff Writer

William A. Kruczak

Edison Township Councilman William A. Kruczak missed both the workshop and regular council meetings last week.

But that didn’t stop some in attendance from voicing their opinions on Kruczak’s second driving-while-intoxicated charge while in office.

Those who spoke at the first public meeting since the July 30 arrest were angrier about what police reported that Kruczak did and said during the arrest than about the actual charges.

The incident was "a slap in the face" to township residents, said resident Louise Riscala. She berated township officials for enabling a colleague whose problem has affected his job on the council and adversely affected those he serves.

Riscala also blamed the governing body for not acting in the best interests of the township’s 100,000 people and doing something to avert behavior like Kruczak’s.

Riscala and others were particularly concerned that, according to police reports, the 48-year-old, three-term councilman told arresting officer Sherilyn Courtney he could get her a "$90,000-a-year job" in Edison.

Kruczak said in an Aug. 19 statement that he has a "serious disease" and was receiving medical attention.

"I apologize to all involved for my actions and statements," Kruczak said.

Since he made that statement, there have been attempts to contact him at home and at his place of employment, but he has not responded.

His attorney, Eric B. Morrell, East Brunswick, entered a "not guilty" plea on behalf of Kruczak in an Aug. 6 letter to the South Plainfield municipal court administrator.

According to a police report written after his arrest, when Courtney tried to administer field sobriety tests at the scene of the Columbia Bank on Oak Tree Road in South Plainfield, Kruczak asked, "Don’t you know who I am?" He also told Courtney to call Edison Deputy Chief Brent Papi to "make this whole thing disappear," according to the report.

Kruczak, a Democrat, was also charged with driving while intoxicated Dec. 22, 2000. He was found at an Edison intersection, unconscious, at the wheel of his car, according to the police report. He was taken to JFK Medical Center to be evaluated, the report said.

Democratic Mayor George Spadoro has called Kruczak’s arrest a "personal situation" and has declined to comment further.

It is far from personal when a public official is throwing his power around, said Republican municipal committeeman Kevin Duffy.

Because of what he called an unacceptable abuse of power, as illustrated in the police report, Duffy called on the council to "make sure he resigns."

More careful scrutiny of officials’ ac­tions is warranted, said former Republi­can Councilman Raymond Copperwatz, who said the incident called for local pay-to-play legislation.

He said that though pay-to-play legis­lation would not stop such alleged abuses of authority, now is a good time for the council to prove it wants to be above re­proach.

Kruczak won his third term on the council in 2003.

Anthony Russomanno, Democratic municipal committeeman, questioned how Kruczak got the nomination to run for a council seat in light of his past problems.

"There are 156 committee people throughout town," he said. "How were they persuaded to support him? The prob­lem is not Billy, personally, and his de­structive pattern. If that were the only is­sue, there wouldn’t be any problem. The issue is the abuse of power when he is af­fected by his problem."

Resident Peter Cerrato, also a Repub­lican, said he was circulating a petition to recall Kruczak.

Cerrato would need more than 10,000 valid signatures of registered voters, or 25 percent, to hold a special recall elec­tion, according to the municipal clerk’s of­fice.

If Kruczak resigns after Sept. 3, three candidates will be chosen to replace him by the township Democratic Committee. The names will be given to the council, and they will choose one from the three. If he does resign before Friday, there would be a November special election to replace him, according to state procedure.