Republicans win two Metuchen council seats Dem Thomas Vahalla bests GOP rival Shapiro for mayor BY KATHY CHANG Staff Writer Metuchen will have a new mayor and two Republican councilmen on the council dais in January. Longtime Councilman Thomas Vahalla, 58, received 2,555 votes while Republican mayoral candidate Steven Shapiro, 51, received 1,233 votes. "I'm excited that the people have allowed me and want me to be their mayor for the next four years," said Vahalla, who will replace longtime Mayor Edmund O'Brien, who announced in February that he would not seek a fourth term as mayor. Councilwoman Cathy Totin, who has been on the council since 1996, had also announced she would not seek another term. Two Republican council candidates - Christopher Morrison, 43, and William Waldron, 39 - won the two three-year seats that were open on the Borough Council. All seats on the council have been held by Democrats since 2001. "The people have spoken, and I will work together with whoever is coming on the council," said Vahalla, who said he congratulated the two Republican candidates for council on election night. "We will move forward to fight off consolidation, we will get things done and keep in the tradition of [former mayors] Don Wernik, John Wiley and Edmund O'Brien to keep Metuchen fiscally sound." With absentee votes, Morrison received 1,923 votes and Waldron received 1,913 votes. Incumbent Alan Grossman, 46, received 1,894 votes and Beatrice Moskowitz, 60, received 1,812 votes. About 43 percent of the 8,915 registered voters came out to the polls or filled out absentee ballots on Nov. 6. "The borough is still waiting for provisional ballots to be counted, which are expected to be in on Thursday [Nov. 15]," said Borough Clerk Bonnie Lacina. The Republican candidates said they were not worried about the outcome of the provisional ballots. "Either way, we have seen a victory," said Waldron. "The borough master plan is online and residents can watch the council meetings on the borough's Web site, which we saw were put on the Web site on Election Day." Morrison and Waldron pushed the idea of more openness during their campaign with a webcast of the meetings and putting important documents on the borough's Web site. The two Republican candidates said the win was a "great surprise." "We did feel shocked and we felt happy," said Waldron. "Everyone ran a [professional] campaign." Morrison added that they were [encouraged] that many people had to split their party in order for them to win. The two newcomers said their election night event, which was held at the Old Franklin School House on Middlesex Avenue, began as early exhaustion and then changed to tired, to excitement, then a sense of disbelief, and finally complete and utter exhaustion. "It was a late night," said Waldron. The two said the idea of sitting on the council was "a little bit" daunting, but added that as attorneys, they are used to stepping into something that they have not done before and in a very public way. "We look forward to sitting on the council and the fact that the public put trust in us. We will not take that lightly, and will fulfill the job [as council persons]," said Morrison. "We are excited."