GOP TC CANDIDATE SCALERA BLAMES BAD BACK FOR DEBATE PULL-OUT - BUT SHE STILL WANTS YOUR VOTE

Phyllis Scalera, the lone Republican candidate in the Township Committee race, says she will not be in any debates, citing a bad back.

But she told Maplewoodian.com, she only ran as a favor and, at 86, is not up for a big campaign.

"I'm not going to be in any of the debates, I'm not going to be a politician," she told us during a brief interview Friday. "I'm just running because the Republican Party is asking me to run and there was no one else to run. I think it's my duty to run. I'm just a regular person in town."

Scalera's explanation follows the news on Friday from the League of Women Voters that she had pulled out of the Oct. 27 candidates forum. She also will not be in this week's candidates night set for Oct. 15 at De Hart Community Center.

Still, she says she wants your vote and believes the Township isn't doing enough for seniors.

A 48-year resident and former secretary, Scalera said she believes a Republican should be on the ballot and that the Township Committee has been all-Democratic too long.

"The Democrats have taken over," she said. "They don't do much for the seniors in town."

Scalera won the Republican primary unopposed. She is facing Democratic nominees Greg Lembrich and Nancy Adams in the race for two open seats on the five-member Township Committee. Those seats are held by Kathy Leventhal, who chose not to run, and Jerry Ryan, who lost in the primary.

"They don't do much for the seniors in town," she said of the TC. "If (voters) want to vote for me, if they feel they want something different, they want someone who cares about them, I am one of the residents. I care about them."