Vrtaric Says Closeness Of Woodbridge Council Race Shows Resident Anger

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — John Vrtaric lost to Sharon McAuliffe by less than 1,000 votes in the Nov. 8 election for the Woodbridge First Ward Council seat.

McAuliffe received a total of 2,722 votes and Vrtaric received 2,213 votes, according to these final election results from Middlesex County.

Vrtaric, who lost the Council seat by 509 votes, said this week the closeness of the election shows that Woodbridge residents are angry with some things in town.

"Every time I talk to residents in the First Ward, what they talk about is traffic, overcrowding and crime," said Vrtaric on Monday of this week, speaking from inside his business, Vatra Beauty Supply on Amboy Avenue/Rt. 35. "We were leading on election night. Then all the mail-in votes came in a few days later. The majority of the mail-in votes went to McAuliffe."

McAuliffe, a Democrat, is the former owner of Knot Just Bagels. Her business was, in fact, a direct victim of the Woodbridge building boom: Her popular bagel shop had to close so the seven-story Modera apartment building could open in its place. It never reopened.

Last year, she was chosen by the all-Democrat Woodbridge Council for an open Council seat. On Nov. 8, she won election to that seat.

Vrtaric, a Republican, is the owner of a local hair salon and beauty supply store. He has been chair of the Woodbridge Republican Party for several years now. In addition to Vatra, he also owns Mr. John's unisex salon.

Vrtaric is part of a growing number of Woodbridge residents who say there is too much development happening in town. Avenue + Green (opened in late 2021), The Grande at MetroPark (opened in July), the Vermella (opened in March) and Modera are just a few of the massive Woodbridge apartment rental complexes that opened in the past few years.

Vrtaric rejected the idea that all the new incoming residents will be good for small-business owners like himself.

"Look at Port Reading: They brought in all the coal and raw materials to Port Reading and things were good there for a while; everyone was happy because there were jobs. Then it turned into a ghetto," he said.

He predicted that's what's going to happen to all the new apartment complexes in Woodbridge.

"These apartments have affordable housing in them. In a few years, it will turn into a ghetto, just watch," he predicted. "And everyone in town is afraid to criticize (Woodbridge Mayor John)McCormac. He wants a Councilperson he can control."

"I don't appoint Councilpersons," was the only response McCormac gave to Vrtaric's criticism.

McAuliffe told Patch last summer her bagel store would reopen — but it never did.

Vrtaric also said there is also a growing number of Woodbridge residents who will vote Republican, angered over development and inflation. He said Republican Congress candidate Sue Kiley was leading in Woodbridge Township on election night, but then ultimately lost to Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone after all mail-in votes had been counted. The final vote count in the NJ 6 Congress race was that Democrat Pallone won with 57 percent of the vote (106,236 votes) to 41 percent for Kiley (75,839 votes). Frank Pallone Vs. Sue Kiley: Where They Stand On The Biggest Issues

Vratric himself fled communist Yugoslavia (today Croatia) when he was a child.

"That's how it starts: The government prints money and gives everyone money and jobs and everyone is happy because they think it's like Santa Claus," he said. "This exactly happened in Yugoslavia: Just like over here, the poor got money from the government. But then you know what happens? You become dependent on the government and can never get out. It started as socialism in Yugoslavia and then became communism."

A total of 4,943 people voted in the Nov. 8 First Ward Council race. There are about 68,000 registered voters in Woodbridge, but this was only an election for the First Ward Council seat.