Steve Corodemus
Hometown: Atlantic Highlands
Age: 51
Occupation: Attorney at Law
REPUBLICAN
Steve Corodemus
Hometown: Atlantic Highlands
Age: 51
Occupation: Attorney at Law
Biography: Born in Newark in 1952. Married to wife Michele; two children, Dimitrios and Katie. Graduated from Rutgers University, New Brunswick, in 1974 with a bachelor of arts degree in history. Graduated from Seton Hall Law School in 1979.
Q: What do you propose doing to bring about property tax relief?
A. New Jersey has nearly 150 more school districts than it has municipalities. I intend to focus on other states’ school systems to determine if New Jersey really can continue to pay for 600-plus school districts, 600 superintendents and principals, 600 school board secretaries, 600 school board lawyers, etc. New Jersey schools need more money in the classroom, not the board room.
Q: What can be done to make housing more affordable?
A. More dense housing would assist in the exorbitant real estate component of housing. Streamlining a two-year expensive approval process may translate to greater affordability. The state of New Jersey should provide incentives for building in municipalities that have existing utilities.
Q: What ethics reforms for the Legislature, if any, do you support?
A. Specifically, I have publicly stated that I want to reform the system by ending nepotism, full financial disclosure, prohibiting dual office holding, and the creation of an ethics committee without elected officials or politicians as members.
REPUBLICAN
Sean T. Kean
Hometown: Wall
Age: 40
Occupation: Attorney
Biography: Took his seat in the Assembly in October 2002. Works for the law firm of Carton and Faccone. Grew up in Deal and attended Deal Elementary School and Red Bank Catholic High School. Graduated from Seton Hall University, South Orange. Received a graduate degree from Columbia University, and graduated from Seton Hall Law School. Served on the Wall Township Planning Board and was president of the Wall Township Republican Club. Served as treasurer, secretary and president of the Allaire Country Club Estates board of trustees, a 460-household homeowners association in Wall Township. Currently serves on the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee and the Assembly Senior Issues Committee.
Q: What do you propose doing to bring about property tax relief?
A. We must overhaul our current property tax system, which is too reliant on property taxes to fund school. Therefore, I support a constitutional convention to find an alternative means of funding our schools that does not place an unfair burden on homeowners.
Q: What can be done to make housing more affordable?
A. I believe we can make housing more affordable by encouraging developers to provide certain amounts of affordable housing. For example, in Asbury Park I am currently working with the developer Asbury Partners in an effort to get them to perform 10 percent of their building on the more residential west side of the city.
Q: What ethics reforms for the Legislature, if any, do you support?
A. While I believe the majority of legislators are dedicated public servants, I feel that we must take action to restore the public’s faith in their government. I believe lawmakers should be required to completely disclose their finances and New Jersey financial disclosure laws need to be tightened. I also would support a ban on both the hiring of relatives by legislators and dual office holding. Finally, I support efforts to ban the practice of "pay-to-play."