BY SUE MORGAN
Staff Writer
WEST LONG BRANCH — A few borough residents say they don’t want to see former Mayor Paul Zambrano hanging out at borough hall.
Actually, it is a portrait of the ex-official, who recently admitted in a federal court that he accepted $15,000 in bribes from an FBI witness whom he mistakenly believed was a demolition contractor, that a handful of residents are hung up on.
One of those residents, Kathy Elfner, has even offered to pay for a new, updated portrait of the borough’s elected officials after the winners of the Nov. 8 election are known.
But in the meantime, Elfner and a few fellow residents in attendance at the Borough Council’s Oct. 5 meeting insist that the 2-year-old portrait showing Zambrano, former Councilman Joseph DeLisa, and several other current officials standing in Franklin Lake Park should be removed from the borough hall lobby.
“You can take a new picture after a new board is elected in November at my expense,” said Elfner, of Parker Road.
In short, the Feb. 22 arrests of Zambrano and DeLisa on extortion charges brought negative publicity to West Long Branch that the town’s officials and residents need to get past, Elfner said.
Zambrano pleaded guilty to one charge of extortion on Aug. 24 and is due for sentencing on Nov. 29. DeLisa, charged by the FBI with taking a total of $3,000 in bribes from the same federal witness, has yet to appear in court.
“You can’t move forward when you have a confessed criminal who is going to be sent up on Nov. 29,” Elfner told the council.
By keeping the portrait in sight, officials are showing that they are still loyal to the ex-mayor, Elfner said.
“I want you to bring that picture down. If you have to, you can put the picture and the plaque in a back hallway where you can revere him,” she added.
However, Mayor John Paolantonio and a few of the council members do not necessarily agree.
Paolantonio, a Democrat who was appointed to succeed Zambrano in April after the former mayor resigned in the wake of the charges, told Elfner that the portrait should stay because it is a record of who was in office at the time the current borough hall was dedicated.
“[The portrait] was taken when this building was built,” said Paolantonio, who is now running for election to the mayor’s office. “If it embarrasses you, I’m sorry. It doesn’t embarrass me.”
Councilwoman Janet Tucci, a Republican opposing Paolantonio in the Nov. 8 election, told Elfner that the portrait’s presence is not a pressing matter.
“I don’t want to see this particular issue become a big news item week after week,” Tucci said.
Talking about the portrait in a public meeting is “inappropriate,” said council President Richard Cooper, also a Republican.
“When we took the picture it was because of the dedication,” said Cooper, who is also in the photo along with Tucci and Councilmen Joseph Woolley and William Boglioli.
“I haven’t given it much thought,” said Woolley, a Republican.
Councilwoman Tanis Deitch, a Democrat named last spring to succeed DeLisa, who also resigned after his arrest, found no offense with the portrait.
“I think we should leave it up. I don’t see any reason to take it down,” said Deitch, who is seeking election to the seat she now holds.
Even if the council still regards Zambrano for his years of service to the community, keeping the portrait on display could send the wrong message, said Pinewood Avenue resident Joseph Hughes.
“It’s okay to love Paul, to love somebody and feel for somebody who made a mistake,” Hughes said. “I think deep down inside, he is a good person, but he made a mistake.”
Zambrano’s illegal actions did not reflect well on West Long Branch, and for that reason, the portrait should be taken down, Hughes went on.
“I think it is a total embarrassment to show that photograph,” Hughes said.
Paolantonio again disagreed.
“It’s a picture. It has nothing to do with what happened,” Paolantonio said.
Zambrano was the first of the 11 officials from throughout Monmouth County who were arrested in “Operation Bid Rig,” the FBI’s investigation into public corruption, to plead guilty to the charges of extortion. He faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, depending on the results of his sentencing next month.
The ex-mayor remains free on $50,000 bail posted at the time of his initial appearance Feb. 22 in a federal court in Newark.
In August, Zambrano told a federal judge that he was introduced to the FBI witness, now identified as Robert “Duke” Steffer of Ocean Township and Florida, by former Keyport Councilman Robert L. Hyer in September 2003. Hyer, who was arrested in the same FBI round-up as Zambrano and DeLisa, died of cancer at age 64 on Oct. 4.