BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer
The mayoral candidates for the upcoming Long Branch municipal election agreed on at least one thing at a debate Monday night-they all have a vision for the future of the city.
Incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider and challengers Alfie Lenkiewicz and Kevin Brown debated the issues of eminent domain, campaign contributions, job creation, recreation and property taxes in the city at the Ocean Place Resort & Spa where the League of Women Voters moderated a debate for the 16 candidates running for mayor and council on May 9.
Schneider, an attorney who has been mayor of the city for the past 16 years, told a room overflowing with spectators that if re-elected, his “hard-work and dedication” in serving the residents of Long Branch will continue.
Schneider, who is running on a ticket with the five current council members – The Schneider Team – said his vision of the city over the next four years includes “continued improvement of the boardwalk, two new theaters in lower Broadway, more affordable housing” and the hiring of more police officers to continue reducing crime in the city.
“The city is in better financial shape than ever before,” Schneider said at the debate. “This town means the world to me. The future of this city is beautiful. This city is going forward and it is going forward with the Schneider Team.”
Lenkiewicz, who is running with a team of five council candidates known as The New Wave Team, said he not only wants to represent his vision for the city if elected to office, but be a voice for the “more than 32,000 people in this city with a vision.”
Lenkiewicz, a plumbing contractor, said he plans to “create long-term careers for our citizens, not our contributors” and said Schneider’s redevelopment plan has “separated a city.”
“[Schneider] brags about the oceanfront redevelopment. Well, I say not one home should be taken through eminent domain abuse. I know I am a good, honest, ethical person and I know I am the right man [for mayor],” he said.
Brown said he is not against the government’s right to use eminent domain, but is against the abuse of that power. He added that if elected to office, he plans to restructure city hall and is proud to be running independent of a slate.
“I am against the team form,” Brown said about running on a ticket. “And I am against spending a lot of money [on campaigns]. I am running because I believe I have solutions.”
Brown, a minister and founder of the Lighthouse Mission, said he also plans to enact term limits for city offices.
He added that he is a regular attendee at City Council meetings and a “student of Long Branch politics” and addressed Lenkiewicz, “It was nice to get to know you over the past few months, but where have you been?”
Brown and Lenkiewicz both said they are against the abuse of eminent domain and Lenkiewicz took it one step further saying, “The blight you see around this city is created through selective code enforcement.”
Schneider said he has contributed to the creation of affordable housing in the city.
“We were the first town to permit scattered housing and we took city-owned property, worked with a nonprofit, turned it over to a builder and built over 40 homes,” Schneider said. “I have seen people move out of apartments and into affordable houses where their mortgages are less than what they paid in rent.”
When asked about campaign contributions, all three candidates seemed to agree.
Lenkiewicz said his team “did not and will not accept campaign contributions from anyone looking for work in the city. We will not owe a soul when we get elected May 9.”
Brown agreed and said, “I do not believe that anyone who donates into political campaigns should get contracts [in the city].”
And Schneider said his team made a “conscious decision a year ago to do a planning process without developers involved. They shouldn’t be involved in the process and they aren’t.”
Responding to a question on the redevelopment plan, Schneider said, “Redevelopment was never about attracting ratables. That wouldn’t have been enough.” He added that the plan included refurbishing libraries and hiring police officers.
“We designed a plan that works; one that has revitalized the city,” he said.
But Lenkiewicz rebutted, “A municipality is supposed to have libraries and paved roads and sidewalks.”
Brown addressed recreation in the city, saying, “There is not enough recreation in town and I don’t know why.” He said the city needs to instill family values and family amusements.
“The smiles seem to be going away,” Brown said. “We are going to be leaving our kids with debt. We need new ideas.”
Lenkiewicz said the children in the community need “protection, support and love.”
He said he not only plans to expand sporting fields, but he also wants to reach out to the school district and open up computer labs and other facilities after school for children who don’t participate in sports.
Schneider said over the last 12 years he has been working with the recreation department to expand youth programs and created soccer, wrestling, golf and tennis programs.
He added that for the first time in 20 years, his team has introduced a municipal budget that will lower taxes.
“It means for the last 12 years, six people worked hard. I heard [the other candidates say the current administration] has $42 million in bonds. It would be nice if you knew $18 million is what we are getting back from the state.”
But Lenkiewicz said the problem with city property taxes is legal fees, excessive bonding and the city is in “need of prudent management.”
He looked over at City Financial Director Ronald Mehlhorn and said, “I am sure you are a nice guy, but we are going to take your car away from you.”
Lenkiewicz added that he plans to eliminate pay-to-play and said, “Our city is not for sale.”
Lenkiewicz’s New Wave Team council candidates – Ralph DeFillipo, Steve Molnar, John Ferraro, Leonard Goldschein and Carlos Nieves, agreed that they “will not participate in any redevelopment where private gain [outweighs] public gain,” Ferraro said.
And Molnar added that the municipality wastes money in unnecessary spending.
“We have a debt of over $41 million,” Molnar said. “We need to have less debt. A lot of things can be done. We can cut the use of city vehicles and look into hiring in-house professionals.”
He continued, “We can have a better fiscal situation if you hire us. If you elect us, it will not take 16 years to give one penny back.”
Independent council candidate Harold Cooper said that although the current administration has done some positive things, “it is time to move on.
“I think developers have taken the city over. Look at our city. Look at our city divided up. It is like we are playing a soccer or baseball game,” Cooper said. “This is not a game.”
Another independent council candidate, Donald Riley, said the plans of the current administration include moving the poor and middle class out of town.
“The people in Long Branch are not benefiting,” Riley said. “We need to have the right people in power to control eminent domain. Vote for me as a voice for you.”
Thomas Anzalone, whose home in the Beachfront North, phase II redevelopment zone is slated for eminent domain, said he is running for council because he does not like the direction the city is taking in redevelopment.
“The redevelopment should have taken on more of a family-use like Point Pleasant or Ocean City,” Anzalone said. “Instead, we have condos cutting off our access to your jewel.”
The Schneider Team — David G. Brown, Mary Jane Celli, Michael DeStefano, Anthony Giordano and John Zambrano, supported the decisions they made over the past 12 years while they served on the City Council.
“When we were elected in 1994, there was an outcry for us to restore [the city],” DeStefano said. “We developed the revitalization plan,” which he explained consisted of revitalizing 150 acres of oceanfront property.
Giordano added that when he elected to run for office three terms ago, he did so to make a difference in the city.
“You elected us to revitalize your city and we have done that,” Giordano said. “We have increased parks, we have increased public space,” he said. “We have had to make some tough decisions. We have come too far and we can’t stop the progress now.”
Polls will be open to vote for mayor and five council members on May 9 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.