SAYREVILLE — The borough’s registered Republicans will get the chance to vote in the first contested local primary election in recent memory this June.
Members of the Sayreville Republican Party declined to nominate Councilman Frank Bella to run for one of two open seats on the Borough Council. Instead, Councilman Nick Perrette and newcomer Larry Doyle, of SouthAmboy, will run as endorsed Middlesex County Republican Organization candidates.
Bella is running as a Republican for Taxpayers. He said he did not expect to receive a nomination from the party’s screening committee.
“Clearly the mayor [Kennedy O’Brien, also a Republican] wanted me out, so I expected that,” Bella said. “It’s either the mayor’s way or the highway.”
Bella noted that some Republican officials over the years have switched parties, a route he was forced to consider when the Democratic Party expressed interest in nominating him.
“I extended every courtesy,” said Tom Pollando, Democratic Party chairman. “Frank is a good man, and he works for the betterment of Sayreville in a bipartisan manner. He wants to run as a Republican, and I wish him well.”
Bella has more than 20 years’ experience in public service to the borough, on the council as well as the Board of Health and the planning and zoning boards. He holds a master’s degree in public administration from Long Island University and has volunteered as an emergency medical technician for the Sayreville Emergency Squad.
John Rucki, Republican Party chairman, denied claims that Bella’s bipartisan voting record had anything to do with his lack of a nomination, but that a public appearance at a Democratic fundraiser lost him party support.
“During the last election, he appeared at a Democratic fundraising event and endorsed the Democratic candidate [Stanley Drwal] over a Republican candidate [O’Brien],” Rucki said. “It was a slap in the face to the people who have worked so hard in the past to get him elected.”
Rucki believes Perrette and Doyle are optimal candidates for council positions. Perrette is seeking a second term and said his “semi-retired” status provides him with adequate time to dedicate to borough issues.
He currently sits on the finance committee and said his financial background gives him a deeper understanding of budget and management matters. Perrette worked for various brokerage firms at director and management levels, in the areas of credit and collections, international settlements and reconciliation work.
Doyle has lived in Sayreville for 40 years and is a retired Jersey City Police detective and a veteran of the U.S. Navy. He has experience in administration, budgeting and negotiation as past president of the Jersey City Police Officers’ Police Benevolent Association. After his retirement from law enforcement in 1994, he worked in various security and investigative positions for the Robert Plan Insurance Co., the Warren Hotel in Spring Lake, and Trachel Inc. Doyle entered full retirement in 2008.
The Democratic candidates for the June 5 primary are David McGill, of South Amboy, and Ricci Melendez, of Parlin, both endorsed by the Middlesex County Democrats and running unopposed.
McGill previously worked as a police officer while living in Staten Island, N.Y., until 1988, when he retired from law enforcement and moved to New Jersey. He has lived in the Sayreville-South Amboy area since 1992. McGill also boasts 40 years’experience in the trucking industry and currently inspects citrus products coming in from Florida. He is a member of the Middlesex County division of theAncient Order of Hibernians and a member of the Sayreville Knights of Columbus.
Ricci Melendez is a 20-year resident of Sayreville and a father of two, with a third child on the way. He has worked as an IT infrastructure manager for Bloomberg LP in New York for over 17 years.
Melendez currently serves on the Sayreville Recreation Board and is a Sayreville AA Youth baseball coach, Morgan Parlin Panthers football coach and Sayreville Men’s Softball team captain.
The winners of this year’s primary election will join a council that includes Democrats Lisa Eicher, Mary Novak, Dan Buchanan and Bill Henry on the Borough Council.
Contact Deanna McLafferty at [email protected].