LONG BRANCH — Residents accusing council members of inappropriate behavior and back-door dealings has become almost routine at City Council meetings.
And last week’s Aug. 12 meeting was no different, with at least one resident claiming that the city is up to no good in what she is calling “The Pizza Connection.”
After listening to North Bath Avenue resident Diana Multaire speak for five minutes about the so-called “inappropriate” pizza connection, the governing body, which later called the claims false and outright lies, remained quiet.
The silent treatment by council after accusations and claims are made has also become another routine behavior at the public meetings, and at least one city resident asked council to speak up.
“It concerns me greatly that [residents] can stand up here and make such accusation to the governing body without any responses,” said South Central Avenue residentHarold “Pudgy” Cooper at the meeting.
“Transparency,” he said. “You have to answer some questions. You are our mayor and you are our council.
“When people say this and you say nothing, we get suspect. It is human nature.”
Cooper continued, “I hate to think that any of you up there is involved with anything. Just talk. You are our representatives.”
Mayor Adam Schneider responded to Cooper and called the claims “false” and “baseless” and said that none of what Multaire said is true.
Multaire accused the city of what she is calling the pizza connection based on what she was told by another citizen who said they witnessed the event.
According to Multaire, she was told that Schneider, along with council members and City Attorney James Aaron were eating together at a pizzeria in the West End section of the city where former Councilman John Zambrano works.
Zambrano stepped down as councilman in 2006 after pleading guilty to accepting a bribe.
“Zambrano is a convicted felon and they were all there socializing with him,” Multaire said. “There has not been one word of disapproval from the mayor and council about [Zambrano’s] actions. That is an outrage.”
Multaire said that she was also told that present at the “pizza” outing was James Callano, who is currently seeking approval from the city to relocate his homemade ice cream business, Strollo’s Lighthouse, from Seaview and Ocean avenues to a new site between Ocean Avenue and Ocean Boulevard.
“There is no transparency surrounding the actions of our governing body,” Multaire said. “I have so little confidence in this mayor and council. We can only draw conclusions on what we perceive, and perception is a reality.
“These are all perceptions,” she said. “We see things. We hear things. We connect the dots. And the [council] says nothing.”
Councilman Anthony Giordano said at the meeting, “Mrs. Multaire got up here tonight and made up a story. It never happened.”
He further went on to say that the claim is as much of a reality as if a resident got up and said that a council member won in a swimming race against Michael Phelps.
Giordano also defended the mayor and council for not answering to every claim that gets brought against the governing body.
“I’ve been sitting up here for 14 years and people throw accusations out and 99 percent of them are false,” Giordano said. “It becomes part of the job. It comes with the territory.”
Council President Michael DeStefano added, “People have the right to say what they want.
“Make up whatever you want,” he said. “Say whatever you want. And when you find out that you are wrong, apologize.”
Schneider, council and several other city officials and professionals were recently vindicated of claims of conflicts of interest surrounding the city’s 1996 redevelopment plan.
The New Jersey Appellate Division ruled earlier this month to reverse a Superior Court decision that had permitted the city to condemn a beachfront neighborhood.
The decision was in favor of the homeowners, but also in the 85-page opinion, the three-judge panel ruled to dismiss all allegations of conflicts of interest surrounding city officials and the redevelopment process.
“It is a big victory for us,” DeStefano said. “All of it is false.”