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SCARPELLI RESIGNS
LONGTIME BRICK MAYOR HANDS IN RESIGNATION LETTER, OFFERS NO REASON FOR STEPPING DOWN
By Catherine Snipe
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His resignation letter is in. Mayor Joseph Scarpelli will be the mayor of Brick Township no more.
Late on Wednesday, after a whirlwind week of rumors, rumors, and more rumors, Scarpelli handed in his resignation, bringing an end to his long tenure as Brick Township's lead political figure amid swirling innuendo.
A statement released at about 4 p.m. Wednesday reads, in full: "Mayor Joseph Scarpelli submitted a letter of resignation today. The resignation is effective at noon on Saturday, December 9. Mayor Scarpelli cited personal reasons for the resignation. The municipal staff is focusing on moving forward with the business at hand and continuing to work for the people of Brick Township."
The resignation followed days of speculation that started with, "will he resign?" and ultimately ended with, "when will he resign?"
The answer came late in the day Wednesday, in the wake of a front page story that morning in the Asbury Park Press confirming his intention to step down.
Acting township administrator Scott Pezzares called a 4 p.m. staff meeting Wednesday with department and division heads on the matter, the details of which are unknown. The meeting was to address the mayor's resignation, and informed department heads that the mayor had prepared a resignation letter for the township.
While speculation is rampant, a specific reason for Scarpelli's resignation remains unknown.
With Scarpelli stepping down, under the law the Democratic Party will provide three names to the council within 15 days, according to township officials. The council would then have 15 days to choose one of the three to serve as mayor until the next election, in this case until November 2007.
Until Scarpelli's replacement is selected, Township Clerk Virginia Lampman will serve as acting mayor.
The resignation brings to an end Scarpelli's long and successful stint as a local politician, a time during which he served in many capacities and, as mayor, until recently enjoyed strong support in his election bids.
A Democrat, he is in the midst of serving
his fourth term as mayor. He was most
recently elected in 2005, a narrow victory - less than 200 votes - over Councilman Steven Acropolis.
Scarpelli served as a council member prior to being elected to mayor in 1994. He had previously served on the Brick Township Board of Education from 1970 until 1977. During his terms, Scarpelli advocated to increase open space as parkland and other uses. He also helped create Summerfest, a popular semi-weekly concert program that brought such acts as The Duprees and Blood, Sweat & Tears to perform on township beaches over the last 10 years.
In addition to advocating increased personnel and technology for the township police force, Scarpelli is also an advocate for environmental issues. He worked to outfit the municipal building with solar panels and is fighting the relicensing of Oyster Creek nuclear power plant.
Though littered with successes, Scarpelli's tenure did not come without criticisms, too.
In 2003, for instance, Scarpelli was caught taking a township-owned vehicle on vacation to Vermont. He acknowledged the incident as an error after newspapers broke the story.
Some Republicans have also laid the blame for ongoing probes into township business, including those by the FBI, at the mayor's feet, calling into question his friendship with Jack Nydam, the disgraced ex-Director of Public Works. Township records were the subject of an FBI subpoena earlier this year, and the FBI had previously looked at the dealings of Nydam.
It is unclear if those probes have anything to do with Scarpelli's resignation.
Calls placed to Scarpelli's office and the township administrator were not returned as of press time.
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