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Republicans Will Decide Who Democratic Mayor Will Be
By Catherine Snipe
Deciding which of the three candidates selected to serve as 2007’s mayor of Brick Township will be a threeperson subcommittee of the township council. (See accompanying stories.)
Municipal Democratic Party members put forth three names: former Mayor Daniel F. Newman Sr., former Councilwoman Kimberly Casten and Planning Board Chairman Dan Kelly.
A subcommittee will screen the three nominees to replace former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli, a Democrat. Scarpelli re- signed earlier this month citing personal reasons.
While the mayor being appointed will be a Democrat, the subcommittee will be all Republican. Council President Anthony Matthews announced at this week’s council meeting that a subcommittee of himself and council members Ruthanne Scaturro and Michael Thulen will screen the candidates.
Matthews said an all-Republican subcommittee wasn’t the intention. Instead he had hoped Councilwoman Kathy M. Russell would would serve. Russell is the lone Democrat on the council.
However, Russell declined, saying the mayoral selection should be a matter for the entire council to discuss, not a subcommittee.
Matthews said the selection of the mayoral appointment will be a public one. Russell argued that each of the three candidates is well known to all council members, and asked that the entire governing body choose.
Scaturro said while she knows the candidates, there are still questions she’d like to ask of the three.
After Russell declined to serve, Matthews invited Thulen, who accepted.
The subcommittee has until January 7 to make its decision, the last day of a 15-day deadline for the process. Whoever is picked will serve as the township mayor through November 2007, when a municipal election will take place.
The committee will meet over the holidays with the candidates in order to meet the January deadline.
Russell was a candidate for mayor during the 2005 election, but stepped out of the race after Scarpelli announced he’d seek re-election.
Council Vice-President Stephen Acropolis, Republican candidate for mayor in 2005, said this entire process could have been avoided had Russell stayed in the race rather than stepping aside for Scarpelli.
The process began December 8 when Scarpelli provided a one-sentence letter of resignation. Under the law, the municipal Democratic Party had 15 days to provide three names to the council, one of which would be appointed mayor for the next year. Those names were turned in on Friday. The council now has 15 days to choose one of the candidates.
Until the January appointment, Township Clerk Virginia Lampman is serving as acting mayor. Scarpelli chose Lampman as his interim replacement in a second letter immediately following his resignation earlier this month.
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