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New Mayor Daniel Kelly Ready To Tackle 2007
By Catherine Snipe
 | | --Photo By Catherine Snipe At this week's council caucus meeting, Daniel J. Kelly, center, sits for the first time in the mayor's spot after his appointment to the position Friday. Kelly, who as the township's planning board chairman, was the unanimous pick to replace disgraced ex-mayor Joseph Scarpelli. |
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Daniel J. Kelly has served in government for more than 30 years. He's been on the planning board for 11. He has served as its chairman for four years. He is a member of a long list of civic organizations.
But since Friday, he's been mayor of Brick.
And nothing compares to it, he said.
"It's been mind boggling," Kelly said.
Kelly becomes mayor of the 80,000-plus resident community of Brick in a time of scandal. Former Mayor Joseph Scarpelli resigned in December, citing personal reasons. This week, those personal reasons were revealed when Scarpelli pled guilty to accepting money from an unnamed developer.
For Kelly, the task is moving past that.
He is a Democrat mayor and the township council is all-Re- publican save for one member. The township, some have said, has been drug through the mud in light of the recent Scarpelli guilty plea.
Kelly and council members admit the next year won't be easy, but Kelly said he's looking forward to it. He is eager to continue the agenda of the township.
He was sworn in Friday after a unanimous appointment by the council. A council subcommittee interviewed Kelly and fellow Democrats Daniel Newman and Kimberly Casten, the other two nominees for mayor.
Kelly will serve through November, when residents will have their say in who the next mayor will be on Election Day, when a mayoral election will be held. The winner will serve the remainder of Scarpelli's term.
The appointed mayor said it's too soon for him to introduce new ideas for the township. Instead, he has a long term and a short term goal.
"The short-term goal is to survive this," he said. "The long-term goal is to keep the township moving."
Kelly said he spent half of Friday and all of Monday touring offices, meeting staff and meeting with the council. "I've met just about everyone," he said.
"This is a full time job and I intend to do it on a full-time basis," Kelly said.
Not that there was not a brief bit of controversy.
Serving as the interim mayor immediately after Scarpelli's resignation was township clerk Virginia Lampman, who made several appointments for the township's reorganization. Kelly said appointments Lampman made to the planning board during her weeks in office should not have taken place. Rather, they should have waited until her brief term was over, in order to allow the appointed mayor the chance to pick appointments.
Specifically, Kelly and the board attorney took issue with appointing Dominick Rappoccio to the planning board. Rappoccio was not allowed to take his seat in the previous planning board meeting, an incident council member Ruthanne Scaturro said was troubling.
"The planning board must come to a
meeting of the minds," said Scaturro, who
is the council liaison to the planning board. "Let's continue to move the business of
Brick Township forward."
Despite the events of the past weeks, Kelly said the experience has been enjoyable.
"There are a lot of good people," he said.
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