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ROADS AND REC CENTERS: THE CANDIDATES STAKE OUT THEIR POSITIONS
By Eric San Juan
Traffic. Municipal services. Recreation. And traffic.
When Stephen Acropolis and Dan Kelly, both of whom are seeking election to the mayor's office this year, speak to voters, they can expect to field many questions on the state of Brick's infrastructure.
When it comes to traffic, both candidates have a strikingly similar message: Brick Township must work with the state and county to improve conditions on Route 70.
When it comes to traffic, Kelly, a Democrat, said years of steady growth have caused the problem - but that does not mean officials can point their fingers at yesterday and lay the blame elsewhere. "It's not okay to say 'it's not our problem.' It is our problem."
Kelly said the so-called "missing mile" of Route 70 - the stretch between Chambers Bridge and Route 88 - must be addressed, and state road or not, it must be addressed by the township. According to the mayor, working with state and county agencies to improve road conditions is key.
"In conjunction with those two entities I think we can improve the situation," Kelly said. "We have two choices, either wait for them to be ready for us, or be proactive and go to them."
The mayor said traffic problems in Brick can never truly be eliminated - there are simply too many businesses and too much growth - but "we can make it much better."
This is a rare subject on which both candidates are staking out the same ground. Kelly's comments reflect those made by Acropolis in his last run for mayor in 2005 (he narrowly lost to former mayor Joseph Scarpelli, who is now facing corruption charges), as well as this year.
According to Acropolis, he and the Republican controlled township council have pushed the state and county to pay better attention to Brick's highways. Route 70 improvements, for instance, may have been more than a decade way under state Department of Transportation plans. But with some pushing, he said, those plans have been accelerated and improvements to traffic flow along that "missing mile" will come sooner rather than later. Acropolis said that kind of approach would be part of his administration if elected mayor.
Roads aren't the only infrastructure priority for Acropolis. He's still out there pitching what has been the talk of the town of late: a proposal to purchase the Ocean Ice Palace on Chambers Bridge Road, converting it to a township-run recreation center, ice rink and community center.
The proposal has sparked its share of debate (visit bricktimes.micromediapubs.com for previous stories on the issue), but Acropolis maintains that it could be a centerpiece for Brick Township.
He also argued that parts of such a project could have other benefits. For instance, the proposal calls for an access road from the Route 70/Brick Blvd. interaction to behind the property.
"The will be the first new road that Brick will have in 15, 20 years," Acropolis said.
In addition, under Acropolis' vision, both Civic Plaza (Chambers Bridge Road) and the abandoned Foodtown site on Route 70 would be sold in order to offset the cost of purchasing the Ice Palace. That would put the properties back on the tax rolls. Getting Civic Plaza and the Foodtown back on the tax rolls will not only help the township in the short term with the proceeds of their sale, Acropolis said, but in the long term because taxes will once again be paid on those properties.
And since Foodtown has been in township hands for several years at this point, it is money lost for Brick, he argued.
According to Acropolis, action on the former Foodtown site on Route 70 has been slowmoving because there was no one in town hall to lead the charge. "If anyone in the past had had any leadership, this would have been done two, three years ago," Acropolis said.
Unlike traffic, this is an area in which Acropolis and Kelly part ways. When it comes to the Ice Palace, Kelly's position hasn't changed. He still has his doubts. Presentations on the issue, Kelly said, have left him with more questions that ever.
"It seems like the plans change as you ask questions. Nothing is based on actual fact. I've had people, CPAs, look at it, and they question severely how this would work," Kelly said. "Every time I see something new on it, I have new questions."
But, the mayor cautions, he does not want people to think he is against the proposal.
"I am not against the community center. The community center could be a good thing for Brick, but the community center has to pay for itself."
If elected, Kelly said he'd slow down to further review the Ice Palace deal.
"We'll have to take a look at the whole program," Kelly said. "Why not let the people form their own opinion on what they want to do?"
Election Day is Tuesday, November 6.
For more on the campaign platforms of Acropolis and Kelly, see page 5 of this edition of The Brick Times. Also, visit our archives at micromediapubs.com and look under "Government" to see past candidate columns, starting with our October 4 edition. | 
