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GOP-Controlled Government Takes Control January 1
By Keith Hagarty
A new year means a new start for Brick, according to the newest township officials. On January 1, one new addition will be welcomed to a township council seat at their annual reorganization meeting.
Re-elected to the council were Ruthanne Scaturro, Michael Thulen and Anthony Matthews. Joining them is the lone newcomer to the council, board of education member Brian Deluca. All received over 9,000 votes, with Scaturro, the top vote getter, at nearly 9,700 votes.
November's election saw the Republican council candidates comfortably sweeping their Democratic challengers - Paul Panuska, Anthony D'Elia, Michael Mauro and Anthony Lazroe - by better than 1,000- vote margins.
With a now 4-1 Republican majority- Kathy Russell being the lone Democrat- the council is eager to lead the town into the new year.
"We're ready to do the job," said Thulen. "We have the opportunity to keep moving forward from where we started."
The GOP-led council will now serve with a Republican mayor into the new year, as Stephen Acropolis was elected to office in November, soundly defeating Democrat Dan Kelly by a near 2,000-vote margin.
Since Kelly was a council-appointment, and only serving out former Mayor Joseph Scarpelli's remaining term, Acropolis was officially sworn into office immediately following the November election. He will serve for two years.
With Scarpelli being sentenced to 18 months in prison last week on charges of bribery during his tenure as mayor, Acropolis says it's time to put an end to a dark chapter in Brick's history and look forward. First and foremost, property taxes are becoming out of control and must be addressed, he said.
"Rising property taxes is the number one issue facing every community in New Jersey," he said. "The cost of providing education and services to residents keeps going up. As such, it is incumbent upon elected officials to look for every way to make government more affordable. My administration will do a thorough review of all municipal operations to look for every possibility to create efficiencies and savings."
Acropolis, along with most of his council candidates, are not new to municipal government. But one council member is. New to the council is Brian DeLuca.
This will be DeLuca's first time serving on the municipal governing body.
President of the township board of education, where he served since 2001, DeLuca, 52, of 17th Avenue, works as an assistant vice president for Merrill Lynch. He served in two terms on the board from 2001 to 2004, and 2006 to 2007. DeLuca also held the position of vice president. And was appointed as a member of the township zoning board of adjustment last year.
The primary concepts the GOP council members are touting into the new year for Brick are "don't buy it, unless it pays for itself" and "don't fund it, unless it will end up funding itself."
Thulen, 51, of Linden Avenue, has been on the council since 2003. He also served as a councilman from 1993 to 1997. In addition to his former duties as council president, Thulen served as commissioner of the Brick Township Municipal Utilities Authority (BTMUA) from 1992 to 1994, and worked for the BTMUA as construction manager and engineering inspector/master-captain.
Scaturro, 56, of Halsey Drive, has been a council member since 2003. A lifelong Brick resident, Scaturro is a member of the Brick Chamber of Commerce, where she served as president in 1999. She is a current member of the Brick Rotary Club, and a charter member of Brick UNICO and the League of Women Voters. She is also the director of the Brick Hospital Association.
Matthews, 46, of Brushy Neck Court, has served on the council since 2003, and last year held the position of council president. Working as an advertising executive, Matthews has been a 12-year active volunteer with the Laurelton Fire Co. Auxiliary, and coaches Brick B-MAC Softball and Brick Pop Warner, where he was honored as their 2002 Volunteer of the Year.
The reorganization meeting will begin at 1 p.m. on January 1 in the council chambers of the municipal building on Chambers Bridge Road.
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