As Committee Elections Draw Closer, Candidates Gear Up for Campaign Events

Municipal elections are less than a month away, and Barnegat voters are looking at a crowded field.

Read on for news of upcoming forums and a debate, response from candidates over the cancellation of one of several scheduled meet-and-greet events and details on how you can get involved in Patch's campaign coverage.

Election season has arrived

Five candidates are running for two open seats on the Township Committee. Incumbents Leonard Morano, a Democrat, and Martin Lisella, a Republican, are running to keep their seats. Joining Morano on the Democratic ticket is Michael Howard. Lisella’s running mate is . Joining the race as an who ran as a Democrat in 2009.

As election day draws nearer, candidates have made plans to participate in several public campaign events.

Two meet-and-greet events are scheduled to take place in the mobile home park communities west of the Parkway. One will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 10, at the Brighton at Barnegat clubhouse; the other will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, at the Pinewood Estates clubhouse.

The Ocean County League of Women Voters is organizing a debate for all five candidates, tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27 at .

The debate will feature a neutral moderator from another part of the county. All candidates have confirmed to Barnegat Patch that they will attend, but a League organizer says the location is not yet finalized.

Republicans pull out of Horizons forum, event cancelled

Many in town have expressed enthusiasm over the planned live debate, but some are frustrated that another candidates’ event, originally scheduled for today at the Horizons at Barnegat clubhouse, was called off.

Last week, Republican campaign manager Kenneth Matthews notified the Horizons board of trustees that Lisella and Blumenthal would decline to participate in the community’s meet-and-greet event because, “the candidates have extremely deep concerns and reservations regarding the ability of the moderator to provide an unbiased environment for the candidates involved.”

The issue began when Horizons board of trustees member Rose Jackson, who also serves as chair of the Barnegat Democratic Committee, argued with Township Committee members during a recent public meeting.

Lisella and others saw the incident as combative and politically motivated, in part, said Lisella, because Jackson, who was organizing the meet-and-greet, chose to make an issue of the township’s savings from its switch to every-other-week recycling – a move Lisella orchestrated.

“On neutral territory, I have no problem with anybody,” he said, but he was concerned that the questions offered up would be slanted to favor the Democrats. He has every intention of attending the other events, he said.

“I’m looking forward to it, and will enjoy any questions that are thrown at me,” Lisella said.

“We simply felt uncomfortable, given the acrimony we experienced at Township meetings,” said Blumenthal. “And rather than put ourselves in a negative situation, we chose an alternative.”

Blumenthal said that Republican Club member and Horizons resident Mike Dimino will host a meet and greet on Oct. 25 with the Republican candidates at his own Marblehead Court home. He will send out letters of invitation to Republicans and Democrats in the community, she said.

Jackson said she spoke up at the meeting as a taxpayer, not as a political leader, and that candidates could have expected a fair an neutral atmosphere at the forum. The Republicans’ pullout from the event was “unfortunate,” she said.

If they felt they were facing an unfair environment, “they could have had somebody else be the moderator, but instead they just bailed out,” she said.

Democratic candidate Michael Howard said he, too, was disappointed, especially when the Horizons board decided to cancel the event altogether.

“I don’t understand how Mr. Lisella can let anybody run him out of town,” Howard said. “He’s a seated Committeeman. He gives as much as he gets up there during the meetings.”

Morano said he felt the candidates were avoiding facing what could be a critical audience.

“We got a 40-cent tax increase, and that’s the reason they don’t want to face the people,” he said. “They don’t want to get hit with that.”

What's coming up on Barnegat Patch

In the coming weeks, we'll be talking to all five candidates to learn more about their feelings on issues important to voters. When the debate rolls around, we'll be there with live coverage from start to finish.

If you have a specific question you'd like to hear the candidates answer in the coming weeks, let us know by emailing the editor at graelyn.brashear@patch.com.

You can also use the comments section of this story to bring up issues you'd like to see addressed, but keep in mind that this is a forum intended to help generate constructive questions to be put to all candidates – it's not a place to campaign or levy accusations and attacks.

Looking forward to hearing from you!