2019 Battle For Brick Council Gets Under Way

BRICK, NJ — The fight for the Brick Township Council is officially under way, with four Democrats and four Republicans filing petitions for the municipal election in November. Though the battle is for the four seats up for election, the real fight is Councilman Jim Fozman vs. Mayor John Ducey.

The feud between Fozman and Ducey has dominated the Township Council meetings for nearly a year now, and the campaign for the four council seats is likely to be a continuation of that. Neither slate has contested party primaries.

Fozman for decades had been a Democrat and party loyalist. He had campaigned for gubernatorial candidate John Wisniewski in 2017 and his wife, Vera, had been the campaign treasurer before Wisniewski was beaten by Gov. Phil Murphy in the Democratic primary. Last June, however, Fozman switched parties as the feud worsened and has openly argued with the rest of the council and the township administration in the months since.

Fozman is joined on the Republican ticket by newcomers Victoria Chadwick, Max Flores and Neil Napolitano.

Chadwick, Flores and Napolitano will be trying to unseat the incumbent Democrats, Andrea Zapcic, Lisa Crate and Art Halloran. The incumbent Democrats are joined by newcomer Vincent Minichino, who will be looking to unseat Fozman.

Fozman is seeking his third four-year term on the council. He was first elected in 2011 on the Democratic slate with Ducey. The feud between the two became public amid the election of Ducey as the Democratic municipal chairman in Brick.

Zapcic, who was elected to finish the unexpired term vacated when Ducey became mayor, is seeking her second full council term, as are Crate and Halloran. Zapcic, who is serving as council president, has been saddled with the duty of trying to maintain decorum in council meetings, a prospect that has been difficult because of the bitterness of the conflict between Fozman and the rest of the council and Ducey.

John Catalano, president of the Brick Republican Club, and Brian DeLuca, the Brick Republican municipal chairman, said Fozman, Chadwick, Flores and Napolitano were chosen after the selection committee "interviewed many willing and qualified candidates."

The campaign chairman is Allan Cartine, a longtime Brick resident who has been a key member of the township's Republican party and has "many years of experience in directing political campaigns," said Catalano, who also is running for the 10th Assembly seat held by retiring Assemblyman David Wolfe.

Cartine "will be an asset that will return the Brick Republicans to township government," Catalano said.

Ducey said he believes the fiscal conservatism his administration has displayed will convince voters to again support the Democrats currently serving on the council. Ducey and Fozman were part of slate that took control from the Republicans, and the Democrats had held all seven seats on the council since 2015 until Fozman's switch last year.

"Before Mayor Ducey was elected, the Brick Republicans rewarded their friends and family with 6-figure jobs. We can’t go back to those days of unchecked spending, political patronage and massive tax increases," Halloran said.

Ducey has alleged the falling out with Fozman happened because Ducey refused to make Fozman head of the Public Works Department. Fozman has denied that claim. Read more: Brick Councilman Switches Parties As Feud Gets Personal

"I look forward to continuing our successful efforts, with a supportive council team, to stabilize property taxes and to bring new businesses into Brick," Ducey said.

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