Politics & Government

2023 Brick Township Election Guide: Decision Day

The polls open at 6 a.m. Tuesday. Here's a last look at the election races in Brick before you vote.

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The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Check out our voter guide before you cast your ballot.
The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Check out our voter guide before you cast your ballot. (Renee Schiavone/Patch)

BRICK, NJ — The 2023 general election is upon us, and the polls open at 6 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

If you chose to vote by mail, you have until 8 p.m. to turn in your ballot, using a secure drop box, mailing your ballot back or hand-delivering it to the Ocean County Board of Elections.

Since John Ducey stepped down as mayor to become a Superior Court judge, Republicans in Brick have seen this election as their opportunity to take back control of the mayor and council, which the Democrats have held since Ducey and his council slate were elected in November 2011. The current council has just one Republican member, Perry Albanese.

Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Property taxes have been the central issue in the race between Lisa Crate, the Democratic candidate seeking to fill the remainder of Ducey's term, and John Catalano, the Republican mayoral candidate.

Democratic mailers have accused Catalano of being part of the council that raised taxes in 2011, when Stephen Acropolis was mayor. Catalano, who served on the Brick Housing Authority at the time, was appointed to the council in August 2011 and served until December 2011.

Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The tax increase was approved by township voters via a 2011 referendum, after Acropolis warned that dozens of employees, including police officers, would be laid off because of an $8.6 million budget shortfall and a 2 percent cap on property tax levy increases instituted under then-Gov. Chris Christie.

Township officials at the time blamed the shortfall on declining revenue, according to a Patch report. At the Oct. 24 council meeting, Republicans speaking during public comment blamed the 2011 referendum on former Mayor Joseph Scarpelli, who resigned in 2006 and pleaded guilty to taking $5,000 in bribes from a developer shortly afterward. Acropolis was elected in 2007 and was in his fourth year as mayor at the time of the referendum.

Acropolis then angered township employees and taxpayers in 2012 when he announced plans to eliminate the public works department to cut property taxes.

The Republicans have attacked Crate in particular, accusing her of ethics violations over campaign mailers and criticizing her role as the president of the teachers union in the Jackson Township Schools. Questions from Patch asking for specifics and clarification of the alleged ethical violation were not answered.

In the school board election, incumbents Michael Blandina and Alison Kennedy face challengers Mike Mesmer and Gregory Cohen. Blandina is a commissioner on the Brick MUA and involved with multiple civic organizations. Kennedy was a PTA president in the district for several years before being appointed to a vacated seat this year.

Cohen, a former bus driver in the district who now is transportation director in the West Orange schools, has criticized the board over a lack of buses for after-school activities, even as the district and districts across New Jersey continue to face a shortage of drivers. He and Mesmer also have criticized the board over the controversial parental notification policy regarding transgender students that has resulted in some districts being sued by the state of New Jersey. The Brick Township schools have not enacted that policy.

Mesmer and Cohen have been openly endorsed by the Brick GOP, in spite of the fact that school boards are supposed to be nonpartisan entities.

Here is what you need to know about voting in Brick Township:

The Rundown

Who Is On The Ballot?

Voters are being asked to choose candidates for the New Jersey State Legislature, Ocean County Board of Commissioners and the local level in 2023.

NJ Senate and Assembly

Brick Township is in the 10th District. The candidates for state Senate, a four-year term, are Republican Jim Holzapfel and Democrat Jeff Horn. Holzapfel is the incumbent and has served in the Legislature since 1994, and since 2012 in the state Senate. Horn is a local attorney.

The candidates for the two, two-year terms in the Assembly are Republicans Gregory McGuckin and Paul Kanitra and Democrats John LaMacchia and Emma Mammano. McGuckin is an incumbent and was elected to the Assembly in 2012. Kanitra is the mayor of Point Pleasant Beach. LaMacchia is the director of administration for Global Safety First, which sells personal protective equipment to hospitals and first responders. Mammano is a mental health counselor.

Ocean County Surrogate and Board of Commissioners

There is one three-year term available on the Board of Commissioners, as Joseph Vicari is retiring at the end of 2023 after more than 35 years on the board. Republican Frank Sadeghi and Democrat Roxanne L. Barnes are vying for the seat. Sadeghi is the founder of Morgan Engineering, a firm that provides municipal engineering services. Barnes is a pastor and founded Newlife Counseling Center, where she works as a professional substance abuse and anger management family counselor.

The Surrogate is a five-year term. The candidates are Republican Jeffrey W. Moran and Democrat Charles D. Bauer. Moran is the incumbent. He was appointed to the post in June 2003, and was elected in November 2003, then re-elected in 2008, 2013, and 2018. Bauer is an attorney in private practice in Toms River.

The duties of the Surrogate are mostly administrative. They provide for the administration of an estate, whether it be the process of admitting a will to probate or grant letters of administration to an appropriate person to carry on the duties of the decedent. Letters of Guardianship are also granted to persons for minor children who are awarded funds through a court or from an estate as well as guardians for mentally incapacitated persons. As Clerk of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Probate Part, the Surrogate's Court reviews and files adoptions, declaration of death actions, appointment of guardian for an incapacitated persons, trusteeships, conservatorship and accounts.

Brick Township Mayor and Council

There are two candidates seeking the remaining two years of the term vacated when John Ducey resigned to become a Superior Court judge. The candidates are, in alphabetical order:

There are four, four-year seats up for election on the Township Council. The candidates are, in alphabetical order:

Brick Township Board of Education

There are two, three-year seats up for election on the school board. The candidates are, in alphabetical order:

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