Brick Candidate Profile: Frank Pannucci Jr.

Profiles of the candidates for the Brick Township Council are being presented for informational purposes.

Responses are unedited.

Candidate’s Name: Frank Pannucci Jr.

Employer/Job: Business Administrator, Point Pleasant Borough

Have you ever held elected office or served as an appointee to any government board (where and when)?

Yes, Brick Board of Education. BMAC in 2004 and 2005 and the Brick Board of Adjustments 2006-2010.

1. Property taxes continue to be one of the biggest issues facing residents in Brick and statewide. How do you propose to manage the issue? Be specific.

The current council campaigned on rolling back taxes, specifically the referendum that they campaigned against. Yet instead they kept that money and still raised taxes every year on top of putting $10 million in surplus. They call this “stabilizing taxes” when all it is, is raising taxes. They also profess of all the positions they eliminated, but fail to mention the new positions they replaced them with. Although we’ve been in the minority of the school board, Mr. Conti and I were successful in fighting to have two straight years of 0% tax increases there, something we can
duplicate in town hall. One specific way my teammates and I highlighted helping our tax burden is our plans to deal with our empty storefronts and revitalizing our local businesses by dedicating an existing employee to be in charge of helping new merchants navigate the difficult task of opening a business in Brick. Someone who will methodically locate empty storefronts for merchants where new businesses will thrive. On the same hand, we need to work on getting properties back on the tax rolls damaged by Sandy by streamlining the process in the building department and getting rid of as much local red tape as possible.

2. Heroin has become a nightmare problem throughout Ocean County. What more do you feel Brick should do to address the problem?

Our drug problem in Brick Township is our most pressing issue. My teammates and I have a specific plan to deal with this:
 Strengthen our Police Department’s Selective Enforcement Team, which is still rebuilding from past budget cuts.
 Partner with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to leverage resources, technology and manpower.
 Create a “Drug Free Brick Advisory Commission” to heighten public awareness and communication between our community, government and police.
 Create police substations on the North and South side of town and do more community policing.
 Continue to supply resources to the DARE program and Lead and Seed Programs, both which where expanded in our school district for the first time into our Middle Schools while Mike Conti and I where on the Board of Education.

3. There are many who feel Brick Township has become very divided in recent years. How do you propose to promote unity within the community?

You can look at this campaign season in Brick Township and see the divisiveness. While we took the high road and talked about issues instead of throwing mud, which we certainly could have, the other side instead chose to attack with lies, half-truths and truly childish attack ads. But hey, that’s politics I guess. The thing is, it doesn’t have to be that way. I remember a time when the only thing that mattered at the end of the day was that you where from Brick Town, where R’s and D’s still respected each other at the end of the day and often worked with each other. It can still be that way. Our campaign name is “Team Brick Township” because at the end of the day, that’s what comes first, not being Republican or Democrat, but being from Brick! If given the opportunity, we will work diligently with the remaining Democrats on Council and our Mayor, not for our own interests, but for Brick’s interests.

4. We all see what the intense partisanship has done to our country as a whole. How do you propose to work together with the other party for the good of the township regardless of what happens in the election?

As previously stated, it’s about Brick Township’s needs, not our own as individuals. And regardless of the election’s outcome, I know my teammates and I will continue to do our best to make our community prosper. If we are fortunate enough to have the people of Brick Township vote us in, we will work with EVERY faction in town for our community’s betterment. If we don’t win, we will still be volunteering on various boards and committees because our commitment to town we grew up in doesn’t hinge on an election’s outcome. We are running to serve, not running to be able to hold a seat.

5. If there was one program you could institute or beef up in the township, what would it be?

Without a doubt our Selective Enforcement Team, Brick’s drug unit. We have an AMAZING police force and we need to give them the proper resources to do their jobs to the best of their abilities. There is no doubt in my mind we can eventually become one of the safest cities again, a ranking we had not too long ago.

6. If there was one thing you would want the residents of Brick to know about you, what is it?

I love Brick Township, that’s why I’m doing this. There’s no better feeling than to help serve in the town you grew up in. I have a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, both from Seton Hall University. I also graduated from Brick Memorial High School in 1998 and coached football there after college. I’ve volunteered my time on various local boards and charities and while serving on the school board’s Facilities Committee for the last three years, managed to do millions of dollars in improvements including new electric all through out Brick High School with new HVAC units and new boilers, windows and roofs in our elementary schools, all without raising taxes in two years by taking advantage of grant money, lease purchase agreements and energy saving improvements projects. I want to stay in Brick Township, and I humbly ask the voters of Brick to elect myself, Marty Ebert, Mike Conti and Charlie Bacon, “Team Brick Township, “ to the Council.