Brick Candidate Profile: Michael Conti

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

Responses are unedited.

Candidate’s Name: Michael Conti

Employer/Job: Assured Mortgage Bankers Corp, Mortgage Loan Originator – August 2006 - present

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

Yes, I’ve had the pleasure of serving my community as a member of the Brick Township Board of Education. I was elected in November 2012 for a 3 year term.

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 council promised, as part of their platform for election in 2011, to roll back taxes which has not occurred. Instead, they use terms and buzzwords like “stable” to slip the continued increases under your nose. To me and my running mates this is unacceptable. The $4.2 million in increases over a two year period in addition to holding almost $10 million of taxpayer money is nothing but a cash grab. Instead of overtaxing our residents, let’s get back to the business of helping people get back in their homes and revitalizing our business community by making it easier to open and get goods and services to market, not harder. By enacting these simplest of steps, which this current council seems incapable of, we can reduce the tax burden for Brick residents.

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

The most pressing issue in Brick Township is the heroin epidemic. We look forward to addressing the issue in the following manner:

• Strengthen our Police Department’s Selective Enforcement Team, which is still rebuilding from previous budget staffing cuts
• Partner with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office to leverage resources, technology and manpower
• Improve access to our County’s addiction recovery and counseling programs
• Create a “Drug-Free Brick Advisory Commission” to enhance communications and responsiveness between our community, government and police
• Create police substations in drug hot spots and do more community policing
• Continue to supply resources to the DARE program and Lead and Seed Programs, both of which were expanded under my term as a board member with Frank Pannucci.

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?

We picked the name Team Brick Township for a reason. We’ve seen divided government or complete one-sided politics, like we have on the council right now and it isn’t good for Brick Township. Our Republican team offers balance and a problem solving mentality that I believe is lacking with the current incumbents. We have to bring stakeholders to the table and engage our community with the issues that matter: a heroin epidemic, increasing taxes, and a lack of a business development plan. We need to focus on the “foundation” issues that affect Brick Township. The current incumbents would rather lampoon and create cartoons rather than doing the hard work of driving this town forward for the betterment of all our residents.

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?

I believe it is essential to work together in any arena. You don’t have to be best friends but there should be natural and open dialogue with one primary goal in always in focus: What is best for Brick? If that isn’t your “Why” then you shouldn’t hold a seat in any municipal office. I know the “Why” for our team of Frank Pannucci, Marty Ebert, Mike Conti and Charlie Bacon is: what is best for Brick Township. The current 7-0 council has lost that focus.

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

I have to go back to our police force, SET team and detectives. Ocean County and Brick, specifically, is facing a huge epidemic. We need to utilize every resource and strengthen every department to fight this heroin epidemic. We have good families affected and other families packing up and leaving. We need to create and maintain conditions in Brick that drive the best and brightest to our town. Making our residents feel safe and secure is priority number 1.

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

I love this town. My love for this town is the reason my wife, Christine, and I chose Brick Township to raise our family. I am incredibly proud of my record of service with the Board of Education: expanding the DARE program to the Lead and Seed program in the middle schools, PSATs are provided at no cost to sophomores and juniors to give them access to a more level playing field when they compete against other students, expanded Advanced Placement course offerings, and millions of dollars in facility upgrades all of which were accomplished with 0 increases to the school tax levy the past two years. When you talk about doing more with less, Frank Pannucci and I, with our board service have done just that. We’ve walked the walk. I know that our team of Frank Pannucci, Marty Ebert, myself and Charlie Bacon can do great things for Brick Township we need your support and help on November 3rd.