With Brick Mayor Ducey Up For Judgeship, What Lies Ahead For Town?

BRICK, NJ — The announcement last week that Brick Township Mayor John G. Ducey has been nominated to become a Superior Court judge was not a huge surprise in most quarters.

Rumors had been circulating for months about the possibility, along with the "what if" and "who" questions. What if he is appointed? Who might succeed him?

With Ducey now in the midst of the process for potentially being confirmed, those questions are more than backroom whispers. They also mean Brick Township voters should brace for a long election season that will likely start sooner rather than later.

Ducey, who said he applied in August to be considered as a Superior Court judge, said he was not given a timeframe on how quickly the process could move. However, judgeship appointments have moved fairly quickly in the last two years because there are a lot of vacancies.

New Jersey's Superior Court system has 69 openings currently, state Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said Tuesday in a news release about two vicinages halting civil court trials for the time being because of the shortage of judges.

In Ocean County, where Ducey applied, two retired judges — Wendel E. Daniels and Linda G. Baxter — have been recalled from retirement to assist with the caseload in criminal court.

In June 2021, when Kenneth Palmer, then mayor of Manchester, was nominated, it was just over two weeks from the time he was notified to when he was confirmed by the state Senate Judiciary Committee, and only a short time after that he was confirmed by the full Senate.

On Tuesday, David Nitti of Monmouth County was set to be confirmed by the full Senate, three weeks after Gov. Phil Murphy nominated him to become a judge.

The holdup for Ducey (and eight others who were nominated on Jan. 30), however, is that as of Tuesday, there are no meetings of the Senate Judiciary Committee scheduled.

Assuming Ducey is confirmed, the remaining two years of his term as mayor would be up for election in November, along with four council seats that are currently held by Democrats Andrea Zapcic, Lisa Crate, Vincent Minichino, and Derrick Ambrosino, who was appointed to fill the seat of Arthur Halloran, who resigned.

That means the Republicans will go hard for an opportunity to retake control of both the council and the mayor's office for the first time in a decade.

The Democrats have held control of the council since Zapcic, Ducey, Bob Moore and Jim Fozman were elected in 2011.

Ducey, who was elected mayor in 2013, has easily won re-election three times, including in 2021 when he received 63 percent of the vote. He has held regular Facebook Live sessions where residents can (and do) ask him anything and raise concerns and problems they see in town, and he has been regularly visible at a variety of township events.

The Democrats have held control because town residents have been, for the most part, happy with how things have been. The recreation department has a wide range of offerings for children and adults, from SummerFest and the Farmers Market to FallFest and the annual Halloween Trunk-or-Treat at Drum Point Sports complex. The township has renovated nearly all of the parks, and reduced the town's debt by $36 million.

There have been projects that have not gone as positively. Township officials were roundly criticized over the slow progress at the former Foodtown property on Route 70, which was purchased by the town long before Ducey and current council majority took office. A proposal to construct a restaurant at Traders Cove fell flat and ultimately was rejected by the state Department of Environmental Protection.

There was the controversy over a medical marijuana dispensary proposed for a former bank on Adamston Road that ultimately led to the township council banning the sale, manufacture or cultivation of cannabis in town. It was a decidedly conservative move that angered cannabis activists who expected the Democrat-controlled governing body would support their cause.

It is that element — described by a resident at a council meeting in 2022 as "libertarian leanings" — that perhaps explains why the Democrats have held strong in Brick.

Potential candidates to replace Ducey as the Democrats' mayoral candidate seem likely to come from one of the six Democrats on the Township Council. Council President Heather deJong was just re-elected in 2021, along with Councilwoman Marianna Pontoriero, though their victories came by narrow margins over their Republican opponents. Zapcic, who was appointed to the council when Ducey became mayor and has won re-election since, is the prevention director at the New Jersey Prevention Network, which works to fight substance abuse in New Jersey. Crate, a teacher and president of the Jackson Education Association, served as council president in 2020 and 2021. Minichino, who served as council president in 2022, is a business agent for the Teamsters Union. Ambrosino is the newest member of the council and seems unlikely to be the first choice to run for mayor.

It's a good possibility that the Republicans would look to Perry Albanese, the lone Republican on the council, to run for mayor. Other possibilities are unclear. Ruthanne Scaturro, a former township councilwoman, was a late replacement in 2017 for Domenick Brando in Ducey's first re-election campaign and a longtime Brick resident. But there are few clear Republican candidates, in part because the GOP has been relatively low-key for several years.

One thing is certain: Voters should anticipate a very, very active campaign season if Ducey does indeed get appointed to Superior Court.

Have a comment, a question or a news tip? Email karen.wall@patch.com