Zapcic Leads Way As Brick Voters Retain Democrats On Council

Brick Township voters gave Democrats control of Township Council for four more years, electing the full slate of Democratic candidates by a margin of more than 3,000 votes and rejecting Republicans’ contentions that the Democrats have not done enough to address the town’s difficult issues.

Incumbent Andrea Zapcic, who won election last year to fill out the remainder of Mayor John Ducey’s council term, was the top vote-getter with 7,201, according to the unofficial tallies. Newcomer Lisa Crate, who was selected to fill out the slate when incumbent Susan Lydecker withdrew from the race in August, was second with 7,031, while incumbent councilman Jim Fozman (6,868) and Art Halloran (6,866) were separated by just two votes.

Their closest challenger, Republican Michael Conti, who serves on the Brick Township Board of Education, received 3,783, nearly 3,100 fewer than Halloran. Newcomer Martin Ebert, who replaced former Councilman Dan Toth on the ticket, received 3,765, while Charles Bacon, who serves on the township’s Architectural Review Committee, received 3,602. Frank Pannucci Jr., who is the business administrator in Point Pleasant and serves on the Board of Education with Conti, received 3,477.

Incumbent Councilman Bob Moore, who ran as an independent candidate after a falling out with the Democrats resulted in him being left off the slate for this election, received 1,387.

The Democratic victory came amid a campaign that turned nasty in the waning weeks, with mailers depicting caricatures of Conti and Pannucci voting on the hiring of Andrew Morgan by the district, as well as furor over campaign signs being removed, blocked and vandalized.

The hiring of Morgan by now-suspended Superintendent Walter Uszenski, and approved by the Board of Education, was done after a background check with the state Department of Education that said he was allowed to be hired. Morgan was part of a program that allowed individuals to appeal and show they had been rehabilitated and be deemed acceptable for school employment, in effect treating the conviction information as expunged, according to a state Department of Education investigator.

The Republicans, meanwhile, blamed the Democrats for the continuing heroin crisis in the township, saying not enough is being done to curb it, particularly from a law enforcement standpoint. They also ripped the Democrats on spending issues. The Democrats responded to the spending issues in particular by saying a number of patronage jobs have been eliminated in town hall, which they say has saved the town hundreds of thousands of dollars. They also pointed to efforts to reduce the amount of debt the town is carrying.

Though some see Brick as a Republican town, according to an article on Politickernj.com, the breakdown of the township’s 46,624 registered voters is less definitive on the subject, with registered Republican voters outnumbering Democrats 11,536 to 9,212. But overlooked is the fact that there are more unaffliated voters -- 25,844 -- than have committed to the two parties combined. 

In the end, voters chose to continue the current situation, which means seven Democrats will sit on the council for at least the next two years -- until the terms of current Council President Paul Mummolo, Council Vice President Heather deJong and Councilwoman Marianna Pontoriero expire.