Toms River 2023 Mayoral Candidate: Robert Bianchini

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Tuesday is Primary Election Day, and Toms River voters have several choices for the Republican nominee for the mayoral race.

Patch sent a questionnaire to all four candidates seeking their responses. Here are the replies from Robert Bianchini. They are unedited except for typographical errors and punctuation.

Name: Robert A. Bianchini

Age: 63

Family: Married, wife Nancy

Education: Certified Nicet IV (heavy highway construction), Certified Public Works Manager, Certified Municipal Engineering Inspector, OSHA Certified, NJ Certified Asphalt Technologist

Occupation: Director of Capital Projects, Public Works, and Public Facilities for the City of Asbury Park

Previous elective office, if any: none

Do you or anyone in your family work for the state, county or local governments or a position that would force you to abstain from votes? no

Why are you seeking office?

As a lifelong resident of Toms River, I have seen many changes to our beautiful town. Some good, but recently more bad. Our once quaint beach town is becoming a city with all that encompasses. Huge over-development, traffic issues, illegal multi-family housing are taking hold. I have the passion and the experience to correct and improve the quality of life issues we are experiencing.

Making downtown Toms River a vibrant place similar to what exists in Red Bank has been discussed for years. What would you propose to achieve that?

Toms River and Red Bank are two totally separate areas. Red Bank and Asbury Park for example have trains that go through their towns, which Toms River does not have. One of the most discouraging issues is the parking. People will not go to a place where they cannot park. Instead of a 10-story high rise downtown and giving the contractor a tax abatement, Toms River should have used that valuable area and put up a parking structure with an upper deck area which could be used to relax and bring families, watch fireworks, have a movie night etc. It would also have bathrooms, with security cameras, etc.

Once the parking is established, Main Street could be closed down to accommodate outside dining like some of the other towns afford. A lot can be done with the right vision and my knowledge on how to get it done.

Toms River has been on the short end of a number of issues with the state of New Jersey in the last few years, from beach replenishment to school funding. How would you break through the political divide to address it?

This is an issue that both parties use as a game to play in Trenton. They take money from one source and reallocate to others for votes. This needs to stop! We don’t have a revenue problem, we have spending problem.

You cannot continue to spend billions of dollars on beach replenishment, when Mother Nature will continually move it to where it may be not wanted, filling in lagoons and exacerbating the flooding issues that started after Superstorm Sandy.

Throwing money at this in an effort to prevent another “perfect storm”, is extremely wasteful and is not working. There are major issues affecting our community, such as the bay being filled in, and our wildlife being adversely affected from the sand being transferred from the beachfront to the bay area.

I will address this day one!!

Homelessness is affecting every community in Ocean County as the cost of rentals skyrockets and availability decreases. How would you address that to assist Toms River residents?

Unfortunately, this is mainly a mental health issue, and once the state started shutting down the hospitals for the mentally ill, it created a major issue for all communities throughout the state.

It is unfortunate that we give all kinds of money to other countries and causes, but we can't help our own citizens. Our veterans are a big part of the homeless as well, and they desperately need our help. Our priorities need to change!