Verona Council Candidates Face-Off in Debate

With just a couple of weeks until the May 10 nonpartisan election, eight Verona council candidates met last night in a forum where the discussion was dominated by property taxes, attracting new businesses to downtown and traffic issues.

The forum featured James Robbins, Kevin Ryan, Gerard Tamburino and Bruce Williams, who are all running for the unexpired two-year seat of former Councilman Ken McKenna, who resigned last year, as well as Robert Caruso, Michael Nochimson, Daniel McGinley and Deputy Mayor Frank Sapienza, the lone incumbent, who are running for two 4-year seats on the council.

The event was held at the Verona Community Center and was sponsored by the Verona Chamber of Commerce. That group, along with the Verona-Cedar Grove Times, supplied questions for the candidates.

The forum started off with an opening statement from the candidates, who introduced themselves to the audience, stated their qualifications, background, and volunteer work. Tom Malanga, president of the Chamber of Commerce, then posed a series of questions to each candidate, who had 90 seconds to respond.

The forum concluded with a closing statement, during which, in a bit of a departure from the tone of the evening, Caruso accused Nochimson of evading state campaign laws by not filing three forms the state requires of candidates seeking municipal office.

“Most candidates have done that,” said Caruso, who had papers he printed from the website of the state Election Law Enforcement Commission showing zero results on Nochimson. “Michael Nochimson has not done that.”
 
Nochimson chose not to address Caruso’s accusation during his closing statements, but later denied the allegations and called it an “attack.”
 
“I don’t think it was the forum to respond. It was inappropriate on his behalf to make a statement like that, which I think is inaccurate,” Nochimson said.

“I would say, if you check the records tomorrow, you will find out the accuracy. We haven’t done anything illegal.”

A subsequent check of the state elections website showed no records on Nochimson as of last night. However, a spokesman with the Commission confirmed this morning that two of the three required forms Caruso referred to have been received by the state, one of them before the debate was held.

The spokesman said the supplemental contributor form, known as Form C-1, is not required of all candidates. Nochimson would not be required to file a C-1 if he: Did not receive more than $300 in total campaign contributions from any one source, or did not accept currency donations such as cash or checks.

In a subsequent interview, Nochimson said his campaign had not yet accepted any monetary donations, which would preclude him from filing a Form C-1.

However, despite the fact that two of Nochimson's forms have as of today been received by the state, the spokesman said form D-1, which refers to campaign financial disclosures, was received on April 21, but that the form is due "within 10 days of forming his organization, or taking or spending any money."

Nochimson's Form A-1, the candidate-sworn statement, was received by the state April 20, nine days after it was due by law, the spokesman confirmed.

Nochimson had no comment on what the Commission spokesman said, but said "All of my campaign documents have been filed appropriately."

The spokesman said he could not speculate on what could happen if Nochimson was found to be non-compliant, but said the Commission is "permitted to assess fines and penalties under the New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act."

Except for that brief moment, the forum was mostly polite and genial. Malanga posed five questions in total to the candidates, which follow:
 
1. List the biggest challenges facing businesses in Verona and how would the candidates overcome them. 

Several of the candidates vying for the two 4-year seats agreed the town needed to attract anchor stores, fill vacant storefronts, and improve parking.

“There are so many vacant buildings on Bloomfield Avenue,” said Caruso, who has worked in Federal law enforcement.

“We can look at new stores but we can’t put people into them if there's no place to stop,” said McGinley, who is an administrator on business improvement districts and property owner associations.

Nochimson, who works in financial services, said the town should offer tax incentives to new businesses and relax restrictions on sidewalk sales.

Sapienza, an operating engineer, said he thought the town has done many things already to improve the business climate. As for taxes, Sapienza said he wasn’t sure that was the right answer.

“We can’t give more additional tax breaks,” he said. 

For candidates vying for the two-year seat, they touched on similar issues.

Robbins, a former council member, said he wants more theme oriented nights like a Victorian Night or have the council hold a summer concert series. He also pointed out the town needed a marketing plan for the businesses.

Ryan, a retired Social Security administrator, echoed what many other said: focus on filling vacant buildings and get an anchor store like Trader Joe’s into Verona

Tamburino, an attorney, said the town needed more streetscaping, to enforce building codes on facades, and to improve parking before even thinking of bringing in new stores.

Williams, who works for a global security firm, said the town should utilize its parks more, do more advertising for businesses, and foster cooperation in the business community.

2. If a candidate was given a $1 million to spend as a council member, how would he spend it?

Many of the two-year candidates said they wanted to spend a majority of it by reducing the town debt, lower taxes, and make infrastructure and capital improvements.

But Tamburino and Ryan said the debt reduction angle may be just a one-shot Band-Aid.

Perhaps, Tamburino said, the town should provide scholarships to kids and have some money for the sporting community if they needed it. Maybe also invest the money, but first he would consult with the rest of council, he said.

The four-year term candidates had similar ideas with what to do with the money such as debt relief and capital improvements.

Caruso said he would like to do studies on revenue producing projects such as cell towers or solar panels. Once they are paid off, profits from selling the energy would come in, he said.

Nochimson echoed what many said about paying down the debt, but he also said he would like a town clock, that would serve as a local landmark.

Sapienza said he would put the money into the town water treatment plant because Verona sells its water to neighboring towns.

McGinley said he would improve programs for seniors and youth such as more parks, transportation, and recreation programs.

“We need to provide services from one end to another,” he said.

3. Detail what kind of advice the candidates would give to Joseph Martin, the Township Manager, to trim the fat from next year’s budget.

Many of the four-year candidates said they would ask Martin to make the budget as efficient as possible and do shared services.

But Caruso said he would tell the manager what he could spend and “not wait for him to come to me.”

“Come in with a zero percent increase and mean it,” he said about the town budget.

The two-year candidates also touched on similar issues but Ryan refuted Caruso’s approach and said about the budget, “You can't just come in flat. You gotta go to department heads.”

Ryan said the council needed to know from departments how the cuts would impact services.

“To keep flat is very painful but you have to be truthful,” he said.

4. What would the candidates do about traffic and the high number of car accidents, particularly around Bloomfield and Pompton avenues.

Many of the candidates wanted to enforce the ban against cellphone usage while driving and have heavier police patrol.

Tamburino said perhaps Verona should have red light cameras and used as an example, Newark, which has raked in millions of dollars in fines. Nochimson said additional revenue could be generated by having police officers write more tickets for speeding.

To laughter, McGinley said he may have had a hand in the traffic problems at Bloomfield and Pompton avenues. As a student at the New Jersey Insititute of Technology, he studied the intersection.

But seriously, he said the key to keep the streets safe was police enforcement and have residents keep a look out for any problems.

“We as Veronans need to keep eyes on each other,” he said.

5. What should local governments do to introduce new businesses into town and what is the council’s role.

Many of the candidates again brought up the need for anchor stores, relax restrictions on businesses, and plan more events.

Sapienza said the town is in the right direction. The council has already done many things to improve the business climate in town, he said.

A recording of the forum is available online at the Verona Chamber of Commerce at http://veronaliving.com/?p=4157.