Brown will throw hat in ring for L.B. mayor
Schneider says he will run for fifth term as mayor
BY CHRISTINE VARNO
Staff Writer

Long Branch minister Kevin Brown has kicked off his first political campaign by announcing Tuesday that he will challenge Mayor Adam Schneider in this year’s mayoral election.

As of Tuesday, Brown was the only person to pick up a petition at City Hall for the position of mayor, according to the city clerk.

Brown, founder of the Light-house Christian Center, also retrieved a petition for council.

“If I see a stronger candidate for mayor, then I will seek a seat on council,” Brown said in an interview Tuesday. “If not, I am seeking the challenge. People are afraid to run against [Schneider], but I am not intimidated.”

Schneider confirmed Tues-day that he plans to seek

re-election for his fifth term as mayor of Long Branch.

Brown, 53, an ordained Baptist minister, has been trying to establish a place of worship in the building he owns at 162 Broadway for 10 years but has been unsuccessful because his property lies in one of the city’s six redevelopment zones.

He said his primary goal for the election is to see the current administration removed from office.

Brown, who holds an accounting degree from the City University of New York, has never held public office before.

“I don’t think it is going to be easy to beat this administration,” Brown said. “They have been [in office] too long, and they need to be replaced.”

Brown will be running as an independent and said he needs to gather 138 signatures in support of his candidacy in order to appear on the May 9 election ballot.

“I want to free Long Branch from negative, oppressive rule and provide positive, progressive leadership,” Brown said.

If elected, Brown said his first item of business would be to stop all seizures of properties for redevelopment.

“I want to protect private property from economic development,” he said.

Another priority Brown said would be to lower the city’s taxes.

“I want to cut taxes without surrendering services in the city,” Brown said. “There is 20 percent waste in the budget. I would consolidate offices at city hall.

“I want to put the fate of Long Branch into the hands of all the people in the city, not just a select few,” he said.

Brown said out of the 13,000 registered voters in the city, only 4,000 to 5,000 actually voted in the last four elections.

“About 5,000 people came out for the 2002 election,” he said. “I am looking to the 8,000 people that did not come out for the past elections. I want to know what is important to them, if they are happy with the current administration and why they did not vote.”

Brown said he will not accept donations to his campaign from anyone who is looking for a contract in the city and added that he needs support.

“I have made my announcement that I will come out and run and I have about a handful of people behind me,” he said. “I need more help.

“I am ready and I will debate with [Schneider] anytime, anywhere,” he said.

For more information on Brown’s campaign, visit his Web site at www.FreeLongBranch.com.