Candidates agree: City needs open government Five vying for council cite affordable housing, recreation as priorities BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer PHOTOS BY CHRIS KELLY staff Above: Ralph DeFillipo answers a question during the candidates' debate sponsored by the Long Branch Concerned Citizens coalition and the Greater Long Branch NAACP at Trinity A.M.E. Church Oct. 30. Below: Candidate Michael Sirianni responds to a question. The five candidates for Long Branch City Council faced off in a political debate Monday night, but appeared to agree on the major issues facing the city. All five vying for the one council seat up for election listed the need for transparency in governing the city; increasing the city's stock of affordable housing; and providing recreation programs for the city's youth. Councilwoman Jackeline Biddle and challengers Brian Unger, Ralph DeFillipo, Michael P. Sirianni and Vincent Maccioli participated in the candidates forum at Trinity A.M.E. Church on Liberty Street. The Oct. 30 debate attended by about 75 people was sponsored by the Greater Long Branch NAACP and the Long Branch Concerned Citizens Coalition. The five candidates are running in the Nov. 7 election to fill the remainder of the unexpired term of former Councilman John "Fazz" Zambrano, who resigned in July after pleading guilty to federal charges of accepting a bribe. The moderator for the League of Women Voters asked five questions posed by audience members, and each candidate made opening and closing remarks. To the question "Why are you running for office?," Unger, an Elberon resident and former member of the Zoning Board and environmental committee, said he decided to run for office after Zambrano's guilty plea. "I thought we hit a low point," said Unger. Unger said after meeting with residents of the Marine and Ocean Terraces and Seaview Avenue (MTOTSA) neighborhood who are fighting to save their homes from condemnation, that he opposes the use of eminent domain for their neighborhood. "The abuse of the power of eminent domain is distracting our city," Unger said at the debate. "One thing we can do is take MTOTSA out of the redevelopment zone." He added, "The last thing I want to see is a community east of Ocean Avenue and another town on the west of Ocean Avenue." Unger said, if elected, he would have council meetings televised and would also make the city's Web site open and transparent. Biddle said she, too, wants a more open relationship between the council and residents. "In order to dispel and get rid of corruption, I think we need to look at the people we support," she said, adding , "it is a series of checks and balances. "We need to be more involved in the community," Biddle said. The only heated exchanges were between Unger and Biddle. Unger implied that Biddle's campaign is being financed by a political "machine." Biddle responded, "I am very disappointed that [Unger] suggested I am being backed by a machine because I am not." In her closing statement, Biddle said Unger uses MTOTSA as a platform, but asked, "Where were you when eminent domain was used for the people in Beachfront North [phase I] or eminent domain in the Broadway area? "It is only abuse when certain people say it is abuse," she continued. Referring to Unger's unsuccessful run for freeholder, she said, he is "running for state office and losing and county office and losing. He is a solution looking for a problem." Biddle, an attorney and nurse, was appointed by the City Council in August to fill Zambrano's vacated seat. If elected, she said she wants to work with the council and the community to establish more affordable housing in the city. "I want all the residents to stay in Long Branch," she said. "I want jobs here in Long Branch." DeFillipo, who ran in the May election on the New Wave Team, said if elected he wants to enforce term limits in local government positions. "It is two, four-year terms," DeFillipo, a retired Long Branch police officer said. "That is enough for anyone. I don't like people dominating." He also said he is opposed to using eminent domain to take people homes to hand the property over to developers for private redevelopment projects. "A railroad, a school, a public use," he said are all instances where eminent domain should be used. It should not be used for "taking people out of their homes and turning it over to developers," he added. Political newcomer Sirianni said being a councilman is "no glorified job. "It is an elected position to serve the people," said the principal/director of the Culinary Education Center of Monmouth County in Asbury Park. "Long Branch is a great city," he said. "We do not need McMansions in Long Branch. We need affordable housing. We need year-long families. It is a very diverse community." He told the crowded room that most importantly, he would like to see an improvement in the communication between the city administration and residents of the city. "If people aren't going to come to council meetings," he said, "we have to go to them." Maccioli, a retired Long Branch Police Captain, said that he would like to see residents more involved in the city's decision-making. "There were always the same people [at council meetings]," he said. "We have to have different people come in." He also said that he would enforce term limits and put an end to corruption in local politics. If elected, he said he would establish an organization to bring the youth of the community together to use the existing playgrounds and recreational areas the city has to offer. "I see a lot of playgrounds in Long Branch," he said. "The one around the corner from me on Atlantic Avenue, I hardly ever see people there." The candidates were all asked if they accepted campaign donations from developers or any other companies seeking work in the city. All of the candidates responded they did not, with Maccioli adding that he has not accepted money from anyone. "I don't believe that anyone should take money from any organization to run for this office," Maccioli said.