Voters signal need for change in city
Eatontown, WLB mayors returned to office
BY CHRISTINE VARNO and SUE MORGAN
Staff Writers

Brian Unger

Long Branch residents calling for change in the city made their voices heard at the polls Tuesday by electing independent candidate Brian Unger to fill the open seat on the City Council.

Unger received 1,767 votes, with 16 of the 17 voting districts in the city reporting by 10 p.m. Tuesday, winning by a margin of 735 votes.

Unger will fill the remaining term of former Councilman John "Fazz" Zambrano, which expires in 2010.

Zambrano resigned his council seat in July after pleading guilty to federal charges of extortion.

In August, Mayor Adam Schneider and the City Council appointed Biddle to fill the vacated seat until the next election.

Serving on council for just over three months, Biddle ran for election to the lone seat, but received only 1,032 votes.

According to the county, the preliminary tally of votes cast for the remaining council candidates running for office was: Ralph DeFillipo, 448; Michael P. Sirianni, 600; and Vincent Maccioli, 248

Janet Tucci

Of the approximately 30,000 residents in the city, 13,898 are registered to vote, according to City Clerk Irene Joline.

Democratic Mayor Gerald J. Tarantolo will return to his corner office in Eatontown Borough Hall for a third term courtesy of his victory over Republican challenger Anthony "Bubba" Gaetano.

With eight of nine districts reporting at press time, Tarantolo garnered 1,891 votes, or about 58 percent of all ballots cast.

Gaetano took 1,373 votes or 42 percent of the ballots cast.

Altogether, 3,266 votes were cast in the mayoral election. Eatontown has 7,716 registered voters

Eatontown's voters have also returned incumbent Democratic Councilmen Charles DaVis and Joseph Questore to their seats.

DaVis garnered 1,815 votes or about 28 percent of the total vote and Questore took 1,720 votes or nearly 27 percent of the 6,420 votes cast in the council race.

Gerald Tarantolo

All vote totals are based upon unofficial results from the Monmouth County Board of Elections.

With the election results, both the mayor's office and the council remain solely in the hands of the Democrats.

Republican Mayor Janet W. Tucci held off a challenge by Democratic newcomer John Hegarty by a tally of 1,418 to 1,105 according to unofficial vote tallies released by the Monmouth County Board of Elections. Her running mates Barbara Ruane and Steven Cioffi each garnered 1,358 votes and 1,355 votes respectively over Democratic challenger Barry Pollack who took 1,325 votes.