Pallone, Brown in Long Branch council bid

Pallone, Brown in Long Branch council bid
Candidates have family ties in city
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Two independent candidates with deep roots in Long Branch are gearing up for a run at City Council seats.

Council hopefuls David G. Brown II (l) and John Pallone pick up candidates’ packets at Long Branch City Hall, indicating they will run for council seats in the May 11 election. Council hopefuls David G. Brown II (l) and John Pallone pick up candidates’ packets at Long Branch City Hall, indicating they will run for council seats in the May 11 election. John Pallone, a former Long Branch councilman and brother of Congressman Frank Pallone Jr. (D-6th District), and David G. Brown II, son of current Long Branch Councilman David Brown, announced that they are running for council independently of a mayoral candidate.

Pallone said he and Brown are running together because they agree on many of the issues the city is facing.

“Basically, Dave and I have the same vision for this city,” he said. “We see eye to eye on a lot of things. I think he’d bring a lot of experience.”

In a press release announcing their candidacies, Brown echoed Pallone’s words.

“John and I have heard from many residents in Long Branch that they are looking for positive, experienced city leaders who will be the voices of individuals from every walk of life and every neighborhood in our community,” Brown said. “That’s why we are running together and hope to serve on the City Council.”

In an interview last week, Pallone spoke about the need for transparency within the municipal government.

“A big priority for both me and Dave is getting citizens involved in the legislative process,” he said. “We want to listen to their ideas and concerns.”

Pallone listed some of their ideas for promoting open government.

“We are talking about more office hours, public forums, and council meetings should be televised,” he said. “The city website should be more interactive, getting involved in surveys.

“We want to try being more responsive to residents. A lot of communities have things like online surveys on their municipalities just to get people more involved in the community.”

Brown agreed with Pallone’s message of transparency.

“We’d like to see the council meetings televised and provide more public documents on the website and make things easier to find for individuals,” he said, also mentioning office hours and community forums.

Pallone also said that with the current state of the economy, it is the governing body’s job to do more with fewer resources.

“We are in some tough economic times, so I think we all need to do more with less,” he said. “We want to make local government more effective and more efficient.”

Brown also addressed some issues the city’s governing body should deal with.

“John and I are looking to come in with new thoughts and new processes,” Brown said. “We really want to focus on stabilizing the taxes and continuing to reduce crime, as well as all the aspects of Long Branch.

“One of the things is, there are different sections of Long Branch and each one individually has its own characteristics and needs. We want to be able to focus on all of Long Branch.”

Brown has held various positions in municipal government, including business administrator for the borough of Roselle, vice president of real estate development in the city of Newark, and his current position as director of public works and urban development for the city of Plainfield.

Brown said his experience in these municipalities gives him a good grasp on issues in Long Branch.

“Plainfield and Newark have a lot of similarities and issues that Long Branch has,” he said.

Brown discussed some of his goals for development in the city.

“We would look at re-invigorating our downtown area and the Broadway redevelopment area,” he said.

Councilman David Brown announced earlier this year that he would retire from council, which his son said is a major reason why he decided to run.

“Knowing he wasn’t going to run again made it possible for me to come to that decision,” he said. “I think I’m seasoned enough now.”

Pallone, who served on council from 1990 to 1994, said he would like to find ways to share services to save money.

One such idea, Pallone said, would be to use the TV studio at the high school to broadcast council meetings, either live or on tape delay.

Pallone said that he is willing to work with whoever wins the mayoral race and the other council seats.

“We really need to work together with the council and the mayor,” he said. “I think whoever is the mayor, whoever is on council, we all need to work together.

“We are going to be facing a lot of problems, but problems can be solved, and if not solved perfectly but worked out as best we can.”

Brown agreed that continuity on council is going to be very important.

“It is very important for the council as a whole to work together and not work in an antagonistic way,” he said. “We have to be positive and look out for the interests of all the residents.”

Pallone served on council from 1990 to 1994 and said he feels that 16 years later it is a good time for him to rejoin the race.

“It was a family decision, and I think the time is right,” he said. “We are all in this together, and we can make a difference with some new ideas and a different perspective.

“There will be some changes on council, and we both would like to be a part of that and help the community.”

The two are part of a crowded field of Long Branch candidates that includes current Mayor Adam Schneider, who is seeking a sixth term, and challengers Councilman Brian Unger and financial adviser Robert Krebs, plus some 22 candidates for City Council.

Candidates have until March 18 to pick up a packet and gather petition signatures to qualify to run in the Long Branch municipal election, which will be held May 11.

Contact Kenny Walter at

kwalter@gmnews.com.