Schneider team in place for May 11

Schneider team in place for May 11
Celli is only returning council candidate
BY KENNY WALTER Staff Writer
Incumbent Mayor Adam Schneider kicked off his re-election campaign last week at campaign headquarters.

Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider (center) poses with his slate of candidates for City Council: (l-r) Kathleen Billings, Alan Menkin, Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli, Joy Bastelli and Michael Sirianni. KENNY WALTER Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider (center) poses with his slate of candidates for City Council: (l-r) Kathleen Billings, Alan Menkin, Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli, Joy Bastelli and Michael Sirianni. KENNY WALTER Campaign headquarters, located on Brighton Avenue, was filled with more than 50 people for the March 11 kickoff that introduced the five-term mayor’s ticket.

Current Councilwoman Mary Jane Celli, grassroots activist Joy Bastelli, retired former school administrator Kathleen Billings, former Board of Education President Michael Sirianni, and president of the Long Branch Recreation Wrestling Club Alan Menkin will be on the ticket with Schneider for the May 11 municipal elections.

Schneider finds himself in unfamiliar company, with longtime running mates Councilmen Michael DeStefano, David Brown and Anthony Giordano not seeking re-election.

“It’s different,” Schneider said. “I had a lot of fun putting the ticket together.”

The announcement of his running mates came weeks after word came out that Schneider would run again, and the mayor gave some insight on what it took to put the ticket together.

“Getting people together that have worked on the campaigns before and bringing people in to be interviewed by all of us,” he said. “Getting a sense of community involvement, how they are going to work together, their understanding of the election process, and just having a wide range of conversations. You don’t have to agree with everything I’ve done.

“It took longer than I thought it would.”

Schneider will have one familiar face on board, with Celli running for a fifth term. Celli said last week that despite the council changing, she always knew she was going to run.

“I always wanted to run, whether they ran or not. I can run with anybody, I can work with anybody,” she said. “They are great candidates with fresh, new ideas, which I think will be good for the city.”

Other ticket members credited Schneider’s and the council’s work in the city.

“I really like the way Adam and the council have moved the city to a better quality of life with the revitalization, the crime rate, and I want to be part of that,” Billings said.

Schneider said the biggest issue facing the city is stabilizing the tax rate.

“The biggest issues are going to be taxes and the budget,” he said. “For the last 20 years, that’s been the biggest issue.

“The combination of controlling expenses and spending while still providing services is a daily challenge,” he added. “Taxes stay much more stable in Long Branch, and we’ve done it without laying people off.”

Schneider reflected on his previous five terms as mayor, saying that he may be most proud of what he has done with the city’s parks.

“When I first ran, that was a big issue,” he said. “Jackson Woods wasn’t owned by the city, and that is what brought my original campaign group together.”

Celli also revealed some of her finer moments on council.

“I am proud of saving the senior center,” she said. “I saved it from being moved.

“That is where they wanted to stay,” she added. “I think the library is number one.

“We put a lot of money into them, and they turned out beautiful. UEZ [Urban Enterprise Zone] has done a lot for the city.”

Schneider also said that in his earlier campaigns, crime was a big issue.

“When I ran in ’90 and ’94, there was a huge outcry about crime,” he said. “Our crime stats have shown a decline in crime for 16 years now.

“It makes the town a much better investment.”

Bastelli, who is a third-generation Long Branch resident, said she saw firsthand how bad crime once was in the city.

“When I was raising children 17 years ago, I found myself in a decaying neighborhood. Crime was rampant — my home was robbed twice,” she said.

Bastelli’s family owned a shop on Broadway called Fast Eddie’s, where she said she would watch incidents of crime from her shop’s window.

“My customers couldn’t go from the car to the shop door without being approached by drug dealers, prostitutes or to buy stolen goods,” she said.

Bastelli said that the police force has grown to deal with the crime rate.

“Back then, the police force was understaffed and overworked,” she said. “Since then, they’ve grown to over 100 officers.

“Crime has gone down every year,” she added. “I want to see progress continue, I don’t want to see it go backward.”

Schneider said that one of the city’s strong points is that there is a lot to do.

“People come here to go to the beach, they come here to go to Pier Village, they come here to go out to eat, they come here because they are safe,” he said.

Schneider also said that running a city is a little like juggling: you must balance all the aspects.

“It is all connected, and it is about balancing it all,” he said. “If you can’t work together, then that balancing act falls quickly.”

Another big issue for the candidates is plans for a pier to replace the one that was destroyed by fire in the 1980s.

“I think that the pier is also going to be an issue,” Billings said. “I think it’s a good idea. I’d like to see us do it. I remember the old pier and think it would be a good place for families to come.

“I want to see the fishing pier rebuilt. I think it is an important part of our history,” Bastelli said.

Sirianni said that his experience of working with the Board of Education would help ease his transition to government.

“Laws change, procedures change, but there is still the common foundation. Understanding the way the school districts run gave me some insight on how the city runs,” he said.

Sirianni also named some of the issues he thinks are important.

“Going into the future, I think there is still work that needs to be done with the revitalization program that we have,” he said. “I’m very interested in the pier, Lower Broadway, and whatever else comes our way in the everyday life of the city.”

Menkin has been heavily involved in youth sports in Long Branch, including soccer and wrestling, and credits his involvement for broadening his experience.

“I’m more diversified because I’m involved with all the sports,” Menkin said. “You have all the different ethnic backgrounds involved with all the sports.

“I’ve adapted to everyone’s personalities and beliefs.”

Schneider is being challenged by Councilman Brian Unger and financial adviser Robert Krebs.

Schneider’s council candidates also face a crowded field, with 22 residents picking up candidates’ packets from the Clerk’s Office. March 18 is the deadline filing packets with accompanying 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.


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