2006 was year of change and turmoil in Brick Bulletin ranks the Top 10 stories BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer 1. Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli resigns Longtime Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli stunned some and didn't surprise others when he resigned abruptly Dec. 8. Scarpelli submitted a one-sentence letter that said he was leaving office for "personal reasons." His departure and his lack of an explanation for leaving the mayor's seat he had held for more than 12 years sparked a storm of speculation. Scarpelli, 67, had been seen less and less in town hall as the year went on. He was the only mayor in township history ever elected to four terms. The mayor promised a "very interesting" year when he was sworn in to an unprecedented fourth term on Jan. 1. Scarpelli said that Township Council members - six Republicans and one Democrat - were at a "fork in the road." "The path we take will be chosen by all of us," Scarpelli said. Scarpelli's replacement will be announced at the Jan. 4 Township Council meeting. The GOP-majority Township Council will choose one of three candidates submitted by the local Democratic municipal committee to serve until the 2007 election. The candidates include former Mayor Daniel F. Newman, former Councilwoman Kim Casten and Planning Board Chairman Daniel Kelly. 2. Public Works Director Jack Nydam pleads guilty Former Public Works Director John H. (Jack) Nydam pleaded guilty to official misconduct, theft and witness tampering April 3. Nydam could have faced up to 90 years in prison, after he was indicted twice in 2005 on 11 charges in a public corruption investigation by state and federal authorities. Nydam's plea agreement called for him to cooperate with the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office in other investigations. Then-Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli said at the time he didn't think any other Brick officials would be charged in the investigation. "I don't think so, no," the mayor said. "It's in the hands of the judicial system." Nydam's sentencing was originally scheduled for Sept. 15, but was postponed until Dec. 18, then postponed again. The next sentencing date is slated for Feb. 16, before state Superior Court Judge James A. Citta in Ocean County. 3. FBI subpoenas records from town hall The FBI on June 30 ordered township officials to release any correspondence or documents related to the purchase of trucks, vehicles, equipment and parts from International Trucks of Central Jersey, or its affiliates, Air Brake & Equipment and Air Brake Exchange, between Jan. 1, 1999, to the present. The FBI came back a week later, with two more subpoenas. The July 6 subpoenas ordered township officials to release records related to federal funds Brick received between Jan. 1, 1998, and Dec. 31, 2005. The subpoenas also sought any correspondence, memos and disclosure statements dealing with Nydam and the state Department of Community Affairs between Jan. 1, 1998, and Dec. 31, 2002. "I really have no idea what the federal authorities are looking for," Scarpelli said then. A fourth subpoena came July 18, requesting all correspondence between the trucking company and brake companies dating back to 1996 through 1999. 4. Township Administrator Scott R. MacFadden resigns after 21 years in town hall MacFadden, who served as administrator for 17 years in both Democratic and Republican administrations, left to take a job in the private sector as president of Birdsall Engineering Inc. The Eatontown firm has strong ties to the township. MacFadden left July 1. "This is a day I didn't think would come," he said, when he announced his plans May 10. "I thought I was going to have to retire from Brick Township." MacFadden started in Brick Township in 1985, when then-Mayor Daniel F. Newman Sr. tapped him to serve as assistant business administrator. MacFadden said after Scarpelli's resignation that his own departure was in no way connected with the mayor's. 5. Brittney Gregory's killer gets 30 years State Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso, sitting in Toms River, sentenced Jack Fuller Jr., 40, Howell, to 30 years without parole Jan. 13 for snuffing out the life of 16-year-old Brick Memorial High School student Brittney Gregory in July 2004. Fuller pleaded guilty to one count of murder on Oct. 18, 2005. Fuller, a Gregory family acquaintance, said he punched the girl at least twice in the face and head because she tried to stop him from smoking crack while he gave her a ride to her boyfriend's house in July 2004. The girl's unclothed body was found in a shallow grave in the Greenville section of Lakewood two weeks after she was reported missing. "The truth of my daughter's death will die with Jack Fuller," said Debra Gregory, Brittney's mother, at Fuller's sentencing. Fuller would have faced life without parole if the case went to trial. 6. State commissioner of education suspends Board of Education president for two months DOE Commissioner Lucille Davy suspended Board of Education President Sharon Kight for two months on March 6 for ethics violations. Davis ruled that Kight had violated the code of ethics when she "took private action in confronting a member of the public in a verbal and physical manner regarding his comments," Davy said in her decision. The state School Ethics Commission voted unanimously to recommend that Kight be suspended on Jan. 24. Robert Lanzieri, former president of the local nonprofit group Parents of Autistic Children, filed the ethics violations with the commission against Kight and board member John Talty, after a March 17, 2005, board meeting that ended with a heated discussion between Kight and Lanzieri. Lanzieri said that Kight "came up to him screaming" after he criticized Talty during the public portion. Lanzieri also said that Kight pushed him, a claim that Kight denied. "Being aggressive is not a violation of ethics," Kight said after the commissioner's decision. "I think this sets a very, very bad precedent." Davy later denied Kight's request for a stay of her suspension. 7. Brick Township school budget goes down Voters who went to the polls April 19 nixed a 2006-2007 budget of $128,911,361 that would have increased school taxes by 11.6 cents for each $100 of assessed valuation. "You don't want an alibi, you don't want to whine, you don't want to cry, but this is reality," Schools Superintendent Thomas L. Seidenberger said after the vote totals were in. Only 16.6 percent of Brick's 47,355 registered voters went to the polls, according to Ocean County Board of Elections statistics. Seidenberger blamed the failed budget and low turnout on stunted state aid and the fact that schools were closed for the spring holidays. 8. Brick named safest town in America The banner in town hall said it all. "Brick Township, the safest city in America." Kansas-based Morgan Quinto Press had ranked Brick as one of the top five safest cities for the last eight years. But Brick hit No. 1 in 2006 out of 731 cities with populations of 75,000 and over. Morgan Quinto, which publishes its City Crime Rankings reference book annually, based the rankings on six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and motor vehicle theft. The rankings were compiled based on 2005 crime data supplied to the FBI. 9. Township nets $12.1 million in land auction Township officials had only two bidders for a 23-acre parcel of township-owned land at a public auction Jan. 30 that lasted less than five minutes. A minimum bid of $10.5 million was required to participate. "I was hoping for more," said then-Township Administrator Scott R. MacFadden. "I think the economy hurt us a little." Nobility Crest at Brick, a subsidiary of Wall-based Jerald Development Group, beat out U.S. Home, Freehold Township, with a bid of $12.1 million. Nobility won the chance to develop "New Visions" a 300-unit, age-restricted, Planning Board-approved luxury senior housing complex on Chambers Bridge Road. 10. Township opts for paid EMTs Response times were cut down to five minutes shortly after the Police Emergency Medical Services Unit's first rig rolled out on a call May 18. The paid EMTs cover the north side of the township, including the Laurelton, Midstreams and Herbertsville sections and to the Howell, Wall and Point Pleasant borders. The township was able to eliminate one of the two ambulances it contracted with Alert Ambulance Service because of the new unit. But the move did not sit well with some members of volunteer squads in the township. A federal law requires that paid EMTs who also volunteer on a local squad be paid overtime for their volunteer service. Some volunteer squad members voiced concerns that the new program would further deplete the volunteer membership base. "It would certainly destroy the volunteer system we have now," said Winnie Hartvigsen, captain of the Dover/Brick First Aid Squad.