Incumbents all submit applications to run again
GOP and Dem clubs gear up for screening process
BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer
Mayor Stephen C. Acropolis and all three Brick Township Council members whose terms are up this year want another shot at their jobs.

Acropolis, Republican Township Councilmen Joseph Sangiovanni and Daniel Toth and Democratic Councilwoman Kathy Russell all said they have to wait for their respective parties to go through their annual selection process.

Acropolis, 51, said he planned to screen for the Republican nomination for the fouryear term as mayor.

"I am not and never will be a professional politician," the mayor said. "As long as I feel I have something to bring to the table for the people of Brick Township, then I'm going to be involved in politics in Brick Township. If Warren Wolf was the mayor, I would not be running again."

Acropolis served 12 years on the Township Council before he beat acting Democratic Mayor Daniel J. Kelly in November 2007 for the remainder of former Democratic Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli's unexpired term, which ends this year. Scarpelli was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison in 2008, after he pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer.

Sangiovanni, 59, is seeking his second term on the council. He is the transportation director for the Brick Township school district.

"I'm going to run, if they select me," Sangiovanni said. "We're going through a selection process with the party in another couple of weeks. They asked for people that were interested and I submitted by name."

Both he and Toth, 32, said they have "unfinished business" on the council and would like to serve again.

"I'd like to see things through," Sangiovanni said. "I'd like to see the marina property developed. And then at that time I think I'll be satisfied."

Toth said he had already submitted a resume to the Republican municipal chairman.

"I love it," he said of his council job. "Other than being voted out, I wouldn't give it up for any thing. I love the challenge; I love the fact that people put me in office essentially because they trusted me."

Toth, who is seeking his second term on the council, is the president and chief executive officer of American Importing-Exporting Inc., a warehouse and alcohol-distribution company.

"There's some unfinished business I have regarding traffic concerns and land use," Toth said. "

Russell, the lone Democrat on the Township Council, is seeking her fourth term.

"I know I have done an excellent job representing the citizens of Brick," she said. "I'm fair and open-minded and I do due diligence being a council member."

The GOP won't decide on its slate of candidates until the end of February, Municipal Chairman Frank Pannucci Jr. said.

The screening committee will interview everyone who submitted a resume. Then the Republican club will vote on the recommendations, Pannucci said.

"This is the beauty of the Republican Party," he said. "Just because you are already there, it doesn't guarantee you have it. We all go through the screening process. That says a lot about our council and our mayor. They don't take things for granted. They believe in the process."

Democratic Municipal Chairman Michael Blandina said the organization will probably be starting the screening process in two weeks.

"By the end of March, we'll probably have everything finalized," he said.

Anyone interested in screening with the Democratic Club may contact Blandina at 732-477-6507, or e-mail him at mblandina@ aol.com.

Acropolis suggested starting the campaigns for office in September.

"Nobody wants to have a 10-month campaign," he said. "It's hard enough doing the work of the town without running a campaign for 10 months. Why don't we all start Sept. 1. I'm not looking to have a prolonged campaign."