It's the most crowded municipal primary in Warren County.
With 10 candidates between two parties, Phillipsburg is Warren County's most crowded municipal contest for New Jersey's primary election on Tuesday.
We solicited bios from each candidate, asking them about their political experience and to give a short statement on why they are running. Here are their responses.
Warren County's contested primaries
REPUBLICANS
Bernie Fey Jr. (Courtesy photo)BERNARDINO FEY JR. (incumbent)
Age: 48
Occupation: DRJTBC
Prior political experience: Phillipsburg Town Council 2010 to present
Campaign website/social media: n/a
Statement: While on Town Council, I networked and was able to achieve more funding for our youth groups, youth center, and senior center to assist in there ability to grow.
Following up with our youth groups and town needs, I was able to incorporate into this year's budget, the revitalization of the Green Street Park and Walters Park. These parks will have the tennis courts, basketball courts, softball fields, and baseball fields fully renovated back to new like conditions and up to league codes and standards. My next step for our towns recreation is to develop a financial plan for the development of a new Phillipsburg Recreation and Community Center.
While I was on the Redevelopment Committee, we were able to negotiate with a developer and sell the old Ingersoll Rand site with demolition underway and a Redevelopment Plan in place which will result in job creation and an economic boost that our town desperately needs.
Currently, I am working with Senator Doherty to enforce the laws, which will require, state HUD section 8 property owners to have all there paperwork transferred to our Phillipsburg Housing HUD representative, so we can make them accountable for there properties and there conditions, as well as give the tenants representation.
If elected, one of my first goals, is to develop a plan to have a new "Veterans Memorial" wall to recognize our fallen soldiers, so these heroes will never be forgotten.
DEGEROLAMO, FULPER and MCVEY (running as a team)
Danielle L. DeGerolamo
Age: 46
Occupation: Market Manager (LinkedIn page)
Prior political experience: Warren County Republican Committee, Warren County Republican Women
Campaign website/social media: teamphillipsburg.com; www.teamphillipsburg.com/danielle.html; Twitter @pburgproud; facebook.com/pburgproud
Danielle DeGerolamo (Courtesy photo) Statement: There is a sense of pride that effects each generation in our community. I'm running for council to help implement change and create opportunities for all Phillipsburg residents to succeed and restore that pride. We need to open communication in town. Local events and recreation should be affordable for our community. Our facilities need solid plans for improvement. We need accountability at every level when things are not done; including bank owned properties, rental units, and general property maintenance. Taxes? We are still NJ, but yes, we need to work on making our taxes affordable. We need more ratable small and medium sized businesses in town. Community and business partnerships can be a winning combination, especially for experienced, community members and at-risk youth. I've implemented many of these programs professionally, witnessed them in similar towns and seen the pride it creates by learning a trade. We can do this.
Robert W. Fulper
Age: 39
Robert Fulper (Courtesy photo) Occupation: Chief Information Officer for a Lehigh Valley Based IT Services Provider, Owner of Five Circle Productions Web Design Agency.
Prior political experience: Member of the Phillipsburg Senior Center Board, Member of the Phillipsburg Recreation Advisory Board, Former Member of the Phillipsburg Land Use Board.
Campaign website/social media: facebook.com/pburgproud, www.teamphillipsburg.com
Statement: I believe the only way to strengthen our community is to promote a unifying environment regardless of sex, race, religion, and socioeconomic status. People choose to live in Phillipsburg for a reason, so we should focus together on the endgame instead of personal preferences and/or agendas. We simply cannot allow our community to be ripped apart due to the current heightened political climate.
Morale is presently low within our town's boundaries and I aim to change that by involving the community more by means of clearer transparency, more youth involvement, enhanced communication and making the process more personable by striving to be readily available when our residents are in need.
We need to focus on improving the Youth and Senior programs in town, implementing and enforcing stricter ordinances meant to eliminate the absentee landlord and trash issues we are facing, lowering taxes or yielding
the increases by means of maintaining a conservative budget, and yes...we need to revitalize, not just downtown, but ALL of Phillipsburg. No one will want to come here if we don't want to be here ourselves.
Frank McVey
Did not respond by deadline.
Essential info for voting in the NJ primary
DEMOCRATS
SAMARELLI, MCBRIDE and ZAGRA (running as a team)
Saverio Samarelli
Age: 38
Occupation: Union organizer for the Laborers Eastern Region Organizing fund
Prior political experience: None
Campaign website/social media: facebook.com/mszforcouncil
Statement: I'm running because I see our town needs a change. Local hire should be a top priority. Our residence should have a right to work where they live and in turn be able to reinvest in their community. Also, bank owned properties need to be cleaned up and banks need to be held accountable. We need to control spending and find grants to help reconstruct all areas of our town as well. And lastly, having our town hall brought back to the downtown area and help revitalize and bring businesses back to re-energize our Business community.
Jennifer McBride
Age: 40
Occupation: Executive assistant and educator for Kaleidoscope Enrichment
Prior political experience: None
Campaign website/social media: facebook.com/mszforcouncil
Statement: I am running for Council to help the town:
- Bring the Town Hall back to the downtown area.
- Partner with programs to increased physical/mental health services.
- Create a comprehensive Community Revitalization Action Plan, bringing volunteer/community organizations, business, educators, the municipality and residents together and create measurable goals to achieve.
- Invest in our residents by creating local hire policies.
- Reinstate and encourage community block programs to bring neighbors back together, working towards making the whole town, whole again.
- Increase adult and child recreation programs.
- Create an environmental commission to address our unique environmental issues.
Timothy Zagra
Age: 43
Occupation: Production Manager at Graphic Equipment Corp./Charter Machine Company
Prior political experience: None
Campaign website/social media: http://facebook.com/mszforcouncil
Statement: I'm running for council to help encourage the progress of Phillipsburg. To start the revitalization process by moving Town Hall and PPD back downtown where some of our main issues are rooted, drugs, crime, and abandonment, and promote "Broken Windows Policing". To reinvest in our youth and adult recreational programs in town to give people a place to be involved to build community relations. To enforce responsibility on the landlords to keep a better environments for renters. To encourage neighborhoods to help clean up the unsightly areas of town, promote community, and strengthen businesses and homeownership.
CLARK, HUFF and BRISSON (running as a team)
Lee Clark (Courtesy photo) Lee M. Clark
Age: 25
Occupation: Field Director at New Jersey League of Conservation Voters Education Fund
Prior political experience: Worked on Hillary Clinton Presidential Campaign as a field organizer (2016)
Campaign website/social media: Brisson, Clark, and Huff for Phillipsburg Town Council on Facebook; phillipsburgdems.com
Statement: I am running for Phillipsburg Town Council because I believe citizens have the power to bring about positive change in our town. Every day I see the problems plaguing the town and its residents and I want to be a representative to solve these issues. We need to unify and rebuild the pride we had in our neighborhoods and aim to protect our town's natural resources. Phillipsburg is such an amazing place to live and raise a family, we as a community must come together and I believe as a councilman I can help our town do just that.
Ashley Huff
Ashley Huff (Courtesy photo)Age: 27
Occupation: Teacher
Prior political experience: N/A
Campaign website/social media: Brisson, Clark, and Huff for Phillipsburg Town Council on Facebook; phillipsburgdems.com
Statement: I am running for Town Council because it's where my heart is. I want to be a voice for US. I say us because I am no different then any of you who just want to see this town come back to life. I know things have to happen now, but we can't forget that we have to look at the future. We have to take the steps now to create the future we want our children to have tomorrow. Socrates once said, "the secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but building the new." As your councilwoman I would do my absolute best to take the steps to make positive change happen without losing what Phillipsburg is.
Emil Brisson
Emil Brisson (Courtesy photo)Age: 70
Occupation: Retired in 2013 from the NJ Division of Developmental Disabilities, after almost 34 years of service. When I retired, I was the Northern Regional Administrator for Community Services. I have over 41 years of experience working with people with developmental disabilities.
Prior political experience: None. Over the years, I have done volunteer activities to give back to others, through coaching sports, involvement in our church and our kids' schools, Warren County Habitat for Humanity, Catholic Charities Food Pantry and Interfaith Hospitality.
Campaign website/social media: Brisson, Clark, and Huff for Phillipsburg Town Council on Facebook; phillipsburgdems.com
Statement: Phillipsburg has been struggling for years. With our Democratic Mayor and a new vision for the town, significant changes are happening. I want to be a part of this change. I want to help restore pride in Phillipsburg and its neighborhoods. I support the Mayor's efforts to revitalize the downtown and bring new businesses to town. I support the initiatives of Democratic Councilmen to hold banks accountable for abandoned properties. I will work to assure the Phillipsburg Library can continue to operate at its current level of services. I'll work to bring about a brighter future for Phillipsburg.
Steve Novak may be reached at snovak@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @type2supernovak and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.