Belmar candidates squabble over tax increases, services

BELMAR — Borough employees work hard to adhere to the budgets the mayor and Borough Council lay out for them, the Democratic candidate for council said Tuesday night.

"Sometimes, if all you hear is campaign rhetoric, you might think we have people working in our town who do nothing but spend money randomly," said Thomas Volker, 67. "That's simply not true."

The proof of that lies in the municipal tax rate, which has risen at a slower rate than the county and school portions of the tax bill, he said.

But comparing municipal tax increases to those of the county and school district is not the right way to assess whether taxes are too high, countered Richard J. Wright, the Republican candidate for council.

"All families in town are having to do more with less," said Wright, 57. "I think Belmar is going to have to do more with less."

He pointed to regionalization of municipal services as the only way to save taxpayers real money.

The candidates' disagreement came during the fifth annual Meet the Candidates Night, a debate hosted by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Belmar Homeowners Association and attended by some 100 people. The borough tax rate was one of several issues on which the two political newcomers disagreed.

"The first thing we need for the downtown is a plan," Wright said when asked about the stalled redevelopment process. Belmar's lack of a definite plan poses a problem for downtown property owners who do not know whether to invest in improving their buildings, he said.

Volker, though, said the master plan for redevelopment "has to wait until the economy improves."

"That's pretty obvious," he said.

When borough resident Richard Hunt, 55, asked each man to explain why he would be the best person to fill the three-year term available on the five-member governing body, Wright spoke of his background in management and finance.

"I have a lot of experience, I think, in issues the town is going to be facing," he said.

Additionally, Wright said, he would be the lone Republican voice on the council and would provide a "check and balance" for a governing body that for most of the last 18 years consisted solely of Democrats.

Volker responded to the same question by calling himself a "team player."

"I love Belmar and working to help Belmar," he said.

Both candidates did well in the debate, borough resident Joe Keosseian said later, but Wright was the winner, he said.

"It's getting to be one-sided," Keosseian, 44, said of the council. "We need some Republican representation on there to balance out all the ideas."