Dems spurn homeowners group forum

Dems spurn homeowners group forum

Alternate debate sought
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/23/07
BY ERIK LARSEN
COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

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BELMAR — Democrats will skip an annual candidates forum this fall hosted by the Belmar Homeowners Association, with one councilman calling the organization's leadership "clearly partisan."

Instead, Democrats have asked The Coast Star, a weekly newspaper, and the League of Women Voters to host and moderate a debate Oct. 22 at Taylor Pavilion, one day before the association is scheduled to host its forum there.

"We think this clandestine action is underhanded and unprincipled," the association said in a written statement Wednesday. "When Lord Acton said, "Absolute power corrupts,' he was making an observation that a person's sense of morality lessens as his power increases. We think it has in this case."

Democratic Councilman Matthew J. Doherty, whom the association has described as Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle's "pit bull," said he is behind his party's decision to cut ties with the forum, which first began when the debates started in 2004.

"In an effort to have a truly nonpartisan and independent debate for the benefit of all the residents of Belmar, I approached the Coast Star and the League of Women Voters," Doherty said. "The leadership of the BHA is clearly partisan and openly claim credit for the election of Councilman Bill Merkler," the first Republican elected to the five-member Borough Council since 1990.

Doug Sweeny, association president, and Sandy Alvarez, a spokeswoman, said Wednesday that Doherty's statement and others he has made against the association are false.

Doherty said he was merely repeating what has been previously reported about the association in local newspapers.

"Apparently, he and the mayor have seized control of this event," the association wrote. "The BHA (leadership) team sees this as a thinly disguised approach to disempower one of the largest and most active citizen groups in Belmar, turning it over to groups outside the borough. Furthermore, Doherty's actions serve to divide the community."

The association said it's willing to work with the League of Women Voters to demonstrate its commitment to bipartisanship.

Council President Meredith Brennan, a Democrat seeking re-election this November, said the association is overreacting. She said the party's decision has more to do with the reputation and credibility that a League of Women Voters debate brings to the political process.

"I'm sorry if the BHA feels bad. I can't speak for the other candidates but I have not accepted an invitation to their debate and I don't know that we ever said we would," Brennan said. "Given the choice of the two, I think as I said, the League of Women Voters has the years of experience and the reputation, to bring about an objective, nonpartisan and positive kind of debate and that's the one I would like to participate in."

Michael Seebeck, a Republican candidate for council, said he was unaware of the controversy when reached Wednesday afternoon.

"This is the first I'm hearing of this, and I need to find out more information about the forums and the willingness of my co-candidates to participate," Seebeck said.

The association, which claims about 200 members, was founded about three years ago out of concerns over the borough's quality-of-life issues. The group provides residents with a forum to make complaints and appeal to the borough for solutions.

While the group professes to be nonpartisan, it doesn't shy away from diving into the borough's political disputes and has at times been critical of Pringle and the Police Department over whether enough has been done to curb rowdiness during the summer.