In many ways, the battle for the council seat in the 2nd Ward this year is a lot like a family feud with two former political allies facing off.
Bob Kickey and George Broemmer were both key players in the now-defunct Secaucus Independents Alliance. Both candidates claim they did their part in getting the current mayor, Dennis Elwell, elected to the council for the first time in 1992.
For years, Broemmer, Kickey, Elwell, Michael Lari, Pat Deferarri, Sal Manente and others formed the backbone of what was then a strong opposition party to the Democrats who dominated the Town Council since the early 1980s.
Although Bob Kickey is technically an incumbent, his seat on the council came about as part of Dennis Elwell’s mayoral victory last year. He filled Elwell’s seat for the one year left on Elwell’s un-expired term.
Elwell, and by default, Kickey, switched parties in 1999, setting up the inevitable face-off that pits former outsiders against each other in this election. Now, Kickey is running against Broemmer in a battle that is viewed by some as a race not just for the 2nd Ward council seat, but a race for the heart and soul of the Independent philosophy.
In many ways, this is also the first real test of the Elwell administration as to whether or not Elwell maintained his former supporters in the 2nd Ward.
Will voters who supported Elwell in the past follow him into the Democratic Party by electing Kickey, his handpicked replacement, to a two-year term of his own? Or will Broemmer’s claim as standard bearer of the Independent philosophy woo those voters to abandon Kickey on Nov. 7?
Who is George Broemmer?
In 1967 – when he went to Vietnam as a civilian maintenance specialist – George Broemmer once told a member of the staff to adjust a carburetor. Instead, the man took it apart. Communications problems abounded in operations where people spoke various languages.
“I remember coming back and finding that the man had taken apart the carburetor and had all the pieces spread out before him,” Broemmer said. “I didn’t blame that man. I blamed myself. I had failed to communicate my message to him.”
That moment – 33 years ago and 10,000 miles from Secaucus – still reverberates with Broemmer, who said he has vowed not to make that mistake again. This idea of open communication, he said, is key to his campaign for Town Council.
Born in Jersey City, Broemmer has lived in Secaucus since 1943. While this is not long enough for him to rank among the town’s founding families, Broemmer can remember a time when people still could trap muskrat and when farms were a dominant part of the community. He also remembers having two newspaper delivery routes, one in the north end and another in the back end, doing both on his bicycle.
Although criticized for his taking a back seat in the independent political drive over the last two decades, Broemmer said he believes he has the qualifications to serve in the 2nd Ward as councilman.
Few can question Broemmer’s service to the town over the years. He served as a volunteer in the civil defense and fire departments from 1960 to 1967. He has also served as president of the Jay Cees, the Holy Name Society, the Secaucus Booster Club, the Lions Club, and other civic groups over the years.
Broemmer believes his experience in business makes him well qualified to handle the duties he might encounter in Town Hall. He has been in maintenance and management all of his life. He currently works as a fleet manager for a Long Island beer distributor, and has been in management for 35 years.
Before his current position, he worked for Supermarket General – former owner of Pathmark stores – for 11 years, rising to the level of vice president for its transport division.
He also has worked for Roadway and Maersk Sealand Transport.
Over the years, Broemmer has negotiated contracts, developed multimillion dollar budgets, and handled numerous employees.
Although he hasn’t run for office since 1978, when he ran unsuccessfully for council, he has been a key member of the SIA over the last decade. He has been involved in strategy sessions that helped get Dennis Elwell, Pat DeFerrari, Sal Manente and John Bueckner elected to the council. He served 13 years on the Secaucus Housing Authority until he was replaced in 1995.
Similar reasons
As one of the founding members of the former Secaucus Independents political party, he takes credit for helping create a party that got Elwell elected in the early 1990s.
Broemmer said the reasons he ran for office in 1978 are similar to his reasons running in 2000. He doesn’t want one party dominating the Town Council. He said because Council John Bueckner – with whom he is politically allied – has failed to get seconds on various resolutions, important issues have not been discussed.
“In 1978 I ran as a Democrat because one party (then the Amico Independents) dominated the town council,” he said. “Now the Democrats have control and I feel there needs to be a check and balance on the council. No one party should have complete control.”
Broemmer said he had Bueckner have very similar approaches to government. He said both men believe everyone’s voice should be heard on the council.
“By shutting out John [Bueckner] when he couldn’t get a second on the council, residents in the 2nd Ward suffered because they got shut out, too,” he said.
Broemmer’s issues
Broemmer has raised the following issues:
• Broemmer said that people have raised concerns involving speeding in the 2nd Ward and throughout town. Closed circuit television cameras installed at critical intersections and increased enforcement may be among the solutions to the problem. He pointed to recent actions in East Newark where cameras have been installed to reduce traffic problems and criminal activity. Kearny has also enacted similar technical measures to curb illegal dumping – something that is also a problem in Secaucus.
• Because of the increasing number of hotels being built in Secaucus – there are now 15, with more planned over the next few years – Broemmer said getting a hotel tax is vital in helping bolster the budget. “John brought it up last year, and Anthony Impreveduto [the 32nd District assemblyman] introduced legislation,” Broemmer said, noting that under this legislation the town could institute as much as a 6 percent tax on people renting hotel rooms. “Even if we only set the rate at 2 percent, the town would get about $2 million a year in additional revenue,” he said.
• Broemmer believes council meetings and council caucuses should be televised. He said he believes this will make people more aware of what the council is doing and may get more people involved.
• He said problems getting in and out of the 2nd Ward – where there is only one road that allows people in or out of that part of town – should be addressed by a professional consultant, someone who can come in and look over the problems. Residents in the 2nd Ward have long complained about something closing them in, such as an accident on Paterson Plank Road near the Route 3 bridge. The recent fire chief’s parade was a minor example for residents, who could not leave their homes for over two hours because the parade blocked the only way in or out.
• Broemmer said local government should be more involved in the planning process of proposed development and should get involved in various proposed projects sooner. He said developers currently get their approval through the HMDC. Since Secaucus has a resident who is an HMDC commissioner, the town should be able to get early word about such projects and get people to the meetings early to better monitor the impact on the local community.
• He believes in the reasonable preservation of open space, and credits Mayor Anthony Just with many of the initiatives that have recently come to pass, such as the purchase and preservation of the Old Mill.
Bob Kickey: Elwell’s loyal supporter?
At age 50, Bob Kickey is running for his first term in public office. Although deeply entrenched in the political scene as a member of the SIA and a one-time member of the Secaucus Fire Department, Kickey has never previously sat on any board or served any public appointment.
A Hoboken native, Kickey moved to Secaucus around 1960, and has a significant background in automotive technology. He is a 1969 graduate of Lincoln Institute of Technology in Union and worked briefly in repairs before purchasing his own auto repair and gas station in the center of Secaucus. Over the years, he also owned and operated a Dunkin’ Donuts and a quick lube and oil change business. He is currently co-owner of two gas stations, one in Secaucus, one in Jersey City.
Kickey said he got involved with the political scene, not to help Dennis Elwell’s campaign, but the campaign of Dennis’ father Howie in 1989. When Dennis Elwell ran for school board in 1990, Kickey helped, later becoming one of the founding members of the SIA who propelled Dennis Elwell into the council.
Those were truly grass roots days, Kickey recalled during an interview early in October. He and Elwell went door to door together. They wrote their own campaign literature and designed their own newspaper ads.
For over a decade, Kickey played a key role behind the political scenes, doing all the gruntwork required in helping an independent candidate get elected.
Getting named to the council
“About two weeks before the pick was made, Dennis called me and asked me if I was interest in the post,” Kickey said last week. “I feel loyal to Dennis and told him if he wanted me there, I would do it. Dennis yelled at me and said this had to be my choice, not his. He said I have to want to do it, not for him, but for myself.”
Kickey said he thought about it, and then decided he could do the job. He also said after taking the job, he learned a lot and began to grow into the role better.
“I got to like the idea that we could get things done it we worked together,” he said.
He said his first year has been a learning process.
“I decided I’d better sit and listen, get apprized of the situation before I made a decision on anything,” he said.
Kickey said by sitting back, he learned a lot more than he would have if he had plunged into the situation without studying it first.
Kickey said he also learned something about himself, about the fact that he had his own opinions — and that he sometimes even disagreed with his friend Dennis Elwell.
“I learned to vote my own mind,” he said. “If I have a different point of view, I’ll talk to other people about it. Sometimes they convince me my way is wrong. Sometimes they won’t. When they don’t, I vote the way I feel, not the way anyone tells me to vote.”
Kickey said he enjoys being a councilman more than he ever thought he would.
“It has to do with seeing things getting done,” he said. “Being in business, I get up very early and do my work so that I can free up more time for doing council work.”
Although previously a member of the town’s Office of Emergency Management, Kickey has since become a member of the county office as well, and finds himself deeply engrossed in day to day operations of preparing for disasters. He also often finds himself traveling around town to look things over and talk with people, as well as monitoring some of the ongoing projects.
“I often find myself talking to residents and listening to their concerns,” he said. “That’s how I learn about many problems before anyone ever complains to Town Hall.”
Kickey believes his business background is an asset to the government, and though he admits getting things done in government is more difficult than in business, he thinks he has a lot to offer. Indeed, he said he has been plunged into numerous major projects since becoming a councilman last year, from studying the issues concerning the expansion of the schools to the reconstruction of Meadowlands Parkway. Yet he said the most important thing he has learned is how well he fit onto the council.
“We’re a team that works together,” he said. “When we see a problem, we try to find a way to solve it.”
He said the council is only part of the larger team in which all the town employees are members.
“I consider every town employee part of our team,” he said. “From department heads all the way down to the newest employee. We’re all trying to make Secaucus better.”
Kickey’s issues
Kickey has been involved in the following issues:
• Kickey said there are still roads in the 2nd Ward that need to be re-paved. He said he intends to make certain those streets get addressed in future re-paving plans.
• He said large projects such as Allied Junction and the new expo center will have an impact, something that he and the council will need to look over and address.
• The new library, the upcoming budget, the Keystone contamination cleanup, and other ongoing projects still need attention.
• He said the issue most residents mention during his door-to-door campaign is the idea of keeping taxes low, something he said he and the team intend to do.