Seven people are running for three seats on the six-member Secaucus Town Council on Nov. 7.
There are three slates of candidates running, as well as one independent. Council members earn $12,000 a year.
The Elwell Team slate, backed by Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, is made up of Michael Grecco in the 1st Ward, Robert Kickey in the 2nd Ward, and John Shinnick in the 3rd Ward.
The Take Back Secaucus slate is made up of Gary Jeffas in the 1st Ward, Michael Gonnelli in the 2nd Ward and Dr. Robert Berckes in the 3rd Ward.
Tom Troyer is the independent 2nd Ward council candidate.
The answers to the questions below are in the candidates’ own words.
Michael Grecco – 1st Ward
Grecco, 66, was born and raised in Hoboken. He is a graduate of Demarest High School in Hoboken. He moved to Secaucus in 1968. He was a plumbing and heating contractor for 46 years. Grecco was elected to the town council in 1992. He is married to his wife Kathleen and has three children.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 1st Ward councilman?
“I have 14 years of experience on the council. I’m retired from my business, so I have more time to devote to being a councilman.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“One of the most important issues facing Secaucus is maintaining a good tax balance. We have a record of eight years of not having a municipal tax increase. We’d like to make it nine. We should also try to keep the numbers of housing units to be built at the Transit Village project as low as possible. We would also like to buy a parcel of open space in the North End near the town swim center to keep it open space.”
Gary Jeffas – 1st Ward
Jeffas, 40, was born and raised in Secaucus. He has a B.A. from Rowan University and a J.D. from Seton Hall Law School. He is a general practice attorney with the firm of Vyzas & Vignier in Kearny. He was previously a defense attorney in Hackensack. He is married to his wife Jean and has three children. This is his first attempt at elected office.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 1st Ward councilman?
“I’m willing to open up a debate on the council floor over issues concerning the town. With my background as an attorney, I’m used to negotiation. We have to return the voice of the people to the debate and look both sides of the issues again. I want to be an independent and intelligent voice on the council for the 1st Ward.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“The most important issues in my mind are overdevelopment, “pay-to-play”, and intimidation. Overdevelopment concerns me very much, mainly because I have three kids in the school system. With new development, it appears that our population is going to increase by about 30 percent is a short period of time. I’m very concerned what that will do to our school system. The current administration is getting a lot of contributions from developers, so I want to help pass a no “pay-to-play” ordinance with no loopholes to even the playing field. The town will ultimately get a better bang for its buck. You hear a lot around town about town employees being intimidated if they have a different political view that the current political administration. I want to make a system where nobody has to concern themselves with that.”
Michael Gonnelli – 2nd Ward
Gonnelli, 51, was born in Jersey City and raised in Secaucus. He attended Rutgers University, and has several public works technical certificates. He is the superintendent of the Secaucus Department of Public Works, and is a battalion chief in the volunteer Secaucus Fire Department. He is married to his wife Linda and has four children.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 2nd Ward councilman?
“I have 33 years experience in government in the town of Secaucus as a member of the Department of Public Works. I have been a volunteer fireman in town for the same amount of time. I have served on the Meadowlands Commission since 1997, and have dealt there with a lot of issues that affect the town. I know Secaucus inside out. I feel capable of helping to make a change in town government in the right direction.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“One of the big issues is arrogance. This governing body just makes up their mind what they want to do, and they do it no matter how the people feel. We are facing serious issues in this town, such as overdevelopment, increasing traffic and “pay-to-play” practices in government. It’s a vicious cycle. I want to help pass anti-“pay-to-play” legislation. The times of town council meeting should also change from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. This is a blue-collar town. People are working. They should change the time so that people can see how their money is being spent, see what projects are on the table, and to voice their opinions. We also need a second ambulance in town. It’s a small price to play for somebody’s life.”
Robert Kickey – 2nd Ward
Kickey, 56, was born and raised in Hoboken. He moved to Secaucus in 1969. Kickey was an entrepreneur, who owned several gas stations. He has served on the town council since 2000. He is married to his wife Josephine and has two children.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 2nd Ward councilman?
“I think that we have done an outstanding job in the last seven years regarding taxes, our library, our day care, our flood program, our streets and sidewalk program, our recreation program and the rest of the services that Secaucus provides. I do my job full-time, and I make sure I serve not only the 2nd Ward, but all the residents of Secaucus.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“I think that we have to stay with our tax record and make sure we keep Secaucus affordable so people can raise a family and live here. We also don’t want to overdevelop Secaucus. We have to have controlled development.”
Tom Troyer – 2nd Ward
Troyer, 73, was raised in Union City and moved to Secaucus in 1959, where he lived with his wife and raised a family. He was a Union City social studies teacher for 40 years. He has served several times as a trustee on Secaucus’ Board of Education since the 1970’s, with his current run on the board beginning in 2001. He has served on the board for a total of 12 years.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 2nd Ward councilman?
“I am the only independent candidate. I am beholden to no one.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“We definitely need more openness and accountability in town government. Overdevelopment really has to be closely looked at. There should be a temporary moratorium on town building so the town can absorb all of the changes that have already occurred. I believe that town council meetings should be televised if enough people can’t make them. People have to put pressure on the town government to make it work. I moved from Union City to get away from backroom deals. It’s got to stop here. I shall do everything in my power to help stop the tactics employed by this administration that result in the intimidation of employees and citizens and infringes on their individual freedoms.”
Dr. Robert Berckes – 3rd Ward
Berckes, 50, was born and raised in Secaucus. He has a B.S. from Montclair State, a degree in chiropractics from New York Chiropractor College, and is completing his masters in administration and educational leadership from New Jersey City University. He taught for 27 years at Immaculate Conception Grammar School in Secaucus. He is the principal of St. Mary’s High School in Rutherford. He is married to his wife Mayra and has two children.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 3rd Ward councilman?
“I have a passion to serve people. I’ve been involved in teaching in the community for 27 years. I always made sure that the kids got a positive image of what Secaucus was all about and that they learned to contribute at an early age. After following politics for a number of years, I decided to get involved after witnessing how the council behaved during a February meeting. My time in Catholic education taught me to have a listening ear and a heart to want to help the needs of people. We have to put the people’s needs first.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
They say retaliation does not go on. It does go on. That’s not a democracy. “Pay-to-play” has got to stop. The town administrator has to listen to the mayor and the council, not the other way around. I’m definitely against overdevelopment. I never would have let the Transit Village grow to the extreme that it did. Where are you going to educate the children that live there? We are going to have to build more schools. I also don’t want to see the Recreation Center built in a way that will overtax the taxpayer.”
John Shinnick – 3rd Ward
Shinnick, 50, was born and raised in Jersey City. He moved to Secaucus in 1989. He has a B.S. from Montclair State and a M.A. from the New School in New York. He is a V.P. of human resources and communications at Hudson County Community College. He is a former trustee of the Secaucus Board of Education. He is a volunteer board member and chairman of the Hudson County Improvement Authority. He is also former president of the Secaucus Board of Health, a member of the town library board, a member of the Secaucus Youth Alliance and a volunteer for the Hudson Cradle Home for Infants. He is married to his wife Lourdes, and has two children.
Why are you the most qualified candidate to serve as the 3rd Ward councilman?
“I have a lot of administrative experience. I can bring knowledge concerning human resources, budgets and management to the council. I sit on several boards in town, and I believe I have done a lot for the town already. I think all of these experiences are an asset.”
What do you believe are the most important issues facing Secaucus, and briefly describe how you intend to address them.
“The issues facing Secaucus are facing a lot of towns. There is less help from the federal and state governments. Municipalities have to find ways to run their towns efficiently. We seem to have a good formula going due to good management and fiscal conservatism. We have to look in more detail at the development in Secaucus. We should look for ways remove ourselves from the control of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, because they are making some decisions regarding development that are disturbing. I don’t want to lose the small town feel that we have in Secaucus.”