Ocean Township: The polls are open till 8 p.m. Vote Today

All five seats on Ocean Township’s governing body are up for grabs today in a non-partisan municipal election.

There are ten candidates, two slates, running for the five seats.

vote One Ocean, lead by Mayor Chris Siciliano, includes incumbents Deputy Mayor William Garofolo, Councilwoman Donna Schepiga, Councilman Richard Long, and Board of Education member Rob Acerra. The incumbent dominated slate is running on their record which they tout as no tax increase in 2015, fighting overdevelopment, reducing the size of the municipal government, the Township’s AA+ bond rating and shared services agreements with West Long Branch for Court services and Eatontown for Dispatch services.

The challengers, Ocean Together, are touting a 7 point plan for progress which includes stabilizing property taxes, revitalizing Route 35 business in the Township and small businesses in the Township’s industrial park, fighting crime, preserving open space, increasing Art and Culture and improving the quality of life in Ocean by reducing traffic, reinstating the Memorial Day parade, and improving the parks and community center.

The challengers have been emphasizing the anemic business environment in Ocean Township with photos of vacant store fronts and an adult oriented business on their facebook page.

The Ocean Together ticket includes Board of Education members Sylvia Sylvia, Bob Angelini, Gail Matarazzo, a licensed insurance and real estate sales person, Larry Mishkin, a small business owner, and John Stuppi, a network and systems engineer.