Statement from East Rutherford Municipal Republican chairman Joel Brizzi on the selection of candidates for mayor and council

June 5, 2019

The East Rutherford Republican Organization chose its 2019 candidates for Mayor and Council in Tuesday’s Primary Election via the write-in process. Below is a statement from local GOP Chairman Joel Brizzi, a former councilman

“I believe we have chosen three exceptional candidates who have a proven track record of working to help the community

Sergio Segalini has devoted many years to recreation programs and led the fight against an unwanted development on Route 17 by working hard with the people in the neighborhood to derail a plan that did not fit the community.  He has shown determination and the ability to get things done

Sergio is our mayoral candidate and he has big shoes to fill in replacing Mayor James Cassella who has meant so much to this community over two decades. He will be a formidable candidate against former Republican, turned Democrat, Jeff Lahuiller who was thrown off the ballot last year by the courts.

Larry Bongiovani and Nancy Banca are terrific choices for council. They have similarly given unselfishly of their time to the community. Larry has been a fiscal conservative on the school board and has always worked to ensure that the taxpayers are being treated fairly. He will be a terrific budget watchdog.  He also has been a member of our sewer commission and has helped make it self-sustaining. Nancy and her husband, former Councilman Tom Banca have given a lot to the community over the years. She has been a softball coach an active in helping our recreation programs

Why did we write in candidates?

We believe that in a democracy and that no candidates or incumbent should go unchallenged. Voters have the right to have a choice in who is going to represent them and we are giving them that choice.

The delay in getting Republican candidates was a reflection of whether Mayor Cassella was going to run for another term. We wanted to give him all the time he needed to make up his mind; given his contributions to the borough over many years, he deserved that consideration.

I chose not to run for mayor, even though many have asked me, because after 21 years on the council and additional years working for recreation and other community activities; I felt that I could not devote the full amount of time to another campaign and being away from my family.

What are the issues in 2019?

The big issues this year are taxes and spending, the Democratic council’s botched revaluation and the poor decision making of the council majority over the past few years – including the rush to use taxpayer money to buy a piece of contaminated property that is owned by a man who has been indicted by the federal government – Fred Daibes.

I don’t think all the member of the council are devoting the time and effort needed to operate the town properly – and in particular Lahuiller and  Councilman Ed Ravettine,who has tremendous influence over his Democratic colleagues and is very dependent on county government —  which – thanks to Mayor Cassella,  we discovered last year was overbilling our town by $2 million.  Unfortunately, Mr. Ravettine’s primary concerns seems to be listening to the county politicians and padding his public pension while thinking about how quickly he can get on Route 95 South as he leaves the state to enjoy his retirement on his publicly funded pension.

Overall, I think we have a good campaign ticket and we are looking forward to convincing the borough residents that our team is better for East Rutherford than their team.”