Vaccaro, Most Face Off at Student-Run Debate

While the questions covered issues from green energy sources to drawing more entertainment establishments to the municipality, and kept coming back to one topic: planning for a future

Vaccaro, 53, and Most, also 53, answered six questions during a debate at , which lasted roughly 30 minutes and was conducted jointly by the high school's Close Up Youth in Government and WLTS TV 21 student clubs. A dozen residents watched the debate in the high school's Lecture Hall while it was filmed in the school's television studio.

Oyster Creek, Town Center, Savings

Vaccaro, the Democratic challenger, said the township should have been planning for a future without Oyster Creek a long time ago and suggested zoning changes  should be made to prepare the property for uses beyond the . Most, the Republican incumbent, said the closure will be devastating because, he said, it will reduce the money the township receives in , a claim that Vaccaro rejected. 

"It (the energy tax receipts) has nothing to do with Oyster Creek," Vaccaro said. "That is just a scare tactic."

Most replied that he felt the township should not be counting on having that money because the state has cut those receipts before.

"We need to guarantee jobs and produce revenues," Most said."It's not a scare tactic."

On the topic of green energy, Most said the township has been looking into several options of places to put solar panels, including the Exelon property and a site west of the Garden State Parkway, and while they've talked to a few companies, nothing definitive has been decided.

"We're still in the planning stage," Most said.

Vaccaro said the township needs to consider the idea of solar carports in large parking lots, like the parking lot on Route 9, and .

Most reiterated that the township has considered several ideas but that things remain in the planning stages.

One student asked if the candidates had given thought to ways to attract more entertainment businesses, such as a bowling alley, to the town.

"You have to find people interested in it," Most replied, and said the master plan could be adjusted to include that.

Vaccaro said he would like to see something that creates a town center — such as has happened with the Tuckerton Seaport, and that an area such as Lakeside Drive might be an area that would accommodate that kind of vision.

"It's not going to happen immediately," he said.

Most suggested the Forked River State Marina area would be a good site for a town center concept "since we don't get the ratable," adding, "I don't think the state should be in the marina business."

Vaccaro said Lacey needs to handle growth carefully.

"We don't want to overbuild," he said. "We want to keep the character of our town but we need new businesses.

"There needs to be a balance," he said.

Most said the town has built all the big businesses it could handle and the attention has turned to redeveloping existing properties for other uses.

Vaccaro took that opportunity to question why the master plan hasn't been updated in 10 years, reiterating a question he asked early on.

"It's developing, it's dynamic," Most said. "Things change."

A focus on the budget turned into some jabs between the candidates. Most said the town has control of just a small portion of its budget but the committee has done what it can to find savings, including pulling the in favor of private coverage, noting the 2011-12 budget is $200,000 less than the previous year's budget.

Vaccaro said the cutback Most cited was the result of reducing the township's debt service, not from cuts in municipal departments and that the town needs to prioritize its spending.

For example, the recreation department should be approached for ways to pay for fertilizer for the many sports fields in town. "Fertilizer is important," he said, but there has to be a way to fund it.

He also said the town should be taking a hard look at its services and sharing them whenever possible.

"Why are we paying overtime to collect leaf bags? he asked.

The one topic they agreed upon was the need to continue to find ways to address the issue of drug problems in town, especially in the schools, including increasing the involvement of the and continuing to try to get the message out to parents about the dangers facing their kids, especially in elementary school, where the problems are taking hold.

Vaccaro closed by saying he knows that fixing the township's problems, particularly addressing budget issues, will not be easy.

"It's going to be hard work," he said, but he added that he felt the town would be better served if politics was left out. The possibility that the Democrats could gain control of the committee is not his focus, he said.

"Playing politics accomplishes nothing," he said.

Most closed by saying that he felt Vaccaro was blaming him for the township's ills and said he has been responsible for bringing in a consultant who helped the town get out of the state's health insurance program and that he helped cut the police department's budget.

"It's easy to come up and promise things," Most said.

Residents React

Those in attendance shook their heads disapprovingly during the debate, especially when papers being shuffled on the desk while Vaccaro was speaking threatened to drown out Vaccaro's responses.

Jeremy Muermann, the school's TV production teacher, said both candidates had papers on the desk in front of them and the papers were brushing against the microphones on the desk in front of them — dispelling the notion that Most was making noise, either accidentally or on purpose — while Vaccaro was speaking.

"I was scrambling with the audio board, trying to reduce that sound," Muermann said.

It wasn't just the noise, however. Barry Bendar, the former Democratic municipal chairman, said Most's clam that he was responsible for the cuts in the police department budget was false.

"That was the police chief who did that," Bendar said.

He believed Vaccaro looked stronger in the debate and will be a good choice.

"We've been stagnant for 40 years," Bendar said. "Gary Vaccaro will bring change to the town."

John Coan said Most appeared to be "very nervous and less prepared, always shuffling his notes" to find what he wanted to say, while Vacarro seemed more "calm and relaxed."

Patricia Doyle, a registered Republican, was bothered that the debate started at 6:30 p.m.

"I wish they would remember that people commute," said Doyle, an attorney for the Appellate Division in Manhattan who arrived just as the debate ended. She said she supports Vaccaro because she believes he will bring a positive change to the town.

"At this level it shouldn't be partisan," she said. "It's our little town. Let's get it done and do right for our town.

"This is a good place to be," she said. "Let's make it better."

'Good Experience for Them'

Muermann said the students have been hosting candidates' debates for several years, but this was just the second year where the candidates were not presented with the questions — which were written by the students — ahead of time.

"That way the candidates can't come up with prepared responses," Muermann said.

The students who conducted the debate on Tuesday night were Sara Wright, a sophomore who is president of the Close Up club; junior Allison Lagerquist and senior Nick Juliano of Close Up; and Steven Krawiec, a junior from the WLTS TV 21.

"The students get experience working with adults and in journalism," said Paul O'Sullivan, the Close Up adviser. "It's a good experience for them."