Challenge to Pezzullo's candidacy is filed
Republican says Belmar simply town of her beach home
BY KATHY BARATTA
Staff Writer

A letter challenging Republican candidate Nikole Pezzullo's right to run for a seat on the Manalapan Township Committee has been filed with the Board of Elections by Keyport attorney Brian Hoffman.

Pezzullo, meanwhile, said the challenge is groundless, since her primary residence is in Manalapan.

In a letter to Monmouth County Clerk of Elections Claire French dated Sept. 29, Hoffman informed French he is mounting the challenge "on behalf of Manalapan Township Municipal Chair Gerard Ward."

In his letter, Hoffman says he is requesting the removal of Pezzullo as a Republican candidate in Manalapan because "Ms. Pezzullo has failed to maintain a residence in Manalapan for at least one year prior to Nov 7, 2006, as required under New Jersey law."

Hoffman notes that under state statute, "no individual is eligible to be a candidate for municipal office unless that individual has been a resident of that local unit for at least one year immediately prior to the date upon which the election for office is to be held.

"Ms. Pezzullo has voted in every general election between 1999 and 2005, with the exception of 2003," Hoffman wrote. "Her choice to vote in Belmar is consistent with her ownership of a home located at 104 14th Ave. in Belmar. Ms. Pezzullo has been the sole owner of that residence since 1998."

Hoffman then cited a state statute stating that "... an individual registering to vote at a specific address has declared that address to be his or her residency. Therefore, Ms. Pezzullo's residency was 104 14th Ave. in Belmar."

When contacted by the News Transcript, Pezzullo said she owns two properties, one a beach house in Belmar and the other her primary residence in Manalapan.

"There are plenty of people that own beach houses," Pezzullo said. "For the past four years, my primary residence has been Manalapan. I just never bothered to change my voter registration."

Pezzullo said the reason she continued to vote in Belmar after taking up residency in Manalapan was that she had never bothered to switch her voter registration, since she was still "active in the national level with what's going on."

In his letter, Hoffman also referenced the "controversy" that surrounded Pezzullo's initial filing.

"Ms. Pezzullo took no steps to change her residency from Belmar to Manalapan until April 10, 2006, when she registered to vote in Manalapan," Hoffman wrote. "She registered to vote on that date for the sole purpose of qualifying her signature on her own candidate's petition."

Hoffman notes that Pezzullo didn't personally register but had Republican Chair Steve McEnery do it for her, noting that it was McEnery's "failure to register Pezzullo in a timely fashion that caused the initial rejection of her petition by Manalapan Township Municipal Clerk RoseAnn Weeden."

A state Superior Court appeal of Weeden's rejection of Pezzullo's petition resulted in a decision supporting Pezzullo.

Hoffman's letter states that Pezzullo's ownership of the home in Manalapan does not satisfy the requirements of the state statute.

According to Hoffman, "By continuing to vote in Belmar, it is clear she never changed her legal residence to Manalapan."

A challenge had been made to the Pezzullo candidacy when she first filed to run for a seat on the Township Committee, based on the dispute regarding her residency.

A Superior Court decision allowed Pezzullo to run after she registered to vote in Manalapan on April 10, one day following the election petition deadline.

Ward said he is mounting this challenge to Pezzullo's candidacy because her campaign literature claims she had been a resident for three years in Manalapan and eight years in Freehold Township.

"If she's voting in Belmar, she can't be a Manalapan resident," Ward said.

Ward went on to say, "I am extremely disappointed with my counterpart Steve McEnery and the Manalapan Republicans who have recruited a candidate with no bona fide ties to the Manalapan community. With so many important issues facing our community in this year's election, we cannot have a candidate on the ballot who does not have a real commitment to the Manalapan community."

McEnery could not be reached for comment before press time Monday.

Ward said he fully expects that the Monmouth County Board of Elections will have no choice but to remove Pezzullo from the ballot, "due to her failure to meet state residency requirements."

French could not be reached for comment by press time Monday.

Pezzullo said that as far as she is concerned, Manalapan is her home. "I thought we already went through this," Pezzullo said. "My daughter attends school in Manalapan, we live in Manalapan. Manalapan is our home."