Senator Ciesla Mailer Blasts Point Beach Mayor for "Attacking" Boardwalk Businesses

State Senator Andrew Ciesla, in a campaign mailer, is criticizing Mayor Vincent Barrella for "attacking boardwalk businesses" and for pushing for local options taxes.

The mailer from Ciesla, a Republican, endorsing Republican Mayoral Candidate Stephen Reid, criticizes Barrella for pushing for state legislation allowing towns throughout the state, including Point Beach, to impose taxes on patrons buying alcoholic drinks and paying for parking in privately-owned lots.

Barrella has said repeatedly that the town needs the extra revenue to help fund the municipal budget.

Reid, boardwalk businesses and some elected officials and residents who support them have said they oppose such taxes.

Ciesla does not include in the mailer (see attached PDF) that either he or his wife, Debra Ciesla, or someone in his family, apparently has a connection to Martell's Tiki Bar on the boardwalk.

A parking lot on Central Avenue, off Ocean Avenue, is owned by AAAC Parking LLC, with a billing address of 545 Winding River Court, Brick, according to municipal records.

That address is listed in an online directory as the home where Ciesla lives with his wife, Debra, and family. The voice mail recording at that home phone number has Ciesla's voice saying it is the home of Andy and Debra Ciesla.

According to municipal records, the mercantile license is issued to Scott and Dave LLC, who are Scott Bassinder, current owner and proprietor of Martell's Tiki Bar, and David Bassinder, Scott's father. Scott Bassinder said in a brief interview a few months ago that he is now the primary owner of the business, taking it over from his father. Martell's leases the lot from AAAC Parking and charges patrons to park in the lot.

A phone message left at Ciesla's legislative office on Friday afternoon and a message left on his home phone on Saturday morning were not immediately returned.

Ciesla, who represents District 10, which includes Point Beach, and who has served in the state legislature for about 20 years, is not running for re-election.

The mailer says: "Mayor Barrella has repeatedly claimed that local option taxes are the answer. The reality is, however, that a local option tax has no support in the legislature.

"Whether one supports the idea or not, such taxes are not allowed under current law and no change is on the horizon.

"And Mayor Barrella's tactic of constantly attacking the tourist businesses in Point Pleasant Beach is counterproductive to finding cost effective and creative ways to assure resident quality of life."

David Bassinder, reached on Friday evening, said, in response to a question about whether Ciesla owns the lot his business leases, "I didn't know who owned that lot. I thought it was his (Ciesla's) aunt."

When asked about his position on local options taxes, Bassinder said, "Local options taxes equals bigger government. That's how I feel. And Vinny knows that."

A phone message left for Scott Bassinder at Martell's on Friday was not returned by Sunday afternoon.

Marilou Halvorsen, Jenkinson's Director of Marketing, said in an email this past week that Jenkinson's does not want to comment on their position on local options taxes until after the election.

However, a June 2008 letter to The Ocean Star weekly newspaper, signed by "Anthony Storino, manager, Jenkinson's Boardwalk, and David Bassinder, owner, Martell's Sea Breeze," states strongly that they oppose local options taxes.

Reid said in an interview on Saturday that he also opposes local options taxes because they would be imposed year-round on all local businesses that serve alcohol, not only boardwalk businesses. He also said that regardless of his view, it appears that there is no legislative bill moving forward.

"It's never going to happen," he said.

When asked if Ciesla should have included in his mailer that either he or one of his family members has a connection to a boardwalk business, which also opposes local option taxes, Reid said, "I don't know anything about that. I don't know if Senator Ciesla owns that. But I was happy and grateful that he is endorsing me. He's been in office for 20 years and he's respected."

The Cielsa mailer also says, "Stephen Reid has a plan to work with local businesses so that they can contribute their resources to take some of the strain off of municipal services. Businesses can add security patrols and contribute toward greater police enforcement in the areas most affected by tourism."

Actually, Jenkinson's Boardwalk has refused to pay "special event fees," as mandated by municipal ordinance, to help fund police coverage, saying they should not have to pay fees for events they hold in their normal course of business of providing entertainment and also because most of them are on their property.

Barrella and his two running mates, Bret Gordon and Phyllis Thomson, have said that Jenkinson's should pay the fees, which are paid by the local Chamber of Commerce for events such as the annual Festival of the Sea.

Reid has said in recent interviews that he has been meeting, and will continue to meet, with boardwalk businesses to determine how they can help pay for the cost of police services associated with their events and business.

He said the special events ordinance needs to be re-written so it can stand up in court and that if the boardwalk businesses do not comply with a newly-revised ordinance, their liquor license may need to be modified or not renewed when it is due to expire next June.

Reid also questioned why the town did not accept a $40,000 donation from Jenkinson's to help cover police costs.

Borough Attorney Thomas Gannon said in a recent interview that during that discussion of the $40,000, he advised the mayor and council that they should not accept any contribution if there were any conditions attached.

"I'm not saying there were any conditions attached," Gannon said. "But there was nothing in writing for me to look at that said how much was being donated, what it should be used for, and whether there were any conditions.

"It's always a little easier if there's something in writing," he said. "I just told them that if there were any conditions, they shouldn't accept it. After that meeting, it seemed like the issue wasn't brought up again. I never got anything in writing about it or heard about it after that meeting."

At the April meeting, Ron Gasiorowski, who was appearing that night as an attorney for Jenkinson's, said he wanted to clarify that the $40,000 donation would not be made in lieu of dropping any fees incurred by Jenkinson's from its special events.

In a recent interview, Halvorsen said Jenkinson's maintains it should not have to pay special event fees, but that is unrelated to the offer of $40,000.

Ciesla's mailer continues, "Stephen will make certain that the businesses and residents have a partnership of respect with a focus on realistic solutions.

"I have learned in my 20 years in the Senate that one can accomplish a great deal by being positive and through cooperation and not through confrontation.

"Steve Reid has the skills needed and as Mayor will be a positive change for the future of Point Pleasant Beach. Please join me in supporting Steve at the polls on November 8th," the mailer concludes.

In a response to Ciesla's mailer, Barrella then issued his own mailer (see attached PDF) in response, which says, "It is not surprising that he (Ciesla) endorsed the Republican Club's candidate for Mayor.

• Mr. Reid and the Senator have long been opponents of allowing small towns like ours the right to raise revenue from tourism through the imposition of local option taxes.
• Mr. Reid and the Senator believe that our residents and taxpayers should continue to subsidize the tourism industry and simply trust that our largest businesses will take care of us.
• There is support for local option taxes throughout the State, but there is still work to be done. One need look no further than neighboring Bay Head, where their Republican Mayor, Bill Curtis, endorsed Mayor Barrella and his efforts to secure local option taxes for the Beach and other smaller communities.
• Local option taxes are allowed under the law – they are allowed for some of our larger municipalities, as well as towns in Cape May County. Why is Mr. Reid unwilling to fight for the same right to allow for lower property taxes in the Beach?
•  If re-elected, Mayor Barrella will continue his efforts on behalf of our residents and taxpayers by continuing to gather support throughout the State  for local option taxes in order to keep our town safe, clean and fiscally sound."

Ciesla's name, in connection with Bassinder's, also came up earlier in the campaign.

At a recent council meeting, Barrella and Council member Kristine Tooker were questioned about a campaign contribution last year.

Tooker, in response to questions, said that last year, Ciesla had donated $2,000 to her council campaign and that Bassinder had delivered the check to her.

Tooker said she then donated $1,200 from her campaign fund to the Mayor's Recall Defense Fund, which Barrella used to help battle a failed recall attempt.

Kristin Hennessy, a resident on New Jersey Avenue, said that by accepting that money, Barrella had accepted money from Ciesla.

Hennessy asked Barrella why he would accept a campaign contribution from someone who disagrees with him, referencing Ciesla's opposition to the state allowing towns, including Point Beach, to impose local options taxes.

The mayor said, "I thought the money was from David Bassinder," saying that Bassinder had delivered the check to Tooker.

Barrella said in an interview this past week that he made the comment at the meeting "tongue in cheek" in light of the fact that Bassinder had signed the recall petition last year and clearly would not have purposely helped fund the campaign fighting the recall.

"The donation to me was from Kris Tooker's campaign," Barrella said.

"For anyone to suggest that I accepted a donation from one of the guys who cost me $40,000 is ludicrous," Barrella said, referencing the amount of his personal money that he spent fighting the recall.

Bassinder said he remembers giving Tooker a campaign check last year.

"I don't remember if the check was from me or Ciesla or both," Bassinder said. "Yeah, it's interesting the mayor took it. But once I give money to someone, I can't control where it goes. I really don't care.

"I don't dislike Vinny as a person," Bassinder added. "I think he's a very smart man. I just wish he would use his intellect in a different way."

Reid has said in two recent interviews that Barrella taking a donation, thinking it was from Bassinder, is hypocritical.

"This is what he's always saying, that other people take from the boardwalk, and then he takes from them," said Reid.

The recall effort failed by a vote of 829 yes to 1001 no, according to Ocean County records. Barrella also narrowly beat Reid and Democrat John Dixon. The results were: Barrella, 701; Reid, 591; and Dixon, 233.

On Saturday morning, Tooker wrote in an email that "Friends of Ciesla" had donated $2,000 to her campaign last year and that Bassinder delivered it, but that the donation was not from him.

"I didn't receive any donations from Mr. Bassinder," she said.

"The $1,200 was the donation I gave to the Mayor's Recall Defense Fund, which was just money from my campaign, not necessarily money from the Senator's donation.

"I had almost $7,000 altogether and didn't need all of that for what I planned to do," said Tooker.

"Also, most of the residents who donated to me were supportive of the Mayor," she said. "And it was good for me as a Councilwoman to make sure the Mayor stayed in office since we work well together and believe in a lot of the same things, so I felt it was a very appropriate use of campaign funds."

Barrella said he had $1,300 as the balance in his defense fund after last year's election was over, which, he noted, was $100 more than the donation Tooker contributed to his fund.