Scott Bassinder, owner of says a letter uninviting the mayor from a fundraiser on Saturday night was from both him and his father.
"Yes, it was from me, I think Vinny owes my father an apology," Scott Bassinder said on Wednesday, referring Point Beach Mayor Vincent Barrella calling David Bassinder, Scott's father, "a small man."
The letter, which had been emailed as an attachment, was cc'd to David Bassinder, former Martell's owner, but did not include Scott Bassinder's name.
"But it said Martell's, it was from me," Scott Bassinder said on Wednesday.
Barrella said on Tuesday night that he didn't know if Scott Bassinder was aware of, or in agreement with, the letter since his personal name was not on it. So Patch called Scott Bassinder on Wednesday to ask him.
Scott Bassinder said he was moved to tell Barrella not to attend the annual Chamber of Commerce Installation Dinner at Martell's on Saturday night because he feels Barrella owes his father an apology.
"He called my father a small man" and said he had "chutzpah," Bassinder said, referring to how his father was described by Barrella. "I think Vinny owes my father an apology. He's been beating us up for years. And then he calls him a small man. It really hit a nerve."
Scott Bassinder said he and his father are "very close. So when the mayor said that, I felt is was disrespectful to my family."
The mayor had made his remarks about David Bassinder after he asked the town to use a parking lot on New Jersey Avenue near the oceanfront after Sandy struck.
"My father signed the letter asking for that because I was out of the country," Scott Bassinder said on Wednesday.
Martell's needed to move equipment onto the beach to be brought over to its pier which had been badly damaged by Sandy and is currently being re-constructed. Ultimately, Martell's found another access point onto the beach and did not use the town lot.
Barrella said that he would have voted yes, even though he was galled that David Bassinder had the "chutzpah" to ask.
"Chutzpah is defined as killing your mother and father and then pleading for sympathy because you're an orphan," Barrella said. "My feeling is I can't believe he's asking. This is chutzpah. I believe that if I had a vote I would look at the situation as this is a very small man making a request of this council and this council should be bigger than the small man. I would have voted yes, but I don't have a vote."
Scott Bassinder said on Wednesday that he supports the chamber's intent to honor local first responders, volunteers and municipal workers.
"I don't want to take anything away from them, but I'm kind of trapped because of the comments," he said.
When Barrella was told of Scott Bassinder's request for an apology on Wednesday, he said he didn't feel he needed to apologize but that perhaps he should have used the word "petty" instead of "small man."
"I regret the language, but not the sentiment," Barrella said.
He said David Bassinder uninviting Councilmember Kristine Tooker from a Republican women's event at Martell's Water's Edge, Bayville, last June was "as petty as it could be," that he believes the still-pending litigation on the parking plan is "frivolous" and a waste of taxpayers' money and that he was amazed David Bassinder asked to use a town-owned lot while Martell's was suing the town on multiple fronts. At the time, David Bassinder owned the Martell's restaurant in Bayville, but has since sold it.
The letter uninviting Tooker said she was not wanted at Martell's because she was trying to put them out of business, a clear reference to Martell's opposition to the then-proposals for earlier bar closings and the parking plan.
Martells has a perfect right to deny entrance to whomever they like. If you don’t like it, don’t spend money in Martells. But understand, Martells has a perfect right to not admit people they don’t want, as long as they don’t discriminate based on race, creed, etc. Barrella, on the other hand, is a public servant. He has an obligation to do what is best for the people of PPB. Barrella keeps shunning that obligation to vent his personal feelings (in this most recent example about being dissed) to the detriment of the people he is supposed to serve. If you don’t like what Barrella is doing, then be sure to vote in November for candidates Barrella does not support. That is what the voters of PPB did in November of 2011; this is what the voters should do again and again until all remnants of all things Barrella are purged from PPB.
This "petty" game between these two grown men needs to be stopped. If there is not some agreement between Barella and the Bassinders and the lawsuit is not dropped, the Bassinders could bankrupt our municipality. Fix this Mr. Mayor, or step down for the good of our town, so someone else can.
A privately owned but open to the public business has the right to refuse anyone entry into their establishment. Perhaps you should concentrate on your own town's problems and stop defending the lib mayor in the Beach. By the way, Barrella deserves this treatment and it's a long time coming. The people over there that support him have destroyed a once reputable town.
Often business and resident are at odds with regard to ‘ how each should behave ’, however, this is not the time to show our divisions. The future for all of us is hanging by a thread here, let us stand together and show the world “we will be ready”, for it is imperative that we continue to send a message of success and welcome to all the folks that love and enjoy, who we are, The New Jersey Shore.
They'd make a lot more if they charged realistic prices and lowered their "entry" fee.
And speaking of petty, I was told by one of the councilman's wives that she and her husband refuse to patronize Martell's and the boardwalk regardless of the occasion or event. I hope certain members of the council that have it out for Martell's keep up the awesome camaraderie for PPB.
The Beach hasn't been a reputable town in a very long time, way before, NAT SLADKIN was head of the Chamber of Commerce and PRESIDENT of the Republican club in the Beach. BTW, isn't the Chamber sponsoring the event? So Martell's is telling the Chamber who they will or will not allow in to a fundraiser? You wonder why people think the Beach is nuts? I already solved part of the Boro's problem. Susan Rogers is not on the Dais. Is she? Just curious, does anyone in the Beach have the intestinal fortitude to use their own names when spewing their vitriolic diatribes?
Hasn't Martell's helped you with your Christmas dinners? I see that you mention you're grateful, but sometimes being grateful comes with a little silence especially when it's the hand that helps you. Maybe the council volunteered for your event...because they certainly weren't around for either of mine. Martell's has every right to fight the town on something so absurd. And again they're not suing individual taxpayers, they're suing the town government. Would you be ok with the town telling you that in 2013 you couldn't hold your 11pm mass on Christmas Eve? I highly doubt it.
More importantly you have no idea what you are talking about. Barrella has been attacking these businesses for his own selfish political purposes for years, to the detriment of PPB. They defend themselves the only way they can, and you want to blame them? I am shocked he fooled you so easily. And no, the storm did not change any of the above. PS----your disrespect for the legal system is despicable.
When a conflict rises to the red-hot intensity of this one, there's a tendency to assume every new voice is necessarily on one side or the other. I'm not interested in seeing either side prevail in this disagreement. I just want this conflict to be over, for the greater good of all - and I believe a growing percentage of my fellow citizens feel the same way. The Mayor may pay for it at the polls, and Martell's in lost business - and the whole town, in decreased tourism. It can't be anything other than a lose-lose all around. I fervently wish both sides, or either one, would simply say, "Now is not the time. There is no point in perpetuating this, after what we've all gone through (and what we may yet go through this weekend, if we see even more flooding)." Enough already. Please.
You have, apparently, missed the fact that all the Town had to do to end the lawsuit was to recognize that Sandy has so changed our wonderful hometown that the controversial parking plan should be tabled for this year. If there is no ordinance implementing a parking plan, there can be no lawsuit. If the tourists are again a problem (and many believe the added police presence would be enough to ensure they are not, to say nothing of the unknown impact of Sandy on tourism) the parking plan could be implemented next year. By asking Martell’s to drop a lawsuit they can’t restart, instead of asking the Governing Body to drop a parking plan they can restart, you have taken sides. The people ignoring the storm to serve their own personal agendas are not the owners of Martells. They are Barrella Tooker Gordon and Corbally. Perhaps you see that now?