Point Beach GOP Claims the Parking Proposal is the Return of "the Mayor's Failed Parking Plan"

A Point Beach Republican flier mailed to all local households says a pending parking proposal is Mayor Vincent Barrella's idea, but the mayor disputes that.

"Barrella's failed parking plan is back" blasts a headline, written by the Republican party, on one side of the two-sided flier.

The flier calls the pending parking proposal the mayor's idea in a few sections of the flier.

"It's not my idea," said Barrella in an interview on Friday. "I was asked to put it on the agenda and there's nothing so scary that we can't talk about it."

The council on Aug. 2

The proposal calls for local households to each get five, free parking passes to allow them to park on residential streets from midnight to 8 a.m.

Those without passes cannot park on residential streets during those hours.

The idea is that visitors will park in lots or at meters and not on residential streets to avoid getting tickets.

Because the referendum is non-binding, the council is not obligated to heed the wishes of the people and would still be free to significantly alter or ignore the proposal.

Council members Kristine Tooker, Michael Corbally and Tim Lurie voted to place the question on the ballot.

Council member Frank Rizzo, who was attending the meeting via telecommuting, and Council member Sean Hennessy voted no. Council member Jeff Dyer was absent.

Barrella did not vote. In the borough council form of government, the mayor only votes when there is a tie.

Barrella, a registered Republican, is running for the second consecutive year as an Independent against Republican mayoral candidate Stephen Reid. Democrat Lurie is also running this year.

Republican council candidates William Mayer and Andy Cortes are running against Independent council candidates Bret Gordon and Phyllis Thomson and Democrats Frank Rizzo and Nick Mazzola for two council seats.

Kitty Stillufsen is running separately as an Independent.

Republican councilman Sean Hennessy is not running for re-election.

Reid told the mayor at the last meeting that he believes the parking plan is the mayor's idea and he's against it. He said in a recent interview that parking is a prevalent concern among local residents and that they don't want this parking plan or a paid parking plan.

Then last week, the Republican flier, created by Reid and political consultant Tim Perskie, of Wavelength Communications, was mailed to all local homes.

As the buzz about the flier grew on a large email listserv of residents, who were receiving it in the mail Thursday and Friday, Mayer sought to distance himself from the flier.

He wrote on Friday night: "I was extremely disappointed to learn that the recent flier pertaining to the parking plan paid for by the Committee to Elect Reid, Mayer and Cortes had been mailed despite Andy's and my objections to it, and without clearly indicating that the flier expressed the views of Stephen only. I regret that this happened and expect that it will not happen again."

The Republican flier's headlines imply that the current parking proposal, like prior, unsuccessful ones, calls for paid parking in residential neighborhoods.

However, the current proposal calls for local households to each get five, free parking passes to allow them to park on residential streets from midnight to 8 a.m.

Barrella said that not only is the parking proposal not his idea, but he's not even sure it will work.

"It will solve part of the problem, but not all of it," he said. "The idea is to keep people from parking in residential neighborhoods and walking back to their cars late at night. But there are people walking back to seasonal rentals and they'll have parking passes."

That is because home owners renting to seasonal residents would give them their parking passes.

"I don't know how much of this is people coming out of bars and going to cars or how much is people coming out of bars and going to seasonal rentals," Barrella said.

And, regarding those who are walking to cars, Barrella said, "After six Jello shots, are you really thinking about getting a ticket?"

When the flier states, "Barrella's Failed Parking Plan is Back," it refers to at least one of two parking plans tabled in 2007 and 2009.

Barrella said that he, Councilwoman Kristine Tooker and former Councilman Ray Cervino had campaigned on establishing a paid parking plan that called for parking boxes at street ends in District 4, the section of the town near the boardwalk.

When that was tabled, Barrella said, he appointed a committee including Tooker, former Councilman John Dixon, who was an opponent of paid parking, and representatives from the business community, including Anthony Storino, an owner of Jenkinson's, and David Bassinder, then-owner of Martell's. (His son, Scott Bassinder, is now the primary owner.)

The committee worked on the proposal for a year, which led to public hearings and, ultimately, another successful vote to table, with Tooker casting the lone no vote.

"At the reorganization meeting, I gave my word I wouldn't bring up a paid parking plan and I haven't," Barrella said. "I would resist efforts to have a paid parking plan. I would not support it."