Who Will Replace Marlon Brownlee on the Maplewood Township Committee?

Big news on the Maplewood political front: http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/brownlee-will-not-seek-re-election-maplewood-township-committee/

Any ideas of who the likely contenders may be to run for the seat?

Jerry!

Jerry!

Jerry!

Ok, full disclosure we no longer live in Maplewood. But he may just consider it.

Jerry who?  

LOL.  Didn't Marlon say some time ago that he wasn't?

I appreciate his service...a smart, sincere and thoughtful guy. In his two terms I am sure someone or someones out there pissed him off so I also admire his remarkable self control because he could have snapped anyone in half if he wanted to.  

?

hankzona said:

I appreciate his service...a smart, sincere and thoughtful guy. In his two terms I am sure someone or someones out there pissed him off so I also admire his remarkable self control because he could have snapped anyone in half if he wanted to. "> 

OK...I have had the good fortune to have spent on a basketball court or ballfield with many who have served on the TC...Jerry, Vic, Fred, Ken Pettis, David Huemer, and Marlon (also a softball field with Sheena...but never on the links -- shes a killer there). It was good fortune because it helped me not see them all as just politicians. All of them were competitive but a pleasure to engage in sports with. It was funny when one Vic opponent asked if I played with Vic ever and when I said yes, he then asked if Vic played dirty, which made me laugh and I said no he didn't, but he was tough under the boards. Anyway, that all said, Marlon is a former college athlete, a martial artist and still in incredible shape, and bigger and stronger than most mere mortals walking around Maplewood. I think after he got elected, I did say he could take the entire rest of the TC with one hand behind his back...but it was a joke, just like snapping anyone in half was, since he is someone I have known to show a lot of self control and restraint, among other positive attributes. But hey, maybe once he is off the TC, all bets are off...so watch what you say anonymously here on MOL about him.

yahooyahoo said:

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hankzona said:

I appreciate his service...a smart, sincere and thoughtful guy. In his two terms I am sure someone or someones out there pissed him off so I also admire his remarkable self control because he could have snapped anyone in half if he wanted to. " src="/res/static/common/plugins/redactor/emoticons/1.0/images/1.gif" unselectable="on"> 

mrincredible said:

Jerry!

Jerry!

Jerry!

Ok, full disclosure we no longer live in Maplewood. But he may just consider it.

Unless others don't step up, I would be more than a bit surprised to see Jerry run again so soon after being defeated, much less getting the endorsement of the MDC.  That being said, he's certainly very qualified and has come back before.

I wonder who the Village Keepers' candidate will be?

ml1 said:

I wonder who the Village KeepersFred Profeta's candidate will be?

FTFY

Met Marlon every time he came to vote during the years I was a volunteer Board worker.

Always the gentleman.

ml1 said:

I wonder who the Village Keepers' candidate will be?

ml1 said:

I wonder who the Village Keepers' candidate will be?

Hillary Clinton  "It takes a Village"...Keeper

Points?

ml1 said:

I wonder who the Village Keepers' candidate will be?

Reading the tea leaves (always dangerous), I would guess Frank McGehee.  He applied to the MDC last year, supported Lembrich, and is/was on the Village Keeper board.  Plus he is an African-American male, which may be a relevant consideration for some since it would preserve the current gender and racial balance on the TC.

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

ml1 said:

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

Demolition on the P.O. has begun.  Bygones?

tomdevon said:

ml1 said:

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

Demolition on the P.O. has begun.  Bygones?

It is about trust, and honor and unspoken agendas and not just the one issue.

tomdevon said:

ml1 said:

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

Demolition on the P.O. has begun.  Bygones?

What is done is done.  Let's hope for the best results with the new building.

.

tomdevon said:

ml1 said:

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

Demolition on the P.O. has begun.  Bygones?

no.  I thought the tactics were questionable at best, sleazy at worst.  Unless a person were to resign from the board and renounce the lawsuit and the other tactics they employed, I can't vote for any of them.  I don't think the way they approached the PO issue was healthy for the town.  

ml1 said:

tomdevon said:

ml1 said:

I cannot foresee any circumstance under which I would vote for anyone on the VK board  

Demolition on the P.O. has begun.  Bygones?

no.  I thought the tactics were questionable at best, sleazy at worst.  Unless a person were to resign from the board and renounce the lawsuit and the other tactics they employed, I can't vote for any of them.  I don't think the way they approached the PO issue was healthy for the town.  

Agree with that, ML.  

mod said:
It is about trust, and honor and unspoken agendas and not just the one issue.

Given MOL's predictive powers with respect to Maplewood politics, maybe we should just save ourselves the trouble and swear in Frank McGehee

tomdevon said:

mod said:
It is about trust, and honor and unspoken agendas and not just the one issue.

Given MOL's predictive powers with respect to Maplewood politics, maybe we should just save ourselves the trouble and swear in Frank McGehee ">

Not sure of the relevance of that.  I vote my principles, not as a prediction of a candidate's chances.

But if I had to make predictions, I would say any VK backed candidate would be formidable.  Doesn't mean I'd cast my own vote for that person though 

It might be said that there are lessons to be learned for any candidate as a result of the last election, whether supported by VK or not.

I am no expert, but it seems to me most of those "Keep The Village a Village" signs disappeared in the aftermath of the lawsuit.  Once Village facts came on the scene the support eroded further when people saw the inaccuracies in the VK/Engage/OHNO argument.   Both Inda's plea to flood the TC members with protests, and Fred's plea to storm the TC meeting with support for saving the PO resulted in ........... NOTHING. 

At this point I would guess that a VK endorsement might hurt more than it helps.

ctrzaska said:

It might be said that there are lessons to be learned for any candidate as a result of the last election, whether supported by VK or not.

I hope one lesson isn't that you need to spend $25K to get elected

ml1 said:

ctrzaska said:

It might be said that there are lessons to be learned for any candidate as a result of the last election, whether supported by VK or not.

I hope one lesson isn't that you need to spend $25K to get elected

+1

I hope we don't put that person in charge of anything financial because that's a pretty poor ROI when you think about it. TC members make what? 5k per year?

ml1 said:

ctrzaska said:

It might be said that there are lessons to be learned for any candidate as a result of the last election, whether supported by VK or not.

I hope one lesson isn't that you need to spend $25K to get elected

It was over $32K, of which over $17k was Lembrich's own money.  Not sure how many folks are going to be willing to put that much money into a campaign.

Probably not many.  Which raises its own set of issues.  That said, it remains to be seen whether that turns out to be the norm going forward or a one-off.  I may be a cynic at times, but I tend to doubt in this case that was the reason behind why Greg got in, however, so I tend to think that while the bar may have been raised a bit it's not indicative of a trend.  We shall see I guess.

Pretty sure that's only going to be necessary if there's a contested primary.