Former Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Vincent Barrella forms a Campaign Committee  

in contemplation of an Independent run for Assembly from the 10th Legislative District 

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Point Pleasant Beach, NJ – Former Point Pleasant Beach Mayor, Vincent Barrella, has formed a campaign committee, Barrella for Assembly LD 10, in contemplation of an independent run for Assembly from the 10th Legislative District.  

“Having twice run as an independent for Mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, I recognize that an independent run for Assembly will be, to paraphrase Jean Arthur in ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,’ a 200 foot dive into a bucket of water, but I have always had a quixotic streak.  Simply put, the residents of the 10th Legislative district deserve better than having to choose between our current failed Republican legislators and the unqualified candidates being foisted upon them by the Ocean County Democratic organization.” – Vince Barrella 

Barrella intends to build a strong independent grassroots organization in each of the ten municipalities in the 10th Legislative District by attracting individuals in those communities more interested in people than party.  Individuals willing to assume a leadership role in their respective communities.   He embraces the idea that the people of the 10th Legislative District will determine how far his campaign goes. 

Barrella served two terms as Point Pleasant Beach Mayor from 2008 through 2015 holding leadership positions in Countywide and Statewide organizations of elected officials.  He testified on numerous occasions before both Assembly and Senate committees and led Point Pleasant Beach back from the devastation of Sandy.  He is a retired tax attorney and CPA and is currently the Chair of the Department of Legal Studies & Taxation at Pace University. 

The screening committee formed by Democratic County Chair, Wyatt Earp, chose two women from Brick both of whom had the vocal public support of the Chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Emma Mammano.  Earp appointed Mammano to serve on the screening committee.  

Despite being a member of the screening committee charged with evaluating potential candidates, Mammano attended a March meeting of the Toms River Democratic Club and announced that she was there as a campaign surrogate to collect signatures for one of the Brick women.   

“How can it be that a member of the screening committee can also serve a surrogate for a candidate being screened?  This calls into question the integrity of the entire process because Mammano essentially served as both prosecutor and a member of the jury.” – Vince Barrella  

Barrella was not invited to a February 19th meeting of the Women’s Caucus despite the fact that he had publicly announced his candidacy two weeks prior to the meeting.  Earp did not send the resumes of the three Assembly candidates to all members of the County Committee in advance of the March 23rd mini-convention so that members of that committee could evaluate the candidate’s qualifications and experience. 

“Mammano’s only interest was securing the nomination for her fellow Women’s Caucus members — qualifications, experience, or electability were of no concern to her. While Earp’s only interest was in selecting candidates he could control, not candidates who could win.”  — Vince Barrella   

Neither of the women selected by the Ocean County democrats have any experience running for elective office, and neither have ever served as an elected official at any level.  One listed amongst her qualifications the fact that she attended an NJEA sponsored “Ready to Run” seminar and that she worked on Mammano’s 2017 senate campaign. 

“As Ocean County residents, we have been subjected to politics as usual for far too long. Here in the 10th Legislative District we have come to a moment in which we can all stand up and demand better. This campaign will be about local issues such as — property taxes, school funding, hospital staffing, pension reform, protecting the health and welfare of our seniors and fairness for both our taxpayers and public sector employees.  Working together we can make a difference and solve many of the problems confronting New Jersey.”– Vince Barrella