Bristol Twp. Council Election Pits Incumbents Against Newbies

The council that represents Bristol Township had their work cut out for them this year. After losing their president, Bob Lewis, to natural causes in March, and dealing with a grand jury report and investigation into Township Manager Bill McCauley and the township’s police department in February, the “good news” of the council and it’s changing fiscal health may have not gotten the attention the council felt it deserved.

On May 19 though, the three standing incumbents and two newbies, all of which are fighting for three council seats and all of which are democrats, will be at the mercy of the Bristol Township voters.

The board of seven will hold on to Councilwoman Cynthia Murphy, Councilman John Monahan and current Council President Craig Bowen. Former Vice President Troy Brennan, who stepped down from his role as VP following Lewis’ passing, announced he would not run in the upcoming election, allowing someone else to take the reigns.

With Brennan’s disinterest in re-election, voters will be expected to select three candidates for roles on council. The seventh candidate will be selected in a special election held in January. Councilman Murray Bailey of the Pro Team, who assumed the seventh position after Lewis’ death, will remain in that slot until January, unless he is elected on May 19 to become a more permanent part of the township.

Bailey, who spent the Wednesday before the Primary Election knocking on doors in Bloomsdale, has made it his focus to familiarize himself with members of the township in an effort to keep his spot.

He remarked his short time on council thus far as “enlightening,” and said there still is so much work left to be done by members of the Pro Team. “It’s humbling actually. I’m a caring person, and so I desire to help,” he said. “Whatever is best for Bristol Township, I’m going to cooperate.”

Bailey, 52, is a union electrician and associate pastor, who has been juggling leadership in all aspects of his life since he can remember. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Bailey has lived in the township for over 23 years. He is the father of five girls, one of which, Sierra, is a student in the district, the other four have since graduated. Bailey, who will run in the election for a permanent seat on council, will also turn in his final assignment for theology school – all on May 19.

“It seems like everything is happening at once,” he told LevittownNow.com.

Bailey ran for one of the council’s coveted seats in the May 2013 Primary, while he did not win, Bailey said he wouldn’t leave his team.

Councilman Joe Glasson, 53, of Blue Ridge, and current Council Vice President Amber Longhitano, 54, of Croydon, also serve as incumbents, coming off what they call a strong and fruitful four years as members of the Democratic Pro-Team party.

Glasson, a foreman plumber, has been a volunteer firefighter for 35 years with Levittown #2, even helping to secure grants for each of the local Bristol Township fire companies this year – nicknamed by the late president Lewis as ‘Glasson Grants’. Glasson remarks himself as a true outdoorsman and a man that “tells it like it is”. A father of two and grandfather of two, Glasson was forced to step up and care for his daughter Sarah’s two sons when she tragically passed last year.

“It’s been tough, I found myself a year ago changing diapers again. But I’ve always been a very community based and helpful person, and I’ve got a great support system,” he said. “I guess it makes you a little more compassionate when you go through something like I did. I guess I have a soft spot now for people who are down on their luck.”

For Glasson, despite all the great changes to the township, like paved roads and LED streetlights, what’s keeping him up at night is the township’s responsibility of an unfunded liability.

The township currently battles an unfunded liability figure of over $83 million.

“There’s no easy way to answer how we’ll fix that, we just got to keep chipping away at it,” said Glasson, a foreman plumber. “It scares the daylights out of me and I hope that somebody is able to solve it, nearly $85 million, that’s just a little above my pay grade.”

For Bailey, who remarks himself as an “out of the box thinker,” it’s going to take more than status quo thinking to fix the issue. “Anything is possible, we just haven’t found the solution yet,” he said. “It’s going to take some major work and strategy.”

The other issue hanging over the township’s head is the issue of the grand jury report into the township’s manager. The report laid blame on the township for a botched investigation into a township police officer who was in an early-morning crash late last year.

“The township manager didn’t find out until almost two weeks after [the DUI incident], and he blew a gasket, and well, I thought rightfully so,” said Glasson. “He did an internal investigation, which was in the scope of his job. Everybody’s tension level was up there, but to say the township manager is bad at what he does, that was just beyond me.”

For newcomer Patrick Antonello, 58, of Magnolia Hill, he saw things differently from the outside looking in.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this isn’t over or if there was another grand jury report,” said Antonello, a Trenton local Ironworker. “I believe the public should know more – it warrants more investigation. Council should at least do their own investigation to make sure the township manager is doing his job.”

Antonello said he wasn’t given the answers he wanted when he stood to speak at a March council meeting. Antonello questioned council and their role in the McCauley investigation.

However the accomplished DJ of over 30 years says he has bigger fish to fry if elected. His first order of business? Calling for a financial audit.

“We need to get our fiscal house in order. We have the worst tax base in the entire county,” he said. “We need to create transparency so the residents feel invested in what happens. I think the residents are just so happy to not have everyone arguing.”

An issue of blight is also big for the father of two. According to him, the inundated recovery homes, rental properties and absentee landlords are driving down property values in the township, and it’s becoming “devastating.”

“I’m not degrading the need for recovery homes, but if you take a poll, they are all in Bristol Township,” Antonello said. “We’re not doing enough to fill the homes with people who want to live, work and participate in the community.”

For current Vice President Longhitano, she knows the issue of blight all too well. The 54-year-old is a realtor, and when elected four years ago, blight was one of the big items on her agenda.

“Blight is the next big thing. I’ve been working with Congressman Mike Fitzpatrick and Senator Tommy Tomlinson on laws concerning the FHAA and the ADA,” she said. “We’ve slightly become institutionalized here in Bristol Township. When you have three recovery homes on a block, it completely beats the purpose.”

Longhitano speaks of the nature of removing yourself from the troubling situation in order to obtain sobriety. A situation which has become impossible to be removed from in a township swimming in recovery homes. According to her, of the estimated 150 recovery homes in Bucks County, more than 75 reside in Bristol Township.

“It really is about balance, and everyone will benefit from creating the balance,” she said. “There’s room to grow as we become a very attractive township.”

For 62-year-old retired manufacturing engineer Gallus Obert, there’s been some serious money spent to create that so-called ‘attractive township’. The Farmbrook section resident, who is also Six Sigma certified, told LevittownNow.com with his retired working status, he will have even more time to devote to a fiscally responsible Bristol Township.

“All those sources of income, they were always there, it’s how you manage it going forward,” Obert said. “The manager has found out he can borrow $4 million and not take it to the voters, and that’s part of the new government.”

For Obert, the current council has only made the financial situation worse for the township, not better like the current council claims.

“These $4 million every year, those are 30 year loans, those are our grandchildren’s futures,” the grandfather of eight said. “It looks good on instant results, when you see new roads and new lights, but we didn’t just get good all of a sudden, the money had to come from somewhere. Do we have the money to do all that? Sure, if you borrow money and spread it out over forever.”

According to the father of four, including three stepchildren, it’s not rocket science, it’s “pure economics.” “I don’t have a vested interest, I’m not a business owner or a realtor, and I don’t have the money like the Pro Team does,” he said. “I have trouble getting a basketball net in for youth activities, that’s what we should be spending our money on, not getting re-elected.”

When it comes to the youth, and the school district, despite some rumored animosity between Bristol Township School Board members and Bristol Township Council members, Longhitano, Glasson and Bailey all remarked they are passionate about making it work between the two groups.

“It’s all about bettering the township for all and becoming fiscally responsible and accountable,” Longhitano said of the school board’s actions. “We’re supposed to work hand-in-hand with the school board people, but there’s been an issue of transparency and everything has been hushed.”

“I think they’ve overextended themselves and bit off more than they could chew,” said Glasson. “But I’m not against the schools and I’m not for bashing them. I honestly think they’ve tried to do a good job, if anything their upper management should be held accountable. I vow to do everything in my power to make the schools work because that is the heart and soul of our township, our kids.”

While their views on certain issues may vary, one thing seems clear – all the candidates care about Bristol Township.