Politics & Government

District 39 Assembly: Schepisi and Iannarelli

Patch asked each to answer a questionnaire. Here is how they answered.

With the Nov. 8 election fast approaching, Patch takes a look at the candidates for two District 39 Assembly seats, incumbent Republicans Holly Schepisi (River Vale) and Robert Schroeder (Washington), Democratic challengers Anthony Iannarelli Jr. (Ramsey) and Michael McCarthy (Dumont), and Independent challenger Clinton Bosca (River Vale).

Patch asked each candidate to fill out the questionnaire below. Here are the responses of Schepisi and Iannarelli. As of publication, Patch had not received responses to requests for information from Schroeder, McCarthy and Clinton.

Holly Schepisi (R-River Vale)

Occupation: Attorney with a private law practice, managing director of a related group of private equity funds that provides capital to small businesses

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Previous elected or appointed positions: Township attorney for Township of River Vale for past five years; alternate prosecutor in Westwood and Old Tappan; Foundation for Free Enterprise Board; chairwoman of BCC Women’s Institute, Board of Foundation of BCC; alumni board/trustee North Jersey Chapter of Fordham Law School; Women United and Philanthropy; worked on Capitol Hill (interned for Congresswoman Marge Roukema) and for a member of the British Parliament (legislative aide)

Any other current elected or appointed positions: No

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Other community associations: No

Town (and length) of residence: River Vale, 7 years
Length of residence in District 39: I’ve lived in the district almost my entire life. I was born in Fort Lee, grew up in Saddle River and went to Ramsey High School. I went to college in Washington, D.C., lived in London, went to law school in New York, moved to Harrington Park for four years and then moved to River Vale.

Most pressing issues for this candidate in a coming term, and what would be done to address them: The most pressing issues are property taxes, unemployment, and for a smaller segment of the population out here, flooding.

With respect to lowering property taxes, residents are being crushed by the burden of property tax increases. Seniors can’t live in their houses that they’ve lived in for decades because of the taxes. I have represented a lot of families who have either been going through divorces or going through financial issues because one or both of the spouses have lost jobs, and have had to cut budgets to meet the cost of living.

We need to change our school funding formula. The current formula sends virtually nothing to our local schools. Outgoing Assemblywoman Charlotte Vandervalk had really focused on trying to implement new legislation which would put forward a straightforward and fair educational funding formula. We need to change the current formula so each child in the state will receive a basic amount of state aid, no matter where they live.

We need to give our towns the legislative tools they need to lower costs. Governor Christie has proposed a large number of bills to accomplish this. You have the two-percent cap, but all of the tools they need in place to enable towns to succeed with the two-percent cap are not there. I support those bills, and I’m going to work with my colleagues toward their passage.

With respect to jobs, we need to really work with groups such as Choose New Jersey, as well as the governor, to help make our state’s business climate more competitive in the national marketplace. We need to undergo tax reform and reduce government regulations, to create an atmosphere that will foster business growth in the state. We have lost so many businesses to other states. We consistently rate 48th, 49th or 50th for private equity, businesses retention and a whole host of other things relating to being a business-friendly state. I’ve managed with my partners with that equity group a job creation program, which has helped people find jobs at a time when many businesses were going out of business.

Flooding: Flooding is an incredibly complicated issue, on which there is no cut-and-dry answer on how to deal with it. We need to continue to work with residents, engineers, DEP, BPU and United Water to figure out what the best solution is to this problem. If anybody says there is a 100-year flood plane, there is no such thing anymore. Anyone who says it exists in the state of New Jersey in these flood areas is insane. These are areas that are going to continue to be flooded, and we need to all work together toward a solution.

Little known fact: I have been a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

Anthony N. Iannarelli Jr. (D-Ramsey)

Age: Not given

Occupation: Attorney

Previous elected or appointed positions: Investigator for the City of New York; served for five years on the New Jersey Supreme Court's District Ethics Committee; Assistant District Attorney for the Orange County (N.Y.) District Attorney; Assistant Prosecutor for the Passaic County (N.J.) Prosecutor (courtesy: http://www.aiannarelli.com)

Any other current elected or appointed positions: N/A

Other community associations: N/A

Town (and length) of residence: I have resided in Ramsey for 18 years.

Length of residence in District 39: Same as above.

Most pressing issues for this candidate in a coming term, and how they would be addressed: If I cannot bring some relief to the people of the 39th Legislative District, by stabilizing the property tax burden, enacting pay-to-play reform, and improving public education, I will not run again for office in the 39th Assembly. I have no interest in becoming a career politician, and for whatever reason, change does not come to the district I will move on and give someone else the opportunity. But one thing is clear, and I say this as a resident of the 39th, change must come. (courtesy: http://www.aiannarelli.com)

Little known fact: While some accuse me of being a product of an elitist education, I never graduated from high school.

Robert Schroeder (R-Washington), did not respond to our request as of publication of this article, but according to NJ Spotlight, Schroeder supports a "more business-friendly" approach to government to encourage job growth. "We need to reduce the burden on businesses and reduce unnecessary regulations that pose an unfair hardship and hinder job creation," he said.

Michael McCarthy (D-Dumont) and Clinton Bosca (I-River Vale) did not respond to our request, or that of NJ Spotlight as of publication of this article.


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