The Independent Party
Sketch comedy came of age. Monty Python, Benny Hill, Second City, and the Groundlings all led to the inaugural season of Saturday Night, a live show on NBC at 11:30 PM on Saturdays. Sea Girt was more serious.
The Sea Girt Board of Education was on the defensive from some of the parents. Mrs. Gail Brennan, 210 Boston, wrote a letter to the school board questioning the test scores of Sea Girt students. She had worked as an aide in the schools and thought, given the socio-economic position of the residents of Sea Girt, the students should be double the national average. She claimed the principal challenged her to come up with a school with two times the national average; Sea Girt was 1.5 times. She found two schools in Summit with the high scores she was looking for.
The board opened their records a bit, and this only triggered more questions. Several issues were debated. First, the children of “Winter Rentals” were blamed as underperforming. “You can spot them every time”, noted a resident.
“New math” was met with derision from some parents (Creative Commons)
Next, they complained there was an avoidance of fundamentals. Good spelling or grammar was not taught. It was an attack on the progressive methods of the five-year-old school. “Invented Spelling” and “New Math” were part of the curriculum. Kids were not graded traditionally, and students progressed independently of their classmates. Parents wanted kids taught the way they were.
Finally, former school principal Matthew Ciricolo of Trenton Blvd noted the scores dropped several students from its averages. He felt this was unusual, but Principal Pentony defended leaving out kids more than two grades behind their age in school. He also noted that Sea Girt had used a less popular standardized test.
Ciricolo’s objections were enough for the School Board to request an independent investigation by outsiders to ensure Sea Girt was reporting scores correctly.
Matthew Ciricolo had a busy year. He was the Chairman of the Board of Adjustment, and he ran as an independent to unseat Mayor Black.
The Sea Girt Independent Party sprung up to counter the Republicans, whose traditionally important ballot was at the primary each June. Once selected, there was rarely any real contest in November. The Independents resonated with people, with Ciricolo, the former Manasquan educator at the head of the party. Geroge Knopf and Robert Trumpbour ran for Councilmen.
The letter writing in the Coast Star was prolific, with all sides chiming in.
Loose dogs were part of the Independent Party’s platform. They advertised heavily in the Coast Star and the Asbury Park Press
The Independent platform was that the entrenched Republican party did not have accountability and was looking to spend too much money. At the same time, they were letting the town go.
Borough Council had proposed to rebuild a new Administrative building near the Railroad station to help minimize overcrowding in Borough Hall. Mayor Black argued that the 1917 structure and land were donated, the current firehouse/police station and offices were overcrowded, and Sea Girt had never paid for a municipal building. Independents were skeptical of the $240,000 price tag.
The second big item was the long saga of fixing the boardwalk, which had been broken back in storms in 1971. In reality, the boardwalk and its new positioning depended on the beach replenishment and dune building. Most of the money was to be federal, state, and county money. This slowed the process, and inflation hit the price tag. It jumped from $75,000 to $150,000.
With inflation high and Gov. Brenden Byrne passing a state unearned income tax, people were worried about the overall tax burden. The incumbents smartly put the boardwalk and new Borough Hall up for referendum.
They also put on a heartwarming celebration for Sea Girt’s 100th anniversary since the resort's founding in 1875.
All the living mayors came out, and a 50-unit parade meandered through town. The Fire Company honored their oldest members. There were military marching bands, army vehicles, and firetrucks. State Supreme Court Justice Sea Girter Matthew Sullivan was the guest of honor. The State Senate noted Sea Girt Day.
Mayor Black rode in the lead car and made the main speech. The day was filled with 100 events, organized by Councilman MacInnes and various social groups. The events included a a flea market, a pie throwing contest, a beach tug of war, pass punt and kick football, a State Police display on drug prevention, pony rides, refreshment stands, a concert, sky diving, clowns from the Hoxie Bros. Circus, and a cute kitten contest won by Robin Mittl whith her kitty in a fireman’s hat.
The NFL made and effort to get young people into the game (NFL Films)
The good feelings for Mayor Black, his long history with the town, and the success of the celebration carried over into the polls.
When the tally came in, Black won the toughest campaign of his career by 680-535 votes. All the Indepedents lost. The Borough Hall project was soundly defeated, and the people voted for the Boardwalk repairs.