Sciannameo launches bid for Asbury Park mayor

Asbury Park Planning Board member Dan Sciannameo is running for mayor in November’s nonpartisan municipal election, promising to challenge what he calls the city’s “old ways of doing things.”

Sciannameo is seeking to succeed Mayor John Moor, who announced his retirement in April after nearly 13 years in office.  He will face Amy Quinn, the deputy mayor, who is running with Moor’s support.

The deadline for candidates to file nominating petitions is August 20.

Sciannameo is centering his campaign on property taxes, development and the deteriorating condition of historic buildings along the boardwalk.

“Since 2013, the total property tax levy has skyrocketed,” Sciannameo said. “While developers line their pockets and get big tax breaks, we foot the bill, and the boardwalk buildings they own crumble to the ground. And they want more. Enough.”

A Planning Board member since 2022, Sciannameo has emerged as a critic of several redevelopment proposals. He said his work as a real estate appraiser, primarily in New York City, has shaped his views on development and redevelopment in Asbury Park.

His positions have sometimes put him at odds with Asbury Partners, the master developer operating under the city’s Waterfront Redevelopment Plan.

Jersey Digs reported that Sciannameo recused himself from consideration of a 67-unit mixed-use development after the board attorney advised him to step aside over comments he had made as a private citizen criticizing the developer’s stewardship of historic boardwalk properties.

Sciannameo told Jersey Digs that the master developer had threatened to sue the Planning Board if he participated. The application was approved in a 4-3 vote.

Sciannameo argues that the city’s emphasis on waterfront and tourism-related development has come at the expense of other neighborhoods.

“Asbury Park doesn’t end at the boardwalk, or at the railroad tracks,” he said. “It is clear that many residents, including those on the city’s West Side, feel that their voices are falling on deaf ears.”

Sciannameo said he is looking forward to a “robust, issue-oriented campaign.”

“I’m eager for an honest discussion focused on how the old ways of doing things and endless excuses have clearly failed us over the past 13 years,” he said.

Moor won his last term in 2022 with 58% of the vote against two other challengers.  In her 2024 re-election bid, Quinn was the top vote-getter in a six-candidate field.  She received nearly three times as many votes as her challengers.