In 1980, a 10-year-old Jonathan Hornik stood in the recently renovated barn that had just become Marlboro’s town hall to watch his late father, Saul, get sworn in as the town’s new mayor.
Today, just over two years since his father died of lung cancer, Hornik stood in the same room, filled to the rafters with spectators to see the 37-year-old sworn in as mayor.
“Marlboro was a young community well on its way to what I call modern day Marlboro,” reminisced Hornik in his inaugural speech. “….It was a feeling of optimism in 1980, and our town leaders were eager to meet the challenges of their time. Today I feel the same sense of optimism and assure you that this next generation is ready, willing and able to move Marlboro forward to its bright future.”
Hornik is one of the Monmouth County Democrats’ rising stars, having handily defeated incumbent Mayor Robert Kleinberg in a particularly nasty battle while the full slate of his 12th district Democratic legislative counterparts –led by state Sen. Ellen Karcher, a former Marlboro councilwoman – went down in defeat.
But Hornik wouldn’t speculate about his political future. Instead, he said he’s focusing solely on the agenda he created for his first 100 days in office.
“Modern day Marlboro” has more than twice the population it did when Saul Hornik was sworn in as mayor – reaching 40,000 largely due to an influx of New York and northern New Jersey expats. Cow pastures have given way to upscale residential developments, and the town’s main thoroughfares are clogged with traffic. Property taxes have become burdensome.
And the town is still reeling from the arrest of its former three term mayor, Matthew Scannapieco, who two-and-a-half years ago pleaded guilty to taking $245,000 in bribes from a developer. Many of the Hornik supporters present today referred to the inauguration as the dawning of a new day in Marlboro, and Hornik sought to reinforce that message.
“We cannot ignore our dark and disturbing past that together we must now rebuild from,” said Hornik. “In recent years, Marlboro has been on the minds of people for the wrong reasons. Corruption has painted our reputation among our neighboring communities. It is now time to turn the page on that chapter of Marlboro’s past.”
The top priorities for the new administration: stabilizing property taxes by fostering more commercial development, cutting down on municipal government expenses, preserving what’s left of the town’s open space and “fostering a culture of honesty and integrity” in the town’s government.
Also sworn in today were two new Democratic council members: Frank LaRocca and Randi Marder, who both beat incumbent Republicans to break that party’s complete dominance of the council. But although ousted council members Patti Morelli and Joseph Pernice were there to welcome the new Democrats into office, noticeably absent was Kleinberg.
“I have no comment about my relationship with the former mayor,” said Hornik shortly after making his speech. Kleinberg could not be reached for comment.
Republican Assemblywoman-elect Caroline Casagrande showed up and made a short speech emphasizing that she and fellow incoming Republican legislators Jennifer Beck and Declan O’Scanlon plan to work closely with Hornik to meet the town’s affordable housing construction obligations and deal with the new school funding formula.
But Hornik’s status as a rising star could put him on a collision course with Beck – already, his name pops up as one of the top prospects to take her on in four years. Depending, of course, on what kind of mayor he turns out to be.
But Casagrande said that political considerations will take a back seat to the betterment of Marlboro.
“I can’t imagine anything will get in the way of our cooperation and our enthusiasm for helping a township like Marlboro,” said Casagrande.
Hornik, of course, remained silent about his future political prospects.
“100% of my efforts are going to be towards Marlboro Township. Absolutely nothing else is on my radar screen,” he said.
