A Margate man and a Somers Point woman are running in the Nov. 5 election to fill a seat on the Atlantic
County Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner and former Atlantic County Sheriff Frank Balles is stepping down after serving several years on the board, prompting two newcomers vying to fill his seat.
Michael Ruffu is a labor attorney practicing out of his office in Avalon, and Kim O’Brien is a teacher at the Dawes Avenue School in Somers Point. Both have never served in public office, although O’Brien ran for public office last year.
Downbeach.com interviewed the candidates by telephone and is providing an insight into each candidate, their reasons for running and what they hope to accomplish for residents of Atlantic County.
Michael Ruffu of Margate, the Republican who is running for Atlantic County commissioner at-large. Attorney Michael Ruffu of Margate is seeking to maintain the Republicans’ 8-1 control over county government.
“You would be hard pressed to find many Democrats in Atlantic County who are not satisfied with the way the county is run,” he said. “Atlantic County is the best run county in the state and has had 25 consecutive perfect audits in a row and near perfect bond ratings.”
He got his first foray into Republican politics by helping Assemblywoman Claire Swift, also of Margate, during her first Assembly campaign. When he heard that Balles, also a Republican, would not seek re-election, he talked with Atlantic County Republican Chairman Don Purdy, who gave him the nod.
It is his first attempt at becoming a public servant and feels his legal training will be an asset on the board. Although the county board weighs heavily on Republican leadership, he feels they do a good job listening to both sides of an issue.
“We need to get back to the way things used to be. As an attorney I am open to listening to the other side. That’s the only way to get to the answers and get to the next level. Our politics today and politicians are too divided. Are we at a point where we can’t work together anymore?” he said.
Ruffu said he was working behind the scenes in the Republican Pary and decided he wanted to step up.
“I wanted to do my part and pitch in and think I’ll be an asset to the board,” he said.
Ruffu said with his Ruffu and Siracusa lineage, the political spirit is in his blood.
“My great-grandfather Anthony Ruffu was mayor of Atlantic City from 1927 to 1930, and his nephew, Anthony Siracusa, was the first Italian American speaker of the General Assembly,” he said.
His cousin Carol Ruffu was involved in Atlantic City politics for a long time and Egg Harbor Township Mayor and former State Sen. Sonny McCullough is his uncle. His grandfather was a longtime local businessman who owned and operated Ruffu Ford in Atlantic City.
“My dad managed the place, I grew up in the dealership, my cousins worked there, and everybody got their cars there,” he said.
He said he created the Downbeach Coalition to coordinate Republican political viewpoints across Ventnor, Margate and Longport, which morphed into an anti-wind turbine group after hosting a forum at the Margate Performing Arts Center, but campaigning has diverted his attentions due to time constraints.
“It’s kind of been on hold because of the time I spend campaigning,” he said.
He works for Blaney Donohue, a labor employment law firm in Avalon, where the founder, Mike Donohue is the chairman of the Cape May County Republicans and is heavily involved in the anti-offshore wind issue.
During his campaign across 23 different municipalities, Ruffu said he has spent time talking to voters and it always comes down to two things, money and safety, he said.
“It’s not complicated. It’s simple. People are worried about money and safety. People are worried about inflation, the cost of living and putting food on the table. That’s always at the top of everyone’s mind,” he said.
As a former Atlantic County prosecutor, he is a "law and order type of guy,” he said.
“After the governor put in a policy where the police can’t approach these kids because they are afraid of having lawsuits filed against them, the kids know it, and they are running wild in Margate and Ocean City. Parents are worried, and they should be,” he said.
Ruffu said one of the biggest issues facing Atlantic County, which depends on tourism, is the state’s effort to become energy independent with its push toward clean energy, such as the offshore wind projects proposed along the Jersey coastline.
“At first, it was a shore town issue, but the more people learned about it and understood how their rates would go up…it has become a concern. I think it was rushed and forced on us, and the majority of citizens are against it,” he said.
He believes with today’s rapid changes in technology, the Atlantic Shores wind turbines that received federal approvals last week, which promises to generate enough electricity to power 1 million homes, will become obsolete in no time, no one really knows how much energy the turbines will generate, and if the energy can be stored.
“We stopped Orsted’s plan, and we need to keep fighting it,” he said. “The point is to run up their legal bills with challenges, so it is no longer feasible. After that disaster in Nantucket, they don’t even have a windmill blade supplier.”
He believes the jobs being created will not go to local workers.
“These are sophisticated pieces of machinery. You’re not going to grab local workers, train them and throw them on these projects, these are engineers who are experts,” he said. “Plus, the cables that will come ashore are linked to leukemia and they are running it under the poorest section of Atlantic City.”
And, then there’s the whale deaths being blamed on preliminary investigations to map the seabed.
“I’m not saying to completely stop it, but we need to put a pause on it until we know more,” he said.
Ruffu believes new investment in Atlantic City will create more jobs there.
“Atlantic City has such potential but if it were run properly and could attract more investments, we could make improvements. It’s a hidden gem in the state and really needs to be looked at closely,” he said.
With development of Stockton University, expansion of AtlantiCare and investments in aviation, new jobs will be created.
“Atlantic City is a massive part of our state economy. The casinos are having a tough time because of competition from New York and Pennsylvania.
The county and Republican Congressman Jeff Van Drew have centered their efforts on maintaining the technical center in Egg Harbor Township as a hub of aviation safety innovation, which offers high-paying and specialized jobs, he said.
He is not sure if there is a shortage of affordable housing, but Atlantic County prides itself on delivering a multitude of services to residents who need it, he said.
He pointed to the creation of the Atlantic County Central Municipal Court, which has had some growing pains over the last year or two since it was formed.
“It was originally farmed out to a private security firm, and now our new sheriff, Joe O’Donahue, reinstated the Sheriff’s Office to handle security there,” he said. “They are working to make it more efficient.”
Through legislation sponsored by Republican Sen. Vince Polistina, hundreds of State Police cases that were heard at the central court will go back to the municipalities where they originate, which should help reduce costs, he said.
Another sensitive issue is complaints from residents of the eastern portion of Atlantic County about the smell emanating from the Atlantic County Utilities Authority landfill in Egg Harbor Township.
“I know they are talking about expanding it and the ACUA has done a lot of work to mitigate the smell,” he said. “The argument is, how can you expand it if it’s already at capacity?” he said.
Although current regulations require the county to dispose of its waste locally, he would like to further investigate the effort to create a transfer station in Pleasantville that will transport garbage to other states.
Another “huge” problem that needs to be fixed is flooding on roadways leading to and from Atlantic City. Two weeks ago, he attended an Eagles tailgate party held at Ski Beach in Ventnor, but flooding at Albany Avenue at West End Avenue and Dorset Avenue were flooded and people couldn’t get there until the tide receded.
“The problem needs to be addressed and fixed,” he said. “It’s a huge issue for people in West Atlantic City and for those coming to Atlantic City, and the flooding is only getting more pervasive.”
Yet he doesn’t believe climate change is a man-made problem, he said.
“That’s an issue that’s still up for discussion,” which he is open to, he said.
“To me the only real way to get to the right next step is to listen to the other side,” he said.
Ruffu said he met his opponent, Kim O’Brien, recently at an event.
“Kim agrees we have to get the divisiveness out of politics and bring it back to cordiality,” he said. “The different sides have different views, but we all want what’s best for our county and state.”
Unlike O’Brien who has received endorsements from several political action groups, Ruffu has not received any endorsements, he said.
“This is my first time doing this,” he said.
Ruffu, 47, who was born in Atlantic City, raised in Margate where he has lived most of his life except for college, law school and a few years working in Washington, D.C., is single and has no children.
Kimberly O'Brien of Somers Point is the Democrat running for Atlantic County commissioner at-large. Kim O’Brien of Somers Point wants to increase the Democratic Party’s presence in Atlantic County government. There is currently only one other Democrat serving on the board – longtime member Ernest Coursey of Atlantic City in District 1, which now encompasses the Downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport.
O’Brien said she has mounted an active campaign in all sections of Atlantic County. It’s the second time she is running for the board.
“The energy is just amazing ever since Kamala Harris got in the race for president,” she said. “Women are excited, young people are excited, and people actually know there is an election this year.”
An English as a Second Language and Spanish teacher for 29 years, O’Brien has been teaching in her hometown since 2007. Before that, she taught in the Absecon schools and in New York City. She started her career teaching English in Russia as a Peace Corps volunteer. She speaks three languages – English, Spanish and Russian.
“We go where the Peace Corps needs us, and at the time, Russia wanted to teach their students English to help them access business opportunities and the medical field around the world,” she said.
Running in a presidential election year will bring out more people to vote, and she is hoping that will work in her favor.
“Last year, the turnout was low, but a presidential year could triple the vote count,” she said.
O’Brien, who is president of the Somers Point Democratic Club and was recruited to run by representatives of the NJ Education Association, is hoping the people she meets while canvasing neighborhoods around the county will put her over the top.
“They know me and thought I would be a good public servant,” she said. “I care about people and like to read up on issues. We need good people in office.”
She has learned that being a teacher has its advantages.
“I start by telling them I’m a teacher and that opens the door. I learned that people have respect for teachers and trust women,” she said. “That’s when we can discuss the issues they are facing.”
She has been endorsed by Unite HERE Local 54, the AFL-CIO and League of Conservation Voters, and she is undergoing screening for the NJ Education Association’s endorsement, which supported her last year.
“In Atlantic County, we need higher paying jobs, and union jobs with medical benefits and pensions. To me, economic development means we need to strengthen the middle class.”
She would also like to see it easier for needy families to get the social services they need, such as mobile dental services in schools.
The county needs to branch out from the casino industry and one area that is not being addressed is job creation through eco-tourism.
“Atlantic County is a beautiful place, and we could do more to bring people here to see our environment and parks, but we also need housing that’s affordable,” she said.
She is also a friend of the environment and laments clearcutting acres and acres of Egg Harbor Township woodlands for a new housing project that helped to clean the air of the smell emanating from the county’s landfill.
“Now, the smell won’t go away completely but we have to look forward and have an endgame,” she said.
O’Brien thinks the county should be reaching out to municipalities to find a location for a new landfill.
“We should be having a conversation with the municipalities about continuing to allow these big housing projects to move on. Why are we clear cutting?” she said.
She sees postings on social media where people are looking for housing and rentals within their budget, but the trend toward out-of-towners purchasing homes to turn into short-term rentals exacerbates the housing shortage, drives up year-round rental costs and increases services needed from police and code enforcement department.
“We should look at other communities that have tackled housing scarcity and get creative. But first, we have to recognize that it is a problem,” she said.
She also believes there should be an investigation into the rising cost of electricity.
“People are blaming the smart meters, but I don’t know if that’s true. There should be an investigation,” she said.
O’Brien is the green team leader in the Somers Point school district and has educated children about environmental issues. She is using training she has received through the Sustainable Jersey program to encourage facility upgrades in school districts that can save on the cost of energy.
“Taxes are high and there’s money to be saved, especially in schools,” she said.
She would also like to see the county government make changes that allow those with physical disabilities to be able to easily attend commission meetings at the county office building.
She said the county needs two weeks’ notice for those who cannot climb the flight of stairs into the Shoreview Building on Shore Road in Northfield where meetings are held.
“The county office building should be more accessible, and the meeting room is too small, especially when there is an important topic on the agenda,” she said.
O’Brien would also support generating state and federal funding to address flooding issues on county roadways and evacuation routes.
“The flooding is only going to get worse,” she said.
She lived in Ventnor Heights when she was first married but decided after she started having children that she wanted to be high and dry for safety reasons and the family moved to Somers Point, she said.
Regarding the printing error in sending out instruction cards with Vote By Mail ballots, O’Brien said encouraging people to vote should be the county’s main goal.
“To me democracy is not how we can do it the cheapest way, but how we can get the most people to participate. Some things are worth the money,” she said.
With only one Democrat on the county board, she believes there needs to be some “different thinking” to effectively solve problems facing the county.
“Having more balance of ideas would benefit Atlantic County,” she said.
In all issues, O’Brien said she is willing to work across the aisle to get the county what it needs for success.
“I’m not in this to fight with them but I’m not afraid to speak up. I’m very happy to work with them on what’s best for Atlantic County residents,” she said.
O’Brien lives in Somers Point with her husband, Michael, who is also a teacher, and their shelter dog, Roger. The O’Briens have two adult daughters in college, Devin, 20, and Ellen, 22.
