Irace, Mahon will preserve Oceanport quality of life
As the brother of Republican Joseph A. Irace, I wanted to take a moment to thank The Hub for the fair reporting throughout this year's campaign. I always looked forward to receiving a copy from Joe to find out what was going on leading up to the election.

I have had the wonderful opportunity of spending time with Michael Mahon and I know the people of Oceanport will be very happy with Michael as their mayor.

As far as Joe, I have had years of watching him grow and seeing what he stands for. He wants to preserve the quality of life and the lifestyle all of you have come to love. A lifestyle, as he says, "where three generations are often present on our softball and soccer fields, where people know and greet each other by name." I know both he and Mike want to see that for years to come.

It is hard to believe that just one year ago, Joe lost by one vote. I often asked him why he wanted to run again and go through all of the effort. His response was simple: he wants to "make a difference."

It also woke me up to the fact that every vote counts, and this year he received 1,164 votes in his victory. I must also say it made me, for the first time in many years, vote in my town's local election. A message I deliver as often as I can now is "Get out and vote!"

I want to wish Mike and Joe all the best life has to offer and I am confident that the people of Oceanport will be very happy with their leadership.

I can also guarantee that if you are not happy with something, that both of these individuals will be willing to listen. I also wanted to wish Gerald Briscione all the best and congratulate Jerry Bertekap for a great effort in his first attempt to win a council seat.

Rick Irace

Allenwood