City Hall, 1906

The first Long Branch municipal clerk was R. Jerome Van Brunt, who held the post for nearly 20 years before being politically ousted in December 1902. A Long Branch native, he was also the Oceanic fire chief and city tax collector before his April 1915 death.

The first “City” Clerk — elected to the post in 1903 when Long Branch was incorporating as a city — was Bryant Baxter Newcomb. He’d hold the post until he became the city’s mayor from 1912 to 1916. Born in Vineland, NJ in August 1867, Newcomb graduated from Chattle High School and became a newspaperman — serving as business manager for the Long Branch Daily Record for over 30 years. In 1918, he was elected as a Republican to the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders and served until 1933 (the last decade as Director). In February 1945, Newcomb was hit and killed by a taxi in front of the Garfield-Grant Hotel on Broadway.

Irene A. Joline is the longest serving city clerk in history, holding the important office from 1989 to 2010. Her 20 years of service was all under one mayor, Adam Schneider (who held the office from 1990 to 2018). The next longest-serving city clerk was J. Arthur Wooding who did it for 20 years (from 1936 to 1956) serving under four mayors.

“The city clerk is custodian of all the official records — licenses, leases, and minutes of all meetings of all official bodies,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record in August 1932. The annual salary for the Long Branch city clerk was set at $1,800 for 30 years, according to the Asbury Park Press, until city commissioners raised it to $2,800 in 1948. By 1963, the clerk’s pay was $6,800. In 1974 it was $12,500 and $19,500 in 1981. A half century later, it took $250,000 in salaries to run the office.

“The city clerk is a direct link between residents and their local government.”
—Long Branch Daily Record

Long Branch City Clerks:

• Heather Capone (2021-Present)
• Jeffrey Jotz (2020-2021)
• Kathy L. Schmelz (2011-2020)
• Irene A. Joline (1989-2010)
• Jennie C. DeFazio (1974-1988)
• Sanita J. Camassa (1956-1973)
• J. Arthur Wooding (1936-1956)
• Frank A. Brazo (1932-1936)
• Mervin G. Hughes (1932)
• Harold N. West (1930-1931)
• George L. Green (1929-1930)
• Benjamin C. Van Tine (1928-1929)
• Mortimer R. DeRoche (1924-1928)
• Frank C. Quinn (1922-1924)
• Elmer F. Lawyer (1920-1922)
• Alonzo D. Sherman (1916-1920)
• Winfield R. Warwick (1912-1916)
• Bryant B. Newcomb (1903-1912)
• R. Jerome Van Brunt (1883-1902)

Note: This list was compiled by scanning the digital archives of the area’s local newspapers going back 150 years. For certain, it contains errors and omissions. The city clerk’s office keeps no official list of who served or when. Others with better information are welcome to reach out — HERE.

More:
• Long Branch City Hall Images — HERE
• Long Branch: Keys to the City — HERE

Long Branch, Summer ad 1947.

Bryant B. Newcomb, Long Branch City Clerk (1903-1912).

Sanita J. Camassa, 1966. One of the most devoted and stylish Long Branch City Clerks — serving 8 mayors and under 3 forms of city government — “Chickie” Camassa held the vital job from 1956 to 1973 (and was deputy clerk since 1946) A city native and Star of the Sea Academy valediction, she also owned a dress shop in town. She passed away in October 2014.

“Chickie” Camassa upon her appointment as “acting city clerk,” Long Branch Daily Record, June 1956.

Long Branch City Clerk Jennie DeFazio is honored by Mayor Phil Huhn after retiring from her post after 15 years, 1988. She started her city career in 1970 as a stenographer.

City Clerk Jennie DeFazio on her appointment, Red Bank Daily Register, Sept. 1974. She had been “acting clerk” for 11 months.

Long Branch City Clerk J. Arthur Wooding swears in members of the new Long Branch City Commission, May 1956 (APP Photo). From left: Wooding, Rocco Bonforte, George Woolley, Daniel Maher, Paul Kiernan and Raymond Brown. The Republican Maher would become city mayor. Wooding, city clerk from 1936 to 1956,  was a Long Branch Old Guard founder and WW I US Army vet. He died in May 1971.