Long Branch Mayor’s History
Historical Highlights on the Office of Long Branch City Mayor …
There’s been a certain stability to the office of Long Branch mayor over the past 50 years. In that time just four men have held the city’s most important political position with each having been elected at least twice. As to the origins and long history of the leadership post — that’s an altogether different story. Currently, the office is held by Mayor John Pallone, who won a second term in 2022 running unopposed.
Since Long Branch went official — more than 150 years ago — it’s had about 35 “mayors.” All of them men. But city voters have only been selecting their mayor regularly for less than 60 years (and briefly from 1904 to 1912).
For most of its political history (1867-1903, 1912-1966), Long Branch operated under a commission form of government — whose elected members then selected the mayor. Those commissions favored turnover in the chief executive’s seat. Beginning from when Long Branch became a city in 1904 and for some 60 years after only one mayor served more than a single term — Alton Evans (1936-1944). During each decade of the 1900s, 1910s and 1960s, the Long Branch had six different leaders at city hall.
While Long Branch has had a “mayor” since 1867, it was not until 1904 when C. Asa Francis — he with one of the city’s most sterling resumes — became the first city mayor to be elected by the voters. Later on in May 1966 — after another change in form of government — Paul Nastasio, Jr. became the second mayor to be popularly elected.
All subsequent city mayors have been elected by the people. Today Long Branch government operates under the Faulkner Act with a Mayor and five-member City Council (Plan A), who are elected at-large in nonpartisan elections to serve four-year terms of office on a concurrent basis.
All during the late 19th century glory years of Long Branch — including the presidents, the grand resort hotels, the oceanfront bluff, the rich and famous residents — it was technically part Ocean Township. It was so from February 1849 (departing from its colonial-era association with Shrewsbury Twp.) to April 1867 (when it incorporated as an independent borough) — governed by a five-member “Long Branch Commission.” As the first commission “president,” Francis Corlies, was also the first ”mayor.” This commission set-up, with later adjustments, would run things in Long Branch for nearly a century.
Mayors of Long Branch:
• John Pallone — 2018-present
• Adam Schneider — 1990-2018
• Philip D. Huhn — 1982-1990
• Henry R. “Skip” Cioffi — 1970-1982
• Paul Nastasio, Jr. — 1966-1970
• Vincent J. Mazza — 1965-1966
• Milton F. Untermeyer, Jr. — 1963-1965
• Thomas L. McClintock — 1961-1963
• J. Paul Kiernan — 1960-1961
• Daniel J. Maher — 1956-1960
• Alexander Vineberg, DO — 1952-1956
• J. William Jones — 1948-1952
• J. Paul Kiernan — 1944-1948
• Alton V. Evans — 1936-1944
• C. Dorman McFaddin — 1932-1936
• J. William Jones — 1928-1932
• Frank L. Howland — 1924-1928
• Clarence J. Housman — 1920-1924
• John W. Flock, Sr. — 1918-1920
• Marshall Woolley — 1916-1918
• Bryant B. Newcomb — 1912-1916
• Henry Joline — 1912
• Edwin W. Packer — 1911-1912
• Charles O. McFaddin — 1907-1911
• C. Asa Francis — 1905-1906
• Rufus Blodgett — 1904-1905
• Walter S. Reed, MD — 1902-1903
• Benjamin P. Morris — 1900-1901
• Augustus Chandler — 1899-1900
• Rufus Blodgett — 1894-1898
• George W. Brown — 1892-1893
• Thomas R. Woolley — 1891-1892
• George W. Brown — 1889-1890
• Wilbur A. Heisley — 1887-1888
• George W. Brown — 1885-1886
• Richard H. Woodward — 1883-1884
• Thomas R. Woolley — 1880-1883
• Joseph H. Cooper — 1870-1879
• Francis Corlies — 1867-1870
Note: From 1867 to 1904, the “mayor” was in fact “president” of the Long Branch Commission. All were Democrats except Heisley, Chandler, and Reed.
Long Branch Mayor History Notes …
• When Long Branch became its own city in 1904, the “Mayor” ruled over about 12,200 citizens and its 2,500 residences, according to the Long Branch Daily Record. Today the city mayor represents nearly 32,000 residents with 15,000 dwellings. And mayors have administered over ever-growing municipal spending. The first budget in 1904 was just $104,400. Annual city spending nears $70 million this year.
• From 1885 to 1893, George W. Brown was three times appointed the mayor. Born in Long Branch in 1833, he was elected Monmouth County sheriff in 1874 and was Long Branch board of education president at the time of his death in April 1898. According to both his obits in the Red Bank Daily Register and Asbury Park Press, Brown “served as mayor of Long Branch for 12 years.”
• For Long Branch lovers no office is more important then the mayor. But in the world’s best political job category it’s easily, United States Senator. And naturally, Long Branch has a guy who did both — Rufus Blodgett. A prominent Democrat, in addition to his city mayor (1894-1898 and 1903-04) and US Senator (1887-1893) duties — he was also an elected county freeholder and state legislator. Born in New Hampshire in 1834, he was superintendent of the New York & Long Branch railroad for 35 years until his death in October 1910.
• Another “connected” Long Branch mayor was Bryant B. Newcomb. As the Business Manager for the Long Branch Daily Record for over 30 years (retiring in 1940), he enjoyed both city- and county-wide influence. The first Long Branch “city clerk” (1903 to 1912), Newcomb held that post until becoming city mayor for one term (1912 to 1916). A Chattle High School graduate, he also was a wired Republican — later elected to the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders (1918-1933) and was its Director for over a decade. He died in a Broadway auto accident in February 1945.
• The only mayor in Long Branch history to resign the office was Edwin W. Packer. Charged with bribery on city contracts, he didn’t contest it and he left office in April 1912. He was also first Democrat city mayor elected in 1910 with a 61% majority over George Poland, the Republican. A 50-year railroad man, Packer died at his desk at Long Branch in May 1926.
• A father and son both served as mayor of Long Branch — elected a quarter century apart — were Charles O. McFaddin (1907-1911) and then Dorman McFaddin (1932-1936). Charles started the family auto business on Broadway in 1912; he died in March 1920. Dorman, who also served as a Monmouth County Surrogate and Freeholder, died in September 1967.
• Two respected medical men — Walter S. Reed, MD and Alexander Vineberg, DO — served as mayor of Long Branch. Reed (mayor 1902-1903) held both pharmacy (New York College of Pharmacy in 1888) and medical (Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1900) degrees. Vineberg (mayor 1952-1956) was a doctor of optometry. Dr. Reed, a NJ State Assembly member, died in February 1937 and Dr. Vineberg, a LBHA chairman, passed away in February 1966.
• J. William Jones was a savvy and lasting city politico and businessman. He served over 30 years on the Long Branch Commission including twice as city mayor — for terms separated by 20 years (1928-1932 and 1948-1952). Born in Long Branch the son of school teachers, his life was one of “service to his community combined with level-headed horse sense,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record. Hardworking and determined, he was a livery stable owner by age 15 (started with $300 in savings) and would become the “city’s largest horse dealer” for over 25 years. He owned 300+ horses in peak time and frequently rented them to the rich visitors or for city functions. Later on he successfully sold cars (including “The Chandler”) on Broadway. He told friends that ”the auto field was dull business compared with selling horses,” according to the Asbury Park Press. On his death in December 1958, The Record recalled Jones as “a man who got things done.” The city’s official newspaper added that his passing ended “an era of bossism” in Long Branch politics. For all his accomplishments, the editors held that Mayor Jones “ruled with an iron hand and a loud booming voice and that caused employees to jump at his call.”
• The first mayor of Long Branch elected by the voters was a Republican — Charles Asa Francis (in 1904). He with the sterling resume started out as a Long Branch commissioner in 1884, he also served as mayor (1905-1906), board of education member for over 25 years and city postmaster. Plus he served in Trenton as an elected member of the NJ State Assembly and NJ State Senate (and its president in 1902). In 1905 he was elected Monmouth County Sheriff and appointed Monmouth County Treasurer in 1909. He was partners in a successful North Long Branch grocery store, Hoyt & Francis. The Howell Twp. native died in April 1934.
• Benjamin P. Morris was considered Long Branch’s leading attorney in his time. “Uncle Ben” is credited with bringing the first typewriter, telephone and law clerk to his Broadway law office (where he worked for over 25 years). A “staunch Democrat,” he also served three terms as a Long Branch commissioner and a year as mayor in 1900. The Long Branch native — born in his father Jacob’s seashore hotel in Sept. 1857 — went to college in Trenton. Admitted to the bar in 1884, he practiced until his February 1937 death.
• Once considered Monmouth County’s “Mr. Democrat,” J. Paul Kiernan was twice mayor of Long Branch (1944-1948 and 1960-1961) while serving five terms on the city commission. Tall, trim and white-haired he looked like a political leader. He was a county-wide power — elected to five terms as Monmouth County Sheriff. In 1965 he cracked a 30-year GOP hold on the important county post and would serve until 1980. The city native and 1925 Chattle High School grad, chaired the city’s Democrat Party for over 40 years. He also managed the family’s successful real estate/insurance business until his death in May 1989.
• A city public servant for some 40 years, Paul Nastasio, Jr. was first elected to the Long Branch Commission in May 1936 and served 12 years directing the public works department. After winning re-election to the commission with a record vote total in 1944, he lost his seat in a 1948 Republican landslide. In May 1966 — after another change in form of government — he became the second mayor to be popularly elected; beating Edgar Dinkelspiel with 52% of the vote among 8,700+ city voters. A Newark College of Engineering graduate, he was a mechanical engineer section chief at Fort Monmouth for over 20 years. A city native, 1925 Chattle High School grad and life member of the Oliver Byron fire company, he died December 1996.
• He was known as “Skip.” Henry R. Cioffi won three terms as Long Branch’s leader serving as mayor from 1970 to 1982. Like all successful politicians he could talk — “never at a loss for words,” according to the 1969 Long Branch Daily Record. After defeat at the polls in 1982, Mayor Cioffi was called “a man of Napoleonic height and pride” by Red Bank Daily Register reporter Andrew Sheehan (today, Andy is an Emmy-winning investigative reporter for a CBS-TV station in Pittsburgh). A city native, RBC High School graduate, US Marine, and Ivy League finance graduate (Wharton School ’59), Cioffi had a long career in school board administration/finance for the city of Elizabeth. First elected to the Long Branch city council in a July 1963 run-off, this “born political animal” had influence in town spanning 20 years. He died in April 2020.
First “Mayor” of Long Branch
His name is neither honored or recorded in city history. But Francis Corlies was the first “mayor” (or rather the first president of the Long Branch Commission). The “record” shows he was appointed in April 1867 and served until 1870.
These details appear in a January 1918 front-page story in the city’s official newspaper, the Long Branch Daily Record (story below). The account is plausible because Francis Corlies played a significant role in the development of the North Jersey Shore. As a state legislator in 1867 he had introduced a “special act fixing the boundaries of Long Branch,” according to a May 1904 Long Branch Daily Record story.
Corlies was deep in the makings of the Long Branch & Seashore Railroad — a than magical mode of transportation that could easily shuttle the rich and famous from NYC to the Jersey Shore via ferry and train. In March 1864, Corlies was part of a committee that negotiated a land deal directly with President Abraham Lincoln to build a railroad starting on government property at Spermaceti Cove on Sandy Hook to Long Branch and on down to Manasquan. To ensure completion of the line from Sandy Hook to Long Branch by July 1865, Corlies was put in charge.
As a three-term NJ state assembly member he was “instrumental in the initial movement for a government in Long Branch,” according to the Long Branch Daily Record, having introduced the legislation in Trenton fixing the boundaries of the Long Branch Commission in 1867. He also helped organize the city’s first bank, the Long Branch Banking Company on Broadway in March 1872 and sat on the first Monmouth Park Racetrack board of directors in 1869. Born in Shrewsbury Twp., he was the son of Benjamin W. Corlies, one of Monmouth County’s top surveyors in his day. Francis died in April 1897 at age 70.
Joseph H. Cooper is the guy most often credited with being the first “Long Branch mayor.” The salute while laudable appears wrong. He did indeed serve as commission president for most of the 1870s (true boom times in the “Summer Capitol”) and owned the popular Metropolitan Hotel (off Cooper Avenue) — but the city’s paper of record shows Corlies was first in 1867. In keeping with city politics of today, both Cooper and Corlies were Democrats.
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Where they worked …