Fiscally irresponsible brick township candidate's multiple bankruptcies, foreclosure, 77 credit cards under fire

BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ – Opponents today are criticizing a Brick Township candidate’s past history after running on a campaign promising fiscal responsibility for township government, but a total lack of responsibility when it comes to his personal finances.

This week, his opponents took aim at his fiscal irresponsibility.

Court records show that Gregory Cohen, the Republican candidate for Brick Township Council, filed twice for personal bankruptcy and had his home sold in a sheriff’s foreclosure auction after racking up debt on 77 credit cards

Cohen lost his home to foreclosure in 1997. His financial record also includes multiple lawsuits by creditors and loan defaults stretching across several years. His most recent bankruptcy filing in November 2021 revealed over $415,000 in unpaid obligations.

If elected, Cohen would share responsibility for overseeing Brick’s $120 million municipal budget — a level of fiscal responsibility that critics say conflicts sharply with his personal financial history.

Cohen is running on the Republican ticket alongside mayoral candidate Madeline Iannarone, as the party seeks to regain control of Brick’s local government from Mayor Lisa Crate and her Council team, who have kept taxes stable and maintained a balanced budget for more than a decade.

The local Republican club has nominated several candidates in recent years with serious financial problems. In 2013, the Republican nominee for mayor, Joseph Sangiovanni, had filed three bankruptcies in six years, leaving behind more than $1 million in unpaid debts, including tax liens and unpaid bills to local small businesses. In 2023, the local GOP chose Mary Buckley as their council candidate.

She had filed for personal bankruptcy with more than $1 million in debt and later lost her home in a foreclosure lawsuit. Her running mate in the 2023 election, James Palmisano, also had faced foreclosure after defaulting on a $430,000 mortgage, with a final judgment entered against him in 2006.

The key sponsor for the Brick Republican ticket, Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore, is also facing IRS tax leins in the millions of dollars range for failing to pay employee payroll taxes at his now defunct lawfirm, which earned millions of dollars each year through public contracts in Brick and other towns.

“The recurring pattern of bankruptcies, foreclosures, and unpaid debts among Republican candidates raises fresh questions about the claims of fiscal responsibility by Brick Republicans as they seek control over the town’s finances,” the Brick Democrat Club today said in a statement.

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