(Asbury Park, NJ.) — Daniel F. Sciannameo, a four-year member of the Asbury Park Planning Board, is running for mayor in the upcoming November election.
Open Governance News interviews Asbury Park Resident Dan Sciannameo on August 17.
The 70-year-old real estate appraiser, who moved to the city 22 years ago from Staten Island and has worked in New York for four decades, says he decided to run because the field otherwise risked going uncontested. Sciannameo argues that Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn, a councilwoman since 2013, has been positioned to take the office with little opposition.
“I’m running because somebody has to do it,” he says, adding that without a challenger she “was just going to waltz into the office.”
He further contends that her continued tenure would amount to “18 years of the same,” declaring, “There are no kings. There’s no dynasty here. You have to earn the office.”
OpGov.News has repeatedly sought comment from Quinn, but has received no response.
Sciannameo stresses that Asbury Park has become unaffordable for longtime residents, recent arrivals, and young people alike.
“It's unaffordable for the people who never left, to the people who came here years ago when few people wanted to be here and for young people who are coming in,” Sciannameo says, adding his decades of experience in real estate appraisal, along with his service on the Asbury Park Planning Board, has prepared him for the mayor’s office.
He has spent his career valuing properties for litigation, including work on the 42nd Street redevelopment, the Hudson Yards rezoning, and damage assessments around the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“I eat and breathe real estate,” he says. “That is something very important that has shaped Asbury Park for the past two decades.”
Sciannameo identifies the city’s three biggest challenges as government inaction, rising taxes and broken promises to the west side.
After receiving his latest tax bill, Sciannameo notes that his own real estate taxes have risen 400 percent and that citywide bills recently jumped about 20 percent following a prior increase of roughly 35 percent.
He calls the current trajectory unsustainable and argues that government, while not a business, must still be run with fiscal discipline. He pledges to require every department head to present a budget and a clear vision each year, and he says the city must “tighten our belts.”
Tax & Sewer Collections (Photo Credits: City of Asbury Park Website)
Sciannameo blames much of the tax pressure on a state school-funding formula that counts high-value waterfront properties that are largely exempt from school taxes.
He describes the situation as a “vicious cycle” and “crazy system,” adding that residents who complain to the City Council are often told the problem lies with the state or the schools.
Taxes increased due to the school budget. (Photo Credits: City of Asbury Park Website)
“You get elected to office to solve problems,” Sciannameo says. “That's what the city council and the mayor must do: work with the schools, and work with the state.”
Flooding is also among his concerns. Pointing to repeated inundation of Lake Avenue and damage from recent storms, including those over the Fourth of July weekend.
“Flooding is real,” Sciannameo says. “How many times does Lake Avenue have to flood before somebody does something? I’m a problem solver. I don’t have all the answers, but I’m going to find the answers—or find out who has them—for the flooding and all the other problems that plague Asbury Park.”
On housing costs, Sciannameo revisits the city’s short-term rental rules. He supported stricter regulations to preserve neighborhood character, but now believes they should be loosened so homeowners can offset rising taxes.
“We put pretty restrictive regulations on Airbnb and I was one proponent of that because I wanted a neighborhood,” says Sciannameo. “I wanted to know my neighbors, not someone coming in every week, but things have become unaffordable.”
According to the City of Asbury Park’s Short-Term Rental Policy, Airbnbs are allowed, but only for certain owner-occupied properties with a permit and the owner must submit an occupant change form for each new guest.
“I think we need to go back and loosen it up because people need a break,” says Sciannameo. “People need to rent out to make ends meet. They're living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes even worse than that.”
Landlords, he adds, have little choice but to raise rents under the weight of property taxes, and he faults city governments for more than a decade of inertia.
Sciannameo emphasizes that he supports “smart development” and insists the west side must not be overlooked. He notes that many east-side residents rarely cross the railroad tracks and that the west side has historically housed most of the city’s population.
Sciannameo is working with the Westside Community Center—now under the West Side Community Center Historic Renovation Association since 2022—and pledges to see it reopen “come hell or high water,” including needed gym renovations next door.
He has also connected west-side organizers with the New Jersey chapter of Black Wall Street and is exploring Black-owned grocery and food-cooperative models to address the area’s status as a food desert.
“This must be Asbury Park for all,” he says. “We can welcome newcomers and not forget the people who have been here all along.”
Sciannameo’s concerns about the growing city extend to preserve the creative culture and communities that have long shaped the city’s identity.
“The artists, musicians, LGBTQ+ community, and the people who never left Asbury Park have done a great service to this city,” says Sciannameo, adding that many major musicians were inspired by the town’s history. “They brought it back. We can’t forget them. We want all boats to rise, but at the same time, we can’t lose what made this city so attractive and unique in the first place.”
As for getting the word out on his campaign, Sciannameo says, “I'm opening my big mouth.”
“I'm not afraid to speak,” Sciannameo says. “I guess my greatest flaw is that I love to hear the sound of my own voice.”
Although he could not name a group that supported his candidacy, Sciannameo says, “I’m actually surprised about the level of support and angst in this community.”
For more information on Sciannameo, visit dan4asburymayor.com. For more information on the city’s 2026 Reassessment Summary, see here. To add to or correct any information in this report, please get in touch with me at angelica.n@lead4earth.org.
(Photo Credits: Dan 4 Asbury Mayor Website)
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