Schneck Hopes to Make an Impact

When voters head to the polls on Tuesday, David Schneck hopes they'll look beyond the first two columns.

Schneck, of Belmar, is the Libertarian Party candidate for the New Jersey State Assembly's 30th district.

As public opinion with the two-party political system falls continuously, the time might be right for third party candidates to have their say.

"I like to liken the current two party system to professional wrestling, where they just pretend to fight but actually are on the same team," Schneck said. "It really has become a one party system and both wings are primarily concerned with keeping it that way."

"The electorate is told that any vote for a third party or independent is a wasted vote and they are better off voting for the lesser of two evils among the major parties," he added.

Schneck subscribes to a strict form of Constitutional Republicanism and feels that government has gotten too large and has too much power.

"The key issues are that the state government has become way too big and is trying to do too much and thinks that it is it’s job to redistribute the wealth," he said.

This election season, Schneck has taken up the issue of state aid for schools as the centerpiece of his campaign.

Schneck is a proponent of the fair school funding formula introduced by Senator Mike Doherty of Warren County. The plan calls for the equal distribution of state educational aid dollars.

"While it is suburban taxpayers that pay the lion’s share of the income tax, many suburban towns, particularly in my district, get little, if any, of it back in state aid.  Meanwhile, urban districts, that have no ratables because they give away property tax abatements just to get businesses to locate there, get upwards of $25,000 in state aid per student," he said.

Schneck has made the rounds to meetings of governing bodies within the 30th district, encouraging them to pass resolutions supporting the school funding change.

Schneck also feels that the state aid money should be attached to the students, rather than to the schools themselves. That way parents could use state aid for private education.

"If they attend their town’s public school the money would be given to that town’s government.  If they want to spend it at a private or parochial school, that would be fine too.  Even middle class families would be able to afford private education.  I believe a large market in schools would spring up and there would be very many affordable choices," he said.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Somerset, Schneck works as a technical writer for an auto parts importer and distributor and lives in Belmar with his wife Karen and two daughters.

Though he's held his Libertarian ideals since his youth, Schneck is somewhat of a newcomer to politics.

Now a mainstay at Belmar borough council meetings, Schneck became involved in the process locally after the borough passed a smoking ban on its beaches.

"I live in Belmar and commute 100 miles round trip to my job so I can be near the beach.  I do this because I enjoy nothing more than sitting at the water’s edge and watching my kids play in the surf," he said. "Now I have to walk 1/10 mile across hot sand every time I want to smoke.  This made me decide that I better get involved in local politics and keep a closer watch on what these guys are up to."

Schneck campaigned for a seat on the borough council last year, but was not elected. He also blogs regularly on a variety of political issues at www.commonsenseforbelmar.com.

While he is realistic about his chances, Schneck hopes that his campaign will help to bring some of his ideas to light.

"I am running to spread the message that we can live free and that we were meant to live free," he said. "If we don’t resist even the smallest violations of our freedom than freedom will someday soon be lost. I may not be the perfect messenger, but my message, that we can and should be free, is perfect."