Grayzel to challenge Mancuso in bid to regain Morris Township Committee seat

Former Morris Township Mayors Jeff Grayzel and Peter mancuso may go head to head in November 2022. Photos by Kevin Coughlin
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The man who worked for decades to paint Morris Township’s governing body blue plans to  challenge its last red representative this fall.

Former Mayor Jeff Grayzel, a Democrat, announced Friday he will take on former Mayor Peter Mancuso, who has served seven terms on the Township Committee and is the only member from the days when it consisted solely of Republicans.

After 10 elections and three recounts stretching to the early 2000s, Jeff Grayzel finally sits in mayor's chair, at Morris Township reorganization, Jan. 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
After 10 elections and three recounts stretching to the early 2000s, Jeff Grayzel finally sat in mayor’s chair, at Morris Township reorganization, Jan. 2, 2019. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

“I very much respect my opponent Peter Mancuso and the many contributions he has made to our community over the past 44 years since he was first elected in 1978. I am looking forward to a positive race that is focused on the issues and what is best for our residents,” said Grayzel, 58.

Mancuso, 84, said he looks forward to “a very interesting and exciting race” where voters will decide “whom they think will represent them best.”

The only Township Democrat elected for three terms (and non-consecutively) and the first to serve as mayor, Grayzel stepped down last year to mount an unsuccessful bid for state Senator. Democrats maintained their 4-1 Committee majority in last November’s election.

In a statement, Grayzel cited open government, smart development and shared municipal services as campaign themes.

As accomplishments, he pointed to YouTube postings of meeting videos, special public meetings for big projects, and “top-tier commercial tenants” such as Restoration Hardware, CIT Group and the Red Bulls soccer team. (The soccer headquarters is being challenged by an affordable housing advocacy group).

Morris Township Committeeman Peter Mancuso at Chanukah celebration on the Green, Dec. 13, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin
Morris Township Committeeman Peter Mancuso at Chanukah celebration on the Green, Dec. 13, 2017. Photo by Kevin Coughlin

Grayzel said he helped improve a Hanover Avenue strip mall, inherited from a GOP administration, into something that “can become a destination for our residents because of the pedestrian plazas, fountains, and the pocket park it will now include.”  He also cited extended sidewalks and improvements to the municipal sewer system.

“I have been honored to serve on our governing body and I look forward to continuing my public service as I work to secure the votes of the residents of our wonderful town,” said Grayzel, who presently serves on the Township zoning board.

Mancuso expressed similar sentiments.

“Civility and decency has and always will be my focus, in this and any other election that I’m involved in. I’m proud of my 20-plus years of service to Morris Township,” said Mancuso, who has been mayor so many times — six, so far–that his peers bestowed him with the title of Mayor Emeritus.  (The Committee selects the mayor.)

A retired governor of the New York Stock Exchange, Mancuso emphasized his fiscal conservatism and pointed to his work helping craft “responsible” municipal budgets during the pandemic, and throughout his 21 years as Township finance chairman.

Mancuso also reiterated his commitment to bipartisanship.

“In the previous two years as the lone Republican vote on the Committee, we have through compromise, negotiation and respecting others’ point of view reached consensus on our actions. My focus has always been to legislate what is BEST for Morris Township and Morris Township alone,” he said in a statement.

Both men are veterans of tough campaigns.

Mancuso held onto his seat by 8 votes in a 2019 election that included recounts and landed in court.

Grayzel’s political résumé includes three recounts and a court-ordered special election in 2007.

He holds engineering degrees from Columbia and Cornell universities and is president of a private medical device company. He moved to the Township in 1997. A father of two boys, Grayzel has coached Little League baseball and Morris United soccer. In addition to a stint on the planning board, he has served on boards of the Morristown Jewish Center and the Museum of Imagination and Innovation.

A Township resident for 54 years, Mancuso raised four sons there and has two grandchildren in the Morris School District.

Mancuso has chaired numerous civic boards and committees, including those of the County College of Morris, the Morris Museum, First Night Morris, Great Conversations, the Market Street Mission (fundraising) and the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts (fundraising).

He also chaired the Township’s 250th anniversary celebration and the New Jersey Republican finance committee, and he’s been a trustee of Saint Elizabeth University, the Mayo Performing Arts Center, the Madison YMCA and the former Morristown Memorial Hospital (now Morristown Medical Center), among other organizations.

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6 COMMENTS

  1. Kevin Coughlin could not have presented much more of an unbalanced article here. His personal bias is clear. Those of us who’ve lived in the area most of our lives know how much experience Peter Manucuso has in serving the community well, and how much has been omitted from this MorristownGreen.com story. Here’s hoping other Morris Township residents are able to see past the propaganda.

  2. Grayzell is a perennial candidate, totally relentless…do we really need this guy on the Township Committee again? His website says he seeks shared services arrangements to reduce costs and lower taxes, but he literally was quoted as saying taxes should go up a little every year. I wish MG would so some research on this guy….he has lost more than he has won, can someone hit the gong and send this guy home?

  3. To be clear, the Fair Share Housing Center is not challenging the Red Bull project, but the township’s error in failing to take Mt. Laurel into account when rezoning the site. I don’t think they hold any opinion about what the site should be used for, just that for Mt. Laurel to stand as precedent, they have to defend it whenever a town “cheats” on counting up low/moderate income housing.

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