Asbury Mayor won’t seek reelection next year
Johnson has served on the city council since 2005
Mayor Ed Johnson announced this morning that he will not seek reelection for another four-year term in next year’s May council election.
“Just as Asbury Park has embarked on a new era, so must I,” Johnson said in a statement posted on his website. “It is time for me to take pause from my civic responsibilities to focus on my family and my career as an educator. I look forward, with a sense of pride and excitement, to this new time in my personal and professional life. To rest, to enjoy and to recharge my batteries for my next ‘big adventure.'”
Johnson [shown above as a councilman] was first elected in 2005, as part of a political group which has held a council majority since 2001. Johnson became mayor in 2009. Previously, he had served as chairman of the city’s Urban Enterprise Zone authority.
Four years ago, Johnson was the high vote-getter on a ticket with current incumbents John Loffredo, Susan Henderson, Kevin Sanders and James Bruno — who ran together and swept all five seats. The council picks the mayor who presides at council meetings.
Asbury Park elects all five members of council every four years in a non-partisan election held in May. After the new council is selected next year, it will take office on July 1.
The city also has scheduled a referendum for this November asking voters whether they want to establish a charter study commission to change Asbury’s system of government and election schedule. Voters will also be asked to select members of that commission.
In addition, a group of political activists opposed to the council are gathering signatures on a petition in an effort to recall the five incumbents before the May election next year.
Click here for the full text of Johnson’s statement announcing he won’t run for reelection.
