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Councilman John B. Moor and Councilwoman Amy Quinn have announced their intent to run for re-election to the Asbury Park City Council.

They will seek to add candidates to form a slate, “Asbury Together,” as the election draws closer.

In a prepared release, the incumbents cited urging from fellow citizens for them to continue their public service on Asbury Park’s chief governing body as one of the reasons they seek to continue to serve the city in an official position.

Moor has lived in Asbury Park for 35 years with his wife Vera. He retired as deputy director of the city’s public maintenance department after 31 years of service and has spent a lifetime volunteering his time to the community.

Moor served for 12 years on the Asbury Park Board of Education, is currently a commissioner of the Asbury Park Housing Authority, a trustee of the Asbury Park Historical Society, and a member of the Asbury Park Fishing Club.

“The decision to announce was easy,” said Moor in the release, “because of encouragement from friends, family and supporters to run again, and also from a surprising number of people who withheld support last election but have been positively impressed by the energy and perspective we brought to the council during our first ten months.”

Quinn, a public interest attorney with the Community Health Law Project, is a 13-year resident of the city and has volunteered her time to many community projects over the years. She serves as vice chair of the Asbury Park Environment and Shade Tree Commission, takes part in the “Reading Buddies” program at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School, and sits on the City’s recreation committee.

“I won’t say [being a member of the council] hasn’t been a challenge,” said Quinn in the release. “Our city’s greatest strength is a wonderful diversity of people, and for city council that translates into a constant juggling of diverse issues: taxes and the budget, public safety and gang influence among our youth, continued development versus preserving our character, attracting investment that results in local jobs, creating the kind of prosperity that actually eliminates poverty, and there’s much more, and it’s all interconnected. But with common sense and hard work, I think that our first ten months have shown that we are up to the challenge. We are really just getting started.”

The announcement comes one year after Moor and Quinn came in the number one and two spots, respectively, for the highest amount of votes in the last May municipal election.

During the November general election, an overwhelming majority of Asbury Park voters voted to approve a change of government referendum, which effectively cut short the terms of all members of the governing body and shifted future municipal elections from May to November.

In the new form of government, the mayor — who is one of the council members — will be directly elected by voters.

As yet, neither Moor nor Quinn have announced an intent to run for mayor.

“Our priority at this point is to put together a slate that can win a clear majority so that we have enough votes to move the city in the right direction,” Quinn told the Sun.

Many of their priorities remain the same from the previous election, including a “transparent and fiscally responsible governance, a multi-tiered approach to crime and code issues, better communication and strong economic development,” Quinn said, however, they plan to develop a more robust campaign platform as they form their slate.

“We’re still hammering out our plan and it will involve input from our eventual running mates and the community at large,” Quinn said.

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