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Asbury Park officials say the decision to eliminate the Director of Commerce position, currently held by 14-year veteran Tom Gilmour was solely based on a goal to streamline jobs and duties within city hall.

“Nobody likes laying anyone off but the [City] Council is going in a different direction,” Mayor John Moor said. “We are trying to make the city more efficient and get the most bang for the buck.”

Gilmour, who first served as Urban Enterprise Zone Manager, said he received a letter dated September 24 informing him that his position would end October 30.

“I don’t understand why they would be eliminating a job that has helped bring development into the city,” Gilmour said. “Asbury Park is in the midst of a renaissance. Why eliminate that position and the guy who got you there?”

But city officials say his $91,350 salary will be used to fund the newly created Director of Communications position and possibly a second position still being vetted by the governing body.

Moor said non-classified employees, like Gilmour, were given notice in November 2014 that their positions could be terminated in the future. He said Gilmour knew this and had every right to apply for the Director of Communications position, which he did not do.

Final interviews to determine who will fill that position are underway.

Acting City Manager Anthony Nuccio, who is responsible for the hiring and firing of city employees, could not be reached for comment.

The City Council is expected to name a City Manager during its October 28 meeting. The manager will start November 9, Moor said.

Nuccio will continue as Director of Community Relations and Social Services, a position he held before being named Acting City Manager and continued to oversee.

Moor said the City Council began seeking a Director of Communications earlier in the year but the search was put on hold as they turned their focus to finding a new planner. That position was unexpectedly vacated by longtime veteran Donald Sammet.

Michele Alonso now holds the Director of Planning and Development position.

“It’s something we should have done three months ago but we thought filling the planner position was more important,” Moor said. “We were also in the midst of interviewing for the City Manager position.”

The City Council vetted close to 30 applicants for both the Planner and Communications positions. They also worked to fill the City Clerk position, now held by Cindy Dye.

The City Council did eliminate the position of that of Redevelopment Litigation Attorney and outsourced the City Engineer position to T&M Associates of Middletown.

“Asbury Park, being a city on transitional aid, had to have all of these changes vetted by the state of New Jersey, which they were, and they were all approved by the state,” Moor said.

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