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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

This is a letter of support for The Asbury Together Team.

The Asbury Together Team represents the diversity that makes this City great. I know what it takes, as a lifelong Asbury Park resident and former Deputy Mayor to keep this city moving forward and these three women, Amy Quinn, Eileen Chapman and Yvonne Clayton have it.

So far, some highlights of what they’ve accomplished are:

They have provided new lights on the boardwalk at no additional cost to the city. They have also financed a brand new generator at City Hall to power the building in case of natural disasters like Sandy. They sold the Park Ave Fire House to save taxpayers money. They also obtained over $250,000 from a safer grant for the Fire Department. And finally, they have worked hard to have the Sunset Ave Footbridge replaced, at no cost to the city.

They are smart, progressive and understand the issues facing Asbury Park. This is the only team who can continue the great progress the city has experienced over the past 10 years. Please support The Asbury Together Team.

Jim Bruno, Sixth Avenue, Asbury Park

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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

CITIZENS FOR ASBURY PARK IT’S OUR TIME

When one makes a decision to run for any office a great amount of soul searching must take place. Do I have the experience, time, dedication and support? Can I handle criticism and abuse? Will my family suffer by me making this move? Well multiply that times three. The candidates on Citizens for Asbury Park ticket understand that and have accepted the challenge. We are ready to work for the people of this great city.

Dan Harris III, Kenneth Saunders Jr. and Stephen Williams represent the best opportunity for the citizens to understand some of the true problems that exist in the underbelly of Asbury Park. We are grassroots activists. Between the three of us we hold two Master’s Degrees and Kenneth is working on his. Steve and Kenneth are sitting members of the Asbury Park Board of Education. During their tenure the district has made great strides while working with Superintendent Dr. Lamont  Repollet. Kenneth is presently the vice president and Steve is chairman of the Athletic Committee. I presently serve on the Zoning Board. But our qualifications don’t stop there. But that is not why we want to serve. WE BLEED BLUE!

https://www.facebook.com/nicolle.harris/videos/10155474725984465/

The city needs fiscal accountability.  We can save money by recycling on the beach. Right now we don’t and are paying $76.00 a ton in additional tipping fees which eclipsed $670,000.00 last year. We can also educate the public on how many real dollars we can save through improved recycling practices. It has been proven that single stream recyclables reduces a city’s landfill fees by 33 per cent.

We also need to improve the quality of housing throughout the city. Part of the solution lies in greater use of RCA funds. Advertising has not worked. We feel that our violations department working together with the courts can solve the problem, Before we fine landlords we would work with them to seek RCA assistance to improve their property. This in turn improves the house, the neighborhood, and the life of the tenants while decreasing overall repair costs for the landlord.

Improving our neighborhoods can also be achieved through better use of existing departments. Our code and fire departments are the anchor of the city in reference to quality of life and housing issues. How can we utilize our outstanding fire department to assist our overworked code enforcement officers? We would get our unions, managers, workers and administration together to work it out.  By making everyone part of the solution we remain transparent.

Finally we must continue to work closely with the school system. Valuable partnerships have been forged under Dr. Repollet’s leadership. Businesses and nonprofits are opening doors once closed to our youth. This must continue. Recreation and mentorship programs are already in place. We just need for people to start talking and sharing ideas. The city must take the lead for the sake of our youth. We promise to do just that.

Daniel Harris, Ridge Avenue, Asbury Park

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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

An open letter to Asbury Together……

Dear Amy, Yvonne & Eileen;

I don’t have to tell you of my support for Asbury Together, my contributions of time and money the last two elections to Yvonne & Amy speak for themselves. Truly I DO support you all and want to contribute to your campaign this year as well.  What’s holding me back is what appears to be your support for the proposed re-design of the Main Street corridor that would turn Main Street into a one lane road against the advice of every local public safety official and plain common sense.

Turning two lanes into one is simply unworkable and unsuitable for a city the size and scope of Asbury Park. We are not a village like Avon or Bradley Beach, we are a city. This street is the lifeline for the city and its business district. The result of this plan will be massive traffic backups, with more and more people avoiding the downtown altogether. All it takes with a one lane street is a small accident, a flat tire, to cause massive delays. Think of fire, police, ambulance, and other emergency services trying to reach people on a busy day navigating a one lane road through a city downtown! There are other options to create a nicer, more pedestrian friendly streetscape; wider sidewalks, ‘bump outs’ at corners, landscaping, re-working traffic signals, etc. Turning a two lane street into a one lane road is like cutting off one artery to the heart and hoping the blood will keep flowing through the other. The ultimate result will be a heart attack, and death to our downtown.

There are certainly well-intended people pushing hard for this proposal, but they are clearly misguided as to the risk to public safety and overall effect on our city. As elected public officials I count on you to lead, even in the face of political pressure, not to take the easy way out and support a terrible proposal that cannot be reversed which we will regret for decades to come.  I ask you as a committed and enthusiastic supporter of Asbury Together to publically oppose any re-design of Main Street that reduces the number of traffic lanes in any direction.

H Robb Levinsky, Main St., Neptune

[Letters to the editor represent the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here. Letter’s were posted in reverse order of receipt.]

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