---

After 74 percent of the city’s electorate voted in favor of a charter study commission on Election Day this past Tuesday, the commission’s five members are prepping to get down to business on assessing the city’s form of government.

The commission is charged with scrutinizing the city’s charter and possibly making recommendations. They have nine months to study the form of government, city attorney Fred Raffetto said yesterday. They are permitted by statute to appoint consultants, as wells as clerical or other assistants, Raffetto said.

If they do recommend changes or the adoption of a different form of government, the proposed changes will be put to a vote of either the city council or the electorate, depending on the nature of the changes. As long as the commission’s work is done no less than 60 days before the next general election if a citywide vote is required, the question can be placed on that ballot. If not, a special election can be held.

The commission can hold public and private meetings and the statute does not dictate any rules for how many meetings must be held, Raffetto said.

Five city residents — Duanne Small, Rita Marano, Pam Lamberton, Randy Thompson and Michelle Maguire — campaigned for candidacy for the five-member body. They were all elected to the commission.

Small was the highest vote-getter, receiving 1,402, or 23 percent of the votes. He attributed this to his active presence in the community, especially on the West Side.

“They [the electorate] have a lot of respect for what I’m doing because they recognize that change is needed,” Small said. He’s campaigned several times for changes in the city’s government, citing a lack of West Side representation as the reason for change.

Like other commission members, Small’s phone use has been flighty since Hurricane Sandy hit on Oct, 28, so he has spoken only with Thompson so far. He is familiar with all of the commission members, he said, and is looking to connect with them in the next few days.

“Hopefully with this commission, we can implement the change that’s needed in the community to serve the whole community, not just some parts,” Small said.

Michelle Maguire also saw the overwhelmingly positive vote for the commission as an indicator that the city’s residents want change, and said she felt encouraged by the numbers.

“I was a little surprised [at just how many voters were in favor], but I think it’s good,” Maguire said. “There is a big majority that wants to see some change in government.”

At this early stage, Maguire plans to look into other towns with demographics similar to that of Asbury Park, including Neptune and Newark, she said.

“They are diverse, and we’re a diverse city, so we need to go and look at people who run those towns,” she said. “There is no challenge to run a [homogeneous] town, but we have just about every kind of person here, so that makes it a little tougher to try to make everybody happy.”

Thompson said he feels the commission’s approval is “a great opportunity for us to have a community-wide conversation on what the best governmental vehicle is for the ride we in Asbury Park want to have.”

Thompson was one of the organizers for an information session on charter study commissions that was scheduled for the Monday that Hurricane Sandy hit. The session was postponed but will still take place, he said, featuring Rutgers professor charter study expert Dr. Ernest Reock.

Public input is important to Thompson throughout the process, he said, which is part of the reason for still holding the information session on a date that has yet to be determined.

“Having as many public hearings as possible or at least doing outreach of some kind is key,” he said.

Thompson has also reached out to state legislators to compile a list of each time change in government legislation has been put through in the state, he said.

Lamberton and Marano could not be reached for comment.

———-

[Commission members are pictured above, from left: Randy Thompson, Michelle Maguire, Duanne Small, Rita Marano and Pam Lamberton.]

---