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At their last meeting before a change of guard on Jan. 1, Asbury Park City Council members put politics aside to trade accolades and thank fellow members who won’t return to the dais in the new year.

Mayor-elect John Moor, who has been a sitting councilman for the past 16 months, sincerely thanked his colleagues, saying they are all “outstanding people.”

“They gave it their all for many, many years . . . I consider them all friends and I can’t thank them enough,” he said.

Councilwoman Sue Henderson acknowledged she and the other sitting council members may have had their differences, but relegated themselves to arguing behind closed doors and keeping the best interests of the city at the forefront rather than focusing on personal agendas.

Henderson has served since 2009, when she was appointed to the governing body by former Mayor Ed Johnson to fill the seat of former Councilman Jim Keady, who resigned months prior to his term ending. After her appointment, she ran on a successful ticket with Johnson, then Deputy Mayor John Loffredo, and council members Sanders and Jim Bruno. Last year, she and Loffredo were the only two members of the Forward Asbury ticket that were elected to serve alongside a new council majority. The two chose not to run in the November 2014 election.

She is most proud to be a part of the city’s recent redevelopment, and to have been able to serve alongside Loffredo, whose service under Johnson “helped bring the town back to life” from a time when she remembered “tumbleweeds, no stores and the occasional restaurant.”

To members of council-elect, Henderson reminded them to keep a tough skin, and  to “stay honest — it’s important for the work that you do.”

Loffredo, who has been a member of council for over 12 years — about half the time he has lived here — said he enjoyed serving the residents of a city that “just gets under your skin.”

“I hope I’ve done some good and I hope I’ve helped some people along the way,” he said.

Speaking about both his former and current council mates, he added he was “happy to have served with wonderful, intelligent, dedicated, hard working, intelligent people. He wished all the new council members luck and the city and all its residents prosperity before ending with his customary “On this day 150 years ago” historical factoid, a practice he started to make mention of pertinent events that had happened on that day in history but eventually morphed into facts about the Civil War after he took an interest in reading about it, because “if we don’t remember history we are doomed to repeat it,” he said.

Councilwoman Amy Quinn, who won a seat on the incoming council alongside Moor, also recalled tubmleweeds along Ocean and Cookman avenues, said Mayor Myra Campbell did a “great job” in her 16 months on the job and thanked Loffredo and Henderson’s for their work, acknowledging three of the city’s main thoroughfares are on their way to revitalization.

“Cookman is vibrant, as is Ocean, and Springwood is well on its way,” Quinn said. “What I can say is we truly love this city and we truly love serving all of you.”

Campbell, whose mayoral appointment came as a surprise after she split from running mates Quinn and Moor to align with Loffredo and Henderson, made history twice over as the city’s first African American female mayor and the mayor with the shortest tenure due to the change of government referendum.

Although she was sworn in under tumultuous circumstances,  she said there has not been a day she has taking the position although she has wondered to herself at times, “Why am I doing this and not getting paid?”

She listed some of the highlights of her term, which included a business seminar for entrepreneurs and a gentrification workshop, before taking an opportunity to state her preference for incoming council to hire a public safety director to oversee the police department and increase code enforcement staff. She also reminded residents interested in serving on the city’s various committees to submit their letters of interest before incoming council takes office.

“It was an unbelievable opportunity and I have enjoyed every minute of it,” she said.

She thanked Henderson and Loffredo for their length of service, stated she and Moor have stayed in contact past her the swearing-in, and called Quinn is “a fighter and will do the best she can for the citizens of Asbury Park.”

Finally, she made a commitment to the city to see the West Side Community Center restored to again become “a lively place residents and children can go.”

“Mark my words, after Jan. 1 that’s what I’ll be working on, and trying to rebuild my livelihood.”

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