First charter study candidate campaigns
Proposed commission could remake Asbury's city government
The first candidate for a proposed charter study commission was on the campaign trail this weekend.
Pam Lamberton [pictured above] was out seeking her 100 signatures to get on the November ballot. A second city resident, Rita Marano, has also picked up petitions, according to city clerk Stephen Kay.
In November, Asbury citizens will vote on a referendum asking whether they want a five-member charter study commission to scrutinize the city’s current form of government. At the same time, voters will select five people to serve on the commission if the ballot question passes.
The charter study commission has the power to recommend a change of government in Asbury Park, which would then be submitted for voter approval. The commission can also recommend no change.
“I still feel strongly that things like staggered terms and run-offs should be looked at. We have an old-fashioned form of government in the city dating back to the 1920s. There are newer, updated versions of forms of government that should be considered,” Lamberton said.
Currently, Asbury Park elects all five city council members once every four years in May. The council chooses one of its own as mayor, whose main responsibility is to preside at the council meetings. The city manager has executive power to run the city government.
The city council election is non-partisan — all candidates run in one column with no affiliation to any party. The top five vote-getters win. Voters can choose up to five candidates.
Earlier this year, a group of council opponents sought to change the city’s form of government without a charter study commission. State law also allows a referendum on a specific type of new government if proponents can collect the signatures of 20 percent of a municipality’s registered voters.
The group advocated dividing the city into six wards with a council person representing each, and also electing three at-large council members city-wide. In addition, the group proposed directly electing a mayor who would run the city as chief executive. Also proposed was moving the election to November, with candidates running as Democrats or Republicans, as well as staggering the terms of the nine council members.
But the group’s petition was ruled invalid by the city attorney. Around the same time, the city council authorized the vote on the charter study commission.
Lamberton currently serves on the zoning board of adjustment and the city’s sustainability committee. She resides on Sixth Avenue, and has lived in Asbury Park for 11 years. Now retired, Lamberton worked for corporations in the information technology field. She is also on the board of the Arts Coalition of Asbury Park.
Marano — the second resident to pick-up petitions for the charter study commission — is no stranger to city hall. For decades, she has been a fixture at council meetings, known for her regular questioning of the elected officials.
Marano was part of two unsuccessful efforts in the early 1980s to recall then-Mayor Ray Kramer.
One of those times, a majority of voters actually voted to recall Kramer. But in choosing among the candidates to replace the mayor — a selection that included Kramer himself as state law allowed the incumbent to be among the replacement candidates — the voters put Kramer back in. His opponents had split their votes among the replacement candidates, which included Marano.
The second effort to recall Kramer was also unsuccessful. That time, though, a majority of voters outright chose to vote no on recalling the mayor.
Candidates for the charter study commission have until 60 days before the Nov. 6 election to submit their petitions, city clerk Kay said. He’s asking candidates to voluntarily submit their petitions by Aug. 31 to ensure the signature verification process gets done in a timely fashion.
Candidates must be residents of Asbury Park for at least one year prior to the November election, Kay said. One hundred signatures of registered voters in Asbury Park are required to get on the ballot. Petitions for charter study candidates can be obtained in the city clerk’s office.
Click here for a previous Sun story on the ordinance passed by the city council authorizing the charter study election in November.
