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City residents received a flier in the mail last week stating that council candidate Amy Quinn and her team, One Asbury, are in favor of free beaches and free parking for out-of-towners — but Quinn has said her ticket does not support such a plan.

“We absolutely didn’t propose a free beach and parking,” Quinn [pictured at right] said. “I don’t believe in a free beach. The city couldn’t support it. It’s outrageous and a lie.”

The mailer, which reached residents late last week, said, “Amy Quinn of the ‘One Asbury’ Team has proposed an irresponsible plan to give free beach access to out-of-town visitors,” at a cost of $2.8 million to city taxpayers. It also stated that One Asbury’s “Free Beach” Plan would raise taxes by 18 percent.

The fliers were paid for by the Forward Asbury Park team, the incumbent-led ticket consisting of Deputy Mayor John M. Loffredo, Councilwoman Sue Henderson, Councilman Kevin Sanders, board of education member Gregory Hopson Sr., and Will Potter.

The Forward Asbury Park campaign has received word of Quinn proposing free beaches and free parking from residents, Forward Asbury Park campaign worker Mitch Seim said after the flier was sent out. He said Quinn has told residents around town and at social gatherings that she supports free beach access in Asbury Park.

“It’s common knowledge,” he said. “Amy Quinn has been advocating this stuff for years.”

The One Asbury ticket — which also includes John Moor, Myra Campbell, Talesha Crank and Joe Woerner — responded to the flier through a post on its Facebook page:

In response to the first negative mailer in the campaign, we find it sad that the incumbent led ticket has chosen NOT to site where they are receiving their information. One Asbury DOES NOT support a free beach. The City is reliant on the beach revenue. We also DO NOT support free parking for out of towners. That last statement doesn’t even make any sense. We also will NOT be buying everyone in town a pony (just in case that’s their next mailer)!

Seim said this amounts to “a non-denial denial.”

“It may be that Ms. Quinn has changed her position now that we’ve explained the impact of free beaches on Asbury Park taxpayers, but we stand by our piece as an accurate description of Ms. Quinn’s longstanding and well-established views,” Seim said.

In a phone call, Quinn asserted that she has not said she would advocate for free beaches and free parking for out-of-towners if elected to the city council. One Asbury also issued an additional statement:

It goes in line with the rest of the incumbent-led ticket’s false, misleading and inaccurate flyers. These mailers are further proof that the Forward Asbury Park’s ticket is more concerned with saving themselves than they are with saving our city.  If they knew anything about finances, they would not have missed a million dollar shortfall in the budget. Their campaign is being run the same way they run the City of Asbury Park; it is no wonder why 17 people are challenging their seats. The One Asbury Team has NOT proposed free beach access or free parking for out-of-towners. That’s ridiculous.

Forward Asbury Park also issued a statement on Friday regarding the mailer, through campaign manager Jocelyn Toledo:

We stand by our piece as an accurate description of Ms. Quinn’s long-standing and well-established views. Now that we have explained the impact of free beaches on the Asbury Park taxpayer, it may be that Ms. Quinn has changed her position in the last 24 hours.

The beach and parking revenue figures were taken from the Asbury Park End of Year Finance Department Report from 2012.

The resultant tax increases were calculated from data from the Department of Community Affairs of the State of New Jersey.

When contacted for comment on the campaign literature, Deputy Mayor Loffredo said charging for beach access is a condition of receiving extraordinary aid from the state.

“If we were to get rid of that income and lose all that money [from beach badges], the state would say, ‘If you don’t need that, then you don’t need ours,'” he said.

He also noted that members of the One Asbury ticket support a county takeover of the Bradley Cove area between Deal Lake and the beach front. Currently, waterfront redeveloper iStar Financial has the right to build on a tract of land there. The nearby beach is used for fishing, surfing and a dog run.

Representatives from the Monmouth County Parks System have expressed an interest in acquiring the land and creating a park in the Bradley Cove area, similar to the Seven Presidents park in Long Branch.

“If the county takes over eight acres of our beach front, it becomes basically a free beach because Asbury Park isn’t getting the revenue,” Loffredo said. “Who’s going to control that? Who’s going to collect money? Who’s going to keep it clean? What happens to the dog, fishing and surfing beach? These are the questions nobody seems to come up with an answer for.”

The One Asbury ticket is in favor of a county-owned park at Bradley Cove, but is not in favor of free beach access there, Quinn said. One Asbury candidate Joe Woerner has been an especially outspoken advocate for a park at Bradley Cove.

“If and when [the county purchases Bradley Cove], there would be a discussion on how it’s run, access to it and fees,” Quinn said. “The only stage the county’s at is they have shown interest.”

Scan of the mailer:

The Asbury Park city council election takes place tomorrow, May 14. Twenty-two candidates are vying for five open seats on the council. The current council’s terms end on June 30, and new four-year terms will start on July 1.

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