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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

This Election Day, Asbury Park voters will have a unique opportunity to exercise direct and significant influence on the future governance of our city. The opportunity comes in the form of three questions that will appear on the local ballot.

1 – Assigning some City Council seats to ‘wards,’ rather than electing all seats ‘at large.’

2 – Dropping our non-partisan local elections in favor of a partisan [political party] system.

3 – Deregulating short-term rentals [such as Airbnb] throughout the City.

Following close examination into the consequences of … and motivations behind … each question, the Asbury Park Republican County Committee opposes all three. We hope voters will agree that the questions, if approved, will adversely affect both the governing and the quality of life of our hometown.

A ward system of government works best in major cities, such as Newark and Trenton, with large populations spread over large areas. That is why no Monmouth County municipality currently uses it. A ward system would unnecessarily and calamitously divide the people of Asbury Park.

Furthermore, voters are now completely in the dark as to how the boundaries of wards would be drawn. Neither residents nor members of City Council will play any official role in determining the final shape and composition of the wards. If the question is approved, that decision will be decided by only the City Clerk and the County Board of Elections.

Our current non-partisan municipal elections have served us well. It should not be dropped.

The Asbury Park Republican County Committee firmly believes that permanent residents make the best neighbors. Deregulation of the housing stock, to allow short-term rentals in every neighborhood, is an open invitation for absentee landlords to create block after block of rooming houses. Passing this question will destroy the residential character of Asbury Park.

Vote No on all three local questions … and vote Yes for the reelection of John Moor as Mayor and Jesse Kendle as City Councilman.

Louise Murray,

Chairman Asbury Park Republican County Committee

Grand Avenue

Asbury Park

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