Maguire seeks charter study spot
'We need to be sure everybody's included in our government'
The deadline to seek a spot on the city’s charter study commission is getting closer, and Eighth Avenue resident Michele Maguire is the third citizen to step up to the plate.
Maguire [pictured above] is currently gathering the requisite 100 signatures to secure a spot on the November ballot.
This year, voters will have the chance to vote on whether the city needs a charter study commission to scrutinize the current form government and recommend changes. Citizens will also have the chance to select five members of the commission. The city council voted in May to implement the charter study process.
If the commission is established and recommends reorganizing the city government, as well as changing the schedule for city council elections, those proposals would be submitted to voters for their approval.
Maguire moved to Asbury Park in 2002 and is pleased with the city’s progress in that time — but the work is far from done, she said.
“We have people from different walks of life making this an interesting town,” she said. “We need to be sure everybody’s included in our government.”
The town “needs some improvement” and some citizens may feel their voices are not being heard, she said.
“That’s why we should have a commission — to make sure everybody’s participating,” she said.
Born in Orléans, France, Maguire moved to Washington, DC, in the early 1970s, before living in the far east for six years. She worked as a real estate broker and is now retired. Her experience will help her as a charter study member, she said.
“I’m used to talking to people,” she said. “I’m used to negotiating contracts and talking to people to try to overcome problems that occur, whether they occur in the purchase of a house or something else.”
Recognizing and celebrating diversity is crucial, she said.
“We don’t want to go backward. We want to keep going forward,” she said.
The deadline for potential charter study commission members to give petitions with 100 signatures to city clerk Steve Kay is Sept. 6, although Kay is asking candidates hand them in Aug. 15 to allow him more time to verify signatures.
Maguire joins Pam Lamberton, Rita Marano and Robert Obler as commission candidates. The Sun recently profiled Lamberton and Marano and awaits a call back from Obler.
