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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

November 8th, a very important election will take place!  The Asbury Together Team has worked diligently to deliver positive results. Development is up east and west. 1101 Ocean scheduled to begin construction with plans for interns, apprentices, local contractor certification assistance and scholarships. $20M coming to revitalize Springwood Avenue corridor with affordable housing and commercial space. Workforce Development, a priority. Crime is down; police are walking neighborhoods with body cameras and cameras have been installed throughout the city.

Abandoned, Vacant and Animal House Ordinances passed. Sewer improvements and street paving to begin. An experienced Transportation Planner has been hired to solve parking issues and implement a Complete Streets Strategy. Recreation programs are thriving. Springwood Park is open.

The future for our city is very bright, this city council has worked to move us forward.  Our mission remains “make Asbury Park the best city it can be for all of its residents.”

Asbury Together

Amy Quinn, Yvonne Clayton, Eileen Chapman

PO Box 552

Asbury Park, NJ 07712

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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

Once again we have an election in Asbury Park and Joe Woerner is on his bandbox preaching the holier than though accomplishments of the incumbent ticket. [Click here to view Joe Woerner’s Letter to the Editor] It marvels me how Joe manages always to come out of the closet when his buddies are running against a ticket from the southwest quadrant. I wish Joe would do some research before writing his bombastic editorials.

Joe, don’t tell the black community who should represent them. For your information; two of our candidates hold Master’s Degrees and the third is back in graduate school attending his education in his field. Two serve on the Board of Education and the other is on the Zoning Board of Adjustment. No matter what color they are, all are more than qualified.

In reference to the economic revitalization; it was well on its way before they got in office. In March 2014, Amy Quinn and John Moor voted against the tax abatement which revitalized investment in the downtown and beachfront areas. John Loffredo, Sue Henderson and Myra Campbell had the foresight to continue the abatement in order to keep investors in town. Thank you Kevin Saunders, Ed Johnson and Jim Bruno for getting the ball rolling.

I like Ms. Clayton but let’s understand that she left this area for an extended period of time. So she was not here during the downfall and revitalization of this city. While Amy Quinn is a ‘so called soldier’ for most of her three years on council; her total perception backed by her actions concerning the black community have been, at times, detrimental at best.

After the City Council asked residents to participate in the naming of the new park on Springwood Avenue, she voted against naming the park after the city’s first black City Councilman Dr. Lorenzo Harris. This action served as an insult to the members of the community who deserve to have their leaders of all colors honored. Bradley Park is named after the city’s founder. She saw fit to plant trees in a city park for the Orlando victims.

She agreed to hire a company that refused to hire city residents and was fined over $100,000 by the federal government for visa fraud in the hiring of workers. By the way Joe, you were part of both decisions. In closing on the park, stop giving them credit for former Mayor Ed Johnson’s brainchild.

Remember Amy, you promised the flagman program. What happened to that promise?

As we continue, under the reign of Quinn, Clayton and Chapman, we continue to hire outsiders to high paying positions. They have ignored the Complete Streets Program for Asbury Park while other resort towns have embraced it. Even if we were not a resort town, the profile of the city has changed. The amount of people riding bikes and walking has increased immensely. They don’t drive Joe.

Go on and support Asbury Together. It’s your right. But I won’t be voting for them.

Duanne Small

Mattison Avenue

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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

It is a privilege to endorse Amy Quinn, Yvonne Clayton, and Eileen Chapman in the 2016 Asbury Park council election.

I have had the pleasure of working alongside three of the most dedicated people in Asbury Park every day and can attest to their passion for making our city the best it can possibly be for all residents and businesses. I have seen first- hand the vision that each member of the Asbury Together team has brought to the council and these are the people that I know will be best suited to bring Asbury prosperity for all.

It has never been more important to continue the progress that has been made over the past two years and in order for that to happen you must vote for Amy, Yvonne, and Eileen on Tuesday, November 8.

John B. Moor

Mayor Asbury Park

Fourth Avenue

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Editor, Asbury Park Sun,

Main Street in Asbury Park is a dangerous place because  of an outdated  street plan that creates car crashes, putting the lives of pedestrians and bike riders in grave danger.

In past five years, there have been over 600 crashes along Main Street; one crash every three days. Asbury Park must build its streets to be smarter, safer and more welcoming to bikers and pedestrians. The 2008  Main Street Redevelopment plan is a prime example of that kind of smart planning. [It] calls for the traffic calming measure known as the Road Diet.

A Road Diet is a lane reconfiguration that deletes the four-lane highway that divides our city [and] substitutes a design that calms traffic and increases a two-lane Main Street with the center turning lane and bike Lanes on either side of the street.

This is a positive step toward a complete treatment mentality – car drivers, bike riders and pedestrians sharing the street and unifying once divided communities through safety. The state of New Jersey has offered this road at no cost to Asbury Park taxpayers, however last year the City Council, including two of the three incumbents running for re -election, struck down the Road Diet. They went so far as to call it their “finest victory” citing a fear of more traffic in summer months; even though there has been no data or example of such congestion in any of the other cities and towns in which the road diet has been implemented, including such towns Avon, and square -mile cities with high congestion like Hoboken and Jersey City.

This lack of attention to the public is par for the course for this Council and one of the primary reason I’m supporting Citizens for Asbury Park’s Daniel Harris, Stephen Williams and Kenneth Saunders Jr.

All three support re-engaging with NJDOT to make sure that the Road Diet will happen and that Complete Streets becomes a top priority. All three candidates stand with the Asbury Park Complete Streets Coalition, which has been urging residents to demand Complete Streets wherever possible, and in particular on Main Street. Complete Streets creates what residents and voters on both East and West sides of Asbury Park want.

Unity, it’s time to elect leaders that reflect that Vision on November 8th. Vote#4 for Daniel Harris, #5 Stephen Williams and #6 Kenneth  Saunders Jr for Asbury Park City Council.

Joel Sims

Eighth Avenue

[These letters represents the opinion of its writer and is not representative of any opinion of the Asbury Park Sun staff. All readers are welcome to submit Letters to the Editor to news@asburyparksun.com for our consideration. For guidelines on letter-writing and submission, click here.]

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