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Editor, the Asbury Park Sun:

The charter study commission’s suggested referendum moves Asbury Park into the 21^st century and I congratulate them on a job well done! They worked diligently, compromised and came up with a logical structure that carries Asbury Park forward from the antiquated 1923 form of government we currently have. There are only six NJ municipalities that still operate under our current municipal manager form of government with a concurrently elected council.

If passed, the reality is that not all that much will change. We’ll still have a city manager serving as the chief executive officer and a mayor/council serving as the legislative body, but the following changes make sense:

1.      Staggered Terms – Electing half the council every two years enhances stability by eliminating the risk in our current system of electing an entirely new council every four years.

2.      Directly Elected Mayor – Learn our lesson from the backroom deal we just witnessed. Let those who seek office announce their intentions before the election and let the voters decide.

3.      November Elections – Increase voter participation by holding elections with the general election and save the approximately $25,000 expense of stand-alone elections.

4.      Run-off elections – Ensure the will of the majority. If needed, run-offs might offset the cost savings gained from switching to November elections, but it gives every voter a stronger voice.

5.      Voter Power of Initiative and Referendum – “Power to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance submitted by the council to the voters or any ordinance passed by the council, against which a referendum petition has been filed.” – The residents will have recourse if they disagree with a council vote.

That’s it! In my opinion, this modernization offers great improvements over our current, outdated system.

In his letter, Councilman Moor suggested a ward system would better represent the community. Instead, I’d like to believe the councilman is capable of representing the entirety of our 1.5 square mile city. We approximate 1500 voters in each election, breaking that electorate into wards just seems unwarranted. However, regardless of your views on a ward system, it’s not up for vote. So voting no on this referendum does nothing to bring wards to Asbury Park, and as the commission said they felt it was best to decide on a ward system separately, voting yes does not preclude us from adopting wards in the near future.

He also suggested partisan politics could worm into our non-partisan elections based on the move to November elections, but offered no specifics as to how this could happen. Non-partisan elections are not backed by political parties, so I fail to see his point. Additionally, he noted “what if” scenarios regarding runoffs, but “what if” we don’t have runoffs? Conceivably, we could have eight people running for Mayor and one could win with 15% of the vote (1-2% of the population). Runoffs ensure the will of the majority.

Asbury Park will greatly benefit from these changes so I hope your readers vote YES!

Rod Siberine

Asbury Park

 

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