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Editor, the Asbury Park Sun:

As someone who has lived in the Asbury Park area most of my life and now works downtown at Robert Legere Companies, I have witnessed the positive change in the central business district and the boardwalk over the last 12 years.

My memories of shopping at Steinbach’s, riding the carousel and the circuit, and walking the boards was replaced in the 1970s with a Cookman Avenue and boardwalk that was literally a ghost town, save for a Chinese take-out place and the odd watering hold here and there. Now Cookman Avenue and the boardwalk are bustling on any given day or night with visitors, shoppers, revelers and residents (yes, residents!). Restaurants, cafes and shops are filled with customers! This did not happen by accident, nor should we take it for granted.

It took the hard work and dedication of honest leaders, like mayors Ed Johnson and Kevin Sanders, along with Deputy Mayor John Loffredo and Councilwoman Sue Henderson, to finally get Asbury Park back on track. We have come this far on their watch and I truly feel we need to keep the momentum going rather than switching regimes which is, well, just too great a risk.

I stand with the business owners, my co-workers and residents in the downtown area in supporting the Forward Asbury Park team — Councilwoman Sue Henderson, Councilman John Loffredo, Councilman Kevin Sanders, Greg Hopson Sr., and Will Potter — and hope you will do the same on Election Day.

— Ann Wanschura, Ocean Grove

[This letter 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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