And, halfway through the festivities, Dad arrived and breathlessly announced that Mom - who was mysteriously absent that day - had just delivered a large and totally non-refundable birthday present: a new baby brother, who would alternately serve as my playmate, torturer, and (eventually) confidant and friend, and who would forever claim half of all my birthday cakes.

Thus it seemed like "deja vu all over again" when the phone rang shortly after my last birthday, and a reporter told me that I had just inherited five full-grown brothers in the form of the Asbury Park city council and city manager.

When I won the election, I knew I'd have to become an instant expert on everything from negative-balance budgets to redevelopment. But it never occurred to me that I'd immediately be making these life-and-death decisions with a team of people who were virtual strangers to one other.

We've been in office for six months now, and while we rarely have time to socialize outside of meetings, we are definitely growing as a team (okay, so there were a few early brushes with mutual homicide). Today, then, I'd like to give you some insight into the five people who were suddenly thrown in the mix with me.

Mayor Kevin Sanders grew up on Prospect Avenue and belongs to a six-generation Asbury Park family. A 1977 graduate of Asbury Park High School, he was active in everything from Boy Scouts, Pop Warner and Little League to band, football and track. Kevin balances a full-time job, five at-home kids, two grandkids, a beeper, a cell phone, and his mayoral duties, and still always manages to look organized.

What would he like city residents to know? "My goal is to restore hope and faith to Asbury Park," he said. "We've been through about 30 years of despair because we had a lot of negative people pushing negative agendas. There are a lot of good people in Asbury Park, and I want us to work together."

Kevin's priorities include citywide redevelopment, quality of life issues, and recreation. "Recreation is a key," he believes. "If we teach the kids, the rest will fall in place." Along with John Loffredo and Jim Bruno, he has been a strong advocate for our new city Department of Parks and Recreation.

Do you remember the impish kid in class who you couldn't stay mad at because he always made you laugh? Deputy Mayor Jim Bruno is a lifelong Asbury Park resident (Class of ‘78) and a retired city housing inspector, firefighter and fire inspector. He's a former president of both the Board of Education and the Little League.

"I love this town," Jim said. "My grandparents came here in the late 1800s, and my father was born here in 1913. I ran for office because I thought we needed a good, sound government. I think we have that now."

Like Kevin, Jimmy's goals include citywide redevelopment, recreation, and quality of life issues ranging from reduced crime to cleaner, better maintained streets. "I want people to take pride in their neighborhoods again," he said.

As one of 11 siblings growing up in Neptune, Councilman John Loffredo picked up a lot of useful skills, including a ready sense of humor and the ability to get along with all types of people. An alumnus of Holy Spirit grade school (as are Jim Bruno and Terry Weldon), he served on the zoning board and environmental shade tree commission, and he works as a real estate agent. John and I became friends when we served on the Homeowners Association board together (he is one of the founders), and he was an invaluable sounding board for me during those first confusing weeks in office.

"Beachfront redevelopment is important but, from Day 1, I've said that we have a whole other town here," John said. "As council members, we need to be concerned with the whole town, not just one part or one special interest group."

"Quality of life is really important to me. Not just drugs and crime, but garbage in the streets and how people take care of their properties. I want Asbury Park to be a place where no one feels intimidated walking down the street."

When asked to describe himself, Councilman John Hamilton - the only team member who also served on the last city council - said, "I think that everybody in town knows me by now."

After first declining to be included in this column, he insisted that I quote only his assessment of the council's lone female member. "Personally, I don't think you are concerned about people who are poor or about human rights. I see you walking around making lots of noise, but I don't see you doing anything to protect the people. You took an oath to protect the citizens of Asbury Park, and I don't think that you are doing that."

Quoted as promised, John. (Do I at least get to yell, "Mom, he's picking on me"?)

Although he is not an elected official, City Manager Terry Weldon (Asbury Park Class of ‘68) is the person charged with managing the day-to-day operations of the city - not an easy task in a severely under-funded, high-crisis town like ours.

Terry, a former Asbury Park fire chief and the long-time mayor of Ocean Township, pushed us to make difficult decisions during those first unsettling weeks, and he has been a strong negotiator in our beachfront redevelopment talks, budget process, and other key areas. Like John Loffredo, he's given me lots of good advice - which I sometimes take - and he's kept me from stepping off the edge of more than one cliff.

"I've been around Asbury Park for all my childhood and adult life, and I've been a city employee for 27 years," Terry said. "The only thing I want to see accomplished is the reversal of fortunes for Asbury Park."

"The city's been abused much too long, and all it needs is a governing body that has no agenda other than to do what they have to do to see the city improve. We have that now, and great things are about to happen."

So there they are, my extended family for the next 3-1/2 years. Not a bad fate, I'd say. Plus, I've learned quite bit from hanging out with the guys. Did you know, for example, that most basketball courts actually have two scoreboards - one for each team? The guys did, and they're still ribbing me about my cost-saving suggestion of buying just one. But I'll get them back.

Just wait ‘til they see the goal posts I've picked out for the proposed basketball court.