It had been a busy month: I had run - and spectacularly lost - my first city council campaign, with a good mixture of embarrassment and (I immediately realized) relief. Now I was off the hook for the next four years!

Two weeks later, Dave and I renewed our wedding vows at the Asbury Park Public Library (and used the occasion to return all those overdue books on election campaigning), and now I was happily shopping for a mid-life career change.

That's when the phone rang, and a reporter asked for a quote.

"A quote about what?" I asked.

"Don't you know? They held an election recount today..."

Ten minutes later I was sobbing into the phone.

"What happened? Who died? Is it the dog?" my husband worried.

"It's w-w-worse," I blubbered. "Much worse. I w-w-won the election..."

It's now been a year and 11 days since our swearing-in ceremony (but, hey - who's counting?), so I thought I'd offer a look back at ten top stories from our freshman year.

1. Budget. Okay, so winning the election wasn't the worst thing that ever happened to me. Getting my first look at Asbury Park's devastated finances was.

On the encouraging side, we avoided a threatened state budget takeover last year, and we're working to avoid a tax rate hike in 2002 in the face of spiraling insurance costs, expired police grants, long-delayed police and fire raises, a non-existent capital improvement fund, and more.

But balancing this year's budget still depends on completing the $3.5 million sale of our beachfront pavilions, and many of us will still pay significantly higher taxes in 2002 due to a long-postponed, county-mandated property re-evaluation.

With the state's budget in disarray and significant beachfront redevelopment still a few years off, striking a livable budget will remain the toughest challenge of our next three years.

2. Beachfront Redevelopment. Last August's "Memorandum of Understanding" with Oceanfront Acquisitions marked the end of a dozen years of beachfront stagnation and litigation. And, after months of public hearings and endless negotiations, the council adopted a revised beachfront redevelopment plan in May.

Now we're heading back into negotiations again (there goes my tan!), to hammer out a "Redeveloper's Agreement" that will specify all the details, responsibilities and timelines behind the plan. Updates to follow.

3. City Manager. Asbury Park has a strong city manager form of government, and it comes with a range of social and economic challenges that make this one of the toughest civic jobs around.

When we voted to give acting city manager Terry Weldon a one-year contract last July, I vowed to spend the next 12 months locating a world-class candidate for 2002. It took about six months of observation, but I'm happy to say I found one - sitting (surprise!) in the city manager's office.

Terry's been a strong and extremely capable advocate for Asbury Park, and I look forward to working (and arguing) with him for the next three years.

4. Public Safety. New Public Safety Director Lou Jordon has a sterling reputation and a job that rivals the city manager's in difficulty. His goal is to "clean up the city" and bring the community and Police Department together. Members of his new Quality of Life Police Unit are already introducing themselves to area residents and businesses. (Contact them at 732-774-1300 after 5 p.m. on weekdays to discuss quality of life concerns.)

5. Business Initiatives. Last summer, I literally couldn't walk down a local business block without hearing angry complaints about the city's Urban Enterprise Zone program.

Now, new UEZ director Tom Gilmour has tripled the program's membership, and a revitalized board is rolling out new initiatives like low-interest business loans and quality of life funding to improve the look and safety of city business streets. (UEZ members are invited to help set quality-of-life spending priorities on Thursday, July 18 at 9 a.m. in the city council chambers.)

Other city hall initiatives - such as a Main Street code enforcement drive, a new downtown noise ordinance, a downtown redevelopment zone designation, and the promise of planning grants for Springwood and Asbury Avenues - are also underway.

6. West Side Redevelopment. Four years after city housing head Hazel Samuels first proposed the STARS redevelopment program, the city council will hold a July 17 public hearing on an updated plan that would bring 31 new single-family homes to Avenue A, Atkins Avenue, and Borden Avenue.

A redeveloper agreement is being finalized with the Cherry Hill-based Ingerman Group, and a state-mandated relocation plan for current residents is being written. In the coming year, we also hope to approve a Washington Street revitalization plan.

7. Quality of Life. Quality-of-life problems have a major impact on city residents, and they are often tricky to address with our severely strapped budget.

Over the past year, we've tried to be creative, using county detainees to clean abandoned lots, petitioning Bruce Springsteen for two new police cars and some much-needed code enforcement software and hardware, upgrading lighting in crime-infested areas on the west and east sides, hiring a summer code inspector to target eye-offending properties, and more.

In coming months, we'll turn up the volume on quality-of-life infractions, assisted by the new UEZ and Police Department quality-of-life initiatives. We'll also be opening up membership in the city's Neighborhood Empowerment Council, a state-sanctioned body whose mission is to represent and address residents' concerns.

8. Recreation. Mayor Kevin Sanders kicked off a summer school program for kids this week that includes music, dance and other arts-related activities, and Bruce Springsteen (once again) contributed $50,000 to repair and upgrade city playgrounds and tot lots.

In coming weeks, we hope to tell you about other public figures who will headline a highly visible fund-raiser for our 2003 recreation program, and we are actively looking for improved quarters for our senior citizen program.

9. Public Participation. From the new Southeast Residents Group to the West Side Block Watch, from the STARS CDC to the new Asbury Park Historical Society, from participants on city boards to the Asbury Park Homeowners Association, it's been city volunteers who are helping us win the David-and-Goliath battle to bring back Asbury Park.

Do we appreciate you? You betcha'. Will we keep calling on you? You'd better believe it.

10. The Guys. Finally, of course, there are my fellow council members, who stuck it out through interminable special meetings and some hair-raising adventures this year. As our philosophical deputy mayor, Jimmy Bruno, cheerfully summed it up at our last council meeting, "We've been in office together for a whole year now, and no one's dead yet!"

Here's to three more years.