BEHIND THE SCENES
ROLL DOWN THOSE HIGH WATER PANTS
DECEMBER 20, 2007 -- It's one of those James Thurber classics I still recall from high school.
In "The Day the Dam Broke," Thurber describes the greatest disaster that never befell his hometown of Columbus, Ohio: It was March 12, 1913, and residents were predictably jumpy after the flooded Scioto River caused extensive damage on the far side of town. Somewhere in the crowded business district, a man started to run. A high-spirited child zipped down the street. Then, another man began to trot. Within 10 minutes, everyone in the business district was suddenly sprinting eastward as the dreaded words, "The dam has broken!" crackled through the crowd. Homes, shops, office buildings, movie theaters - all emptied out, as a shouting, crying, desperate crowd of thousands scrambled for safety. An elderly doctor collapsed in despair - only to find that the sound of rushing water directly behind him was actually the swishing roller skates of a passing boy. Two hours and several miles later, authorities with megaphones finally convinced the sheepish throng that the dam hadn't broken - and that the water wouldn't have reached them if it had. Ninety-five years later, there's no telling what Thurber would have written about "The Day the Esperanza Construction Was Delayed." You've probably seen the story: On December 7, Dean Geibel of Metro Homes halted construction on the Esperanza, a 16-story luxury condominium complex that's been rising on Asbury Park's Ocean Avenue. The no-surprise reason? The radical downturn in the U.S. real estate market which is sending shockwaves all the way to Wall Street and the Treasury Department. "We are convinced that the national mortgage crisis now impacting real estate markets around the country represents a temporary setback, and we remain fully committed to Asbury Park and its rebirth," Geibel told a daily newspaper. Nevertheless, within days, that newspaper ran a full page of public speculation on the shutdown, summarized from its website. (And, no, I didn't have the energy to read it.) Another weekly paper that had long scoffed at beachfront redevelopment posted a front-page self-congratulatory rant pointing to its own championship of downtown Asbury Park (which, ironically, helped raise rental prices in that area to blood-sucking levels long before the market justified it). And suddenly I was receiving calls and e-mails from worried friends: Was there some horrible significance to the fact that the Esperanza was being built on the old, doomed C-8 site, symbol of an earlier failed redevelopment? Was Asbury Park's promised rebirth on the verge of collapse? It was then that the roller-skating kid whizzed by, armed with the inevitable mudballs: In last week's Coaster, Asbury Park Councilman Jim Keady improbably announced that the Esperanza slowdown had nothing to do with the national real estate bust. It was actually a sign that the city's redevelopment plan "was flawed from the beginning." (And, yes, I involuntarily spit my soda so far I almost hit the dog.) Apparently, Keady missed the 2004 rebuilding of the long-rotting boardwalk, and the recent - and almost unimaginable - improvements to the painfully decayed Paramount Theatre, Convention Hall, Fifth Avenue Pavilion, and other beachfront icons. And then there's the fabulous infrastructure upgrades: the new light poles, benches, pavers, street surfacing, and underground utilities. And that's not to mention the two other residential projects - by Paramount Homes and Westminster Communities - currently under development. And while Asbury Park's boardwalk - and downtown, for that matter - were routinely deserted even on beautiful summer days just five years ago, they are now often bursting with life and activity - fireworks, concerts, plays, shops, restaurants, First Saturday celebrations, holiday decorations, and more - even on icy winter nights. Indeed, the Esperanza slowdown actually proves that the 2002 redevelopment plan is working: In the early 1990s, the entire beachfront went bust when sole developer Joseph Carabetta declared bankruptcy. Now, with multiple subdevelopers, Asbury Park's future no longer depends on one company's success. Not that the national real estate slump isn't true cause for concern, here and elsewhere. But when the dam starts leaking, you don't just ignore it - and you certainly don't run away or pull out bricks to hasten the flow. Which means that Asbury Park's city council should use the situation to their advantage - starting immediately. Does Metro Homes want to downsize the Esperanza? Great! Despite its high-quality, innovative design, I can't name two people who ever wanted a 16-story tower along Ocean Avenue. Work with Metro Homes to design an equally luxurious, scaled-back version. And don't complain, as another city councilman improbably did, that now "it will have to start over, with committee meetings." Get them scheduled so that construction can restart this spring. This is also the perfect time to convince Madison Marquette - the national retail powerhouse behind the recent boardwalk improvements - that the oversized hotel they'd like to add to the beachfront redevelopment plan would not be in anyone's best interests. Which means that the city council and city staff need to significantly sharpen their game - and not be distracted by heart-stopping suggestions like those recently made by Keady: Fill the beachfront with moderately priced hotels? (Uhm, didn't Asbury Park have to tear down a slew of those that had long been shuttered and unprofitable? Wasn't even the Berkeley Carteret Hotel locked in recent years on nights when it was virtually empty?) Build rental units for college students in the winter and for vacationers (most likely more college students) in the summer? (Uhm, haven't surrounding towns been struggling for years with overcrowded college "animal houses" that disrupt family neighborhoods?) Both suggestions would doubtless sit well with the long-time rental owners - and former Asbury Park power brokers - who supported Keady's election campaign, but it would only reinforce that old-time definition of insanity: Making the same mistakes over and over, and expecting different results. Asbury Park has come incredibly far in six short years, and there's no reason to abandon hope now, no matter how shaky or uncertain the path. So climb back down from that tree and take off your high-water pants. And, as the holiday moon and stars shine over a refurbished Convention Hall this season, offer a few words of thanks to the heavens and a prayer that Asbury Park takes advantage of the opportunities being laid at its feet. Happy holidays to all.
A scrappy, middle-aged guy barged into the manager's office and slapped a newspaper want ad on the desk.
"My name is Tommy Lee Brown, and I'm here to apply for that truck-driver job," he announced. "Me and my partner Henry have been driving for 23 years, and we're the best you're gonna get."
The manager eyed the intruder doubtfully, and sat back in his seat.
"That may be, but let me ask you a few questions first. Suppose you were driving a fully loaded truck down a steep hill, headed for a one-lane bridge. Suddenly, your brakes completely fail and you realize there's another big truck coming right at you, headed for that same one-lane bridge.
"What would you do?"
Tommy didn't pause for breath. "Why, I'd just reach back in the sleeper and wake up old Henry," he exclaimed.
The manager looked confused. "Why? Would Henry know what to do?"
"Heck, no! But, in 23 years of driving, Henry's never seen a truck wreck like the one that's going to happen on that bridge!"
Henry's not the only one.
Back in May, I reported on the frustrating lack of progress in the five-year Asbury Park senior center debacle.
The good news was that there was significant money available from both Asbury Partners and Bruce Springsteen, and city Social Services Director Tony Nuccio had identified a well-kept complex in the beachfront redevelopment area with room for both a senior center and a promised all-ages community center.
Better yet, the owner was willing to sell, and Asbury Partners was willing to relinquish its redevelopment rights there in return for some as-yet-to-be-negotiated concessions from the city.
The frustrating part? All of that had been true for at least 2-1/2 years, and the city had failed to act.
Then a seeming miracle occurred: At the June 12 senior community meeting, a city councilman confidently announced that the city would own the building within 90 days. And, yes, I made him repeat that statement at least two times, and quizzed him after the meeting.
Then the bomb dropped: At an August 14 meeting with 40 hopeful seniors, two council members announced that the deadline wouldn't be met. Had the beachfront redevelopers balked? Well, no, the council hadn't actually negotiated with them yet.
Had talks with the building owner failed? Well, no - in fact, they were just preparing to ask the city attorney to contact the owner's attorney to start negotiations, and the city council and city manager were arranging to tour the building.
Huh?
No fear, we were told: the new senior center was a top priority, and they'd deliver a progress report at the September 5 council meeting.
That's when the second bomb dropped: Council members announced that they had just opened talks with the N.J. Department of Education to obtain the Braverman building on Memorial Drive. The state had originally purchased the building for the city school system, and it was scheduled to be demolished and replaced with a new education facility because of environmental concerns.
Apparently, the Board of Education was no longer interested in the site, and the council wanted the existing building for the seniors. Unfortunately, that was news to some Board of Education members, and the predictable hand-to-hand combat ensued.
Then, in November, the deputy mayor publicly lobbied for yet another plan: a 5-year-old proposal to purchase a Second Avenue lot for a combination fire house and community center. (That plan was originally supposed to be financed by Solomon Dwek - yes, that Solomon Dwek - and went south when Dwek's financial empire imploded.)
The revived plan now includes room for school district offices, most likely because the city cannot afford the fire station complex without an additional influx of money - something guaranteed to spark renewed controversy and protracted debate between the two city boards.
By now it is painfully clear that city council members have no solid plan and no real consensus, even among themselves - something that I find eminently confusing, given that I served on the council with three of them, served on the UEZ board with a fourth, and stood beside the fifth at a 2005 election debate when he brashly - if naively - promised that, if elected, he'd secure a senior center within two months.
So when is enough, enough?
It's been four years since the council accepted Springsteen's $200,000 - money that could have helped other worthy groups - with the promise that it would be returned if it wasn't used. And Asbury Partners' sizable community development fund has been languishing in the bank for at least that long.
And still the seniors wait.
And, with the next election only 18 months away, you'd better believe that rival candidates are polishing their smiles and preparing a new round of campaign promises for city seniors who constitute a major voting block.
I'd love to think that the city council and city manager are squirreled away in some conference room with key advisors and a vow not to emerge until they've developed a unified, workable plan - and a way to implement it before today's seniors become tomorrow's memories. (And, yes, it is their job and no one else's to approve a site and negotiate a deal.)
On December 19, the council will once again address the seniors' needs, in response to a senior petition requesting action by year's end.
There's no telling what will emerge that night. (I've even been told that some council members are lobbying for yet another building - the old YMCA facility, that was rejected four years ago because of environmental concerns.)
But, if the unprecedented turmoil and lack of progress of the past eight months is any indicator, there's one thing that city seniors can count on: It's time to reach around and wake up old Henry.
It's the 92nd annual N.J. League of Municipalities Conference, and it's coming to the Atlantic City Convention Center from November 13 to 15.
And no matter where you live, you can probably bet that your local, county and state elected officials will attend, accompanied by a hefty contingent of appointed officials and government employees ranging from housing inspectors to city managers.
What do we hope they'll do there?
As I described in earlier columns, League week is an unmatched opportunity for elected officials looking for hands-on help or updates on the latest legislation: By day, they can choose from over 200 workshops dealing with everything from land use, grants and municipal taxes, to ethics, employee benefits and gang violence.
Special sessions are also directed at municipal engineers, finance officers, fire officials, attorneys, city clerks, tax collectors, plumbing inspectors and a host of other professionals.
In between, the expected 20,000 visitors can peruse over 800 booths staffed by non-profits and vendors offering everything from banking and engineering services to playground and street-cleaning equipment.
And an afternoon consulting period let novices like me meet one-on-one with experts from dozens of state and federal agencies during my city council days.
By night, however, the conference atmosphere changes dramatically: Traditionally, the large financial institutions and contractors take over, offering huge, lavish parties replete with free food, alcohol, and concerts by the likes of the Beach Boys. All of which, of course, will eventually be charged back to taxpayers when those companies win contracts with local officials.
As I wrote this spring, League week is also when many legal and engineering firms take entire city councils and key municipal employees out for expensive "getting to know you" dinners that participants say are totally above board.
Maybe so. But the cost of those meals gets charged back somehow and - whether or not city business is discussed - it's a closed-door schmoozing party that just shouldn't be happening. I attended one such dinner during my first year in office - with the city's then-engineering firm - and vowed "never again."
Most disturbing, of course, are the covert, invitation-only parties thrown by vendors, engineering firms, developers and other contract-seekers for a select group of decision-makers including mayors, powerful elected officials, and public employees.
What goes on in those private hotel suites, beyond the hearing of other attendees and the people at home?
"Operation Bid Rig," the FBI's multi-year undercover investigation into government corruption, provided some startlingly direct answers: Free food, alcohol, expensive cigars, and (in at least some cases) cash bribes and plenty of sex - all to be followed, the party planners hope, by lucrative government contracts.
In a rational world, you would think that bad publicity - and the threat of another FBI sting - would put a crimp in official corruption, particularly this year.
But although federal authorities have recently indicted or convicted over 100 New Jersey officials, we were still treated to the astonishing arrests of 11 more politicians from Atlantic, Essex and Passaic Counties who reportedly accepted bribes this spring.
So what is the League of Municipalities doing to combat public corruption during its annual convention, outside of offering ethics workshops by the likes of U.S. Attorney Chris Christie and N.J. Attorney General Anne Milgram?
Much less than I'd hoped, actually: According to a League spokesman, vendors and attendees must sign a letter stating they will not sponsor or attend social events between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on conference days.
But evening hours are wide open, and the League has not issued even minimal evening guidelines for its vendors, much like parents leaving a group of teenagers with a stocked bar and a cheery, "See you in the morning!" (Wink, wink.)
Needless to say, determined crooks (as the League spokesman said) will always find a way to steal, but I also believe that the best way to curb government corruption is to shine a spotlight on the conditions that - however innocently - promote it.
And that's where you can help.
If your town is sending representatives to next week's convention, and they probably are, you might want to publicly ask whether they've been invited to any private dinners or vendor receptions - and request that they decline.
You might also want to ask which workshops local officials will be attending - and what they learned when they return. (For a complete list of conference sessions and vendors, go to www.njslom.org and click on the 2007 conference link.)
As a taxpayer, you'll be footing the registration fee, along with likely hotel, transportation and food costs, so you should have a voice in which sessions attendees pick - and (more importantly) which vendor occasions they avoid.
And, yes, I'm one of many former and current elected officials who pop a vein when people blithely declare that "all politicians are crooks."
Still, I'd rather pay elected officials and public employees directly for a nice dinner out than wonder which vendor is paying the tab with my current or future tax money.
It's time to change the culture.
There was Dr. Duane Dyson of the East Orange General Hospital Trauma Unit, calmly flipping through slide after gruesome slide of teenaged patients victimized by guns and knives - most at the hands of someone their own age.
"I'll show you my world today," Dyson warned the cafeteria full of Asbury Park sixth graders last Thursday. "Remember it for as long as you live."
I imagine they will.
As Dyson related a dozen stories of teenagers caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, he illustrated the grisly aftermath in his operating room: Gaping flesh and shattered bones. Ruined organs lying in a pan. A metal surgical tool that snaps ribs to reach a failing heart. Hard-edged tubes protruding from noses and chests. A brain-damaged teen, blinded by a gang member's bullet.
"Close your eyes if you don't want to look," Dyson repeatedly warned his pre-teen audience, adding "I've watched over 300 kids die, and I'm here to keep you alive."
Helping to make Dyson's point was Hashim Garrett, who was shot six times at age 15. Seventeen years later, he drags his ruined legs behind him on metal crutches, and shudders when he relates his own emergency room experience.
Dr. Dyson is the founder and chairman of the Violence Prevention Institute (VPI), a group of emergency department physicians who work with teachers, parents, students, law enforcement agencies, public employees, and other medical professionals on issues ranging from gang recognition to violence intervention.
VPI was introduced to the city by the Asbury Park Community Justice Advisory Board, an outreach program of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office which includes representatives of the Asbury Park Housing Authority, the Police Department, city hall, the business and residential communities, and city churches.
Advisory Board chairman Lawson June and secretary Barbara Lesinski described the VPI program to Asbury Park school administrators last spring, and the Board of Education agreed to fund it. City high school students and older intermediate school students have already attended the program.
Dyson's goal, of course, isn't simply to frighten his young audience: It's to get their attention so he can present strategies for avoiding a similar fate, both in urban areas like Newark and Asbury Park and in the once-quiet suburbs where gangs and drugs are muscling in.
Like Hashim Garrett, Dyson is African-American. And, like Garrett, he was involved in trouble early: He was stabbed and narrowly missed being shot in the face before deciding he wanted more for himself.
"Guns and knives don't protect you. Guns and knives only increase the chances that you'll get killed," he said, pointing out that most African-American and Hispanic teens are shot or stabbed by someone who looks like them - and most times the perpetrator is not a stranger.
Think first before you bully or tease anyone, Dyson warned, particularly since you don't know what additional pressures that person is facing at home. And don't expect that joining a gang will protect you - even from fellow gang members.
"Gang members will love you, they'll protect you, as long as you do whatever they want you to," Dyson cautioned, citing several graphic examples of teens being killed or injured by members of their own gang.
Even hanging out with people who might be targets themselves is a good way to get killed or injured. "All it takes is one mistake" by someone with a gun and bad aim, he warned.
Most of all, students should remember that "your mouth plays a very big role in getting you in trouble. You know how an argument starts, but you never know how it's gonna' end."
The best defense? Stop talking and walk away, he said, asking the children to repeat the mantra he hopes they'll use in every potentially compromising situation, "Is this a good idea?"
And don't buy into the street credo that "snitches get stitches." Both Dyson and Garrett urged students to immediately tell parents or teachers about anyone making threats or carrying weapons - even if they have to do it anonymously. Otherwise, they could be responsible for a situation that they'll regret for the rest of their lives.
For me, the most unsettling part of the program came not from the grisly photos, but from a series of simple questions Dyson asked the children.
"How many of you know someone who carries a weapon?" he asked, as a majority of hands shot in the air.
"Does anyone here know any gang members?" About half the children raised their hands.
Bravado? Perhaps. But I can't picture anyone needing to raise those issues in my urban sixth-grade class in 1964.
Nor did I anticipate the follow-up question posed by two separate children at the program's end: "What should you do if your parents are gang members?" they anxiously asked their teachers.
Which made me even more eager to attend a 5:30 session open to all city parents and school staff members.
I arrived a few minutes early and settled into conversation with Dyson and Justice Advisory Board hosts Ann and Lawson June.
Shortly before 6 p.m., it suddenly dawned on me that we were still sitting in an empty room. Only two parents - one leading four neatly dressed children - showed up as Dyson was packing to leave.
Where was everyone? A flustered administrator said that the school had sent flyers home with the children only three days before - surely not a very effective strategy - and a few community members had been asked to hand out flyers two days earlier. Also, the Board of Education had rescheduled its own meeting for that same night.
Dyson seemed less surprised than I was. This happens all over, he told me. His suggestion for increasing parent turnout? Petition local merchants for impressive prizes like big-screen TVs, and announce that you're going to raffle them off at the meeting. Then lock everyone in and don't hold the raffle until the end of the evening.
Surely that's being way too cynical, I thought. As the Junes walked back to their car, some of the intermediate school night staff offered a helpful suggestion: Why not get some big prizes, and raffle them off at the end of the meeting, they asked, hoping to soften the Junes' disappointment.
A few hours later, a friend called as I was typing this column. "A 19-year-old boy was shot to death in Asbury Park tonight," she said.
And elsewhere in the city, at least two six-graders were grappling with fear over their gang-member parents.
It was another night in an increasingly typical New Jersey town.
Like most things, it began innocently enough: I still remember hopping in the car after a Saturday flea market excursion and showing Dave the Asbury Park postcards I'd bought.
"Look! It's the Mayfair Theatre and a swan boat! I don't want to collect too many, but maybe I'll get a few more to frame."
Yeah, right. And maybe I won't eat that whole plate of chocolate chips cookies in the kitchen, either.
Of course, no one warned me that there were literally thousands of Asbury Park postcards out there, not to mention tempting stacks of baby parade programs, hotel directories, Chamber of Commerce guides, and vintage brochures for everything from art clubs to mid-summer festivals.
And, heaven help me the day I turned over some of those old postcards and started reading the hand-written messages on the back: "Dear Mother," one 1924 reveler casually wrote, "Was married on Friday at 7:00 p.m. Returning to Phila. today. (The end of a happy honeymoon.) Will write soon. Love, Lloyd."
"Hello Lay!" penned another visitor, that very same year. "We arrived at this hick town Sunday 5:30 p.m. We do not like it, so are leaving to-day for nowhere. Watch where we bob up next. George."
Unfortunately for my purse, some of the dullest looking postcards have the most intriguing messages.
"Doing the old place again," a 1911 tourist wrote on a card that mainly showed an empty street. "(Arthur) Pryor's and U.S. Marine Band both here now. (President) Taft will be at the Auditorium tonight. I won't."
Noted a 1930 wag, "According to two inch headlines, the Lindberghs have a baby. So do other people."
Of course, then, as now, the most popular topics included the weather, family health woes, and petulant entreaties of "Why won't you write?"
But one 1909 woman cleverly kept the upper hand. "Dear Tutz," she cheerfully informed poor Raymond in Plainfield, "I am having a dandy time. When I go bathing there is a boy who takes me way out. Give my love to your mother. Agnes."
No doubt Raymond caught the next train south.
Then there's the little historical teasers: "We were going to Deal Lake Carnival when the clock was striking nine and the fire whistles blowing," wrote a visitor on August 27, 1909. "Four barrels of oil exploded and we only a block away. Say we didn't run. Everyone is all right, that we know."
And in August, 1937, a Mrs. B. ended her description of pony rides and church services at the Ocean Grove auditorium ("100 ushers") by noting "a big fire last p.m. Two hotels burned to ground. We had just gotten into bed and stayed there."
"My Dear Friends," penned another 1932 visitor at the height of the Depression, "Same old ocean, always interesting. Same old story, unemployed.... Don't forget to water the plants." And a World War II era writer noted, "The beach has been taken over by the Navy so we swim in Ocean Grove."
The most popular message? A thousand variations of "having a wonderful/dandy/bully/peachy/swell time" - depending on the decade - followed by some personal news: Cries of exhaustion from resort employees working seven days a week. Reminders to contact the ice man, bring in the milk bottles, feed the pigeons, or mail those forgotten vests or white gloves for the dance.
One memorable (and memorably written) note from 1906 reads, "When do you want us to send your trunk & overcoat & umbrella? Jack mule is dead and buried. Dr. Reid says it was abysess. Ma been sick in bed 3 days, not up yet. Daisy."
And while most tourists used words like fun, restful, and "I like it, I like it, I like it" to describe their Asbury Park stay, it's almost a relief to discover the city's past wasn't as picture perfect as it's often portrayed.
"Wish I was at home. This is the last place God ever made and I suppose (He) forgot to finish it," one disgruntled 1916 tourist wrote. Added a 1910 visitor, "This is a much larger and gayer resort than I expected & we are seeing the sights but it is buy, buy or pay out money all the time."
Urged a woman named Mabel on a 1936 Plaza Hotel postcard, "You should get your orchestra together and try to get a job at this hotel, the one they have is no good." Wrote a 1909 observer, perhaps before his time, "This is a very slow place... Lots of queens down here. It would be the place for you."
Of course, many descriptions read like magic to those of us who first saw Asbury Park in the mid 1980s: "Last night was Carnival Night at Asbury Park," one visitor wrote in 1909. "Confetti literally covered the boardwalk for blocks. We came home in our canoe (by Loch) Arbour."
"The annual baby parade is Wednesday, listen over the radio!" a 1931 visitor urged her New York friend.
Still, it's somehow reassuring to read the Asbury Parker magazine's 1946 description of the city's first "Orchid Promenade", on a rainy Easter in 1936: "Despite the slight inconvenience of being soaked, a huge crowd turned out to compete for the coveted orchid corsages.
"Finally, at the height of the ceremonies, the Boardwalk caved in, dropping hundreds of onlookers, the judges, and the orchid corsages into a milling mass.
"Among the judges who ended up in the bottom of the Boardwalk hole were orchestra man Vincent Lopez, Princess Raspigliosi, sports editor Dan Parker, Fox Movietone fashion editor Viviyan Donner, and Arnold Genthe, celebrated photographic dean who first discovered Greta Garbo."
Miraculously, no one was seriously hurt, although I myself suffered "death by postcard" a few years back when someone posted a card from my Asbury Park gallery on eBay and claimed that the female gallery owner had been "tragically murdered." (The embarrassed postcard seller subsequently returned me to life.)
Which brings me to my Coaster "Time Warps" feature of vintage photos, which is admittedly a lot more fun than churning out these columns. One of the happiest side effects has been the number of calls I've received from people who worked or played in the old amusement parks, recognized their mom in a 1930s photograph, or even (and, no, I'm not kidding) arrested someone in a featured motel lobby.
But best of all, it means I get to do continuing research: Just wait 'til Dave sees the great interior shots I bought of Steinbach's restaurant and Mrs. Jay's Bar and Grill. I'm sure he'll be thrilled.
And, if you'd like a free and fabulous look at Asbury Park's postcard history, check out the city library's amazing collection of over 2,000 different cards. Bet you can't read just one...
No, it's not an autograph, a backstage pass, or even a guitar pick. It's a social affairs permit passed by the 1997 Asbury Park city council, granting the lucrative rights to sell alcohol that night to an obscure church with a Neptune phone number.
How obscure? Obscure enough that the church wasn't listed in local phone books. Obscure enough that it shared a mailing address with longtime Asbury Park power broker Phil Konvitz.
As I described last time, Konvitz - who died in 2005 at age 95 - was later indicted on federal extortion, bribery and mail fraud charges, in a sweeping FBI raid that eventually netted three members of the 1997 city council and 40 other men, half of them public officials working for either Monmouth County or eight local towns.
And although federal authorities have since indicted over 100 New Jersey officials, we were still treated to the astonishing arrests last week of 11 more politicians from Atlantic, Essex and Passaic Counties who reportedly accepted bribes this year.
Obviously, the message is not getting through.
During the late 1990s, when Konvitz and a bevy of shadowy political bosses held sway in Asbury Park, I often envied other towns the apparent stability of their partisan, Republican vs. Democrat system.
But two years of working for pay-to-play reform in Monmouth County taught me that the party boss system is alive and well - and not always working for county residents. Just look at some recent examples:
There's Freeholder Director Bill Barham casting the deciding vote to return attorney Malcolm Carton to his lucrative county counsel job - despite the fact that Carton, a longtime Republican fundraiser, served as Barham's campaign manager.
There's Republican John Tobia, the politically connected Wall mayor, being hired to head the county Public Works and Engineering department, despite his lack of an engineering degree.
There's county Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery - who has funneled over $200,000 of his personal money into his party's campaign coffers - being granted a lucrative long-term lease to house a state Motor Vehicle Commission office in his Hazlet shopping center.
And there's Rebecca Aaronson - Scudiery's Democratic Party Vice-Chair - being coincidentally hired to head that same Motor Vehicle office with a $77,000 salary and no apparent experience.
The list, no doubt, goes on. And while nothing in these appointments qualifies as illegal, they all definitely smell bad. Which is why state and local ethics reform is so important.
Which brings me back to that two-year county battle to regulate pay-to-play - the practice by which attorneys, engineers and other professionals make large campaign donations, and then recoup their money through juicy government contracts.
At the urging of Barbara McMorrow, the first Democratic Freeholder since 1989, the county Freeholders set up a bi-partisan pay-to-play committee this spring consisting of McMorrow, Republican Freeholder Rob Clifton, key county employees, a paid county attorney, and experts from the Citizens' Campaign, a statewide good-government group. (I was then their Monmouth County co-chair, but this letter represents my own views.)
Twice, the entire committee agreed to a comprehensive pay-to-play resolution. And twice, I watched disbelieving as - a day before the vote - Freeholder Clifton casually discarded the committee's work in favor of watered-down, self-serving versions that had been prepared ("cobbled together" was Clifton's term) by Republican party leaders and attorneys he declined to identify.
Had the local press not come to our aid - sending indignant residents running to the microphone - the bill would have been completely undermined. (In all fairness, Clifton finally pulled through, resisting Chairman Barham's 12th-hour attempts to insert two glaring loopholes in the final version.)
But New Jersey's ethics battle is far from over. What else can be done at the county level?
1. Enact open appointments legislation. The county hiring process obviously needs to be more transparent, but county (and municipal) boards and commissions also wield enormous power in areas like zoning, planning, recreation, social services, and transportation.
Unfortunately, appointments to these volunteer boards are often political and rarely advertised. The Citizens' Campaign has developed a model ordinance, adopted in places like Asbury Park, that opens up the appointment process, allowing residents to file written applications in advance and be notified when positions become open.
Elected officials still have the final say in who is appointed, but they can no longer conduct the process under cover of darkness.
2. Conduct evening workshop meetings. At their 7 p.m. bimonthly meetings, the Freeholders routinely pass dozens of major agenda items with breakneck speed, explaining that the items were discussed in detail at a 2 p.m. public workshop meeting.
Very few residents have the luxury of attending those afternoon meetings. Based on the sessions I've seen and my own experience as a councilwoman, county workshops could easily be shifted to 5:30 or 6 p.m. on the same evenings as public meetings.
3. End enforced employee donations. Although the new county pay-to-play provisions are somewhat weaker than those passed by local municipalities, they are substantially tougher in the area of "wheeling," whereby money of frequently unknown origins is funneled into county elections by outside political groups or PACs.
This provision particularly benefits county Republicans who were justifiably concerned about high levels of Democratic wheeling. County Democrats, in turn, have expressed concern about the Republican propensity for soliciting political donations from highly paid, non-union, non-civil service county employees.
Given that the Freeholders hold the ultimate responsibility for hiring and promoting these individuals, such solicitations are clearly inappropriate. It's time to publicly end them.
4. Elect ethical candidates. I am obviously not thrilled by either the Democratic or Republican parties in New Jersey these days, but I will personally support stand-up officials like Barbara McMorrow and Anna Little, who took a major beating at the hands of her Republicans cohorts after refusing to accept suspect campaign donations.
With November elections looming, I think it's particularly time to shake it up at the county and state levels where Republicans and Democrats, respectively, have held power for too long.
If the pay-to-play battle taught us anything, it's that ethics reform won't happen in New Jersey unless residents take their concerns to the microphone - and thereby to the media.
Can you invest even a few hours a month to help enact change in your town or county? If so, call Lauren Skowronski at the New Jersey Citizens' Campaign at 732-548-9798, ext. 6. She can arrange for training, if necessary, and Citizens' Campaign experts will guide you through the entire process.
It's time to turn up the heat.
This month, the Asbury Park Press ran a fascinating, 15-part account of the FBI's six-year investigation into official corruption in Monmouth County. Dubbed "Operation Bid Rig," the investigation started in 1999 with reports of suspected corruption in Asbury Park.
By the time the probe officially ended in 2005, federal charges had been lodged against 44 men - 23 of them public officials in Asbury Park, Hazlet, Keyport, Long Branch, Middletown, Neptune, Ocean Township, West Long Branch, Far Hills and Monmouth County itself.
And every day the series ran, telephones rang all around Asbury Park.
Ironically, it was exactly 10 years ago this summer that local newspapers carried stories of another anti-corruption crusade: the "SOS Campaign" started by the recently formed Asbury Park Homeowners Association.
Back then, current Councilman John Loffredo was the association president, Sue Henderson was its vice president, and I was the treasurer and head of its Quality of Life Committee.
In response to escalating resident complaints, we optimistically kicked off a quality-of-life campaign in July 1997 in an attempt to convince county, state and federal elected officials and law enforcement agencies to investigate alleged government abuses and revive Asbury Park's sagging economy.
Well over a thousand people there and in neighboring communities signed a petition that decried the "never-ending barrage of real estate scandals, crime, drugs, poor schools, alleged electioneering, beachfront and neighborhood deterioration, dangerous budget deficits, alleged ethics violations, reported 'job dealing' by elected officials, and distressing attempts to further erode our quality of life..."
Hundreds of residents wore "SOS" buttons at public meetings, tied yellow ribbons to their trees, or posted SOS signs on their front lawns to signal their distress.
And, while we anticipated that the petition would be the centerpiece of our campaign, something very different occurred: Almost immediately, we were swamped by calls and visits from residents, business owners and even city and school employees, asking us to investigate alleged irregularities in Asbury Park.
City and school board documents, hand-written letters, and even videotapes showed up - often anonymously - at our homes and businesses, and we began compiling a thick binder of distressing city statistics and purported illegalities to share with authorities.
That's when things predictably turned ugly: Members of our organization were publicly branded as political, racist, Uncle Toms and worse.
The school superintendent and the Board of Education attorney refused to release public information to members of our group, despite support by the county Department of Education and other authorities.
After calling me at my gallery and claiming to tape-record our conversation, the board attorney wrote a letter denying me public information on the grounds that I was rude, insensitive, belligerent, intimidating, ignorant, discourteous, bellicose and unkind. He also told me that he had investigators checking my employment history.
A Board of Education contractor (now a councilman in another Monmouth County town) called to arrange a meeting between me and Rayfield James, an Asbury Park political boss who has since served three years in federal prison. (I nervously declined.)
A female acquaintance made another "friendly" call to warn me that, if we didn't back off, my house could be burned down.
By then, I was so unnerved that I spent an entire night in our Cookman Avenue gallery, finishing the Homeowners Association report - with Dave and our dog sleeping on the floor - in the hope that once we submitted the report, we would no longer be targets.
But things didn't stop there, not for any of us: City resident Robert Sanders - a veteran of two wars - was arrested for peacefully videotaping a Board of Education meeting, with permission, on the eve of Veteran's Day. (He was later exonerated and won a substantial settlement from the Board.)
A large group of pointing and chanting school board supporters angrily mobbed me at a meeting while the board was in executive session, and plastered the room with intimidating posters.
I was personally sued in federal court by the Board of Education, along with city resident Barbara Lesinski, the Homeowners Association, the Monmouth County Prosecutor and the state Attorney General. (The case was eventually thrown out of federal court, but not before we hired attorneys and were sent lengthy depositions requesting family, employment and other personal information.)
Most discouraging of all, the vast majority of elected officials we approached - and we approached state assemblymen and senators, as well as our U.S. representative and Governor Christine Todd Whitman - either ran from us, berated us, or ignored us.
Indeed, only state Assemblyman Steve Corodemus publicly stood up for Asbury Park, and he endured considerable political and personal heat for it.
Over the next three years, things only deteriorated: A multi-month Board of Education trial by the county Prosecutor's Office ended in all three defendants being declared not guilty - while those of us who testified against them were publicly branded as racists and politically motivated in court.
The state Department of Education reported that our school board attorney had overcharged the board by more than $300,000, but the local Board of Education failed to recover those fees.
And a move by the state to oversee Asbury Park's beachfront redevelopment was scuttled when a county judge named long-time Asbury Park political boss Phil Konvitz as chairman of the seven-member redevelopment commission. (Konvitz was later indicted on federal extortion, bribery and mail fraud charges, but a federal judge ruled he was unfit to stand trial due to dementia.)
By then, we felt defeated at best and paranoid at worst: Was everyone implicated, or were they just cowardly or uncaring? Were we that far off-track?
When a shop owner impulsively told me in 2000 that a city official had overlooked code violations in his store in exchange for his election support - and another business owner complained that he was being shaken down by a city official for free food - I didn't even report it. After all, who would I report it to?
But that was before we knew that the FBI - whose help we had solicited since 1997 - had kicked off its secret "Bid Rig" operation in Asbury Park. That was before Chris Christie was named the no-nonsense U.S. Attorney for New Jersey.
And that was before three members of the 1997 City Council were indicted or convicted of federal charges, along with Rayfield James and Phil Konvitz, and a fourth council member agreed to wear a hidden microphone to tape them, all as a result of the FBI's extraordinary efforts.
It was also before we learned just how far the culture of corruption had spread throughout Monmouth County - and beyond.
Next week: Overcoming the boss culture in Monmouth County.
With windows open despite the oppressive heat, the uniformed occupants call out greetings to everyone they pass. Some residents look startled - and one or two turn away with a curse - but the vast majority wave and return a cheery hello from their sidewalk or porch.
Suddenly, the driver spots a likely target.
"Look, Ann, there's a group of kids over there," says Trish Schumann to Ann June, her patrol partner.
They coast to a halt and are immediately surrounded by Asbury Park children, eager to receive a goody bag filled with pencils, stickers, rulers, bike reflectors, a key chain, a whistle and booklets - all sporting an anti-drug or anti-crime message.
The Asbury Park Citizens on Patrol (COPs) are making their rounds.
Formed in 2003 by former Police Director Lou Jordan, retired Police Captain Mike Ham and city resident Lawson June - a former Asbury Park Special II officer - the group provides extra eyes and ears for city police, helps with special events and traffic control, and serves as a link between police and the community.
And, while the volunteer COPs do not assist on actual police calls, they keep in frequent radio and cell phone contact, reporting suspicious activity to the Asbury Park Police dispatcher.
To date, 23 residents have graduated from two COPs training classes, and a third class is planned for early 2008. Lawson June serves as the group's volunteer captain, and Captain Theaudric Holmes - head of the Police Department Patrol Division - and Detective Connie Breech are their official city liaisons.
Equipped with two refurbished police cars, the group owes much of its start-up resources - including clothing, equipment, car-striping and goody-bag contents - to a generous donation by Bruce Springsteen.
Their 12-week training program - one evening a week - includes everything from police procedures and patrol techniques, to street crime and gang identification, to municipal codes and traffic laws.
Among the most active members - in addition to Trish Schumann and the Junes - are city residents Doug Eschner, Jim Henry, George Kary and Bob Stevens.
It certainly has given them a new appreciation for what city police officers face.
"It's hard work, patrolling continuously for just three hours in a one-square-mile city," Lawson notes.
I'm inclined to agree: After spending an evening with Ann and Trish in a former police car - now proudly bearing the Citizens on Patrol logo - my back is aching and my legs are stiff.
"You just get worn out," Ann adds, "and those guys have no one to talk to." (Unlike their official police colleagues, the COPs always travel in pairs.)
Along the route, they may stop to answer a resident's questions, help out an elderly man who has lost his way home, or report an apparent curfew violation. (In Asbury Park, unaccompanied juveniles must generally be indoors by 9:30 p.m. if they are 13 or under, and must be off the streets by 11 p.m. if they are between 14 and 17.)
But the group does a lot more than patrol: Members recently completed a survey of city street lights, and reported 122 darkened poles for repair. They also report missing street signs and other potential hazards.
And they provide traffic control at city events ranging from bicycle races to the Fourth of July parade, as well as a reassuring presence at the monthly First Saturday celebrations, the Friday night train station concerts, and other public events.
Nine members also completed a grueling, 20-hour Community Emergency Response Team program that included hands-on training in fire safety, disaster medical operations, search and rescue operations, terrorism response and more.
Their final exam involved responding to a simulated disaster, in which they carried "injured" children and teens down several flights of stairs and set up an emergency triage center.
Interested in learning more about the next COPs class? Call Lawson June at 732-988-3269.
Potential members must be city residents, aged 21 or above, who can pass an annual criminal background check and Division of Motor Vehicles check.
The group is also accepting donations to help them purchase warm winter jackets and hats for street patrol.
And if COPs membership seems a bit more than you can handle right now, you might consider joining the Northwest or Northeast Block Watch groups. (My understanding is that the Southwest Block Watch is not currently active.)
Headed respectively by Lawson June and Barbara Lesinski - a city police dispatcher who is also a COPs member - the two groups recently merged their meetings, which are now held at 7 p.m. on the last Monday of the month at Ballard United Methodist Church, 1515 Fourth Avenue.
Members not only get to sample Ann June's fabulous desserts, but they discuss crime-related issues ranging from speeding and street light problems to suspected gang and narcotic issues with representatives of the Asbury Park Police Department.
Past speakers have included municipal and county judges, the city manager, code enforcement officers, and members of the county Prosecutor's Office.
Still, Detective Connie Breech - the COPs' Police Department liaison - hopes you'll take that extra step and sign up for the next COPs class.
"The Citizens on Patrol are a great bridge between the community and Police Department," she said. "They're basically a Neighborhood Watch on wheels. They're people who care about the community and are willing to do something to help their neighbors.
"I hope that seeing them in action will convince more people to become involved."
JUNE 28, 2007 -- Last Thursday was the first official day of the 2007 summer. Make a note of that date because this is going to be the turnaround summer for Asbury Park. The activity level is taking off, and with it thousands will visit Asbury Park this summer to check it out and partake in many good times. Some will move to the city and call it home. The bottom line is: this is no false start, Asbury Park's revival is really happening.
We are also witnessing an increase in economic activity. As the Director of Commerce, the number of phone inquiries I am getting about locating a business in the city is increasing daily. Some smaller businesses are still struggling, but most are holding their own. Those businesses that sell construction materials and are UEZ members are doing very well. The restaurants are driving the economic turnaround and increasing the foot traffic. We now have three Zagat-rated restaurants in the city and Asbury Park has established itself as a dining destination. The Salt Water Beach Café opened in the former Howard Johnson's space in the Fifth Avenue Pavilion and has quickly become a favorite place to eat on the boardwalk. Two doors down Casa Di Formaggio is serving up some terrific fare that you must check out. La Tapatia on Main Street has moved to a new location right next door and now has a liquor license. Laila's, a new Latin infused cuisine restaurant just opened at 808 Fifth Avenue. Expanding upon its great reputation in New Brunswick, Old Man Rafferty's will be opening a 238-seat eatery in the Steinbach Building. Their dessert menu will blow you away. These newcomers join our long list of very established dining establishments.
Construction is well underway! Paramount Homes' North Beach project is just about finished and residents have already moved into the Seville building and will soon be moving into the Barcelona. Westminster Communities hosted a very festive open house last Friday to show off their Wesley Grove development. Units in that complex will also soon be occupied. The Steinbach Building is just about complete and boasts 61 beautiful loft type apartments. The Blu and Griffin are two other projects that are near completion.
Metro Home's Esperanza has started construction on the old C-8 site. Their sales office on the boardwalk has caused significant interest in this new project. We are all excited to welcome many new residents to the city.
The addition of Madison Marquette to handle the commercial development of the waterfront plan has had an immediate impact. The company, under the direction of Gary Mottola, quickly landscaped the area between Convention Hall and the Casino. The company is also completing the restoration of the Paramount Theatre and planning to open the facility on Friday, June 29. They renovated the old Howard Johnson's site in record time and have attracted additional new tenants to the oceanfront.
The City Council and management staff are dedicated to reviving the whole city. A redevelopment plan has been created for Springwood Avenue and will be presented to the Council for approval in the very near future. A redevelopment plan for Main Street is in process and should be completed by December. The commitment is in place to make sure every section of the city is part of the revival.
The city's employment initiative, Asbury Works, has also achieved significant success. Under the leadership of Tamara Richardson, the department has placed over 200 city residents in full time positions. In addition, a summer job program has been set up for city youth. Once the child has completed training, Asbury Works will help them get a summer job. Last year, Asbury Works successfully placed 110 young city residents.
The city's Urban Enterprise Zone Program continues to contribute to the economic turnaround. City businesses that are located in the designated zone can apply to the state to become certified in the program and receive economic incentives. Two of the most popular benefits are sales tax exemption from most materials and supplies they purchase for their business and reduced sales tax (3.5%) on selected items charged to their customers. The mission of the program is to create additional employment opportunities for city residents by providing economic incentives for new businesses to locate in Asbury Park and those already here, to expand.
The program is run by the Asbury Park Urban Enterprise Zone (APUEZ) Program under the leadership of local resident and business owner Malcolm Navias. The 3.5% sales tax that is collected by city UEZ certified businesses is put into a trust fund that is reinvested back into the city. The APUEZ provides facade improvement grants for Asbury Park UEZ businesses and also has set up a loan program where qualified UEZ businesses can borrow up to $25,000 at low interest rates for up to five years. In addition, UEZ funds have been used to purchase street cleaning equipment, fund foot patrolmen, provide funding for debit service to purchase four new fire trucks, purchase the new beach cleaning equipment, provide marketing funds for advertising, public relations, the city web site, street banners and special events, and assist in the purchase of four new police cars. The APUEZ also operates the city's Farmer's Market.
Last weekend, the city played host to a Frisbee tournament, the Paul Green School of Rock Concert, and a rodeo. This weekend, the Newark Museum will launch The 33rd Annual Newark Black Film Festival at the Baronet Theatre on Friday night. At the same time, The Paramount Theatre will reopen after extensive renovations. The weekend kicks off at 5 p.m. with the Mayor's Jazz Series at the transportation center. The following morning the Farmer's Market will launch the opening of the Saturday market at Fireman's Park on Main Street at 8 a.m. Right across the street in Sunset Park at noon, the 19th Annual Asbury Park Jazz Festival will kick off with its biggest line up ever! Thousands will be coming to the city to enjoy some of the world's best smooth jazz. We have always been a city known for its diversity and it just keeps getting better.
Make no mistake; Asbury Park is alive and well. We are an urban city that sits on the ocean. We still suffer from urban ills, but we are working very hard to turn it around and it is turning. We have one of the best beaches in the state, unique shops, wonderful restaurants and great entertainment venues. This is going to be an amazing summer in the city. There is no other place like it. So, come see for yourself what so many have already discovered: Asbury Park is well on its way!
OK, OK. So maybe Napoleon isn't exactly my idea of a role model - except perhaps in the height department - but sometimes plain old bull-headed, Columbo-style perseverance is the only way to go.
This week, I'll update you on two long-term battles - the search for a new Asbury Park senior center and the now interwoven drive to jumpstart beachfront redevelopment - and let you know why it's time to pay close attention to both.
Last month, I reported on the frustrating lack of progress in the five-year senior center debacle.
The good news was that there's significant money available from both Asbury Partners and Bruce Springsteen, and city Social Services Director Tony Nuccio has identified a large, pleasant and well-kept complex in the beachfront redevelopment area with room for both a senior center and an all-ages community center.
Better yet, the owner is willing to sell the property for fair market value, and Asbury Partners is willing to relinquish its redevelopment rights there in return for some as-yet-to-be-negotiated concessions from the city.
The frustrating part? All of this has been true for at least 2-1/2 years, and the city has failed to act.
So what's changed since mid-May? Reportedly, quite a lot:
At the June 12 senior community meeting, Councilman John Loffredo announced that the city has opened negotiations on the property, and he believes they will own it within the next 90 days.
Yes, that's OWN it, as in actually, actually own it. And, yes, I made him repeat that statement at least two times. Tony Nuccio believes that the building is essentially in move-in condition, which means that the seniors could celebrate the 2007 holidays in a spacious new home.
So what helped crack the proverbial logjam? As you've probably read, beachfront redeveloper Asbury Partners and national retail powerhouse Madison Marquette recently signed a joint venture agreement to develop and restore Asbury Park's beachfront as a major entertainment and retail center.
That's good news for fans of long-neglected treasures like the Paramount Theatre, Casino and Fifth Avenue Pavilion, where restoration work has finally begun. And Madison Marquette plans to contribute a hefty $150 million to $200 million to the project.
But Madison Marquette needs to establish the beachfront as a year-round destination to recoup its investment - and it's counting on winning some major changes to the 2002 beachfront redevelopment plan.
For example, company designers want to stretch the height of a planned oceanfront hotel to an astounding 25 stories, and they want to add 1,000 more parking spaces - a traffic-intensifying move that would also increase building heights close to the shore.
They also want to put substantial attractions (like an observation tower and water slide, Ferris wheel or carousel) - or even covered walkways - on the open spaces between the boardwalk pavilions. Such unanticipated structures would radically change the plan's original intent, which was to preserve the traditional ocean views and breezes along Asbury Park's east-west avenues.
Which means that city hall and the city council must steel themselves for some intense negotiations - and city residents and business owners must ensure that their needs aren't forgotten.
It also means that residents can't allow a repeat of April 5, 2006, when the council disturbingly and uncharacteristically voted to accept a revised beachfront redevelopment plan - without giving the public any opportunity to read or comment on it.
Suddenly, there's a lot at stake.
Madison Marquette's representatives will no doubt prove to be fierce and skilled negotiators - much more so than inexperienced Asbury Partners was five years ago. And the city council must ensure that they send equally fierce and skilled negotiators into the mix - and that they negotiate with top redevelopment stakeholders like Hugh Lamle (Asbury Partners' chief investor) and not just their unempowered intermediaries.
But before negotiations begin, the council must ensure they know exactly what they're willing to negotiate and what they're not - and what they expect in return. And they need to hear from city residents and experts like those on the beachfront Technical Review Committee to ensure they are winning - and conceding - the right things.
Which means that every council member needs to treat this as a full-time job for a while - not simply as an exercise where they get ten-minute reports and then play catch-up at vote time.
For the past three years I've advocated that the council and Asbury Partners post their joint redevelopment schedule on the city's website. While there may be a few items that fall in the "proprietary negotiations" category, the vast majority of them are public information - including when negotiations are occurring, who is involved, and when the public will be updated and encouraged to contribute.
All those milestones need to be publicly spelled out now.
Which brings us back to that long-awaited (and hopefully imminent) senior center. No doubt, that's a negotiating carrot that Asbury Partners is happy to dangle. But the city must ensure that it doesn't get lost in the larger negotiations, and that it doesn't become a politically charged bargaining chip to force council members to grant more than they should.
For the past year, a determined group of city seniors has been attending every council meeting, begging for progress. Now it's time to offer your support.
In the coming weeks, residents will be distributing a petition to senior residences, local churches and city organizations, asking council members to establish a "vibrant, fitting and beautiful new Senior and Recreation Center."
Want to help? Give me a call at 732-922-9588, and I'll be happy to mail one to you.
And every senior should attend the next city-sponsored update meeting on August 14 at 12:30 p.m. in the temporary senior center at Philips Seaview Tower.
With just a little perseverance, 2007 could be a benchmark year for both Asbury Park's seniors and for beachfront redevelopment.
We can't accept another Waterloo.
By the time I hit the business section, I thought I was home free. But there it was: "Unions critical of Asbury development; Metro Homes using city residents to complete high rise," the headline read.
It seems that Hoboken developer Dean Geibel is partnering with Asbury Works - the city's job training and placement agency - to hire 50 to 60 residents to work on the Esperanza, the high-style condominium that will replace the much-hated C-8 skeleton on Ocean Avenue.
But as wildly uplifting as the news was to city advocates, state and local union leaders turned out to protest. If city residents want a career rather than short-term work, one of them argued, why don't they join a union?
Why indeed? No doubt he already knew the answer. But I'm getting ahead of myself here.
U.S. Representative Frank Pallone - now in his 10th term representing Asbury Park in Washington - reprehensibly stood with union leaders, denouncing the hiring of local people.
My strongest memory of Pallone dates back 10 years, when the Asbury Park Homeowners Association was desperately petitioning county, state and federal elected officials and lawmen to help clean up the frustrating cesspool that was Asbury Park government.
On the night he was scheduled to speak to the Homeowners Association, Pallone arrived almost an hour late. He then held a sidebar conversation with an aide in front of his silently patient audience, and - without apologizing for the delay - launched into a largely canned speech before heading out the door.
We never saw him again, and he certainly offered no help.
He was equally absent from Asbury Park during my years on the city council: I saw him only once - and that was by accident in an Allenhurst bakery.
Yet there he was at the Esperanza, warning, "If we don't take a stand now, we are going to see the continued deterioration of who works on these sites."
Deterioration? Oh, right - he must be referring to those job-starved Asbury Park residents.
As the council rep on the task force that established Asbury Works, I learned early that unions have entry requirements like algebra, a high school diploma or GED, a driver's license, and the ability to pass random drug tests.
I also learned that meeting those requirements is not easy for Asbury Park's neediest citizens. When I participated in a 2002 job-readiness forum sponsored by the STARS Community Development Corporation, 23 percent of the first 144 applicants did not have a diploma or GED, and a whopping 59 percent did not have a driver's license.
The union apprenticeship program itself requires a major time commitment, and candidates must be prepared to work during the day while training at night, adding to the already vexing child care and transportation issues afflicting the urban poor.
Equally telling, the union leaders we interviewed made it unmistakably clear that there just weren't many union openings available - and my suspicion is that most slots go to the brothers, sons and friends (dare I add sisters, daughters and wives?) of current union members.
Which is why we established the city-run Asbury Works job agency in the first place, using community development money from Asbury Partners. It was our best hope for easing impoverished city residents back into the job market and improving their skill sets.
It is also why city redevelopment contracts require that builders hire a certain number of city residents.
Of course, Pallone had an extremely compelling reason to join in the union protest: Unions contribute heavily to election campaigns and they make influential endorsements. And union members definitely vote.
The same isn't true for the Asbury Park residents who lead Pallone's Sixth District in poverty, unemployment, single parenthood, and high school drop-out rates.
Pallone also announced that he asked federal immigration officials to ensure that no undocumented immigrants work at the site. What a stand-up guy!
I only wonder how many politically tinged dinners he attends each month that are cooked and served by undocumented immigrants. Or how many of his major backers employ undocumented immigrants in their businesses - or as cleaning people, gardeners or nannies in their homes.
Given his righteous indignation, I'm surprised that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office hasn't given him a personal hotline.
Of course, the good news is that Pallone's paparazzi visit provided Asbury Park with a long overdue opportunity. I hope that both the city council and Board of Education will invite him to some high-visibility meetings to explore how he can help city residents obtain training and well-paying union and non-union jobs.
Local citizens' groups should do the same.
And I hope they'll join with the Asbury Park city council in praising Dean Geibel of Metro Homes - and local businessmen like Danny Yim of Value Express - for hiring and training city adults and teens.
I'll even add my own offer: Spend a day in Asbury Park, Mr. Pallone, and I'll introduce you to some of the under-funded organizations that have tackled this problem for years.
Afterwards, we can visit the homes of struggling city parents - like the ones Metro Homes offered to hire.
And we'll spend a few hours walking Asbury Park's toughest streets, where a sad number of city teens will spend the summer engaged in Asbury Park's most lucrative - and illegal - occupations.
But this time, please: No aides, no security details, and no trailing press members.
Welcome to the real Asbury Park, Mr. Pallone. After almost 20 years and 10 terms in office, it's time to get to know the people you represent.
This week, I'm writing about a different facility that's both sorely needed and way overdue: The long-promised Asbury Park senior and recreation center.
And if I sound a bit weary today, well, I am: Been there. Done that. Several times, in fact. But here we go again...
In an April 24th response to senior queries, City Manager Terry Reidy wrote, "the mayor and city council have made a public commitment to find a site to open a new senior center. This commitment was publicly announced at the February 7, 2007 council meeting."
Actually, that extremely public commitment was made five years ago, in 2002, when the council (of which I was then a member) agreed to sell the First Avenue Pavilion where the senior center was located.
It was reinforced in early 2003, when a badly deteriorated heating system forced the early evacuation of the senior's boardwalk facility.
It was made yet a third time in December, 2003, when the city solicited and accepted $200,000 from Bruce Springsteen to be used exclusively towards the purchase of a city-owned senior and recreation center.
And it was made cement-solid in January, 2004, when the council held a one-day retreat and pledged to spend a third of its first $2 million in community development funds from Asbury Partners for that very use.
So where does that commitment stand?
Fortunately, the money is still available: According to the city's Finance Department, the Springsteen donation has grown to almost $220,000 with the addition of interest, and it's only been tapped once - to pay an architectural consultant about $5,100 to estimate the cost of turning the Lake Avenue VFW building into a temporary senior center.
As it turned out, that facility would have required close to $1 million in immediate upgrades alone, and the proposal was abandoned last year.
As for Asbury Partners' $2 million community development grant - an obligation that Asbury Partners incurred under the beachfront redevelopment plan - I'm told that just under $1.4 million (including almost $150,000 in interest) remains.
According to our January, 2004 council strategy meeting, that $2 million was to be divided three ways: to establish a city-run job center; to promote affordable housing; and to establish a city-run community center featuring a vastly improved senior center and an all-ages recreation facility.
In the intervening 3-1/2 years, the Asbury Works employment center has been established. The city has purchased some West Side lots for affordable housing. And the city has funded additional recreation programs.
What the city hasn't done, however - with almost two-thirds of the Asbury Partners money and the entire Springsteen donation still languishing in the bank - is honor its commitment to open a viable senior and community center. (And, yes, the second installment of Asbury Partners' $7 million obligation should be on the horizon.)
What's causing the delay? That's a very good question - and an April 24th e-mail I sent to the city council and city manager, requesting interviews for this column, yielded no response. But the city manager's letter to the seniors provides some clues, as did a recent senior community meeting attended by Social Services Department Head Tony Nuccio and Councilman John Loffredo.
According to both sources, the council recently reviewed a list of available properties in Asbury Park and authorized negotiations to begin on a property situated in the beachfront redevelopment zone.
The owners are reportedly eager to sell their complex, and Asbury Partners is willing to relinquish its redevelopment rights there in return for some as-yet-to-be-negotiated concessions from the city.
Still, the city manager's letter cautions the seniors that "a matter of this nature doesn't happen overnight."
That's abundantly evident: Based on all descriptions, the property is undoubtedly the same one that Tony Nuccio has been tirelessly promoting since I joined the council in 2001 - and the good news is that it's large, pleasant, nicely located, and (from all indications) already in move-in condition for both senior and recreational uses.
The exasperating part? Nothing has changed in over 2-1/2 years.
Months before I left the council in December, 2004, those same property owners had already offered to sell their building to the city - at fair market value, no less - and Asbury Partners COO Larry Fishman had expressed real interest in negotiations to let the city remove it from the beachfront redevelopment zone.
And, while Tony Nuccio often takes the heat in the senior center debacle, the truth is that every council member and the city manager were fully aware of those facts in 2004, and - as the one-time senior liaison - I reiterated the deal in e-mails or talks with the entire council after the 2005 election.
I also wrote extensively about this same opportunity in two columns in spring, 2006, both of which are still available on asburypark.net.
I had especially hoped that the council would use some of Asbury Partners' slipping boardwalk deadlines as leverage to obtain the property without granting them further concessions, but apparently those negotiations were never conducted. (And, yes, it is the responsibility of the city council and city manager - not the Social Services Department Head - to conduct negotiations and authorize capital spending.)
So, here we are in May, 2007 - at the exact same spot the city was in December, 2004 - with no indication of why the city didn't carry through on the planned negotiations.
Frustrated? You bet. But nowhere near as frustrated as the city seniors who have learned to expect weak excuses for five years while the money sits unused in the bank. Who have been toughing it out (and, in many cases, abandoning) the seniors' latest and least workable location in a very public room at Phillips Seaview Tower while their nutrition program moved to Asbury Tower.
Who have watched their participatory senior council diminish to a six-times-a-year "no progress" report. Who attend every council meeting waiting for good news that never comes.
Last week, I met with several sets of seniors who expressed all of these frustrations, and some of them plan to circulate a petition asking for the council's immediate action. I hope you will sign it - and pass it along to your friends and neighbors - when it becomes available in the next few weeks.
And please feel free to call me at 732-922-9588 if you would like a copy.
In the meantime, several seniors asked me to remind city council members of yet another public commitment they made to establish a viable senior center: The occasion was the 2005 city election, and council members vigorously begged for seniors' votes.
It's time they show equal zeal in fulfilling the seniors' needs.
It is also a call for compassion - the kind that seems to get forgotten when people talk about Monmouth County's most overburdened city.
As you've probably read, the leaders of Morristown's Market Street Mission want to locate their 40-bed Jersey Shore Rescue Mission on Memorial Drive. Twenty-seven of those beds would be devoted to homeless men who could sleep there no more than 10 nights in a row.
Ten additional beds would be devoted to men who participate in the gospel mission's six-to-12-month program, and three beds would be reserved for staff.
By its own estimates, the mission would serve 962 men a year, in a city that currently counts 20 to 25 chronic homeless people and some number of transient homeless.
Local opponents point out that the shelter does not perform background checks; that it does not accept women or families; that it is not state-licensed to do drug or alcohol counseling; and that it will not provide more than a sleeping and eating spot for the vast majority of clients.
They warn that it will draw displaced men from around the state, who will roam the city's streets by day - with no responsibility by the mission to provide social services, job training or counseling during or after those 10-day stays.
In contrast, supporters argue that it is "morally wrong" for residents to oppose the facility, and that "all men have the right to food, clothing and shelter."
I essentially agree with the last part of that statement - which is why I find it so hard to understand why any compassionate person would support placing the Jersey Shore Rescue Mission in Asbury Park.
Let's look at the facts:
So how equipped is Asbury Park to deal - logistically or compassionately - with the prospect of dozens (or hundreds) of additional homeless men on its streets?
One of the startling things I learned as a councilwoman was that Asbury Park cannot collect taxes on an amazing 30 percent of its total property value because the land and buildings are either municipally owned or - in an unusually high number of cases - owned by non-profit organizations that are exempt from paying tax.
As a result - and because of decades of neglect and the high volume of social services it must offer - Asbury Park had the highest tax rate in Monmouth County last year, according to the Affordable Housing Alliance, and the city is reportedly struggling with a $5 million budget shortfall this year.
Will the state or county come to its rescue? Not likely, and not without a struggle - despite the fact that New Jersey boasted the highest median household income of any state - or world nation - in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
So should Asbury Park be forced to shoulder yet one more burden, when it is so ill-equipped to provide the basic necessities for its current population?
The wealthy "not in my back yard" crowd are probably hoping so.
But I fail to see how any compassionate person could expect the city to welcome a facility that would draw hundreds of needy men from around the state - and then fail to provide for them in a meaningful, long-term way.
Are you (rightfully) concerned about the homeless problem in Monmouth County or Asbury Park? Then visit the next county Freeholder's meeting. The county's current homeless facility at Fort Monmouth has only 31 beds, and I understand that the number may decrease when the fort closes.
And, because the county shelter is located on federal property, the neediest people are often excluded because they can't pass a criminal background check. Surely, wealthy Monmouth County could do more - much more - for the homeless and Asbury Park.
Want to help Asbury Park's most needy residents? Support successful programs like Epiphany House that provides long-term support to get impoverished and recovering families back on their feet, or Interfaith Neighbors that builds beautiful, affordable homes for the working poor.
Start or expand a mentoring or tutoring program for Asbury Park's beleaguered children to keep them in school, on track, and out of gangs - particularly with summer fast approaching.
Support Asbury Park's substantial (and often impoverished) senior population in obtaining a long-promised Senior Center and activities that compare with surrounding towns. (And, yes, I'll be tackling the Senior Center issue in an up-coming column.)
And stop making it a point of honor to drive a wedge between poor, longtime residents and the new wealthier ones whose skills and resources could ultimately spell the difference between the city we know and the city we'd all like to see.
Asbury Park has enough social challenges to strain the limits of anyone's compassion. The Jersey Shore Rescue Mission will only compound that burden while failing to serve the local homeless in a meaningful way.
It's time to offer Asbury Park some true compassion.
That's the day city residents will elect five individuals for one of the most onerous, thankless (and unpaid) jobs in Monmouth County: Asbury Park Board of Education member.
Asbury Park has an unprecedented five positions open on its nine-member board this year, due to the resignation of two board members. As always, there are 3 three-year positions available. The two unexpired terms are for two years and one year, respectively.
Recently, I wrote about the traumatic state of the city's schools, and the need for a stable board to hire an effective and responsive school superintendent. I also told you why we can't put our confidence in the politically constrained Intervention Team appointed by the state.
Fortunately, Asbury Park voters have some solid candidates to choose from this year.
Top on my list is incumbent Frank D'Alessandro, who is running for the one-year seat vacated by long-time board member Eileen Sonnier. (Eileen was obligated to resign when she moved from Asbury Park.)
Frank, as you hopefully know, is a tireless voice for real reform in Asbury Park's beleaguered school system and he won't be bowed by political pressure. His voice is often the strongest one we hear on behalf of city school children.
A retired Middletown math teacher and former teacher's union president, Frank is an Asbury Park Library Board member and former Coaster columnist. And - unlike the parade of elected officials whose major skill seems to be funneling money into their own pockets - Frank is a generous and unpretentious giver, whether he's saving the childhood home of writer Stephen Crane or quietly donating scholarship funds for Asbury Park children.
When it comes to three-year positions, I support Marie Castro, who was recently appointed to fill an unexpired term on the board. Castro is an adjunct professor of English at Lehman College, part of The City University of New York, and a resident of Asbury Tower. She has already received positive reviews for her stabilizing influence and clear common sense.
I also strongly support new candidate Thomas Pavinski, a semi-retired psychotherapist and co-owner of Studebaker's Antiques. Tom has chaired the city's Environmental Shade Tree Commission for five years, and writes the Coaster's "New Shade of Green" column.
He is smart, caring, calming in tense situations, and - as his leadership on the once-lagging Shade Tree Commission has shown - extremely effective at getting things done.
(By the way: In the interests of full disclosure, Tom and his partner purchased my former Asbury Park gallery building last year, and they are preparing to open Heaven, an antique shop and gallery there.)
Finally, and certainly not least, I support Barbara Lesinski for a three-year term. Lesinski, an Asbury Park police dispatcher, is a former Asbury Park Housing Authority chair and commissioner who helped clean up that authority when it hit rock bottom a decade ago.
She is a member of the Asbury Park Citizens on Patrol, the Neighborhood Watch, and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office's Community Justice Advisory Board - the group that brought two anti-gang seminars to Asbury Park, among other activities. She is also active on the Wesley Lake commission.
But the main reason I support Barbara is because she is fearless: Several years back, when Asbury Park had what was arguably the worst city council and Board of Education in its history, Barbara filed successful ethics complaints against both of those bodies.
In return, she found herself (unsuccessfully) sued by the Board of Education in federal court; her name was scrawled on a cemetery headstone in an anonymous flyer; and the former city council (at least three of whom have since been indicted and/or convicted on federal charges) had their city manager banish her from the Police Department to an out-of-sight job at the sewer plant. Barbara never caved in.
Is there anyone I definitely wouldn't vote for? Yes, starting with Gregory Hopson Sr., who was inexplicably tapped to fill a temporary vacancy on the board in January. Hopson led a particularly nasty campaign to have a head football coach reappointed - despite a finding that the coach had sexually harassed another teacher.
And he reportedly led a vigorous - and ultimately unfounded - attack on another board member that cost the district needless expense and the board member needless distress. Such misplaced divisiveness - which was marked by the usual inflammatory, anonymous flyers - is exactly what the school system doesn't need.
Which is primarily why Asbury Park Fire Inspector and current Board of Education Vice President Garrett Giberson surprisingly didn't make my list: Despite the availability of at least one other suitable candidate, Giberson nominated Hopson for the school board position, seconded by longtime school administration apologist Adrienne Sanders.
While I can think of several political strategy reasons for such a nomination, I can think of no rational one that would benefit city children or their schools. I hope voters will ask Giberson for a clear explanation before election day.
I would also hesitate to support any candidate running with longtime incumbent Adrienne Sanders. Sanders has been an ardent supporter of suspended School Superintendent Antonio Lewis who, as I've previously written, was strikingly ineffective and unresponsive as both superintendent and middle school principal.
Unfortunately, Sanders is running unopposed for the two-year term. Her only opponent suddenly withdrew after the filing deadline and announced he would run for a three-year, write-in term - on a ticket with Sanders, Hobson and two others.
But, however you vote, please remember just how much your vote really does count, particularly in school board elections where voter turnout is abysmal. And your vote is particularly crucial now that the state has loosened the rules for absentee ballots - a traditional source of voter fraud in Asbury Park.
If you need more convincing, I hope you will also consult two eye-opening Internet links: http://education.state.nj.us/rc/rc05/dataselect.php?c=25;d=0100;s=010;lt=A;st=A&datasection=all and http://www.monmouthhumanservices.org/Acrobat/Youth_Services_Data.pdf.
The first is a detailed report card on Asbury Park schools, provided by the NJ Department of Education. The second shows sobering statistics compiled by the Monmouth County Youth Services Commission on everything from city poverty levels to the rates of child abuse and juvenile crime.
Planning to be out of town on April 17? Call City Clerk Steve Kay at 732-502-5718 or the county election offices at 732-431-7785 for absentee ballot forms and information. Mailed applications must reach the County Clerk's office seven days before the election, or they can be personally delivered until 3 p.m. on April 16.
Finally, as Board of Education members struggle with this year's budget and its affect on city taxes, I'd like to make one more recommendation: A few years ago, the state Department of Education reported that a former board attorney had improperly charged the board by more than $300,000 during his relatively short tenure there.
The state ordered the board to recoup those fees, but former board members never did. With tax hikes looming, now would be a good time to ask the state Intervention Team for help in recovering that money.
With any luck, board members could offer Asbury Park taxpayers the best Tax Day refund they've seen in a long, long time.
That defender is Municipal Court Judge Mark Apostolou, who has served here for the past 12 years, and at least two city council members may reportedly vote against him when his three-year contract ends in May.
I was on the city council when Judge Apostolou's contract came up the last time, and here are a few of the claims I heard - and the facts I learned:
Myth: Asbury Park's Municipal Court is weak on major crime, particularly on drug and weapons offenses.
Fact: With the alarming rise in violent gang activity in Asbury Park, it's no surprise that residents and business owners are clamoring for tougher sentences for drug and weapon offenders.
What most people don't realize, however, is that none of these offenses (with the exception of the most minor cases of marijuana possession) are ever heard in municipal court.
All indictable offenses - and that includes most marijuana cases and every drug offense involving heroin, crack, cocaine, Oxycontin or anything else - are heard at the county level or higher, even if the arrest was made by Asbury Park police officers.
Thus, what you won't see in Asbury Park - or in any other municipal court - are the indictable offenses that frustrate residents the most: drug charges, weapons offenses, murder, sexual assault, burglary, or theft of more than $200.
What you also won't see are juvenile offenders under the age of 18: Those cases also fall into the jurisdiction of the Monmouth County court system.
Myth: Judge Apostolou is soft on sentencing.
Fact: Having watched Judge Apostolou in action on numerous occasions, it doesn't surprise me that a casual observer might leave with this faulty impression.
Like a classic mom warning that "You're going to poke your eye out if you keep running with that stick," the Judge likes to preface his sentences by reciting how much time (and how many fines) an offender could rack up if he or she continued on their criminal path.
And Apostolou goes out of his way to keep his always crowded - and potentially volatile - courtroom civil, and to offer first-time offenders counseling options to reclaim their lives.
But while that parental demeanor may leave the impression that he is under-sentencing criminals in the present, Judge Apostolou accurately describes himself as "one of the strictest sentencing judges in Monmouth County."
"I'm very strong on strict sentencing guidelines," he explained. "That's my way of grabbing people's attention."
It's not an idle boast: The Monmouth County attorneys and city police officials I've interviewed over the years have unanimously agreed.
Myth: Judge Apostolou is soft when it comes to granting parole.
Fact: Judge Apostolou has nothing to do with parole.
One underlying fact of court life is that municipal judges cannot impose sentences longer than six months in the county jail for individual crimes, although Judge Apostolou can - and does - dole out consecutive sentences stretching longer than that.
Unfortunately, county parole officers actually determine when prisoners get released - without the sentencing judge's input - and they often parole prisoners with six-month sentences in as little as 40 days. (This is in stark contrast to the federal system, which requires inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their terms.)
Ironically, one of my law enforcement sources told me that inmates sentenced to shorter terms often serve more jail time than inmates with six-month sentences - simply because they are less likely to get a quick parole.
All of which makes it harder to simply sit in on Friday morning court and understand what is actually transpiring.
So what does get accomplished in Asbury Park's Municipal Court? A mind-boggling amount.
As I wrote in October, 2004, Judge Apostolou typically handles about 150 cases a week here, including criminal charges, citizen complaints, municipal code violations, traffic infractions, arraignments, and even boating, jet ski, and fish and game issues.
He is also on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, sometimes logging well over a dozen court-related phone calls between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
And although you won't catch him complaining, the reality is that - on a case-volume basis - his well-organized Asbury Park staff is only about half as large as what other municipalities provide.
And the fact that Apostolou is a full-time judge in multiple towns means that he's well-known for spotting repeat perpetrators from other municipalities - something that many part-time judges couldn't do.
So why consider replacing the judge? For one thing, I suspect that some city council members are eager to show their frustrated constituents that they're being tough on crime by doing something different - even if that perception isn't necessarily supported by reality.
But before city council members take their vote, I hope you will urge them to do this: Talk to area attorneys and their top law enforcement officers about the judge's record. Sit in on Friday court if they've never done so. And interview Judge Apostolou, one-on-one.
Otherwise, they're basing their vote on emotion and hearsay.
And this position is just too important for that.
If there's one thing I learned in public life, it's that very little stays constant, regardless of its merits. Still, it will be a great loss if the council chooses to replace Mark Apostolou on the municipal judge's bench.
Asbury Park can use all the dedicated, above-board - and truly effective - friends it can get.
But there he was in federal court last week: Former Atlantic City Council President Craig Callaway, explaining away $36,000 in bribes he took from Terry Jacobs, a contractor and FBI informant.
"Mr. Jacobs ... hired local people, he empowered them economically," argued a tearful Mr. Callaway, minutes after strolling into court with his middle finger raised.
"I just want to help the people ... I tried to make my own rules to make things better for the people who have been left out."
Uhm, yeah. Right.
When it comes to "conflicts of interest" of the Callaway criminal variety, New Jersey's best (and usually only) defense is U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie, who has already won over 100 convictions or guilty pleas - including a disturbingly large number from elected officials and government employees in Monmouth County.
But as recent headlines demonstrate, it's in the not-blatantly-criminal "gray areas" that things really get tricky: There's Governor Corzine, for example, negotiating state union contracts while secretly gifting hundreds of thousands (and perhaps millions) of dollars to former girlfriend Carla Katz, who heads one of the state's biggest unions.
And there's major Republican donor and former Jeb Bush business partner J. David Eller winning a $26.6 million federal contract and delivering 34 defective flood-control pumps to New Orleans - despite the fact that his company is being sued by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly helping Nigeria fraudulently obtain $74 million in loans for overpriced and unnecessary water-pump equipment.
Closer to home, there's the ongoing front-page flap over whether Monmouth County Freeholder Director William Barham exerted undue influence on behalf of a major county contractor with whom he has business ties - even though Barham has abstained from voting on issues related to that contractor.
Or, alternatively, whether county Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery - who has funneled over $200,000 of his personal money into his party's campaign coffers - should have been granted a lucrative long-term lease to house a state Motor Vehicle Commission office in his Hazlet shopping center.
When you get right down to it, of course, you could argue that every elected office inherently involves some conflicts of interest: After all, there's no way to vote on a municipal budget without affecting both your own tax burden and your quality of life.
And most elected officials are active enough in their communities that they're bound to have ties to multiple organizations, professionals, residents and local businesses. But there's a clear difference between voting on, say, a new police chief and voting your own brother into the job.
And public officials need to do more than just abstain from voting in potential conflict cases: During my first year in office, I attended a seminar for newly elected officials at the November League of Municipalities conference in Atlantic City. There, a panel of state government experts made it clear that officials with conflicts of interest should not only abstain from voting, but should actually leave the room whenever the topic is discussed.
Unfortunately, the lines are not always clear, and municipal attorneys sometimes give conflicting advice.
When Asbury Park established a downtown redevelopment zone, for example, our former city attorney had to rule whether my participation would constitute a conflict of interest, given that I owned a 12-foot-wide parcel in the 12-block downtown area.
After several flip-flops, our attorney decided that I should abstain on all votes - but he didn't feel it was necessary that I leave the room during discussions. At the time, I took a drubbing from both my colleagues and some members of the public who thought I was being overly dramatic by going out anyway.
Then, a year or two later, the city almost lost a lawsuit because another conflicted council member remained in the room during a discussion. Because the remaining council members took a second vote, we escaped with just a written scolding from the judge.
Which is why I was startled when county attorney Malcolm Carton ruled that Freeholder Director Bill Barham could remain in the room for a presentation on the Hall of Records construction project - a project on which he had a clear conflict of interest - leaving Barham open to a firestorm of criticism.
And Barham himself failed to abstain on a vote to retain Carton as county counsel last summer - despite the fact that Carton served as Barham's campaign manager and has been a major Republican fund-raiser. (Such blatant conflicts of interest are the reason I remain committed to strong pay-to-play laws.)
And while Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery said that the state approached him to rent his building - since it reportedly was the only large vacancy in the area, and cost less than their previous site - I have a hard time understanding how Rebecca Aaronson - his Democratic Party Vice-Chair - was coincidentally hired last year to head that same Motor Vehicle office, with a $77,000 salary and no apparent job experience. (Asbury Park job center, are you listening?!)
Of course, when it comes to conflicts of interest, even the "good government" League of Municipalities isn't immune: By day, at the League's annual conference, state elected officials can choose from over 100 helpful workshops and meet over 900 potential vendors.
By night, however, the large financial institutions and contractors take over, offering huge, lavish parties replete with free food, alcohol, and concerts by the likes of the Beach Boys. All of which, of course, will eventually be charged back to taxpayers when those companies win contracts with local officials.
League week is also when many legal and engineering firms take entire city councils and key city employees out for expensive "getting to know you" dinners that participants say are totally above board.
Maybe so. But the costs of those meals get charged back somehow and - whether or not city business is discussed - it's a closed-door schmoozing party that just shouldn't be happening. I attended one such dinner during my first year in office - with the city's then-engineering firm - and vowed "never again".
This year's League conference is scheduled for the week of November 12. If your town is sending representatives, and they probably are, you might want to publicly ask in mid-October whether they've been invited to any private vendor get-togethers - and request that they decline.
(By the way - At that introductory League seminar, the experts claimed that elected officials can only abstain on a vote if they have a clear conflict of interest and leave the room before any discussion begins. They cannot abstain at vote time simply because they want to avoid publicly committing on an unpopular issue. Just try and enforce that one!)
It's an unavoidable fact of public life: Elected officials are routinely thrown into ambivalent situations with people whose motives they can't entirely trust. The real disgrace is that double-talking party leaders and backroom bosses at every level of New Jersey government have consistently resisted strong ethics reforms.
Until state residents can convince elected officials that it's in their own best interests to pass - and enforce - such laws, Chris Christie will sadly remain our best line of defense.
Legendary rocker Southside Johnny calls it his "now and forever" Asbury Park dining spot, and longtime resident Ann June - no slouch in the cooking department herself - claims they have the best cheddar cheeseburgers anywhere.
Asbury Park attorney Tom DeSeno figures that "more business gets conducted there than anywhere else in the city. I've even settled cases there."
It's Frank's Deli & Restaurant, of course, and it's been an Asbury Park institution for almost 50 years.
Within five years of returning from World War II, young Frank Maggio found himself with a beautiful bride - the former Maria Casaburi - and three hungry toddlers: Tommy, Maura and Frankie. His days were spent working in Long Branch's popular Baldanza's Bakery, owned by his mother's sisters.
First, he tried selling a baby stroller that converted to a crib and high chair. Then he peddled frozen pizzas, sandwiches and garlic bread to food stores at a time when frozen meals were still a slightly suspect novelty.
Daughter Maura - who spends almost as much time behind Frank's deli counter as brother Joe - even appeared on her dad's billboard as a toddler, munching a defrosted pizza slice.
But it wasn't until 1960 - when Frank opened a general store and deli next to their current location - that he really hit his stride.
In the days before Wawa and 7-Eleven, Frank and Maria carried everything from diapers and canned goods to newspapers and cleaning supplies. And Maura, who worked there with several of her siblings, can still tick off many of the original prices, including cigarettes for 29 cents and bread for a nickel.
About the time daughter Gina was born in 1965, Frank and Maria moved to their present location at 1406 Main Street, the site of a former bicycle and lawnmower shop.
Today the Maggio family is known for their cooked-to-perfection breakfasts, their over-stuffed sandwiches (the corned beef, swiss and pastrami club with cole slaw and Russian dressing will put you away), giant Greek salads, frothy milkshakes, homemade soups, and daily specials.
And while they may share the calorie and fat content of their fast-food cousins, Frank's Deli foods are something that many of us haven't tasted since our '60s moms threw us out to fend for ourselves: Pure home-cooked comfort food, minus the preservatives.
Siblings Joe and Maura and their staff make all their own muffins, pastries and rolls - even those truck-tire-sized bagels. They bake their turkey, ham and roast beef from scratch, and boil their own pastrami and corned beef. And, of course, their daily-special soups, macaroni salad, potato salad, and cole slaw are all homemade.
Area breakfast and lunch crowds definitely respond: On any given day, you'll find a happy mix of elected officials, police officers, firefighters, teachers, business people, construction workers, retirees, tattoo-covered musicians, vacationers, and families with kids - both local and not.
"I see more of my family in Frank's Deli than I do on holidays," said Tommy DeSeno, who started eating there as a kid and who still gets involved in lunchtime political discussions that can stretch into 2-1/2 hour debates at the back counter.
"We call it the Counter of Wisdom," Tommy cracked, noting that power brokers - and political watchers - from all levels of government have always congregated there.
He particularly remembers the late Assemblyman Tom Smith, who ate breakfast there at least once a week: ''He'd never join in our discussions, but he'd pretty much end them - contributing some bright pearl of wisdom just before he left."
Other newsmakers who have eaten there include Bruce Springsteen, Joey Ramone, Sean Lennon, Kevin Bacon, Burt Young (from the Rocky movies), Felipe Rose (of the Village People), and too many musicians to count.
Disney Channel's Ashley Tisdale ate there as a child, and her young female fans regularly snap cell phone pictures of her autographed photo, which is propped up behind the counter.
Of course, no one's spent more time in Frank's than Frank and Maria's kids, all of whom worked there as teenagers and who dined there nightly while baby Gina played on the floor. Family birthday and confirmation parties were held there, and Maura even held her engagement party at Frank's.
On their days off, they swam in the Monte Carlo and Seventh Avenue pools, or ice-skated on Sunset Lake, but working at Frank's had its perks: all four of the older kids met their future spouses there.
Maura eventually took a 20-year leave to raise her children, but family members like to tell visitors that "Joey's serving 30 years to life, and he doesn't get time off for good behavior."
Joe - who can usually be spotted behind the grill seven days a week - recalls that he once went through a 10-year period when he virtually didn't take a day off. He even worked on his wedding day. Then his wife Valerie insisted that he close shop on Christmas Day to be with their kids.
Before Frank Sr.'s death in the mid-1990s, Frank's stayed open until midnight. Maria retired 10 years ago, but the restaurant remains a family place with aunts, great aunts, and most of Frank and Maria's grandkids working there at one time or another.
One of the odder entries on an early Frank's menu (if you exclude the - sorry, fans! - sardine or chopped chicken liver sandwiches) was the Dagwood Special: a startling concoction of ham, cheese, turkey, roast beef, corned beef, sardines, bacon, lettuce, tomato, Russian dressing, onion and garlic butter for the astounding price of $1.00. (A note on the menu warned that "Joey has one a day and it keeps everyone away.")
A Frank Maggio original recipe, it still appears - minus a few of the scarier condiments - on the menu today.
"But surely no one ever orders it?" I asked Maura and TJ, Joey's son. They both looked startled.
"Actually, we usually sell two or three a day," Maura laughed, "although most people ask us to hold the sardines."
Home cooking, indeed.
Frank's Deli & Restaurant is open Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Sometimes you'll wake up in the middle of the night and literally scrawl 80 percent of a column into a bedside notebook before drifting back to sleep. (And, yes, that's how this column was written.)
Other times, you'll spend entire days retyping the same handful of sentences that seem to go nowhere, except back to the kitchen for another handful of cookies.
Then there's the public reaction: Sometimes you won't hear from anyone for weeks (except mom and dad, sheepishly reminding you to send John Ward's Coaster column along with your own).
Then a complete stranger will hug you in a restaurant and tell you to keep writing. Or people will call all week, weighing in on a subject that somehow hit a nerve.
My last column - which involved more cookie-eating than I'd like to remember - was like that: The phone began ringing immediately, with readers concerned about the April school board election and about some potential Asbury Park candidates who would inspire more "For Sale" signs than election signs.
And, yes, this will be an unusually critical election, with five spots open on the nine-member board and the appointment of an all-powerful school superintendent hanging in the balance.
Why should you care? Last time, I cited several reasons, including our truly abysmal high school graduation rate of 66.9 percent. (And, yes, that's for 2005, not 1905.) But there's more, and it's definitely chilling:
In the 2004-2005 school year, only 33.3 percent of Asbury Park High School kids passed the literacy portion of the High School Proficiency test, compared with 83.2 percent for the state.
Equally sickening, only 23.1 percent were proficient in math, compared with 75.5 percent for New Jersey.
The middle school numbers were even worse: Only 20.3 percent of Asbury Park eighth graders demonstrated literacy proficiency, 14.7 percent demonstrated math proficiency, and 31 percent demonstrated science proficiency that year.
What happens when these same kids start having kids of their own in a few years - or sooner? And what happens next week when members of an organized gang convince them that there's a surer way to get ahead?
(And, yes, if you are one of Asbury Park's newest residents - who came here looking for a vacation home, rather than a political cause - I certainly understand. But you might also want to ponder the following phrases: Quality of life. Property values. Tax bite. Any questions?)
Even Asbury Park's faculty is at loose ends, with an incredible 46 percent of them moving in or out of the district during the 2004-2005 school year. What's going on?
No one denies that Asbury Park - with its profound poverty and deep-rooted social problems - would tax even Hilary Swank's unstoppable inner-city teacher in "Freedom Writers". But a significant part of what's going on, I suspect, is an ineffective central office that has failed to connect with students, the community, the faculty and the school board.
And this year's board members will select a new superintendent - one who will shape the system (and recommend school personnel) for years to come.
What can you do?
1. Register to vote, and go to the polls on April 17. This should be a no-brainer, but it's definitely not.
In a city with 7,668 registered voters, last year's top Board of Education candidate received only 385 votes, and one candidate took office with a meager 256 votes. Less than 14 percent of city voters even went to the polls.
That's dismal - particularly with Asbury Park's 100-year-old reputation for crooked elections. Local watchdog groups have worked hard to clean up election abuses in recent years, but there's a major new loophole: The state recently made it much easier to submit absentee ballots, a traditional source of voter fraud here.
So, yes, your vote really does count - far more than you'd imagine.
March 27 is the last day to register, but do it now - before you forget. (Call Asbury Park City Clerk Steve Kay at 732-502-5718 or the county election offices at 732-431-7785 for forms and information.)
And please: Request voter registration forms for your friends and neighbors, as well.
2. Run for office. Yes, I know: This is a tough one. But it doesn't matter how many people turn out to vote if there's no one to vote for. And rumor has it that some less-than-perfect candidates are considering a run this spring.
Why would they care? As a state-supported Abbott district, Asbury Park's school system is a lucrative cash cow, with an annual budget of about $80 million - well over twice that of city hall.
And this year's board will be the most important one in recent history because its members will appoint a new superintendent.
That superintendent will not only set the tone for the entire system (the last one even ignored telephone calls from the city council), but he or she will nominate the individuals who fill every major post from principal to football coach.
And, yes, I'd like to see local people get those jobs - but not at the expense of city kids who need the best people out there.
So please search your heart and consider running for office - or encourage someone you know who has the brains, heart and integrity for the job.
Do it because you care, do it because it's the right thing to do - or in the case of simply registering to vote - do it because it's in your own best interests. But do it.
City Rumor Mill: At least two people are reportedly spreading a nasty rumor about Asbury Park's beachfront redeveloper - and they're naming me as the source of the story. While it's flattering to think that my name still carries a little juice, please rest assured: The redeveloper rumor is definitely false.
In a recent editorial, the Asbury Park Press urged Monmouth County to step forward and become a pilot county for school consolidation. Monmouth County "has enough wealth and resources to easily absorb the students now floundering in underachieving districts, including one of the state's most dysfunctional - Asbury Park," the Press argued.
And, yes, they're absolutely right - particularly in a state that reportedly ranks worse than even Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, Georgia and Alabama when it comes to school segregation. Particularly in a town whose median family income in 2000 was $26,370 (and, no, that's not a misprint), compared with the county median of $76,823.
But don't expect to see state Education Commissioner Lucille Davy championing the Press's suggestion to send Asbury Park children to neighboring school districts anytime soon.
After all, we've watched Governor Corzine and state legislators run from much less controversial issues this year, including long-overdue tax relief and meaningful ethics reform. And Davy - and her boss, Jon Corzine - are much too savvy to rock the political boat by forcing impoverished Asbury Park children onto neighboring communities.
It's just too easy to throw tax dollars at the problem and look the other way.
Of course, when the NJ Department of Education announced it was sending an intervention team into Asbury Park last year, many frustrated souls cheered: Mounting tensions between the Board of Education and school Superintendent Antonio Lewis had effectively brought progress to a halt.
And Asbury Park desperately needs progress: Student scores on standardized tests remain the lowest in the county, and suspension rates at the middle school and high school ran four times the state average in 2004-05, according to the Monmouth County Youth Services Commission.
Most alarming - at a time when organized street gangs are recruiting city kids - Asbury Park's high school graduation rate dropped to an abysmal 66.9 percent in 2004-05, compared to 91.3 percent at the state level.
So, yes, I'm glad that the state team arrived.
But, as someone who wrote newspaper ads and collected signatures to help attract state monitors in 1997, I can tell you exactly what effect that team had on our kids' academic performance: none.
That's not to say they didn't help clean out what was inarguably one of the worst school boards the city had ever seen: They did. And the good news is that, this time, the Board and its president are inviting the state team in - rather than resisting them.
But if history is any guide - and it always is in Asbury Park - here's my prediction: when the state team leaves, the school administration office will be in better shape, but the kids' standardized test scores won't have improved - and neither will their future prospects.
And Asbury Park will have another overwhelmed superintendent like Antonio Lewis - a favorite of the last state team - who did a lackluster job earlier as principal of the middle school.
If I could make just one plea to the current Board, it would be this: Don't rely on the state team. Take matters into your own hands now - particularly while your Abbott District status gives you more financial resources than you'll ever have again.
Find your own outstanding superintendent - someone with a national reputation for shaking up impoverished districts like Asbury Park. Someone who can work with the board and staff. Someone who is not afraid to actively tell resistant parents and a divided community that it's time to get involved.
Find the best. Hire the best. Pay them whatever it takes. And encourage them to bring in other experts with a proven track record.
Just be sure to support them when they get here. And do it while the money's still available.
Because you can't count on the state for suggestions, particularly in this time of rampant political patronage.
So, yes, I think it's a good thing that the intervention team is here: But use them to accomplish what you know must be done. Insist they support you.
Second, let the community know now just how critical this year's Board of Education election is: Because of two resignations, five different seats will be open on the nine-member board.
According to the NJ School Boards Association, the deadline for filing applications is February 26 at 4 p.m. If you are an interested Asbury Park resident, you can get more information by calling the city board offices at 732-776-2606 (x2437).
But please don't sign up if your goals include increasing the number of black/white, gay/straight, or any other category of people on the board. (And, yes, I've seen those anonymous flyers.) Our kids represent all those categories. And to be a success, they'll need to work with everybody.
(This might also be the time to consider restructuring the Board of Education: An unwieldy cast of nine members - and annual elections that can lead to wild swings in the board majority - seem like a recipe for instability.)
Finally, if the opportunity arises to improve school facilities, please don't wear us out with arguments about where a magnet school or computer facility - or worse, the school board offices - should be located. It's a lose-lose discussion I've heard too often on everything from playgrounds to library facilities: If you put a facility on the east side of town, people say you're excluding kids on the west side. If you put it on the west side, people accuse you of sequestering poor kids west of the tracks.
Asbury Park is only 1.4 miles square. Just build the damn things if it's not already too late to take advantage of those School Construction Corporation dollars: Our kids deserve it. Our kids can't afford to wait.
Do I sound unusually harsh this week? Maybe so.
But I offer no apologies. I've watched history repeat itself, play by play, over the last decade, down to those debates about whether the board president should manage a bar with |
To help support his growing family - which soon included baby Joey (yes: the same Joey who now dishes up those perfect scrambled eggs) - Frank embarked on a string of unlikely sidelines. 
"We've never even closed for a blizzard," he admits. "I've had a four-wheel drive vehicle since the 1970s so I could always get to work" - and pick up the staff, as some of them grumbled, rolling their eyes.