--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, "bluebishop82" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Glad to tell you why I support the incumbents. > > In the 70's, 80's and 90's, Asbury Park made no progress, unlike the > rest of Monmouth County. The perception of Asbury Park was that it > was beyond help. Then there were 2 important forward steps that pre- > date this current council: 1) The Gay/Lesbian community refurbishing > residential real estate back to past glory; 2) Pat and Pat starting > the refurbishing of Downtown. > I don't think anyone here disagrees with this.
> Then this council took over. Through thier efforts, they lifted > Asbury Park's redevelopmment effort out of the Connecticut > Bankruptcy Court. They got Waterfront Redevlopment underway. That > started the media attention and the general conversation throughout > the State and beyond that Asbury Park was hot again. It is that > perception alone that drove the property values up, because in the > final analysis, property values are products of perception. This council had nothing to do with getting the development rights out of us bankruptcy court. In fact, that were not even elected when that occurred, but only later approved the plan to do so which was negotiated by a convicted and confessed felon. The point no one disagrees with is that the development rights should have been freed from the court and being so, is what enabled AP to take advantage of ordinary market forces. The questions we pose are: Is the deal we have the one we should have? Should we have sold all of our public assets with nary a thought (or appraisal) of what they were worth? Why, having the deal we have, does our CURRENT council refuse to enforce the provisions of the deal, for instance, rehabiliation of our waterfront structures? Why was it necessary to violate the plan previously in place which allowed property owners to develop their own properties in return for a plan which condemns some but not others? Those of your mindset want to make this an issue of proceeding or stopping the redevlopment. That is not the issue and no one on this forum, or any of the candidates, has expressed that motive. We simply believe that the facts support that the current council does not have the experience or abilities to run a $1.25 billion redevelopment. It is 4 years since the MOU and 3 years since the plan was approved. Not one stone of the waterfront structures have been restored. What future can this city have when 3,164 condo units will not pay one cent towards the schools for 10 years? You are deluding yourself if you believe that Asbury partners will restore our buildings without prodding. You are deluding yourself if you believe that the state will continue to subsidize our schools forever. Lastly, this council has recently admitted that we ae running another $3.5 million deficit and need money for 4 more years because there will be further deficits. What progress I ask you? Whe you've had nothing for decades, very little seems like something. You obviously do not set the stick very high off the ground. > > The plan to have high-density residential real estate at the water > works. The money generated will put Asbury back in the black, so in > the futre, we need not lose public buildings like Convention Hall. > It's a great plan. > > This council also concentrated on redevelopment in other parts of > the City, like on the West Side and the Scattered Sites program. > They are the first to do so since the 1960's. > > I can't fathom why anyone would want to stop this progress. We need > it to go forward. For many the perception of Asbury Park's comback > is fagile. If we put the brakes on, people will stop believing and > that will be bad for the City. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AsburyPark/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/