|
In response to Allan’s statement: “I understand your view at the bigger picture to bring
upon social change. Councilman I am not going to give Asbury Park 20 years to
clean up. I want to see results NOW. This is my frustration. If you can find
money, use it for police.” I am not asking for 20 years, but can I have at least the
four years of my term to make an impact? It took 30 years for the City to
get to the point that it has, I think you can agree that it is going to take at
least a little time for it to turn the corner. You are concerned about
money and spending it on police, how exactly would you propose spending the
money if it were available? You might say, “Hire more cops!”
Do you really believe that is going to give you results, “NOW.”
Even if we wanted to hire 10 new cops right now, as Deputy Mayor Bruno correctly
pointed out at the meeting on Wednesday, they would not be ready to hit the
streets for almost a year. I want action NOW too Allan. That is why
I am pushing my idea of greater immediate involvement from police in our
surrounding municipalities and from the county and state forces. Again,
our crime and violence problem is linked to regional issues and we should have
regional cooperation for a regional solution. As for spending money on recreation, as an example, I can
get a basketball league going two nights a week (which means two nights that these
young guys won’t be on the streets) for about $3-4K. This is a far
cry from the tens of thousands it would take to hire one new police officer
with benefits. I may also be able to get this paid for without city
money, similar to my soccer program that I run in town where the program is
completely self-sufficient through donations and fees. However, in light
of recent events, I do think that taking a significant amount of money from the
Community Development and Affordable Housing fund and investing it in
recreation programs would pay both short and long-term dividends for the
community. To this end, I have been in conversations with the Mayor and
we JOINTLY stated at the meeting on Wednesday that we are going to be hammering
out an expanded program and attaching a dollar amount to it in the near
future. I am curious, have you called or emailed anyone in the
Council majority and asked them for their plan of action on this matter? If
so, can you please let me know what information you were able to get. On a completely different note… I would like
respond to Rev. Brown’s labeling me a "Progressive Democrat." Progressive, yes, I will even proudly wear the mantle of
liberal, (i.e. open minded and willing to accept and promote change). I
am not however, a Democrat. I am unaffiliated at this time and the last
political party I belonged to was the Republican Party. Peace, JWK Councilman James W. Keady 1 Municipal Plaza Asbury Park, NJ 07712 TEL: 732.502.5196 EM: [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.cityofasburypark.com
SPONSORED LINKS
Your email settings: Individual Email|Traditional
Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch to Fully Featured Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe __,_._,___ |
- [AsburyPark] A few responses - CM Keady Jim Keady
