Hello All,
I wanted to offer you some additional points on topics of concern before
tomorrow's election:
I serve as an elected member of the Charter Study Commission, which examines
our current form of government to ensure the citizens of Asbury Park have the
best form of government possible. I have worked to bring efficiency and
transparency into the Commission, by increasing communication between elected
officials and the community, and working to modernize the Administrative Code
in order to save taxpayers money.
I have a clear understanding of how City Government has become broken, and how
the people of Asbury Park deserve a change. I have a plan to bring independent
leadership to Asbury Park, saving tax dollars and improving municipal services:
Bring greater transparency to City Hall operations by requiring
a new system of reporting an accountability to all levels of City government;
Require the City Manager to reach specific benchmarks within 90
days or replace him with someone who will meet those benchmarks.
Restore the public's ability to read and review annual reports
from all City departments.
Create an office of Citizen Relations within City government,
to ensure that residents can get issues addressed and questions answered.
Push for a full, forensic audit of the City budget, to identify
taxpayer money that is being wasted or misspent.
I want the residents to know that they have an advocate downtown. That no
matter if they are a small business, a resident having trouble with municipal
services, a family enduring high levels of crime, or a parent concerned about
the education their child is receiving, they can know that I will be their
vocal and agitative advocate until their issue is resolved. In my opinion, the
role of leadership is to assist those being served in resolving their
challenges.
Violent Crime - Unfortunately, Asbury Park is very attractive to outside crime
and suffers persistently rising gun violence. To address this I want to get
ahead of the curve by preventing any more individuals from being pulled into
the cycle of violence. This would be done by creating outcome-based re-entry
programs to avert recidivism, creating a "Developmental Asset" program for
youth (utilizing a small portion of the $500,000 in developer's fees that the
city has) to help them develop life and coping skills to deal with the high
levels of inner-city violence and adversity. Lastly, I would create a
"Shooting-Crisis-Response Team" as has been done in NYC. Community Policing and
Police Accountability are two popular issues that I would take the lead on. I
have already formed coalitions with candidates from several tickets in a call
for Civilian Review. It was this advocacy push that resulted in the Chief's
Advisory Committee being formed. Once the pressure for the Civilian Review
Board eased up, the Chief's Advisory Board stopped meeting. We have a great
police force which I enjoy working and collaborating with. I look forward to
continuing to work with Chief Kinmon and the other officers to ensure that this
crucial city department functions in a highly transparent manner by creating a
sustained mechanism for community input and oversight of our police force.
Education - This is a key issue that I am taking up directly. No other
candidate is voicing a reform opinion on the educational situation in Asbury
which I find outrageous and completely hypocritical. Without a strong
education, kids in our community are going nowhere but to the end of the line
for jobs and possibly becoming the next crime statistic. I will approach this
issue without restraint and with all options on the table. I have written on
this issue here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/139607513/
Redevelopment and Small Business - One only need to look at the he Esperanza
skeleton that has blighted our community for the last half-dozen years and the
complete absence of development on the West-Side to understand how
redevelopment has simply not been managed appropriately. I want to reinvigorate
redevelopment in Asbury Park by:
Making Asbury Park attractive to a broader demographic by
addressing our fundamentals (crime, schools, taxes).
Communicating to developers a complete vision for a revitalized
City, not just the boardwalk.
Forming an Economic Development Corporation with community
partners to promote widely the value of opening business in Asbury Park and
investing in development.
Initiating the Grow-Monmouth development program which pairs
available parcels of land with developers from around the State.
Promoting Small Business Development and Success in all areas
of the City. This would include working with the Lt. Governor's Business Action
Center which offers many opportunities including grants specifically for
minority women to open businesses. I would also take (and act on) input from
the small business community.
Personally being a small business advocate. I want to work with
small and large businesses to make Asbury Park a pro-business environment not
one that has burdensome and arcane ordinances that impinge the functioning of
businesses.
Housing - The City has rampant code violations and an obscene vacant rate of
homes at almost 20% of our housing stock. When the City ignores destitute
housing conditions it sends clear signals to the people, especially children,
who live there. The message is we are ok with you living in unsafe conditions.
In addition the vast majority of our City's population (70%) are renters, they
do not own their home. I will address the many grave issues with our housing
stock by:
instituting an aggressive affordable housing plan to introduce
a new wave of home ownership in the City especially on the West Side. This plan
can utilize the $4+ million dollars in Regional Contribution Agreement (RCA)
funds which are sitting in the City's accounts. The City's Office of Planning
has stated that these funds can be converted through the Council on Affordable
Housing (COAH) to be used for NEW DEVELOPMENT.
Revamping the City's Code Department, not just giving it to the
Police Department. I will ensure that real code issues involving detrimental
housing issues are addressed. I have made a video on this issue which can be
watched here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=641748662518955&set=vb.139874566193317&type=2&theater
I will require Curb to Backyard inspections of rental units to
ensure that absentee landlords are maintaining their properties up to code.
This will also hold destructive tenants accountable as well.
I am the only candidate with a professional background in Public Policy. In my
career I have had the opportunity to engage such groups as the Governor's Task
Force on Recidivism Reduction, members of the Governor's Safe Task Force, the
Attorney General's Office, the State Association of Chief's of Police, the
State Police Training Bureau, multiple State and Federal Departments and
Divisions as well as County level Departments. I hope to be able to bring what
I have learned on the State and Federal levels as well as the relationships
that I have formed with state wide organizations and legislative
representatives on both sides of the political aisle, for the benefit of Asbury
Park.
Independent Candidacy:
I am running as an independent because I want to accomplish one thing, serving
the overall interests of the residents of Asbury Park. I poked around a little
bit to see who was running with who but not too much. I was not anxious to buy
into any "slate-philosophies" so I think running as an independent was a
natural for me, besides everyone I speak to says they are not voting down the
line. I have spoken to hundreds of residents and only two have said they are
voting a ticket. Some people are trying to interject fear to nullify the value
of independent candidates saying that "three votes" are needed to accomplish
anything on the council so you have to vote a slate, that way they will be able
to move forward on issues. This completely disregards the role of leadership
which is to reach across boundaries, form coalitions and reach a compromise. I
have already formed coalitions on advocacy issues with many of the people
running from most of the tickets. Professionally I help reach across the
partisan lines to work with Democratic and Republican Legislators on the State
and Federal levels. I will not have a problem working with any other four
competent individuals that the voters of Asbury Park choose as the new Council.
I am asking for your vote so that I can make a difference. I need your help to
institute change down town.
Sincerely,
Randy Thompson
More information can be found on my website and my Facebook page:
www.ThompsonforCouncil.com
https://www.facebook.com/randythompsonforcouncil
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