By DON STINE
Two five-member tickets and three independents have filed to run in the Asbury Park City Council election in November, the smallest number of candidates to file in more than 15 years.
The five-member Asbury Together (pictured above/Asbury Together photo) ticket consists of current Councilman John Moor, who has filed to run for mayor, Councilwoman Amy Quinn, Joe Woerner, a teacher in Neptune who ran with Quinn and Moor last year; Jesse Kendle, a retired Asbury Park High School coach; and newcomer Barbara Yvonne Clayton.
The other five-candidate ticket is the A-Team, which consists of former Board of Education member Remond Palmer, who is running for mayor, and city activist and former council candidate Duanne Small, retired city emloyee Rosetta Johnson, Derrick Grant and current school board member Kenneth Saunders Jr., the son of former mayor Butch Saunders.
Mayor Myra Campbell, who was elected in 2013, submitted her nominating petition Sept. 2 for mayor but said last week that she is still undecided about running in the long term.
Also submitting a petition for mayor was Harold Suggs, who has run unsuccessfully for council three times.
Restaurateur Marilyn Schlossbach, who is seeking a council seat, owns and operates several restaurants in the city including Langosta Lounge and Pop’s Garage on the boardwalk. She is a former member of the Planning Board.
Councilman John Loffredo and Deputy Mayor Sue Henderson have both announced that they will not be seeking re-election.
Kendle, Joe Woerner, and Barbara Yvonne Clayton submitted over 200 petitions per candidate to the municipal clerk in order to run in this November’s council elections. Only 89 were necessary.
“We are encouraged by the hundreds of people who signed our petitions because they believe in our record and the idea that common sense and honesty should rule City Hall,” Moor said.
“In the last year we have been able to ensure financial accountability, increase transparency, and open the door to communication with the people of Asbury Park about their concerns. But we are really just getting started,” Quinn said.
“I am proud to join with Councilman Moor and my running mates to work to bring this city together and give back to our community,” Kendle said.
“Seeing John and Amy ask questions and hold people accountable at council meetings has been a breath of fresh air in City Hall. They have restored my faith in government. I am excited to run with them again,” Woerner said.
Woerner was 35 votes short of a council seat in the 2013 election on the One Asbury ticket with Moor and Quinn.
“This is an outstanding group of candidates, I am proud to be a member of this team working to make Asbury Park a better city for all of its residents,” said Clayton, a newcomer to politics.
This is the first election in the city under the new form of government. All five council seats are up for grabs in the nonpartisan Nov. 4 election after voters approved a change of government referendum in Movember 2013. For the first time, the new government calls for the direct election of the mayor. The new council and mayor will be seated on Jan. 7.
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