Speakers at Asbury Park meeting raise housing authority and policing concerns, ask about stop-sign placement and request grant support for Westside project

Multiple members of the public used the Jan. 28 Asbury Park City Council meeting’s public-comment period to raise safety, housing and neighborhood-development concerns.

Nancy Sedeno of 1000 Fourth Avenue asked why stop signs in Asbury Park are placed before the railroad tracks while neighboring Bradley Beach places some stop signs at the tracks. A city staff member (identified in the record as James) explained the local placement is intended to avoid vehicles stopping on the tracks; he said it is safer to have cars stop before the tracks so that if a gate comes down they are not stopped over the rails.

Nancy Phillips, who identified herself as homeless and not a city resident, alleged misconduct by the Asbury Park Housing Authority director, saying she had filed a police report and pressed charges for harassment against the director (identified in the transcript variously as Kwaseem/Quasim Johnson). Phillips said she will pursue legal action and has left messages with the Monmouth County prosecutor; she accused the housing authority and some police officers of misconduct and of issuing false reports. Mayor Moore responded by encouraging Phillips to speak with the police chief and offered to testify about the public’s right to record meetings if needed; he said the city would look into her claims and urged her to pursue the proper investigative channels.

Felicia Simmons, president and executive director of the WCC Historic Renovation Association (formerly the Westside Community Center), asked the council for a support letter for a Neighborhood Choice Grant and invited council members and the public to a planning meeting of the “Greater Asbury Park Historic Innovation Revival Project” at Ballard Church on Fourth Avenue. Simmons described the Neighborhood Choice Grant as a DCA (New Jersey Department of Community Affairs) tax-credit partnership that provides planning and implementation funding for community-driven projects and said the program can fund community plans and projects, with grants described by the speaker as capable of supporting projects up to about $1 million.

Council members and the mayor offered brief replies and direction: the staff member answered the stop-sign question; the mayor encouraged Phillips to meet with the police chief and offered to assist with testimony about taping public meetings; and council members acknowledged Simmons’s request and said staff would provide information.

All three public-comment exchanges were recorded during the meeting’s open comment period; no formal council action (motions or votes) on these public comments was taken during the session.