Picture stepping onto the world's largest roller coaster and you'll pretty much get the idea. You know that there's a seat harness and that there are metal tracks under you, and you know that parts of it are going to be pretty exhilarating. But you also know that you're going to spend a fair amount of time with your stomach in your throat, hoping that mom and the exit sign are only a few minutes away.

During our council's first whirlwind month in office, we've wrestled with:

1. Budget issues: Only days before we took office, we were told that the city ended 2000 with a $4.3 million budget deficit, and that the 2001 budget (which runs from January to December) doesn't yet exist.

   While it's not hard to believe that Asbury Park has financial troubles ($11.7 million in back taxes are owed on the failed Ocean Mile redevelopment properties alone), the bad news is that these problems were never vigorously addressed. Instead, we learned, the city seriously overspent its approved budget in 2000.

   Both the police and fire departments have been without a contract for the past four years, and an upcoming settlement will likely add over $1 million to our debt. A state audit report, released just last week, revealed that the municipal workforce increased a whopping 10% in the last three years, despite a stable population and a rapidly decreasing tax base, and COPS grants (which help fund our police force) are about to run out.

   The previous council also postponed needed tax hikes (the ultimate "good news today, bad news tomorrow" strategy), and a layoff plan (scheduled to take effect on August 31 on -- surprise! -- our watch) could affect as many as 30 city employees.

   Then, to top it off, the state announced that it may place the city under financial supervision due to our on-going budget woes, and ordered the new council and city manager to produce a five year corrective action plan by August 8. (Uhm, do they give refunds with this ride?)

2. Greekfest issues: If you live near Second Avenue, east of Main Street, I don't have to describe the aftermath of July 15 to you -- or to tell you why we don't need a repeat of that evening ever again. And, if you read the follow-up coverage in our local daily newspaper, you've seen how one media outlet can take an already bad situation and distort it into something infinitely worse.

   Did anyone witness a "riot" in Asbury Park's "downtown" (or anywhere else) accompanied by "hundreds" of shell casings? Yet this over-bloated and inaccurate reporting nearly caused a major city festival to be canceled (a fact that was also prominently blazoned on page 1 of the daily newspaper), and caused untold harm to our already struggling merchants last month. And how long will it be before positive Asbury Park stories in that newspaper aren't derailed by the same "canned" and gloomy references to the July 15 "melee?"

3. Redevelopment issues: In our first few weeks, the council has spent dozens of hours reviewing the pros and cons of beachfront redevelopment strategies, including tax lien sales, state involvement, active litigation, and private developer offers. After a series of marathon meetings, the council voted last week to explore one of those options -- a potential redevelopment deal with M.D. Sass -- and a mutual "Memorandum of Understanding" is due in Connecticut bankruptcy court next week.

4. "Everyday" issues: The most frequently heard complaint on our home phone these days is, "I called you a dozen times, but your line was always busy!" In our first few weeks in office, the council fielded hundreds of personal calls and read hundreds of pages on issues ranging from the UEZ and Brookdale's Communiversity to overgrown lots and pit bulls. And it's already clear that city facilities themselves -- from loose bricks in the fire house, to leaking ceilings in city hall, to aging police cars on our streets -- can't be ignored much longer, despite our depleted budget.

Does all of this "reality programming" make you want to hop off the Asbury Park roller coaster? Don't! Because, like a first-time Weight Watchers member stepping on the scale, we're not learning anything we didn't suspect before. The only difference is that now we're finally "taking the bull by the tail and facing the situation," as my college professor used to say.

The city's new five-year budget plan, presented to the state on August 8, involves some unpleasant sacrifices (including, yes, some proposed tax hikes), but it is also the first necessary step in moving us to a balanced budget over the next several years.

And a great new Asbury Park audit report, released by the state Treasury Department only last week, contains dozens of very specific, cost-saving ideas for us to explore in the months ahead. (This 105-page report is available at the city clerk's office, or you can read it on-line at www.state.nj.us/lgbr or through asburypark.net.)

As noted above, beachfront redevelopment negotiations are now proceeding with M.D. Sass, and a preliminary Memorandum of Understanding will be followed by detailed planning in the months ahead. Will it work? There are no guarantees, but we are going into it with open eyes and the city's best interests at heart. And, in any case, we will not let the issue die. There is too much at stake for all of us in terms of increased revenues and a better quality of life.

All five council members are also fanning out to address issues ranging from recreation and business to grant opportunities and West Side redevelopment, and we will actively explore solutions to the Greekfest problem over the coming months. (The most outrageous -- and fun -- solution I've heard is found on page 6 of the current triCity News. I won't venture an "official" opinion on it, but it would certainly solve our negative publicity problems!)

Best of all, almost everyone I meet tells me that they are ready to pitch in and help get Asbury Park going again. Optimism is higher than I've ever seen it, and I truly believe that the opportunities are there for the taking if we don't lose heart.

So, once again, I'm asking you to do at least one new thing for Asbury Park this week. Write a letter to a newspaper demanding that the Communiversity open facilities in town. (Do it now! You can find our list of people to write to below.)

Join a block watch group (there's a new one forming on the southeast side of town) or the re-emerging garden club, volunteer at the Boys & Girls Club, or adopt a local lot.

If we each do one small thing a week, the changes will be tremendous and it's bound to be fun. And, before you know it, our roller coaster line will be stretched around the block.