Art Murphy, at far right, high-fives running mate Mike DuPont on their re-elections to the council in 2009. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Council President Art Murphy plans to resign next week, according to a published report.

Murphy told Art Gallagher of More Monmouth Musings that he’ll make it official at next Wednesday’s council meeting, and that he won’t stand for re-election in November.

Murphy’s departure creates an opening for borough Republicans to take control of the governing body.

From More Monmouth Musings:

“Yes, I am stepping down,” Murphy said when asked if he was resigning, “this has been in the works for a while. They’re (the Red Bank Democrats) are looking for my replacement.  I have a lot going on with my business.”

Murphy said that his exit from the Red Bank governing body had been in the works since December and that he only stayed on the council this year because Mayor Pat Menna was sidelined with surgery.   He submitted his name for reelection, he said, in order to give the Democratic organization time to find his replacement.  “Pat is doing well now.  It is a good time for me to step down.”

Murphy did not immediately respond to a redbankgreen request for comment.

Murphy was in the news this week over a surreptitiously recorded 38-second video that showed him mocking the customers of the now-closed Lucky Break Billiards as “hippie mother****ers dying for a ****ing quarter” who wouldn’t pay for parking, leading to the demise of the business.

Murphy called the video’s posting on YouTube evidence of “a cynical world.” He did not mention the video as a factor in his decision to resign, Gallagher reported.

With the elections of Cindy Burnham and Linda Schwabenbauer, Republicans have gained two council seats in the last two elections after a seven-year drought. Another would put them in a tie with Democrats on the six-member council, leaving Mayor Pasquale Menna as the tiebreaker in deadlocked votes. A two-person win would give the GOP control for the first time in a generation.

On the ballot are Councilman Mike DuPont, an incumbent Democrat, and two Republican newcomers to electoral politics, Mark Taylor and Mike Whelan.