Borough hall will host two mayor-and-council meetings within four days this week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three days before initiating a new municipal structure, Red Bank mayor’s and council will conduct their final business session under New Jersey’s “borough” form of government Wednesday evening.
Nothing on the agenda suggests indoor fireworks, but as 115 years of history suggests, anything can happen.
The agenda for the semimonthly meeting includes a proclamation, minutes to be approved, and some other routine business. No new or pending ordinance hearings are slated.
There’s always the possibility, however, of additions to the agenda and unanticipated issues raised by the public or elected officials.
The meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. Access and participation is also available online.
At noon on Saturday, two holdovers from the current government – Mayor Billy Portman and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano – will join five other new council members for a reorganization meeting outside borough hall (weather permitting; the ceremony will be indoors otherwise).
The seven, all members of a single slate that won a decisive victory in the May 9 election, are to begin building out a new council-manager” form of government, as approved by voters in a referendum last November.
In contrast to the “borough,” or “weak mayor” structure in place since 1908, the new one is meant to remove elected officials from day-to-day involvement in municipal management, leaving that job to an appointed manager. As mayor, Portman will have an equal vote in all council matters, rather than only to break ties as at present.
A brief discussion of the new government form is included in the June issue of the Scuttlebutt, the borough’s official newsletter. A fuller examination of the topic is available in the 2022 Charter Study Commission final report.
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