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RED BANK COUNCIL: NEW FIRE CHIEF, NEW COUNCILMAN MEMBER, SAME OLD HARMONY

By Brian Donohue
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January 2nd @ 12pm

Pastor Janet Jones invocation Mayor and Borough Council reorganization 01012026Pastor Janet Jones of Shrewsbury Avenue AME Church leads the invocation at the Red Bank Borough Council 2026 reorganization meeting on New Year’s Day.    (Photo by Brian Donohue. Click to enlarge.)

By BRIAN DONOHUE

A New Year’s ritual that once set the tone with political fireworks and division instead continued the Red Bank governing body’s more recent spirit of remarkable unanimity Thursday.
 
To sum up the annual reorganization meeting of the Red Bank Borough Council: everyone agreed on everything and then they all went to Jamian’s for lunch.
 
 The agenda was topped by a series of heartwarming family-attended swearing-ins, including newly elected Councilman Ben Yuro.
 
Yuro was hailed by Mayor Billy Portman as “yet another wonk” whose interest in the workings of public policy he predicted would mesh with the team of “geeks” that populate his administration. 
 
Also taking their oaths of office were top brass of the Red Bank volunteer Fire Department, including Second Deputy Chief Francis Scott Calabrese; First Deputy Chief Brett MacDonald; and Chief Michael J. Welsh.  
 

Red Bank Fire Department Chief Mike Welsh swearing in 01012026

Michael Welsh shakes hands with Mayor Billy Portman after being sworn in as Chief of the Red Bank Fire Department on New Year’s Day. Alongside Chief Welsh (from left to right) are his wife Michelle, daughter Mackenzie and son Kevin. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

Welsh takes over the helm from outgoing chief Frank Woods.

By the time he was sworn in, Welsh had already led firefighters on his first call as chief, a smoky basement furnace malfunction on Linden Place. He had spent the previous evening at a lengthy evacuation of the West Side Lofts at 1 Bridge Avenue. (see photo below)

Chief Michael Welsh at the West Side Lofts, where a steak left on a stove filled the building with smoke and forced an evacuation on New Year’s Eve. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

The council also re-appointed Borough Attorney (and recently elected mayor of Aberdeen) Greg Cannon.  In a bid to the aforementioned history of acrimony and turmoil, Councilman Ben Forest garnered laughs when he referred to the previous council abruptly voting to fire Cannon in 2022.

“We had all kinds of crazy stuff going on,” Forest recalled. 

Deputy Mayor and council member Kate Triggiano was also voted in for another year as deputy mayor.

The full agenda for the meeting (all of which passed unanimously) can be found here.

Ben Yuro borough Council swearing in 01012026Ben Yuro is sworn in as the newest member of the Red Bank Borough Council by State Sen. Vin Gopal. Joining Yuro are his wife, Carla, son, Sebastian and baby Margot. (Photo by Brian Donohue)

The council also made a series of appointments to borough commissions and committees.

Here’s a list:

Animal Welfare Committee 

(6 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Carla Alvarez — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Mark Delaney — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Taylor Chalmers — Alternate #1 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

Environmental Commission 

(7 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Dave Johnson — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

Environmental Commission Green Team:
Travers Martin, Helena Blyskun, E. Pamela McArthur, Eric Wokas,
Sal Trifiro, Daniel Harris, Terrence Walton, Oscar Salinas

Historic Preservation Commission 

(5 Members – 4 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Marjorie Cavalier — Class B Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2029

  • Karen Schmelzkopf — Class C Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2029

  • Bethzy Varela — Alternate #1 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Matthew Cummings — Alternate #2 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

Planning Board of Adjustment 

(9 Members / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Shawna Ebanks — Class II Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2026

  • Barbara Boas — Class IV Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2029

  • Brian Parnagian — Alternate #2 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

Zoning Board of Adjustment 

(7 Members – 4 years / 4 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Greg Fitzgerald — Member — to fill unexpired term ending 12/31/2028

  • John Gilday — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2029

  • Anna Cruz — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2029

  • Gene Horowitz — Alternate #1 — to fill unexpired term ending 12/31/2026

  • Chris Havens — Alternate #2 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

  • Dorothy Cerulo — Alternate #3 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

  • Rebecca Flynn — Alternate #4 — to fill unexpired term ending 12/31/2026

Parks and Recreation Committee 

(7 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • John Lefever — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Kristen Gall — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Michael Lennon — Member (unexpired) — 1/1/2024–12/31/2026

  • Pat Richter — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Joe Simon — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

Library Board

  • Alexandra Nicolajsen — Mayor’s Alternate — 1/1/2026–12/31/2026

  • Marjorie Cavalier — Member (Treasurer) — 1/1/2026–12/31/2030

  • Mary Burke — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2030

Community Engagement Equity Committee 

(7 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Christopher Harrison — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Hermione Cervante-Lopez — Member (unexpired) — 1/1/2024–12/31/2026

  • Selena Martinez — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Kali Garita — Alternate #1 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

  • Anita Pierce — Alternate #2 (unexpired) — 1/1/2025–12/31/2026

Shade Tree Committee 

(5 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 2 years)

  • Bill Brooks — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Brigid McCarthy — Alternate #1 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2027

Rent Leveling Board 

(5 Members – 3 years / 2 Alternates – 3 years)

  • Scott Heck — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

  • Judy Giunta — Alternate #1 — 1/1/2026–12/31/2028

Housing Authority 

(5 Members – 5 years)

  • John Paul Nicolaides — Member — 1/1/2026–12/31/2030

RiverCenter

  • Jared Patrick Anthony Yuro — Mayor’s Representative — 1/1/2026–12/31/2026

  • Marta Quinn — Citizen Representative — 1/1/2026–12/31/2026

Navesink River Municipalities Committee

  • Paulo Rodriguez Heyman — (term not listed)

redbankgreen editor Brian Donohue may be reached via email at [email protected] or by calling or texting 848-331-8331.

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