RED BANK: ADMIN SEARCH TO BE REVIVED

May 12, 2022

Chief and interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See Correction below

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s council will try again to find a full-time borough administrator, following an abandoned effort of year ago.

The search will be revived even as the governing body, sharply divided on numerous other issues, appears to agree that police Chief Darren McConnell is doing a faultless job in double duty as interim administrator.

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May 12, 2022 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: DEMS AIR PARTY’S DIRTY LAUNDRY

Mar 3, 2022

Mayor Pasquale Menna, top left, and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center bottom, participated in commission interviews via Zoom Wednesday. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Mayor Pasquale Menna on Wednesday joined a growing parade of current and former Red Bank officials who have identified “interference” by council members as one of the borough government’s foremost problems.

In stunning testimony before the Charter Study Commission, Menna also was one of three Democrats who laid blame for local government “dysfunction” squarely on their own party.

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March 3, 2022 - 4:15 pm |

RED BANK: CENTER FIXES OK’D, RE-ARGUED

Feb 24, 2022

Angela Mirandi, in second pane from left in the top row, attended her first session as a council member. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

See CORRECTION below

By JOHN T. WARD

Three years after a fire suppression system leak forced a shutdown of Red Bank’s Senior Center, the borough council approved nearly $2 million in financing for repairs Wednesday.

As in the past, members clashed over the reasons for the time elapsed and cost. Added to the acrimony was a new element: blame for failure to identify money recently found sitting idle in old accounts and now earmarked for repairs.

Unmentioned during the virtual meeting was a lawsuit, announced hours earlier, that seeks to remove Angela Mirandi, who attended for the first time as a council member.

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February 24, 2022 - 2:45 pm |

RED BANK: ‘BOAT RAMP’ TO FUND CENTER FIX

Feb 22, 2022

A municipal boat ramp on the Navesink River was once envisioned for the north end of Maple Avenue, now a nature area called Maple Cove. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank officials boasted earlier this month that they’d “cobbled together” about $1 million from idle accounts to soften the impact on taxpayers of repairing the long-shuttered Senior Center.

It turns out a big chunk of that sum has been stuck in the borough’s sofa cushions for 30 years, designated for a never-built boat ramp, redbankgreen has learned.

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February 22, 2022 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: SHEHADY, HORGAN ON AGENDA

Feb 15, 2022

Councilwoman Kathy Horgan with Ziad Shehady, right, and schools Superintendent Jared Rumage in May, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Former Red Bank business administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan are scheduled to address the Charter Study Commission Tuesday night.

 

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February 15, 2022 - 7:20 am |

RED BANK: ADMINISTRATOR IN SPOTLIGHTS

Feb 4, 2022

Interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell, second row right, at the answered questions from Charter Study Commission members Wednesday night. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The executive authority given Red Bank’s appointed administrator may shift back to elected officials next week.

But will voters shift it back in November?

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February 4, 2022 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: CEO NEEDED, ADVISER SAYS

Jan 10, 2022

Joe Hartnett, right, with Ken DeRoberts at a Red Bank council meeting in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Whatever new form of government it might adopt, Red Bank needs a strong chief executive officer, a consultant who co-authored a critical review of borough operations said last week.

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January 10, 2022 - 7:56 am |

RED BANK: SHEHADY RESIGNS TOP BORO JOB

Apr 8, 2021

Ziad Shehady in his borough hall office in June, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[This post has been updated since it was first published.]

By JOHN T. WARD

After only three years on the job, Ziad Shehady is resigning as Red Bank’s top unelected official, he told the borough council behind closed doors Wednesday night.

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April 8, 2021 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: SHEHADY QUITS AGENCY POST

Feb 24, 2021

Ziad Shehady, left, with Ken DeRoberts at the 2018 Mayor’s Ball. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Ziad Shehady resigned as the executive director of the Red Bank Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, saying the position had become a “lightning rod” for criticism and source of distraction from his primary job as borough business administrator.

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February 24, 2021 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: BIAS LAWSUIT SETTLED FOR $175K

Feb 13, 2020

Memone Crystian with Red Bank Little Leaguers in 2010. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A lawsuit claiming racism and gender discrimination against a former director of Red Bank’s parks and rec department will be settled for $175,000.

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February 13, 2020 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP

Jan 23, 2020

Mayor Pasquale Menna, seen here at the Town Light-up in November, kicked off his pre-council meetups with little advance notice. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

It was another quick night as the Red Bank council held its second regular session of 2020 Wednesday night.

A light agenda saw the governing body wrap up public business in under 30 minutes before going behind closed doors to discuss litigation and a lease.

Here’s a recap.

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January 23, 2020 - 9:40 am |

RED BANK: SHEHADY ACCUSED OF HARASSMENT

Oct 15, 2018

Red Bank Business Administrator Ziad Shehady at borough hall in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

SEE UPDATE BELOW

By JOHN T. WARD

Five months after he took the job, Red Bank’s business administrator is facing a harassment complaint, redbankgreen has learned.

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October 15, 2018 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: REDEVELOPMENT WORK ON AGENDA

Oct 9, 2018

Ken DeRoberts, who served as interim borough administrator earlier this year, would oversee redevelopment issues under the proposed contract. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[UPDATE: See clarification below]

By JOHN T. WARD

A consulting firm that earlier this year identified the absence of a redevelopment agency as a competitive problem for Red Bank is expected to be given the job of overseeing redevelopment Wednesday night.

 

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October 9, 2018 - 6:00 pm |

RED BANK: REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ON TABLE

Aug 30, 2018

Seen here at a council meeting in April, Ken DeRoberts, left, and Joe Hartnett of Government Strategy Group managed borough operations on an interim basis earlier this year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The authors of a report that called for the creation of a redevelopment agency for downtown Red Bank appear to be on their way to getting a contract to make it happen.

Government Strategy Group would lead the way toward the creation of the agency, chief executive officer Ken DeRoberts said in a presentation at the borough council’s first-ever workshop-only meeting Wednesday night.

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August 30, 2018 - 2:45 pm |

RED BANK: BELLHAVEN PLAN SCALED BACK

Jul 23, 2018

Trees were taken down recently at Bellhaven Natural Area in preparation for an observation deck being built there, according to Business Administrator Ziad Shehady. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank officials have quietly started prep work for a project at a site once mired in controversy: the Bellhaven Natural Area overlooking the Swimming River.

The end result, however will be a “scaled-back” version of a plan that once called for a spray park and triggered loud protests three years ago.

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July 23, 2018 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: AFTER SCATHING REPORT, WHAT?

Jul 10, 2018

Business Administrator Ziad Shehady in front of the large-screen monitor he uses in staff meetings to track projects. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Now that a scathing review of municipal operations has landed on their desks, what will Red Bank’s leaders do with it?

It won’t go into a drawer to be forgotten, says the newly hired official charged with implementing most of its recommendations. In fact, he says, change is already underway.

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July 10, 2018 - 11:50 am |

RED BANK: REPORT RIPS TOWN OPERATIONS

Jun 12, 2018

A management review found that “at least 12” full-time positions could be eliminated from borough government. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Citing numerous examples of “dysfunctionality,” an unsparing review of Red Bank’s management recommends widespread overhauls, from a new form of government to improved courtroom security.

The Management Enhancement Report, commissioned last October and posted on the borough website Friday, includes insider comments highly critical of the way things work, or don’t work, at borough hall.

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June 12, 2018 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: PARKING, TAXES & MORE

Jun 4, 2018

A consultant was hired to conduct a long-awaited parking study following the failure last year of plans to redevelop the White Street lot, above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

At last Wednesday’s meeting of the Red Bank council, these things happened:

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June 4, 2018 - 12:00 pm |

RED BANK: ADMINISTRATOR ‘Z,’ ON NEW JOB

Apr 18, 2018

Ziad Andrew Shehady in his Springfield office with his dog, Sheeba, in 2017. (Photo courtesy of Ziad Andrew Shehady. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Ziad Andrew Shehady, the incoming borough administrator of Red Bank, has a vision: local government done right, so that it’s viewed as “head and shoulders above” the norm, “like Amazon and Microsoft.

“New York is a great city to go to, and Red Bank is a great town to go to, but nobody looks at the municipal government and says, ‘wow, that is a municipality that is really doing government well,'” Shehady said in a telephone interview with redbankgreen Tuesday afternoon.

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April 18, 2018 - 10:00 am |

RED BANK: NEW ADMINISTRATOR NAMED

Apr 12, 2018

Ziad Andrew Shehady reading to young students in Springfield last month. (Photo courtesy of Ziad Andrew Shehady. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council approved the hiring Wednesday night of a new borough administrator, giving the town’s most powerful unelected job to an Army veteran who became the mayor of a Union County town at the age of 25.

And his salary will be triple that of his predecessor.

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April 12, 2018 - 10:39 am |

RED BANK: EX-REC HEAD ALLEGES RACISM

Mar 7, 2018

Memone Crystian with Red Bank Little Leaguers in 2010. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A former director of Red Bank’s parks and rec department is suing the borough and former officials, alleging she was forced out of the job by racism and gender discrimination.

Memone Crystian quit the position in May, 2015, “after years of being subjected to a hostile work environment” that included discrimination by then-borough Administrator Stanley Sickels and then-councilman Art Murphy, the suit alleges.

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March 7, 2018 - 11:00 am |

RED BANK: THREE HONORED FOR LONGEVITY

Mar 1, 2018

The Red Bank council and two state legislators honored three people for longevity Wednesday night. Among them: Edith Blake, above, who celebrated her 100th birthday on Sunday.

Blake told redbankgreen she didn’t know what all the “fuss” was about.

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March 1, 2018 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: DEMS TAP ACTING ADMINISTRATOR

Jan 2, 2018

Michael Ballard heads for his seat on the dais after his swearing-in as councilman Monday. Below, Kenneth DeRoberts, a consultant, was named interim administrator through March 31. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Back in control of the Red Bank council, Democrats flexed their muscle Monday on the issue of who will run the day-to-day operations of municipal government now that Stanley Sickels has left the building.

Answer: still to be determined. For the next three months, however, the job of borough administrator will be held by a consultant on local government efficiency.

 

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January 2, 2018 - 10:20 am |

RED BANK: NEW EMT SERVICE TAKES OVER

Dec 29, 2017

Alert Ambulance’s rig will  replace MONOC’s at the former Relief Engine firehouse on Drummond Place starting Monday. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Beginning January 1, Red Bank 911 calls for on-scene emergency medical care will be answered by a different ambulance service.

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December 29, 2017 - 8:13 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAPS ON BITTER NOTE

Dec 28, 2017

At the end of his final meeting on the dais, Stanley Sickels embraces Councilman Mark Taylor as Councilman Mike Whelan looks on. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council ended its 2017 session in acrimony Wednesday night as Republicans accused Democrats of politicizing the replacement of Stanley Sickels as borough administrator.

 

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December 28, 2017 - 9:00 am |