RED BANK: SUE VISCOMI Q&A

Nov 2, 2018

Running as the only independent in this year’s council race is Sue Viscomi. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

At stake in Red Bank’s November 6 election: the mayor’s post and two council seats.

At stake in Red Bank’s November 6 election: the mayor’s post and two council seats.

On the ballot are: incumbent Mayor Pasquale Menna, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Pearl Lee; and council candidates Michael Clancy (R), Allison Gregory (R), Kate Triggiano (D), Sue Viscomi (I) and Hazim Yassin (D).

Here are Viscomi’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.

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November 2, 2018 - 7:01 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL SALARIES UNCHANGED

Sep 27, 2023

The council meets twice monthly at borough hall, 90 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Salaries for Red Bank’s mayor and council, which haven’t risen in at least 15 years, will remain unchanged at least through the remainder of 2023, under an resolution up for a vote Thursday night.

But whomever the governing body selects to fill the new borough manager post will have the latitude to give them specified raises under a related ordinance that’s also up for a vote.

Here’s a quick look at the agenda:

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September 27, 2023 - 8:58 am |

RED BANK: HOGAN ADDRESSES ‘CONFLICTS’

Mar 2, 2023

Mayoral candidate Tim Hogan, seen here in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Riverview Medical Center president Tim Hogan says his day job would not present a conflict of interest should he succeed in his bid to become Red Bank’s mayor.

Also in borough politics: watchdog Sue Viscomi has announced another run for council in the May 9 special election.

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March 2, 2023 - 8:50 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL DEMS, HOGAN FORM SLATE

Feb 22, 2023

From left: John Jackson, Jacqueline Sturdivant, Michael Ballard, Tim Hogan, Linda Hill, Erin Fleming and Sean Murphy. (Photo by Red Bank Together. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Three incumbent council Democrats have teamed up with the president of Riverview Medical Center in a bid to form Red Bank’s new government this summer.

The seven-member “Red Bank Together” slate is the second hoping to capture six council seats and the mayor’s chair in the May 9 special election.

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February 22, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH WON’T SEEK NEW TERM

Feb 21, 2023

Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with Councilman Michael Ballard in December. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Five-term incumbent Red Bank Councilmember Ed Zipprich won’t run for a seat in the new form of government he opposed, according to a news report.

In recent years, Zipprich has been a lightning rod for controversy as the the Democratic party, which dominates borough politics, split into warring tribes under his leadership.

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February 21, 2023 - 7:20 am |

RED BANK: CITIZEN APPOINTMENTS 2023

Jan 9, 2023

Anne Torre, above, and Ray Mass, below, were reappointed for four-year terms on the zoning board. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank, like nearly all American municipalities, relies on unpaid citizens to help power its local government.

At meetings often held twice a month, the volunteers weigh land-use applications; research ways to help the environment; help organize recreation programs for kids, and lots more.

At last Wednesday’s annual reorganization meeting, the following individuals were nominated by Mayor Billy Portman and/or confirmed by the council to one-year appointments, if not otherwise specified; click the links to see who else is involved.

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January 9, 2023 - 7:56 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH BLOC SETS NEW BYLAWS

Jan 5, 2023

Councilmen John Jackson, Michael Ballard and Ed Zipprich at Wednesday’s reorganization session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s council majority adopted a new set of bylaws Wednesday night that would give it broad power to block resolutions from even making it to the dais.

In the process, allies of Councilman Ed Zipprich rejected a request by new Mayor Billy Portman that the measure – which no one from the public or media saw in advance – be tabled.

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January 5, 2023 - 10:15 am |

RED BANK: INDOOR CANNABIS FARM APPROVED

Dec 6, 2022

The facility would operate in three buildings now used for warehousing at 15 East Leonard Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank moved closer to scoring a wholesale cannabis growing facility Monday night.

Before granting approval, however, planning board members had to overcome misgivings about an all-cash operation – and an electrified security fence meant to give intruders a “kick in the chest” without killing them.

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December 6, 2022 - 7:59 am |

RED BANK: SOME VOTERS HAD OTHER IDEAS

Nov 30, 2022

 Five voters wanted former Republican Mayor Mike Arnone, seen here in 2015, back in office. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Billy Portman may have been the only candidate on the ballot to succeed Pasquale Menna as Red Bank mayor in this month’s election, but 94 voters had other ideas, according to data released by the Monmouth County Clerk Tuesday.

Among the non-candidates receiving write-in votes were two former mayors, a rock guitarist and a recent Red Bank Regional High School graduate.

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November 30, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: ‘CIVILITY’ ON VOTERS’ MINDS

Oct 20, 2022

The event was held in a room at Triumph Brewing Company restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Civility was top-of-mind for some of the 65 or so Red Bank voters who packed a room for the first of two candidates’ nights held Wednesday.

Following a late change of heart by two candidates, all four contenders for council seats, as well as the lone candidate for mayor in the November 8 election, were present.

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October 20, 2022 - 7:59 am |

RED BANK: SCHOOL COPS ON HOLD

Jul 28, 2022

Councilman Michael Ballard, seen here at a June 29 forum, cited . (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Red Bank council tabled a plan to put armed police in the borough’s primary and middle schools Wednesday night.

The council’s second session of the month ended with quarreling among members over a requested change to the meeting schedule.

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July 28, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: STURDIVANT TO RUN FOR MAYOR

Jun 9, 2022

Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant attending her first in-person meeting of the governing body May 25, seated beside interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Hours before Billy Portman pulled off the biggest political upset in memory in the Red Bank Democratic primary Tuesday, another candidate slipped into the race for mayor.

Though elected to the council last November as a Democrat, and an avowed member of defeated mayoral candidate Michael Ballard‘s Democratic “team,” Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant filed to run in the general election as an independent, she confirmed Wednesday.

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June 9, 2022 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: DISTRICT TAX UP TWO PERCENT

Apr 27, 2022

The budget includes funding for a counselor to help stressed students, Rumage said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Federal and state grants to offset pandemic-related expenses helped keep the Red Bank school district tax increase at two percent for the second year in a row, Superintendent Jared Rumage said Tuesday night.

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April 27, 2022 - 7:35 am |

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: COUNCIL WRAP

Jan 27, 2022

Council Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center top row, chaired the meeting for the first time since her January 1 election as council president. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s council debated several issues with less friction Wednesday night than often seen over the past two years.

 

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January 27, 2022 - 4:30 pm |

RED BANK: SCHOOLS MUSTER FOR RESTART

Jan 5, 2022

Domenic Kalorin, left, was elected board president, succeeding Fred Stone, right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

With “a huge chunk” of their staff out on pandemic-related absences, Red Bank’s public schools mustered once again to provide instruction Tuesday, Superintendent Jared Rumage said that night.

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January 5, 2022 - 7:40 am |

RED BANK: ELECTION RESULTS FINAL

Nov 16, 2021

It’s official: Democrats Jacqueline Sturdivant, left, and Kate Triggiano are the winners of this year’s race for seats on the Red Bank council.

The five winners in the race for charter study commission were also unchanged from the preliminary results posted on election night, November 2.

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November 16, 2021 - 6:00 pm |

RED BANK: RUMAGE TEES UP CHARTER FIGHT

Nov 4, 2021

Superintendent Jared Rumage at the borough middle school in May, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank schools Superintendent Jared Rumage called on the borough council Wednesday to aid the district in a bid to shut down the Red Bank Charter School, whose authority to operate is up for renewal.

In a direct challenge that echoed rhetoric from a bitter battle leading up to the school’s charter renewal in 2017, Rumage called for a “unified” borough educational system and the elimination of an institution that he said has fostered segregation for its entire 23-year existence.

“It’s a travesty that we have tolerated school segregation for so long in Red Bank,” Rumage told the council via Zoom during its workshop session.

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November 4, 2021 - 7:57 am |

RED BANK: STURDIVANT, TRIGGIANO WIN

Nov 2, 2021

Jacqueline Sturdivant, left, and Kate Triggiano. (Candidate and redbankgreen photos. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Political newcomer Jacqueline Sturdivant outpolled two opponents to win one of two open seats on the Red Bank council Tuesday night.

Incumbent Kate Triggiano won the other one, with independent candidate Sue Viscomi squeezed out for the second time in three years.

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November 2, 2021 - 10:45 pm |

RED BANK: CANDIDATES MAKE THEIR PITCHES

Oct 26, 2021

Candidates (from left) Jacqueline Sturdivant, Sue Viscomi and Kate Triggiano at Monday’s event, with moderator Amy Goldsmith at right. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bank voters were treated to a rancor-free forum featuring the three candidates for two borough council seats Monday night.

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October 26, 2021 - 4:45 pm |

RED BANK: VIRTUAL CANDIDATES’ NIGHT SET

Oct 22, 2021

Candidates (from left) Jacqueline Sturdivant, Kate Triggiano and Sue Viscomi have confirmed their participation, according to organizers. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bank voters will get a chance to pose questions to the three candidates for borough council in a remote forum scheduled for Monday night.

The West Side Community Group announced Friday that it would conduct its 26th annual Candidate’s Night via Zoom and Facebook.

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October 22, 2021 - 1:16 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATE Q&As

Oct 21, 2021

Red Bank voters will have three candidates from whom to elect two members of the borough council for three-year terms that begin January 1.

See what they had to say about the issues and their qualifications to tackle them in these Q&As with redbankgreen:

Kate Triggiano
Jacqueline Sturdivant
Sue Viscomi

Be sure to also check out our Q&As with all 11 candidates for the Red Bank Charter Study Commission here, and the extensive voter resource guide below.

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October 21, 2021 - 5:17 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATE VISCOMI

Oct 21, 2021

On the ballot November 2: Red Bank council candidate Sue Viscomi. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bank voters will have three candidates to choose from when they elect two council members November 2.

Here’s what candidate Sue Viscomi had to say in response to a questionnaire sent to the three by redbankgreen.

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October 21, 2021 - 3:19 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATE STURDIVANT

Oct 21, 2021

On the ballot November 2: Red Bank council candidate Jacqueline Sturdivant. (Photo provided by candidate. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bank voters will have three candidates to choose from when they elect two council members November 2.

Here’s what candidate Jacqueline Sturdivant had to say in response to a questionnaire sent to the three by redbankgreen.

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October 21, 2021 - 3:16 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATE TRIGGIANO

Oct 21, 2021

On the ballot November 2: Red Bank council candidate Kate Triggiano. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Red Bank voters will have three candidates to choose from when they elect two council members November 2.

Here’s what candidate Kate Triggiano had to say in response to a questionnaire sent to the three by redbankgreen.

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October 21, 2021 - 3:10 pm |