RED BANK: CHARTER STUDY SET INTO MOTION

Clockwise from top left: Mike DuPont, Nancy Facey-Blackwood, Ben Forest, Mark Taylor and Kate Okeson. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

CLARIFICATION: This article reported results as of 11 p.m. on election day, and the outcome may change as mail-in ballots are counted.

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank voters went with four of five slate candidates in the borough’s historic election for charter study commission Tuesday.

But first, they said “yes,” overwhelmingly, on whether the study should take place.

November 2, 2021 - 11:15 pm |

RED BANK: CHARTER STUDY CANDIDATE Q&As

Eleven Red Bank residents are running for five seats in this year’s election for charter study commission.

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

Scott Broschart
Mike DuPont
Nancy Facey-Blackwood
Ben Forest
Jesse Garrison
John Gosden
Aimee Humphreys
John Jackson
Kate Okeson
Mark Taylor
Tom Wieczerzak

In addition, check out the voter resource guide below, with information on the public question that would authorize formation of the commission.

October 21, 2021 - 4:57 pm |

RED BANK: DEMS CALL FOR CHARTER STUDY

Kathy Horgan with fellow Democrats and council members Ed Zipprich, center, and Michael Ballard in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Again taking aim at their own party’s chairman, four Red Bank council members and Mayor Pasquale Menna have called for a charter study to review the borough’s form of government – and possibly, change the electoral process.

April 7, 2021 - 3:30 pm |

RED BANK: NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS ADVANCE

Ben Forest outside Sickles Market last September. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj Lamenting the “unpleasantness” of Red Bank politics in recent years, Charter Study Commission member Ben Forest made a tearful plea for nonpartisan elections Wednesday.

The commission’s other four members informally agreed. They also began sorting through alternatives to the borough form of government in use since the town was carved out of then-sprawling Shrewsbury Township in 1908.

June 16, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: PORTMAN CLAIMS LANDSLIDE WIN

Billy Portman at Red Rock Tap + Grill Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Political neophyte Billy Portman claimed a landslide victory in Red Bank Democrats’ mayoral primary Tuesday night.

At the same time, enough members of an 18-candidate reform slate for the party’s county committee appeared to win races to ensure a change at the top of an organization Portman had criticized for “machine politics.”

June 7, 2022 - 11:15 pm |

RED BANK: PORTMAN SEES INTERIM ROLE

Billy Portman addressing supporters at a fundraiser held at Tino’s Restaurant in late April. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank mayoral contender Billy Portman is “not looking for a lifetime in politics,” he says.

In fact, if all goes according to plan, he’ll be able to hand the reins to his successor just five months after being sworn in, he says.

June 6, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: BALLARD TOUTS ‘TEAM’ GOALS

Michael Ballard at Sickles Market in Red Bank in May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Unlike his opponent in the June 7 Red Bank Democratic primary, Michael Ballard says he’s in it for the long haul.

“I am running to be the mayor of Red Bank for the next four years,” Ballard told redbankgreen last month. And with his “team,” he vows to return the governing body “to a pre-2018 council that was not at each others throats.”

June 6, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: ELECTED OFFICIALS QUIZZED

Marlboro Mayor John Hornick, in highlighted pane, was among the five municipal officials from two counties interviewed about forms of government by the Red Bank Charter Study Commission Tuesday night.

May 18, 2022 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: ADMIN SEARCH TO BE REVIVED

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

hot topic 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.

May 12, 2022 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: AUDIT LED TO YASSIN CHARGES

Students and teachers digging into the primary school garden funded by the Red Bank Education Foundation last month. (Red Bank Borough Schools photo. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topic A “housekeeping” audit led to criminal charges, disclosed Monday, that former Red Bank councilman Hazim Yassin stole $7,650 from the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, its president told redbankgreen.

May 10, 2022 - 7:53 am |

RED BANK: TURNOUT LIGHT FOR FORUM

A screengrab of Wednesday’s meeting, held via Zoom. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

An online public forum held Wednesday night by Red Bank’s Charter Study Commission was brief, as only two residents chimed in.

But more have weighed in by email, according several commission members. And one consistent theme is that residents don’t want an appointed mayor, they said.

May 5, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: COMMISSION TO HOLD FORUM

Red Bank residents will have an opportunity next week to weigh in on the effectiveness of the borough form of government in place locally since 1908.

April 28, 2022 - 6:00 pm |

RED BANK: TESLA TRYOUT UPDATED

The borough-owned Tesla gets recharged at a station intended for public use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj Red Bank’s borough government is not yet ready to pull the plug on a donated Tesla sedan, even though keeping the vehicle charged up has been a challenge, interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.

April 21, 2022 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: GOVERNMENT FORMS REVIEWED

By JOHN T. WARD

Wednesday night’s meeting of the Red Bank Charter Study Commission focussed on forms of government available should the commission recommend a change from the “borough” structure in place since 1908.

April 7, 2022 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: MENNA WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

Mayor Pasquale Menna, left, with Councilman Michael Ballard on February 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic

After 16 years in office, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna won’t seek a fifth term, redbankgreen has learned.

Menna’s decision, and the absence of other contenders, clears a path for Councilman Michael Ballard to secure the Democratic party nomination without resistance by the incumbent in the June primary election.

April 4, 2022 - 5:42 pm |

RED BANK: ‘FED UP’ SLATE AIMS FOR OVERHAUL

Among the slate’s members are, clockwise from top left: Wilson Beebe, Suellen Sims, Kate Triggiano, Nancy Facey-Blackwood, Ben Forest, Kathy Horgan, Boris Kofman and Frank Corrado. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Eighteen “fed up” Democratic party loyalists plan to take on what they call Red Bank’s “exclusionary party machine” in the June primary elections, they said in an announcement early Thursday.

Their goals, they said, are to “bring transparency and end divisiveness” within the organization – and unseat Ed Zipprich as chairman.

March 31, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: MIRANDI KEEPS SEAT, FOR NOW

Angela Mirandi, in black mask, as she was sworn to office by Congressman Frank Pallone outside borough hall February 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topic A Monmouth County court denied a request Monday that Angela Mirandi be temporarily removed from her seat as an appointed member of the Red Bank council.

Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman instead ruled that Mirandi can continue in the post at least until April 8.

March 21, 2022 - 10:50 am |

RED BANK: MIRANDI DECISION POSTPONED

Angela Mirandi at her February 11 swearing-in ceremony. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topic A Monmouth County judge postponed a decision Wednesday on whether Angela Mirandi can retain her seat as an appointed member of the Red Bank council.

March 16, 2022 - 11:11 am |

RED BANK: SIX WEIGH IN ON CHARTER REVIEW

By JOHN T. WARD

A half-dozen residents weighed in Tuesday night on Red Bank’s form of government and how people get elected to it.

Among the commenters at a Zoom session of the Charter Study Commission were several who like the idea that council members can make things happen at the department level.

March 16, 2022 - 7:53 am |

RED BANK: ‘NONPARTISAN’ IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Voters may get to decide in November on a new form of government. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

As the Red Bank Charter Study Commission heads into a public hearing on the first phase of its work Tuesday night, this much is clear: partisan elections are in the crosshairs.

March 15, 2022 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: TAYLOR GRILLS ZIPPRICH, BALLARD

Mark Taylor, center, grilled two sitting councilmen, including Michael Ballard, bottom right. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Aggressive questioning of two current council members by a former councilman marked a special session of the Red Bank Charter Study Commission Thursday night.

Appearing as the final witnesses for phase one of the commission’s review, both Ed Zipprich and Michael Ballard defended the borough form of government in place since 1908, and recent changes to shift power away from the town’s unelected administrator.

March 11, 2022 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH, BALLARD ON AGENDA

Councilmen Michael Ballard, left, and Ed Zipprich at borough hall last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

On deck to testify at a special session of the Red Bank Charter Study Commission Thursday is Democratic party chairman and Councilman Ed Zipprich.

Also slated to sit for an interview is Councilman Michael Ballard, a Zipprich ally on the fiercely divided but all-Democratic governing body.

March 9, 2022 - 7:15 am |

RED BANK: DEMS DUMP MENNA FOR BALLARD

Michael Ballard and Ed Zipprich in 2015; Mayor Pasquale Menna is visible in the background. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Dumping a party stalwart after more than three decades in office, Red Bank’s Democratic regulars nominated Councilman Michael Ballard as their candidate for mayor Wednesday.

The move exposed new depths of a bitter split with 16-year incumbent Mayor Pasquale Menna, who told redbankgreen that party committee members had shown “their true colors” with their decision.

March 3, 2022 - 11:30 pm |

RED BANK: DEMS AIR PARTY’S DIRTY LAUNDRY

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.

March 3, 2022 - 4:15 pm |

RED BANK: SIDES CLASH OVER COUNCIL SEAT

Angela Mirandi at her February 11 swearing-in ceremony, with Mayor Pasquale Menna, center, and Councilman Ed Zipprich at right. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topic Red Bank’s establishment Democrats have “admitted” in a court filing that last month’s appointment of Angela Mirandi to the borough council was tainted, challengers contended Tuesday.

Two party dissidents said in their own court filing that the purported admission bolsters their argument that Mirandi should be swiftly removed from the governing body.

March 2, 2022 - 4:15 pm |

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Search Results for: Red Bank "Charter Study"

RED BANK: CHARTER STUDY SET INTO MOTION

RED BANK: CHARTER STUDY CANDIDATE Q&As

RED BANK: DEMS CALL FOR CHARTER STUDY

RED BANK: NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS ADVANCE

RED BANK: PORTMAN CLAIMS LANDSLIDE WIN

RED BANK: PORTMAN SEES INTERIM ROLE

RED BANK: BALLARD TOUTS ‘TEAM’ GOALS

RED BANK: ELECTED OFFICIALS QUIZZED

RED BANK: ADMIN SEARCH TO BE REVIVED

RED BANK: AUDIT LED TO YASSIN CHARGES

RED BANK: TURNOUT LIGHT FOR FORUM

RED BANK: COMMISSION TO HOLD FORUM

RED BANK: TESLA TRYOUT UPDATED

RED BANK: GOVERNMENT FORMS REVIEWED

RED BANK: MENNA WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION

RED BANK: ‘FED UP’ SLATE AIMS FOR OVERHAUL

RED BANK: MIRANDI KEEPS SEAT, FOR NOW

RED BANK: MIRANDI DECISION POSTPONED

RED BANK: SIX WEIGH IN ON CHARTER REVIEW

RED BANK: ‘NONPARTISAN’ IN THE SPOTLIGHT

RED BANK: TAYLOR GRILLS ZIPPRICH, BALLARD

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH, BALLARD ON AGENDA

RED BANK: DEMS DUMP MENNA FOR BALLARD

RED BANK: DEMS AIR PARTY’S DIRTY LAUNDRY

RED BANK: SIDES CLASH OVER COUNCIL SEAT