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.
Sue Viscomi has mounted a candidacy as an independent, making it a three-way race for two council seats. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank voters will have three candidates to choose from for two council seats in November.
For the second year in a row, none of them will be Republicans.
And for the second time in three years, Sue Viscomi is running as an independent.
Sue Viscomi at a school board meeting in March, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three Red Bank council members were silent Wednesday in the face of accusations that one of them had smeared a resident by accusing her of using “racist” language last month.
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.
Viscomi serves on the board of ed, where she leads the finance committee, and is on a number of borough committees. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The 2018 race for two Red Bank council seats looks like it will have a wild card.
Sue Viscomi, a board of education member and former Republican stalwart who has expressed increasing antipathy in recent years to the local arm of the party, has started gathering signatures for a run as an independent in the November election, she told redbankgreen on Monday.
Her entry would appear to add to the challenge for the two presumptive Republican candidates, already facing the prospect of an anti-Trump backlash in a majority Democrat town, and could eat into support for the two Democrats in the race, both newcomers to elective politics.
Sue Viscomi at a 2015 board of education meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[Correction: The date of a controversial text was incorrectly reported in the original version of this article. References to it below have been corrected.]
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank Republican loyalist blasted party Chairman Michael Clancy Tuesday, one day after she was bypassed in favor of a political newcomer to run for borough council this year.
Sue Viscomi, who serves on the board of education, also took aim at Clancy for what she said was a “dumbfounding” and “disgusting” text she claims he sent to her and three GOP council members last month in February asking for a list of undocumented alien students so he could “mail it to ICE,” referring to the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
By WIL FULTON
Suzanne Viscomi, who last week quit-without-quitting the Red Bank council race, confirmed Thursday that she won’t run as either a Republican or an independent.
Viscomi told redbankgreen by phone that she would officially be dropping out of the race as a Republican. That leaves ex-running mate Cindy Burnham alone on the GOP ticket against Democratic incumbents Kathy Horgan and Sharon Lee.
There were reports I might run as an independent, Viscomi said, but Im not going to run this year. I wanted to serve on the council as a member of the Republican party, but that didnt work out. I still want to be a watchdog for the community, though.
Suzanne Viscomi during her 2012 council run. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
[UPDATE: See Cindy Burham comments below]
Red Bank borough council candidate Suzanne Viscomi had not in fact dropped out of the race last week, as reported by the Asbury Park Press, she says in a web posting that tees up her former running mate, Cindy Burnham, for running on a “a personal vendetta and to appease her ego.”
But whether Viscomi is still running, well, you’ll have to wait until Wednesday to find out, she tells redbankgreen.
Suzanne Viscomi, center, in 2012 with then-running mate Allen Palma. Cindy Burnham, below, continues her quest for a council seat. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank GOP’s difficulties in mounting a sustained challenge to the all-Democrat borough council continue.
The Asbury Park Press reports that Suzanne Viscomi, whose own running mate bailed on her during their 2012 council run, has quit the 2013 race, in which two seats are at stake.
There was no official announcement of the ticket change, and the Press reports that local GOP chairman Jack Minton declined to say why Viscomi withdrew.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A mailer sent by Zipprich-backed newcomer Jacqueline Sturdivant obscured the name of fellow Democrat and incumbent Kate Triggiano. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Two weeks before election day, a bitter split between Red Bank and Monmouth County Democratic powerbrokers went wide Tuesday.
In a letter immediately made public, the party’s top county official, David G. Brown II, blasted borough party head Ed Zipprich for “clearly not supporting” incumbent Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who is seeking a second term.
Zipprich, also a council member, responded with accusations of his own against Brown and Triggiano, with whom he has sparred for more than year.
Councilman Ed Zipprich during a council meeting via Zoom in May. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than eight months after the Red Bank council hired a lawyer to advise it on how to deal with an explosive email leak…
Crickets.
Saxum’s project would replace the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters at 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s planning board kicked off a process Monday night that could result in a rezoning of prime real estate.
But while the ultimate goal of the effort – a tax break for a developer – was not under immediate consideration, it was clearly on the minds of objectors, including at least one board member.