On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Suzanne Viscomi. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Suzanne Viscomi said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
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.
Incumbents Billy Portman and Kate Triggiano led a slate that swept all seven offices on the ballot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s official: incumbent mayor Billy Portman won re-election with nearly 61 percent of the vote in Red Bank’s May 9 election.
Borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen certified the win by Portman and his Red Bank’s Ready slate of council candidates Wednesday.
Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan garnered just 38.5 percent of the vote, marking Portman’s third consecutive victory since getting into politics 13 months ago.
Billy Portman, with mic, and the Red Bank’s Ready slate celebrating victory at Triumph Brewing Company. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Incumbent mayor Billy Portman and his slate of council candidates sailed to victory in Red Bank’s history-making election Tuesday.
Portman’s “Red Bank’s Ready” team met little resistance, crushing a lineup led by Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan, as well as a council bid by independent candidate Suzanne Viscomi.
Parking revenue has been strong since the pandemic and an increase in enforcement hours, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Local taxes on the typical Red Bank home will increase by one percent this year, officials said at a walk-thru of the 2023 municipal budget Thursday night.
That’s about $25 for the owner of a home assessed at the new townwide average of $505,244, Chief Financial Officer Thomas Seaman said at the one-hour forum, held in the council chamber at borough hall.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Linda Hill. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Linda Hill said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
An historically large field of candidates for office in Red Bank sat elbow-to-elbow on the stage of the Red Bank Middle School for a “Faceoff Over Red Bank’s Future” Tuesday night.
The crowded race includes 13 candidates for council and two for mayor, all of whom participated (one via phone link).
A combined in-person and online audience of more than 230 heard the candidates lay out their visions and positions on issues at the event, which was organized by redbankgreen and moderated by site founder John T. Ward. The complete video is above. (Click to enlarge.)
All council candidates participated in the League of Women Voters’s online event. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Thirteen candidates for Red Bank council sought to make an impression on voters during a fast-paced candidates showdown Monday night.
The occasion was an online event hosted by the hosted by the League of Women Voters of Monmouth County, the first of two planned showdowns ahead of an historic election May 9.
Mayoral candidates Billy Portman, upper right, and Tim Hogan, lower left, with league volunteers during the forum. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank mayoral candidate Tim Hogan‘s job as president of Riverview Medical Center would present a “massive conflict of interest” if he wins, incumbent Billy Portman said Monday night.
The two jostled for position at the first candidate showdown leading to an historic May 9 election.
The proposal would have shifted parking on Spring Street from the west side (at left above) to the east. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan to flip permitted parking from one side of Spring Street to the other was tabled by the Red Bank council Wednesday night.
The governing body also heard from West Side residents concerned about parking and pedestrian issues.
A schematic of the May 9 ballot, provided by the Red Bank clerk. (Click to enlarge.)
See CORRECTION below
By JOHN T. WARD
Incumbent Billy Portman will have the inside lane against challenger Tim Hogan in the two-candidate race for Red Bank mayor.
A drawing by borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen Wednesday also established the ballot positions for all 13 council candidates in the borough’s first-ever nonpartisan election May 9.
Borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen in her office last April. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
All 15 candidates for Red Bank mayor and council in the May 9 election submitted the minimum number of valid petitions to get on the ballot, Clerk Laura Reinertsen told redbankgreen Tuesday.
Up next: a drawing to determine the order of names on the ballot in the historic nonpartisan election. More →
Fifteen candidates are expected be on the ballot for the May 9 election. (Photo by Red Bank Together. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Looks like Red Bank voters will have two mayoral candidates and 13 contenders for six council seats to choose from in the historic election scheduled for May 9.
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.
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.
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.
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.