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: TAYLOR ENTERS COUNCIL RACE

Sep 16, 2022

Mark Taylor has previously served as a councilman and member of the Charter Study Commission. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Former Red Bank councilman Mark Taylor is running for a seat on the governing body again in November, he announced this week.

The Republican’s entry into the race throws up a hurdle in what had appeared to be a clear path for two Democrats.

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September 16, 2022 - 7:57 am |

RED BANK: BBQ KICKS OFF REFERENDUM PUSH

Sep 6, 2022

Democratic mayoral candidate Billy Portman flipped burgers at the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The outcome of the public question on the ballot in Red Bank’s November election – whether to change the forms of both government and elections – appears an easy call.

Voters last year overwhelmingly approved the creation of a Charter Study Commission, which in turn unanimously moved the referendum to the ballot in July. And so far, no organized opposition has emerged.

Still, looking over their shoulders, referendum advocates held a Labor Day campaign launch event with the aim of drumming up support at the polls.

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September 6, 2022 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: TRIGGIANO UNSEATS ZIPPRICH

Jul 8, 2022

Councilwoman Kate Triggiano at a June 24 abortion rights rally in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

As pledged, a newly elected slate of Red Bank Democrats ousted Ed Zipprich as party chairman Thursday night.

Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who led the slate’s party committee takeover in the June 7 primary election, was chosen to succeed Zipprich, completing a swift reversal of fortunes.

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July 8, 2022 - 9:00 am |

RED BANK: PORTMAN READY FOR MAYOR’S MIC

Jul 1, 2022

Billy Portman in a scene from the 1994 short film ‘No Time,’ directed by Darren Aronofsky. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After his mic-drop win in the Red Bank Democratic primary last month, Billy Portman enters the general election campaign as – in all likelihood – the first mayoral candidate in borough history with an IMDB listing and a “filthy” rap record on his résumé.

It turns out the 53-year-old building contractor/cover-band singer has had a long involvement in comedy and films, too.

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July 1, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: STURDIVANT DROPS MAYORAL BID

Jun 13, 2022

Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant at the council’s May 25 meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Less than a week after it began, Jacqueline Sturdivant‘s controversial bid for Red Bank mayor ended Monday.

The first-term council member and Democrat dropped her bid after a challenge by the Monmouth County Democratic organization said it identified 29 ineligible signatories to her petition to run in the November election – as an independent.

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June 13, 2022 - 7:21 pm |

RED BANK: COUNTY DEMS IMPEDE STURDIVANT

Jun 13, 2022

Councilmen Ed Zipprich, left, and Michael Ballard at last year’s September 11 memorial service. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The Monmouth County Democratic organization challenged the legitimacy of Councilwoman Jacqueline Sturdivant‘s bid for Red Bank mayor Monday, redbankgreen has learned.

The move, announced in a blistering press release, bares yet another rift between the county and municipal arms of the party that has dominated Red Bank politics for three decades.

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June 13, 2022 - 2:45 pm |

RED BANK: PORTMAN MOCKS BALLARD CLAIMS

Jun 13, 2022

Billy Portman at home on John Street Sunday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Why did Red Bank mayoral candidate Michael Ballard sign a petition for a candidate who would oppose him if he won last week’s Democratic primary?

To counter “secret deal-making” engineered by opponent Billy Portman, Ballard told redbankgreen Friday night.

In response, Portman mocked the allegation as “business as usual” from a “dying machine.”

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June 13, 2022 - 7:40 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: PORTMAN CLAIMS LANDSLIDE WIN

Jun 7, 2022

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.”

 

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June 7, 2022 - 11:15 pm |

RED BANK: PORTMAN SEES INTERIM ROLE

Jun 6, 2022

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.

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June 6, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: BALLARD TOUTS ‘TEAM’ GOALS

Jun 6, 2022

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.”

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June 6, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: MIRANDI CHALLENGE DROPPED

May 6, 2022

Councilman Ed Zipprich attaches a borough pin to the jacket of Angela Mirandi after her swearing-in ceremony February 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A legal challenge to Angela Mirandi‘s appointment to the Red Bank council earlier this year has been dropped, redbankgreen has learned.

But while the lawsuit filed by Councilwoman Kathy Horgan and Democratic party secretary Kate Okeson failed to dislodge Mirandi, it shone a harsh light into the workings of the local party under Councilman Ed Zipprich, whose leadership faces an historic challenge next month.

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May 6, 2022 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: COUNCIL SPARS OVER BROADWALK

Apr 28, 2022

Curb replacement work underway as part of the Broad Street streetscape project last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

An ongoing split among Red Bank council Democrats played out as a power struggle Wednesday night over who will steer the reopening of the seasonal Broadwalk dining and shopping plaza.

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April 28, 2022 - 7:49 am |

RED BANK: GOP TRIO TO TRY AGAIN

Apr 11, 2022

Republican Chairman Jonathan Maciel Penney, seen here in 2019, will run for council in the June primary. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Republican Brian Irwin, who dropped out of a council race two years ago, will seek his party’s endorsement as mayoral candidate in the June primary.

In addition, GOP Chairman Jonathan Maciel Penney will make his fourth attempt in four years for a council seat, joined for the second year in a row by Christine Stout.

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April 11, 2022 - 7:10 am |

RED BANK: THREE CLOSE IN DEM’S PRIMARY

Jun 8, 2021

By JOHN T. WARD

Incumbent Councilwoman Kate Triggiano led three other candidates after a rare Red Bank Democratic primary challenge Tuesday.

But the race for two openings on the party ticket in November was far from settled, with the second spot an even closer call.

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June 8, 2021 - 10:20 pm |

RED BANK: ONE PRIMARY CONTESTED, ONE NOT

Jun 8, 2021

By JOHN T. WARD

Four Red Bank Democrats square off Tuesday in a rare primary election for two spots on the November ballot for borough council.

Meantime, the borough’s Republicans have two “placeholder” candidates on the primary ballot.

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June 8, 2021 - 6:50 am |

RED BANK: GOP ‘PLACEHOLDERS’ ON BALLOT

Apr 6, 2021

Jonathan Maciel Penney speaking as a candidate at the West Side Community Group forum in 2019. (Photo by Ben Forest. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Republicans announced two “placeholder” candidates for borough council in the November election Monday.

Party Chairman Jonathan Maciel Penney said he had filed campaign papers for himself and Christine Stout.

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April 6, 2021 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS? NOT YET

Nov 3, 2020

Red Bank First leader Scott Broschart at home on Hudson Avenue in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Scott Broschart is on a one-man quest to reform both Red Bank’s government and how people get elected to it.

Neither will happen this year. A referendum Broschart has been pushing for since July is not on the November 3 ballot. But Broschart says he’s perfectly fine with that.

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November 3, 2020 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: GOP PAIR QUIT COUNCIL RACE

Sep 10, 2020

Jonathan Maciel Penney speaking at the West Side Community Group forum last October. (Photo by Ben Forest. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Both Republican candidates for Red Bank borough council seats in November’s election have formally dropped out of the race.

As a result, incumbent Democrats Michael Ballard and Ed Zipprich appear to have a clear glide path to re-election. More →

September 10, 2020 - 11:45 am |

RED BANK: DEMS CLASH OVER BUDGET, PROBE

Aug 21, 2020

A screengrab of the council’s session Wednesday night. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Rifts among Democrats were on almost nonstop display during a three-hour meeting of the Red Bank council Wednesday night.

While Councilman Ed Zipprich pressed for a probe into an email leak he said had smeared his reputation, at least two of his colleagues were more concerned about his intervention in the bidding for a new trash hauling contract.

But first, the all-Democratic body split over proposed budget cuts pushed by Councilman Michael Ballard that others saw as unwise.

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August 21, 2020 - 11:30 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH ASKS FOR LEAK PROBE

Aug 6, 2020

Councilman Ed Zipprich, left, at a press conference held by Governor Phil Murphy at Riverview Medical Center in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich said he has asked for an investigation into a leak of emails in which Business Administrator Ziad Shehady suggested Zipprich was out to “sabotage” the bidding for a new trash hauling contract.

Separately, friction between Shehady and Councilman Michael Ballard flared up again at the council’s workshop meeting Wednesday.

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August 6, 2020 - 11:25 am |

RED BANK: ‘SABOTAGE’ OF TRASH BID ALLEGED

Aug 5, 2020

DeLisa Demolition won the borough’s trash contract, now up for rebid, in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Business Administrator Ziad Shehady has asked elected officials to discuss, in private, what he calls an effort by a council member to “sabotage” the process of awarding a new trash-hauling contract, redbankgreen has learned.

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August 5, 2020 - 12:30 pm |

ON THE GREEN: ONE POLLING PLACE PER TOWN

Jul 7, 2020

Towns on the Greater Red Bank Green and beyond won’t see much in the way of traditional voting Tuesday.

With the Democratic and Republican primaries occurring during a pandemic, voters have been encouraged by election officials to cast ballots by mail.

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July 7, 2020 - 6:40 am |

RED BANK: BALLARD DUBS COPS ‘AGGRESSIVE’

Jun 5, 2020

Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard speaking at Pilgrim Baptist Church Thursday night. (Screenshot from Facebook Live. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard on Thursday teed up borough cops for what he called “overagressive” treatment of his wife during an incident 24 hours earlier.

Speaking at Pilgrim Baptist Church for an online forum on systemic racism, Ballard, an African-American, also appeared to suggest he’d been treated unfairly by unnamed officials at borough hall in his role as finance chairman.

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June 5, 2020 - 11:15 am |