On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate John Jackson. (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 John Jackson said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
Democrats Angela Mirandi and John Jackson at the West Side Community Group candidate’s forum last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
As it appeared on election night, Red Bank voters elected Democrat Angela Mirandi and running mate John Jackson to the borough council last earlier this month, according to completed tallies.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved a referendum to change the town’s form of government and election process, and elected political newcomer Billy Portman to succeed Pasquale Menna as mayor, official results posted by the Monmouth County Clerk Monday showed.
Council candidate John Jackson. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government – the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.
But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.
To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.
Here’s what Jackson had to say.
On the ballot November 2: charter study commission candidate John Jackson. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 11 candidates to choose from when they elect a five-member charter study commission November 2.
Here’s what candidate John Jackson had to say in response to a questionnaire sent to all contenders by redbankgreen.
Michael Patrick and the Ring of Fire Band, along with guest vocalist Mary Lamont, perform the signature songs of Johnny Cash, below, and June Carter Cash at Middletown Arts Center Saturday.
Longtime residents of the Greater Green can tell you of times when Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash were spotted among the shops and stalls of Red Bank’s Antiques District, just two American music legends indulging their shared passion for collectibles on one of their many visits to the area.
Down in Asbury Park, where the Man in Black was one of a group of investors in the venerable Berkeley-Carteret Hotel back in the 1980s, a “Johnny Cash Suite” still designates the specially reserved local quarters of the Arkansas-born icon who kept a place in his heart for the Jersey Shore (and who made some of the most memorable contributions to the body of Bruce Springsteen covers).
Councilman John Lehnert.
Fair Haven Councilman John Lehnert was found dead on a lawn outside a home in Jackson this morning, the Asbury Park Press is reporting.
Mayor Mike Halfacre confirmed that Lehnert, a former borough police officer, had died.
The Press says a handgun was found at the scene, and that police had earlier said that the victim had shot himself in the chest around midnight.
An aerial view of the Red Bank Senior Center property, located at 80 Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo from Google Maps. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Following what one critic called “the old switcheroo,” Red Bank’s soon-to-be-unseated council pushed through a measure to include the Senior Center property in a state conservation program Wednesday night.
The 11th-hour, unadvertised move was opposed by Mayor Billy Portman and at least four members of the council that’s slated to take office July 1, setting the stage for possible reversal.
The borough has been “flooded” with requests for bodycam video of DWI arrests, said the police chief. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council rejected, without comment, a police department request to set fees for providing bodycam videos sought by the public Wednesday night.
Adoption would have helped cops reduce a “flood” of demands from requesters who simply want to monetize footage on social media, said Chief Darren McConnell. More →
The change will shift parking from the west side of Spring Street (at left above) to the east, and set time limits. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council narrowly approved a plan to flip parking from one side of Spring Street to the other Wednesday night.
The action was enabled by Mayor Billy Portman‘s first tiebreaker vote since he took office in January.
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.
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.)
Volunteer firefighters heading into borough hall for Wednesday night’s council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s volunteer firefighters derailed the planned introduction of a borough budget they said would scuttle a negotiated funding plan for their firehouses Wednesday night.
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.
A long-vacant gas station at the foot of Cooper’s Bridge was left out of the new law by mistake, proponents said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council advanced a rewrite of the borough pot law Wednesday night, undeterred by cannabis business owners warning of lawsuits.
The proposed changes, which include a ban on marijuana retailing within 1,000 feet of schools, “please no one,” but must be adopted, their lead sponsor told a sharply divided audience at a special legislative session.
A proposed change to Red Bank’s cannabis law would ban sales within 1,000 feet of schools, playgrounds and public housing, except in one zone, under a draft that’s up for discussion at a special session this week.
Robinson Ale House owner Tim McLoone at Wednesday’s council session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza will return for at least a four-month run May 15, following informal agreement by the borough council Wednesday night.
The consensus arose after Mayor Billy Portman and Councilwoman Kate Triggiano goaded the reluctant majority bloc into an immediate decision.
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.
RiverCenter’s proposal includes plans to boost weekday activity in the Broadwalk zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A six-month season for Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza would feature enhanced efforts to boost weekday visitors and battle litter, a business representative told the borough council Wednesday night.
The council, however, withheld an immediate decision on the request.
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.
Area NAACP president William Poku addressing Councilmembers John Jackson, Michael Ballard and Ed Zippich during the special session. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Controversy over an ordinance restricting short-term residential rentals such as Airbnbs in Red Bank continued at a special hearing Friday morning on whether to override Mayor Billy Portman‘s veto of the law.
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.
Councilman Michael Ballard, seen here in 2022, said the ordinance was the subject of 15 hours of “impassioned” debate. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman “blindsided” most of the borough council when he vetoed controversial limits on short-term residential rentals, Councilmember Michael Ballard said this week.
Mayor Billy Portman called the ordinance “an effort to appease a few people” who oppose short-term rentals. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman vetoed a controversial law restricting short-term, Airbnb-style residential rentals Wednesday night.
Portman, just seven weeks into his term, announced the rarely used action after the conclusion of a council meeting that ran for three and a half hours without any hint of his intention.