RED BANK: PARKING, TAXES DOMINATE DEBATE
Council candidates, from left, Dana McArthur, Ed Zipprich, Michael Ballard and Linda Schwabenbauer at Monday’s event at River Street Commons. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The four candidates for two seats on the Red Bank council faced off Monday night in a debate-like forum that focused in large part on parking and tax issues.
The polite exchanges gave residents in attendance a chance to compare a three-term incumbent, a political newcomer, and two candidates who work with numbers all day.
RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATES TO FACE OFF
Continuing a tradition now in its 21st year, the candidates on November’s ballot for two three-year terms on the Red Bank council are scheduled to face off and answer audience questions Monday night.
RED BANK: HUMANISTS TAKE UP ‘FAKE’ NEWS
Rutgers journalism and media studies professor John Pavlik talks about ‘fake’ news and its impact on democracy when he appears as guest speaker at a meeting of Red Bank Humanists Sunday.
RED BANK: PAYOUTS WILL DEPLETE FUND
Red Bank’s borough hall during a roof replacement job in November. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Retirements by three senior employees in coming months won’t put an immediate squeeze on Red Bank taxpayers, two municipal officials said Tuesday.
But the departures will all but deplete a rainy day fund created to cushion the blow of outsized payouts for unused sick and vacation time, said Councilwoman Linda Schwabenbauer, who heads the finance committee.
RED BANK: COUNCIL CANDIDATES TO FACE OFF
Continuing a tradition now in its 20th year, candidates for office in Red Bank are scheduled to face off and answer audience questions Tuesday night.
Hosted by the West Side Community Group and moderated by group president Amy Goldsmith, this year’s edition features all five candidates for two three-year terms on the borough council.
RED BANK: MURPHY ROLLS, AND SWEENEY SITS
Phil Murphy in a campaign photo, apparently taken at Edie’s Luncheonette in Little Silver. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Democratic gubernatorial candidate and Middletown resident Phil Murphy moved closer to his goal Thursday when a key prospective primary contender decided to sit out the race.
State Senate President Stephen Sweeney said he would not vie for the governorship as Murphy racked up dozens of endorsements from elected officials statewide Thursday, including Red Bank Democrats.
SEA BRIGHT RISING SAYS ‘MISSION COMPLETE’
Ilene Winters and Chris Wood reviewing requests for from Sea Bright Rising in January, 2013, three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated the town. On Friday, Winters and Woods announced that the nonprofit organization was dissolved, having completed its mission after giving out $1.6 million in donated funds to 300 families, 20 businesses and the borough itself.
From the announcement: Read More
MIDDLETOWN: EX-FINANCIER EYES TRENTON
Phil Murphy in a campaign photo, apparently taken at Edie’s Luncheonette in Little Silver. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Middletown resident and former Democratic national finance chairman Phil Murphy has declared his run for New Jersey’s governorship, even though voters won’t cast their ballots for another 18 months.
Murphy declared his expected candidacy in a video released Monday on YouTube.
LINCROFT: RU JOURNO LANDS OBAMA
President Obama calls on Rutgers Targum editor Dan Corey during College Reporter Day at the White House last Thursday. (Video by the DC bureau of The Record)
A college journalist from Lincroft has landed one of the biggest “gets” in the media world: a sit-down with President Obama.
Dan Corey, a 19-year-sophomore at Rutgers University in New Brunswick and editor-in-chief of the Daily Targum, asked for the interview when the president called on him at a White House event last Thursday, according to a report by NorthJersey.com, the website of the Record of Hackensack.
SHREWSBURY: BOROUGH’S ‘STORY’ UPDATED
Mayor Don Burden and co-author Rick Geffken at the Shrewsbury Municipal Complex. The Bonanno Farm on Sycamore Avenue, preserved under an easement, is visible in the background. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The 350-year history of Shrewsbury Borough, a vestige of a vast township that once extended from Raritan Bay to Little Egg Harbor, has a new chapter.
With the tiny borough getting ready to celebrate the 90th anniversary of its incorporation in 2016, two avid amateur historians — Rick Geffken and Mayor Don Burden — last month debuted a new edition to the definitive history of the town, adding in information on the past half-century of rapid transformation.
RED BANK: CANDIDATES TOUT THEIR VISIONS
Democrat Michael Ballard, left, with Republicans Mark Taylor and Michael Whelan with moderator Amy Goldsmith before the forum. Below, resident Jean Cash asks a question. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the possibility of their party taking control of the Red Bank council for the first time in a generation, the two Republican candidates said they’ll bring fresh thinking Thursday night.
“For 25 years, Red Bank has been subject to one voice, one leadership,” Michael Whelan said at the annual West Side Community Group candidates’ night, held at River Street Commons. “When someone has been in power for 25 years, it breeds complacency. What is the incentive to lower property taxes if you’re going to win year after year?”
RED BANK: STATION TO BE NAMED FOR O’HERN
The Red Bank train station will be dedicated to the memory of late Mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Dan O’Hern. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
After a four-year, $1.6-million facelift, the scaffolding is down at the Red Bank train station, revealing a spiffy new Victorian-era depot.
On Friday, the station will get a new identity to go along with the new roof, restored windows and gingerbread trim.
RED BANK: IT’S SCHWABENBAUER & ZIPPRICH
Councilmembers Ed Zipprich, center, and Juanita Lewis with former Councilman Ivan Polonsky, right, at Democratic HQ Tuesday night. Linda Schwabenbauer, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Linda Schwabenbauer only got into the Red Bank council race in August, and didn’t start campaigning until mid-September.
Though she’s lived in town for 10 years, the Republican also had the handicap of being an unknown political entity.
“I’d never heard of her,” said former mayor and local Democratic party sage Ed McKenna, “and I don’t know anyone who had.”
And yet, even as her opponents – and perhaps some supporters – struggled to pronounce her name, Schwabenbauer came away as the leading vote-getter in Tuesday’s election, edging incumbent Ed Zipprich by nine votes and knocking out incumbent Democrat Juanita Lewis, according to the GOP.
RED BANK: GOP APPEARS TO ADD TO ’13 GAIN
Republican Linda Schwabenbauer, left, with state Senator Jennifer Beck and running mate Sean Di Somma, far right, as returns were tallied Tuesday night. Below, Ed Zipprich, seen at right through a ladder at Democratic headquarters with his husband, J.P. Nicolaides and former Mayor Ed McKenna, at left. (Photo above by John T. Ward, below by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One year after narrowly regaining a toehold on Red Bank government, Republicans will soon have a second representative on the six-member council.
Or so it appeared late Tuesday night.
GOP newcomer Linda Schwabenbauer and Democratic incumbent Ed Zipprich were neck-and-neck in the race for two council seats. And though the two parties differed on vote totals, both candidates appeared to have outpolled Zipprich running mate Juanita Lewis by about two dozen votes.
The clear loser, for the second year in a row, was Republican Sean Di Somma, who conceded defeat early in the evening.
Mayor Pasquale Menna, a Democrat, was elected to a third four-year term. He was unopposed on the ballot.
LIVE: HOUSE RACES ACROSS THE STATE
Beginning shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday, NJ Spotlight and NJ News Commons will begin posting results for congressional races across the state. For up-to-the minute results, click on a district; you can zoom in and move the map around.
These results are preliminary as precincts report. The colors on the map indicate which party is leading by district: red for Republicans and blue for Democrats. An asterisk (*) indicates an incumbent.
For results for in the race for U.S. Senate and the statewide ballot questions, click here. (Map courtesy of NJ Spotlight and NJ News Commons)
RED BANK: ELECTION DAY 2014
Red Bank voters will choose two council members from among four candidates. (Click to enlarge)
Will voters tick down along party lines? Mix & match?
Election season 2014 culminates Tuesday with four candidates on the ballot for two Red Bank council seats, plus an incumbent mayor running unopposed.
redbankgreen will have results as soon as they’re available after polls close at 8 p.m. Meantime, here’s a refresher on the process.
RED BANK: Q&A WITH SEAN DI SOMMA
Republican council candidate Sean Di Somma. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In Tuesday’s election for Red Bank council, incumbents Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich, both Democrats, face Republicans Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer. Here are Di Somma’s answers to questions sent to all four candidates by redbankgreen.
Name: Sean Patrick Di Somma
Age: 32
Where did you grow up? Bergen County, NJ
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank? Almost 3 years
RED BANK: Q&A WITH JUANITA LEWIS
Democrat Juanita Lewis has been on the council since 2009. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In Tuesday’s election for Red Bank council, incumbents Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich, both Democrats, face Republicans Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer. Here are Lewis’s answers to questions sent to all four candidates by redbankgreen.
Name: Juanita Lewis
Age: 48
Where did you grow up? I was born and raised in Red Bank.
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank? All of my life, except when I went to college, graduate school and when I worked overseas for one year.
RED BANK: Q&A WITH PASQUALE MENNA
Pasquale Menna, a Democrat, was elected mayor in 2006 after 18 years on the borough council. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In Tuesday’s election, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna is running unopposed for a third four-year-term.Here are his answers to questions sent to all borough candidates by redbankgreen.
Name: Pasquale Menna
Age: 60
Where did you grow up? Italy, Montreal, Canada and Red Bank.
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank? Since 1964.
RED BANK: Q&A WITH LINDA SCHWABENBAUER
Republican council candidate Linda Schwabenbauer. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In Tuesday’s election for Red Bank council, incumbents Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich, both Democrats, face Republicans Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer. Here are Schwabenbauer’s answers to questions sent to all four candidates by redbankgreen.
Name: Linda Schwabenbauer
Age: 49
Where did you grow up? Downingtown, PA
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank? Since May of 2005 – just shy of 10 years
RED BANK: Q&A WITH ED ZIPPRICH
Democrat Ed Zipprich has been on the council since 2009. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
In Tuesday’s election for Red Bank council, incumbents Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich, both Democrats, face Republicans Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer. Here are Zipprich’s answers to questions sent to all four candidates by redbankgreen.
Name: Edward Zipprich
Age: 54
Where did you grow up? In a small town similar to Red Bank in Staten Island, NY
How long have you been a resident of Red Bank? 17.5 years
RED BANK: GOP CALLS FOR TELE-DEBATE
Republicans Linda Schwabenbauer and Sean Di Somma had a full-house audience at River Street Commons to themselves Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The two Red Bank council candidates challenged the Democratic incumbents to a debate Wednesday, one day after a meet-the-candidates event at which the Dems were no-shows.
GOP contender Sean Di Somma called the absence of Juanita Lewis and Ed Zipprich “sad and shameful,” adding that they’d “pulled a fast one on Red Bank residents” by canceling at the last minute.
Zipprich told redbankgreen earlier on Tuesday that he was attending to a family medical issue, and Lewis told the Westside Community Group that she couldn’t make their Tuesday event because she was “pulled away on business,” said event moderator Amy Goldsmith.
RED BANK: NO DEBATE AS DEMS ARE NO-SHOWS
The River Street Commons had a full house for the event, hosted by the Westside Community Group. Alecia Wilkerson, below, asked a question from the audience. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The two Republican candidates for Red Bank council in next week’s election had an open field as neither of their opponents showed up for a debate Tuesday night.
Incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich was out of town on a family medical issue, and fellow incumbent Democrat Juanita Lewis was “called away on business,” Westside Community Group president and event moderator Amy Goldsmith said the candidates told her.
That gave Republican challengers Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer control of the floor at the 18th annual candidates’ night, held as always at the River Street Commons. Di Somma made frequent reference to the absences, and at one point gave away their chairs to audience members who had packed the former school gym.
RED BANK WINS ‘GREAT’ DOWNTOWN VOTE
A view along Broad Street from 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The votes are in, and Red Bank is the most popular downtown in central New Jersey, according to the state chapter of the American Planning Association.
In online voting, the borough outpolled Asbury Park by just 35 votes, out of nearly 6,900 cast, with Somerville close behind in the three-way contest.
The designation is another feather in the cap for the borough, which was named the third-best small town in America by Smithsonian Magazine in 2012. It’s also something Red Bank RiverCenter can leverage in its efforts to fill store vacancies and bring in shoppers, said executive director Jim Scavone.