Customers dining in the sidewalk seating area of Robinson Ale House on Broad Street in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials have formed a committee to “creatively expand outdoor capacity for restaurants and retail sales” as the town embarks on a post-COVID-19 recovery.
One idea the committee is expected to chew over: use of public spaces for outdoor dining.
Non-essential retail business can resume, but customers won’t be allowed into shops under Murphy’s latest order. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
With non-essential retail operations permitted to partially re-open Monday, Red Bank officials plan to host a Zoom session for merchants “to clarify the evolving guidelines and restrictions” in the COVID-19 pandemic, the borough announced Wednesday night.
RiverCenter asked that enforcement of any changes to the parking ordinance be postponed until completion of planned streetscape work on White Street and the adjoining lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing pushback, Red Bank officials on Wednesday slowed a proposal to extend paid parking to 10 p.m.
The plan, first reported by redbankgreen, drew numerous critical comments on Facebook, which several council members alluded to at Wednesday night’s council workshop session.
Business Administrator Ziad Shehady has allowed little deviation from the council’s commenting protocol since his arrival in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council moved to eliminate a citizenship requirement for business licensing and approved a debt refinancing Wednesday night.
And once again, the protocol for comments at council meetings was put to the test. Here’s a recap of what went down at the semimonthly session.
By JOHN T. WARD
Less than 48 hours after a divided Red Bank council voted to hold a public session on Yom Kippur, the meeting was cancelled late Thursday.
In addition, the three councilmen who voted to hold the meeting walked back from their positions Friday.
Newly sworn council members Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin flank Council President Erik Yngstrom at the council reorganization meeting in January. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
[UPDATE, October 4: Yom Kippur council meeting canceled for lack of quorum after mayor and council members who voted against having it say they won’t be there, he says on his Facebook page.]By a split vote, the Red Bank council decided Wednesday night to stick to its schedule and hold its next meeting on Yom Kippur.
The 3-2 outcome of a vote at the council’s workshop meeting caught Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, who had argued for a change, off guard.
“We’re going to have the meeting?” she asked. “So we’re keeping the meeting on Yom Kippur?”
A proposal would have allowed food trucks to operate on underused property outside the downtown, including the vacant gas station at Riverside and Bridge avenues. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A push to end Red Bank’s ban on food trucks ran out of gas Wednesday night.
Over the objections of one of their colleagues, council members sided with owners of brick-and-mortar restaurants, who say trucks would unfairly undermine them while rewarding other property owners for neglect.
Government consultant Ken DeRoberts will manage the agency. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council approved two of its own members and five other residents to constitute a new borough redevelopment agency Wednesday night.
Fire inspector Frank Woods, flanked by Mayor Pasquale Menna and Councilman Hazim Yassin, was honored for averting possible catastrophe at an apartment complex. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A “tenacious” Red Bank employee won recognition from the borough council Wednesday night for efforts that officials said headed off a possible disaster at an apartment complex last month.
Mayor Pasquale Menna prepares to swear in new fire Chief Wayne Hartman, center, and deputies Scott Calabrese and Bobby Holiday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s government turned the calendar page to 2019 with a friction-free reorganization meeting Tuesday that kicked off the fourth term of Mayor Pasquale Menna and gave Democrats unfettered control of borough hall.
Here are some highlights:
CFO Eugenia Poulos at a council meeting in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Borough hall may have been closed for New Year’s Eve, but the Red Bank council had one, last-minute bit of business to take care of Monday.
After a brief closed-door meeting, the governing body voted, 4-1, to fire the chief financial officer, just hours before she would have attained tenure.
At his last meeting as a councilman, Mark Taylor posed with his infant son, Cole, as his wife, Ashley, took their photo. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council wrapped up 2018 last week with swan songs for two one-term members of the governing body, one of whom was the youngest ever elected in the borough’s history.
The council will hold its final session of 2018 Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s political plates begin shifting once again Wednesday night, the last council meeting for the governing body’s only two Republicans.
Red Bank is negotiating a deal under which the developer would satisfy a “significant” portion of the town’s affordable housing obligation, a lawyer told the board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The site of a vacant office building in Red Bank is a key element in meeting the borough’s affordable housing obligations, a lawyer told the planning board Monday night.
But a proposal to allow the development of up to 90 units per acre on the 2.7-acre former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters site met continued resistance, despite support from Mayor Pasquale Menna.
Councilmembers-elect Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin embrace on news of their victories Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Democrats regained full control of borough government in an election rout for incumbent Mayor Pasquale Menna and two first-time council candidates in Tuesday’s election.
With rain in the forecast, election day arrives Tuesday, and polling stations are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. across the Greater Red Bank Green, where voters will fill numerous governmental and school board seats and decide a public question.
Four towns within redbankgreen‘s coverage area have contested council elections this year. Here’s who’s running locally, and where registered voters should go to make their selections.
Republican Pearl Lee is hoping to unseat three-term Mayor Pasquale Menna. (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 Lee’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Pasquale Menna is seeking his fourth term as mayor. (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 Menna’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Republican council candidate Michael Clancy. (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 Clancy’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Allison Gregory is running for council on the Republican ticket. (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 Gregory’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.
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Kate Triggiano is on the Democratic slate as a council candidate. (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 Triggiano’s written responses to questions posed to all candidates recently by redbankgreen.
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.
From left, council candidates Kate Triggiano, Hazim Yassin, Sue Viscomi, Michael Clancy and Allison Gregory at the West Side Community Group’s forum Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A management study that found widespread “dysfunction” in Red Bank’s government provided fodder for contenders at the annual Candidates’ Night hosted by the West Side Community Group Tuesday night.
In the case of Pearl Lee, the first Republican to challenge Mayor Pasquale Menna since 2006, it provided the spark for her to run, she said. For Menna, it’s a document he accepts “ownership” of. And all five council candidates alluded to it.
Pearl Lee at the Bank Street block party earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Her name has appeared on campaign lawn signs for weeks, but on Tuesday, a Red Bank political neophyte made it official: she’s running for mayor.
Pearl Lee, a retiree and singer from Alston Court, will top the Republican ticket ballot in November’s election. She’ll also be the first GOP opponent of Democratic incumbent Mayor Pasquale Menna since he won the seat in 2006.
Council candidate Michael Clancy at the Red Bank Classic race in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In the first attack of Red Bank’s 2018 election season, the two Republican council candidates claimed they saw one of their Democratic opponents “cavort” with a man who had made “menacing and threatening gestures” toward one of them at a local government meeting.