Meg Chrisner-Keefe. (Click to enlarge.)
Two borough council seats are up for grabs in Fair Haven’s November 5 election.
On the ballot are incumbent incumbents Jon Peters and Jacquie Rice, both Republicans, and Democratic challengers Meg Chrisner-Keefe and Mike McCue.
Here are Chrisner-Keefe’s written responses to questions posed to all Fair Haven candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Councilman Hazim Yassin in February, 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Hazim Yassin tells redbankgreen he has assembled a bipartisan coalition of elected officials from across New Jersey to donate funds from their campaign warchests to the fight against the coronavirus.
Mayor Josh Halpern speaking during Monday’s council session. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Overriding objections by Mayor Josh Halpern, Fair Haven’s borough council endorsed a resolution calling for common-sense federal gun laws Monday night.
The 6-0 vote followed a showdown between Halpern and several council members over his blockage of resolutions he said are not local issues.
Delivery trucks and tree-removal equipment narrowed a stretch of Hance Road Wednesday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After seven years of planning, and months of intense pushback, Fair Haven’s council killed a plan to install sidewalks and curbs in an area that residents likened to a “country lane” Tuesday night.
The action, on a 3-3 vote without a mayor in place to cast a tiebreaker, left unanswered what to do about streets that still need repaving, and whether to waive a $350,000 grant to pay for it.
Ben Lucarelli at the dedication of Williams, Albert and Robards Park in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Since he abruptly resigned as Fair Haven’s mayor two days ago, Ben Lucarelli hasn’t said a word publicly about his decision.
But a recording of Monday night’s council session captures him frustrated over a loss of “decorum” at public meetings and taking flak for his own conduct.
Closed since early in the pandemic, Fair Haven’s borough hall and library will reopen June 7, administrator says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new council member, a call for budget cuts, a planned reopening of borough hall and a pandemic ponytail were among the topics at what might have been the last Fair Haven council meeting of the pandemic Monday night.
Councilwoman Susan Sorensen working a booth at the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair in 2013. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A divided council cleared financing to advance plans for new police and public works facilities in Fair Haven Monday night.
At its final session of 2020, the council also extended the employment of Theresa Casagrande as borough administrator and bid goodbye to Councilwoman Susan Sorensen.
The Fair Haven vote tally as shown on the Monmouth County Clerk’s website as of Monday evening. (Click to enlarge.)
Fair Haven Democrats have won their first majority on the borough’s governing body in recent memory.
Nearly three weeks after voting closed, official results posted on Monmouth County Clerk’s website late Monday showed incumbent Councilman Chris Rodriguez and running mate Laline Neff won the two open council seats, displacing three-term Republican Susan Sorensen.
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven Democrats appeared headed to a council majority for the first time in memory Wednesday.
With vote tallies incomplete, incumbent Chris Rodriguez and running mate Laline Neff held wide margins over incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen, who ran solo in pursuit of a fourth three-year term.
The proposed trail would run between the cherry blossom trees lining Fair Haven Road and the eastern edge of Fair Haven Fields. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven officials have dusted off a three-year-old proposal that would add a stone-dust trail to the roadside portions of Fair Haven Fields.
It would also cut the cost of removing excess vegetation from McCarter Pond, they said.
Under the plan, “share the road” sharrows would be painted in both directions through the eastern business district. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A debate over proposed bike lanes and share-the-road markings along the length of River Road in Fair Haven rolled on Monday night.
One week after he broke a tie to advance the plan, Mayor Ben Lucarelli brought in some “sources of authority” on the issue. But opposition, even among some bikers, continued.
Under the plan, both sides of River Road between Lake Avenue and Hance Road would be marked with bike lanes; sharrows would be painted from Hance east to the Rumson border. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[See CORRECTION below]
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for bike lanes in Fair Haven hit some potholes last week.
Mayor Ben Lucarelli was forced to break a tie when three council members balked at approving share-the-road markings through the River Road business district.
Escorted to the transfer site by police, an 18-wheeler needed more than five minutes of maneuvering to back into the tight space last Friday. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A brush-grinding and transfer station tucked into a leafy Fair Haven neighborhood has got to go, neighbors say.
Though Fair Haven officials have touted the operation for years as a model of interlocal sharing and an environmental boon, residents call it a “monstrosity” of noise, dust and dangerous truck traffic.
The consolidation plan contemplates the borough buying 623 River Road for $3.4 million. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With little more than a day’s notice, Fair Haven has announced a public presentation over a proposed plan for a new borough hall and police station.
One council member called the alert “terribly short notice” and asked that a key vote on the proposal be tabled.
The borough plans to buy 623 River Road, outlined in red. The star indicates the firehouse property. (Google Maps image. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over the objections of business owners and residents, Fair Haven’s council initiated a plan Monday night to buy a River Road site, where it would create a new borough hall and police station.
Even the council’s two newest members, Democrats whose November election signaled a change in the status quo, agreed that the new facilities are “a need, not a want.” But tenants of the target building said the changes would tear at the fabric of the town.
Joined by her husband, James, and four children, Meghan Chrisner-Keefe recited her oath of office. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Democrats pulled even with Republicans on Fair Haven’s council council for the first time in memory Monday night.
But Meg Chrisner-Keefe and Mike McCue, the two newest members of the six-member governing body, both downplayed partisanship in brief interviews with redbankgreen.
Two Democratic challengers won seats on the Fair Haven council in Tuesday’s election.
Mike McCue. (Click to enlarge.)
Two borough council seats are up for grabs in Fair Haven’s November 5 election.
On the ballot are incumbent incumbents Jon Peters and Jacquie Rice, both Republicans, and Democratic challengers Meg Chrisner-Keefe and Mike McCue.
Here are McCue’s written responses to questions posed to all Fair Haven candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Jacquie Rice. (Click to enlarge.)
Two borough council seats are up for grabs in Fair Haven’s November 5 election.
On the ballot are incumbent incumbents Jon Peters and Jacquie Rice, both Republicans, and Democratic challengers Meg Chrisner-Keefe and Mike McCue.
Here are Rice’s written responses to questions posed to all Fair Haven candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Jonathan Peters. (Click to enlarge.)
Two borough council seats are up for grabs in Fair Haven’s November 5 election.
On the ballot are incumbent incumbents Jon Peters and Jacquie Rice, both Republicans, and Democratic challengers Meg Chrisner-Keefe and Mike McCue.
Here are Peters’ written responses to questions posed to all Fair Haven candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Mayor Ben Lucarelli, right, with Council President Jon Peters at Monday’s council meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steam continued to rise Monday night from last month’s controversial planning board decision to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to open in Fair Haven.
At issue at the council’s semimonthly meeting was a proposed ordinance that would all but ban fast-food restaurants, even as advocates acknowledged it was no more than a “stopgap” measure.