It’s official: Little Silver Republicans Mike Holzapfel and Kevin Brennan have secured the two open seats on the borough council, according to results posted on the Monmouth County Clerk’s website Monday evening.
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.
From left, Patrolman Cevin Albert, Sergeant Matt Ehrenreich and Patrolman Milton Gray all had a hand in saving a bleeding teen. (Red Bank Police Department photos. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three Red Bank cops are slated for commendation as lifesavers Tuesday night for aiding a seriously injured, and uncooperative, teen earlier this month.
Little Silver Republican Mike Holzapfel, an incumbent, and running mate Kevin Brennan appeared to be pulling away from Democrats Stephanie Keenan, also an incumbent, and Joan Gotti in the race for two council seats as of Friday morning.
A screengrab of the council’s session Wednesday night. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A trash-and-recycling survey became the latest wedge between two factions of Red Bank’s one-party council Wednesday night.
The dispute included innuendo that Councilman Ed Zipprich could not be trusted to keep information secret from bidders in the pending award of a trash hauling contract.
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.
By JOHN T. WARD
The race for two seats on the Little Silver council remained too close to call early Wednesday.
As of 7:30 a.m., Stephanie Keenan, a Democrat with seven months of council experience, led all candidates with 1,193 votes, and first-term incumbent Republican Mike Holzapfel was only 10 votes behind.
But their running mates were still in the the running as Monmouth County election officials continued counting mail-in and in-person ballots.
Poll workers wrapping up a 14-hour day Tuesday night at Red Bank borough hall, the town’s only polling station for this year’s election. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Running unopposed, Red Bank Democrats Ed Zipprich and Michael Ballard were on an unimpeded path to re-election to borough council Tuesday amid a pandemic that depressed in-person turnout.
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.
Councilmembers Ed Zipprich, center, and Michael Ballard with Kathy Horgan in January, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Neither of the two incumbents seeking re-election as Red Bank council members responded to questions sent to them by redbankgreen last week.
Democrats Ed Zipprich, seeking his fifth three-year term, and Michael Ballard, seeking his second, are running unopposed in the November 3 election.
Christopher Rodriguez. (Click to enlarge.)
Fair Haven voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are three candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen; incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez; and his running mate, Laline Neff.
Here are Rodriguez’s written responses to questions posed to all three candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Susan Sorensen. (Click to enlarge.)
Fair Haven voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are three candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen; incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez; and his running mate, Laline Neff.
Here are Sorensen’s written responses to questions posed to all three candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Laline Neff. (Click to enlarge.)
Fair Haven voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are three candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen; incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez; and his running mate, Laline Neff.
Here are Neff’s written responses to questions posed to all three candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Kevin Brennan. (Click to enlarge.)
Little Silver voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are four candidates: Democrats Joan Gotti and Stephanie Keenan, and Republicans Kevin Brennan and Michael Holzapfel.
Here are Brennan’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Joan Gotti. (Click toi enlarge.)
Little Silver voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are four candidates: Democrats Joan Gotti and Stephanie Keenan, and Republicans Kevin Brennan and Michael Holzapfel.
Here are Gotti’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Michael Holzapfel. (Click to enlarge.)
Little Silver voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are four candidates: Democrats Joan Gotti and Stephanie Keenan, and Republicans Kevin Brennan and Michael Holzapfel.
Here are Holzapfel’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Stephanie Keenan. (Click to enlarge.)
Little Silver voters will be asked to fill two three-year terms on the borough council in the November 3 election.
On the ballot are four candidates: Democrats Joan Gotti and Stephanie Keenan, and Republicans Kevin Brennan and Michael Holzapfel.
Here are Keenan’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Michael Ballard, left, and Ed Zipprich with an unidentified woman at the 2017 Halloween parade. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A stalemate over dueling demands for probes stemming from a Red Bank government email leak may be headed toward resolution.
At the urging of Mayor Pasquale Menna, council members informally agreed Wednesday night to seek a legal opinion regarding their options on how to proceed.
A plan for bike lanes would advance with a parking ban on the north side of River Road between Lake Avenue and Hance Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Parking, borough facilities and more will keep Fair Haven’s elected officials busy on their Zoom session Tuesday night.
Also on the agenda: a plan to terminate an “interlocal services” agreement under which Fair Haven disposes of Rumson’s collected yard brush.
A screengrab of the council’s session Wednesday night, with councilmembers Erik Yngstrom at center left and Michael Ballard at center right. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A dispute over leaked emails entered its third month when the Red Bank council met for a workshop session via Zoom Wednesday night.
The issue has pitted two Democrats who are running for re-election against four who aren’t.
Borough hall remains closed for public meetings to limit the spread of COVID-19, so the council will again meet via Zoom. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Missing, once again, from the agenda for the Red Bank council session Wednesday are dueling versions of a resolution calling for an investigation.
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. Read More
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.
Michael Clancy at the Red Bank 5K in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
[CORRECTION: Michael Clancy is no longer the GOP chairman in Red Bank. He did not seek re-election and was replaced July 27 by Jonathan Maciel Penney. Clancy now serves “as a placeholder on the county committee until I move out of Red Bank,” he told redbankgreen Monday evening. redbankgreen regrets the error.]
By JOHN T. WARD
Three years after he quit the Human Relations committee over a controversial text message, Red Bank Republican Chairman Michael Clancy mused about coughing on President Trump’s adversaries to “harass” them over weekend.
Councilman Michael Ballard, center, with Councilman Ed Zipprich, left, and Business Administrator Ziad Shehady in December, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Almost two months later than promised, Red Bank residents will get a detailed explanation next week of a borough budget that would increase property taxes by 2.8 percent.