Council members Mike Whelan, in white shirt, and Mark Taylor at the Red Bank First kickoff Tuesday night at Red Rock Tap + Grill. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Hoping to bust through what they see as political gridlock, two lame-duck Red Bank council members kicked off a petition effort Tuesday night to change both the borough’s form of government and the way in which its officials are elected.
Red Bank’s ballots would be free of party lines if a push for nonpartisan elections succeeds. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
To spark debate over whether to make Red Bank’s elections nonpartisan, two lame-duck council members have slated a public-welcome event at a downtown bar next week.
On the agenda: policy discussion, a petition, plus complimentary food and drink.
GOP Chairman Michael Clancy at last October’s Halloween parade. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With its two incumbents dropping out, the Red Bank Republican party on Thursday chose its chairman and a newcomer to run for borough council this year, redbankgreen has learned.
Party head Michael Clancy will be joined on the ticket by Bank Street resident Allison Gregory on a ticket in which the mayoral slot will be blank, Clancy said Friday.
Mike Whelan, left, and Mark Taylor kicking off their campaign in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s two remaining Republican council members won’t run for re-election this year, they said late Thursday night.
The bombshell news from first-termers Mark Taylor and Mike Whelan would appear to end a chapter of brief resurgence for the local GOP after having been frozen out of power for a generation.
The Red Bank council will try again to find a vendor for the concession stand in Riverside Gardens Parks this summer.
Councilman Bob Marchese urged the council to ban recreational pot sales while allowing for medicinal trade. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Mixed in among discussions of yard sales and tree removals at the Fair Haven council’s semimonthly meeting Monday night were two issues of concern statewide and beyond: marijuana and guns.
Viscomi serves on the board of ed, where she leads the finance committee, and is on a number of borough committees. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The 2018 race for two Red Bank council seats looks like it will have a wild card.
Sue Viscomi, a board of education member and former Republican stalwart who has expressed increasing antipathy in recent years to the local arm of the party, has started gathering signatures for a run as an independent in the November election, she told redbankgreen on Monday.
Her entry would appear to add to the challenge for the two presumptive Republican candidates, already facing the prospect of an anti-Trump backlash in a majority Democrat town, and could eat into support for the two Democrats in the race, both newcomers to elective politics.
A proposed ordinance change would allow Catch 19, a seafood restaurant that’s zoned as a club, to set up sidewalk dining like other downtown eateries. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A downtown Red Bank restaurant that’s zoned as a club would be able to join the trend of sidewalk cafés under a law tweak up for consideration Wednesday night.
Also on the borough council agenda: a new vendor for the concession stand in Riverside Gardens Park.
Mayor Pasquale Menna at Riverside Gardens Park in September. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Holding off a challenge by activist Ben Forest, Mayor Pasquale Menna secured the top spot on the Democratic ticket in the November election Sunday.
Menna, going for a fourth four-year term, will be joined by two council contenders seeking their first elective office.
Councilman Mike Whelan with Tiffanie Borges at the 2016 Mayor’s Ball, above. Below, then-Councilwoman Cindy Burnham at the same event with Industry magazine’s Anthony Barbera. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s semimonthly council meeting veered into Page Six territory Wednesday night when former Councilwoman Cindy Burnham suggested Councilman Mike Whelan was dating someone other than his longtime girlfriend.
Chris Healy, above, and Mike Holzapfel, below, were joined by their wives and sons as they were sworn in as council members. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Delayed a few days by last week’s snowstorm, Little Silver residents turned out on an icy night for the annual government reorganization Monday.
For their trouble, they were treated to Mayor Bob Neff’s state-of-the borough message delivered, as is his custom, in verse.
Chief Bobby Turner has spent his entire career with the borough police department. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The son of a Long Branch police officer shot in the line of duty is Shrewsbury’s new police chief.
Bobby Turner says he entered college thinking he’d become a social worker or teacher, and even spent a few years pointing in that direction careerwise.
With an assist from Councilwoman Susan Sorensen, Betsy Koch, right, takes her seat for the first time as a council member during a meeting held at the Knollwood School, where she’s a teacher. Members of the student council were also on the dais. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Less than a three weeks after a narrow loss at the polls, Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Koch won unanimous appointment to the Fair Haven council Monday.
She replaces Councilman Rowland Wilhelm, who stepped down with two years remaining on his third three-year term.
Oliver, the Shih Tzu companion of Councilwoman Linda Schwabenbauer, had free run of the room at a special meeting of the Red Bank council Monday night.
Capping a year overshadowed by a widely despised new cell tower in the heart of town, Little Silver voters went with new blood in Tuesday’s election for two council members.
They opted for Democrat Christoper Healy and Republican Michael Holzapfel, dropping Holzapfel running mate, incumbent Dane Mihlon.
Democrat Matthew Cohen finished fourth in the four-way race, in which just 165 votes separated the top and bottom candidates, according to results posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk.
Fair Haven voters opted for one Democrat and one Republican, both incumbents, in filling two open seats on the borough council Tuesday.
Democrat Christopher Rodriguez led the pack of four candidates with 1,148 votes, outpolling Republican Susan Sorensen by 28 votes, according to results posted by the Monmouth County Clerk.
Ed Zipprich, left, won a fourth term and Michael Ballard, right, won his first as Democrats swept to victory Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two years after losing a generation-long majority on the Red Bank council, borough Democrats are back on top.
Helped by a statewide wave of anti-Trump and anti-Christie sentiment, incumbent Councilman Ed Zipprich won a fourth three-year term Tuesday night. He’ll be joined on the governing body by school board vice present Michael Ballard, after they easily vanquished one-term Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur.
Michael Ballard. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Ballard’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Dana McArthur. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are McArthur’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Linda Schwabenbauer. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Schwabenbauer’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Ed Zipprich. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Red Bank Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Linda Schwabenbauer and her running mate, Dana McArthur; and incumbent Democrat Ed Zipprich and his running mate, Michael Ballard.
Here are Zipprich’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
An undated Google Maps view up Boat Club Way toward West Front Street. 26 West now occupies the building at right. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over vehement objections by Mayor Pasquale Menna, the Red Bank council approved a 90-day valet parking setup for a downtown restaurant Wednesday.
Menna called the proposal, by 26 West on the Navesink, to use narrow Boat Club Way as a valet parking dropoff and pickup location “insane.”
Elizabeth Koch. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Fair Haven Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen and her running mate, Betsy Koch; and incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez and his running mate, Jessica Patel.
Here are Koch’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Jessica Patel. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Fair Haven Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen and her running mate, Betsy Koch; and incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez and his running mate, Jessica Patel.
Here are Patel’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.
Christopher Rodriguez. (Click to enlarge.)
Two three-year terms on the Fair Haven Borough Council are up for grabs in the November 7 election. On the ballot are four candidates: incumbent Republican Susan Sorensen and her running mate, Betsy Koch; and incumbent Democrat Christopher Rodriguez and his running mate, Jessica Patel.
Here are Rodriguez’s written responses to questions posed to all four candidates recently by redbankgreen.