Mayor Billy Portman meeting with a borough resident during his weekly open hours Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Coming off a slam-dunk win in the May 9 election, Red Bank Mayor Billy Portman says he and his council running mates are gearing up to use the ‘mandate’ given them by voters.
That includes setting new priorities, he told redbankgreen in an interview Monday night.
Incumbents Billy Portman and Kate Triggiano led a slate that swept all seven offices on the ballot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s official: incumbent mayor Billy Portman won re-election with nearly 61 percent of the vote in Red Bank’s May 9 election.
Borough Clerk Laura Reinertsen certified the win by Portman and his Red Bank’s Ready slate of council candidates Wednesday.
Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan garnered just 38.5 percent of the vote, marking Portman’s third consecutive victory since getting into politics 13 months ago.
Canopy Crossroad plans to lease 9 West Street, a portion of a building that also houses Red Bank Liquors. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed Red Bank marijuana shop that’s been a focal point in a running debate over cannabis zoning won approval from the borough planning board Monday night.
With a more welcoming council set to take office July 1, Canopy Crossroad now appears to have a clearer path to opening next door to Red Bank Liquors, though hurdles remain.
Plug Naturals LLC seeks board approval to create a cannabis store in a house on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An effort to tighten Red Bank’s controversial cannabis business zoning law faces a double-barreled challenge Monday night.
That’s when the owners of two proposed pot shops that would be less than 350 feet apart go to the planning board. Both are expected to argue they comply with the 2021 law.
Billy Portman, with mic, and the Red Bank’s Ready slate celebrating victory at Triumph Brewing Company. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Incumbent mayor Billy Portman and his slate of council candidates sailed to victory in Red Bank’s history-making election Tuesday.
Portman’s “Red Bank’s Ready” team met little resistance, crushing a lineup led by Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan, as well as a council bid by independent candidate Suzanne Viscomi.
For Red Bank’s historic, government-changing election May 9, voters have an added option in the ways to cast ballots: early, in-person voting at a single polling station throughout the weekend. More →
Thirteen candidates for Red Bank council, and two for mayor, crowd the May 9 ballot. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
With a record 15 candidates to select for seven seats in the historic May 9 election, Red Bank voters may feel a bit like they’re looking at the menu of a Jersey diner: overwhelmed.
So to help voters decide who they want to establish a new form of government July 1, redbankgreen invited all 13 council candidates and both mayoral contenders to offer information about themselves and their positions in written Q&As.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Suzanne Viscomi. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Suzanne Viscomi said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Nancy Facey-Blackwood. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Nancy Facey-Blackwood said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Sean Murphy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Sean Murphy said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank mayoral candidate Tim Hogan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have two candidates to choose from when they elect a new mayor May 9.
Here’s what candidate Tim Hogan said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate John Jackson. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate John Jackson said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Ben Forest. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Ben Forest said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Laura Jannone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Laura Jannone said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Kate Triggiano. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Kate Triggiano said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank mayoral candidate Billy Portman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have two candidates to choose from when they elect a new mayor May 9.
Here’s what candidate Billy Portman said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Kristina Bonatakis. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Kristina Bonatakis said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Jacqueline Sturdivant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Jacqueline Sturdivant said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate David Cassidy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate David Cassidy said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Erin Fleming. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Erin Fleming said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
On the ballot May 9: Red Bank council candidate Linda Hill. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank voters will have 13 candidates to choose from when they elect six council members May 9.
Here’s what candidate Linda Hill said in response to a questionnaire sent to all by redbankgreen.
A rendering of the proposed home of Canopy Crossroad at 9 West Street, next door to Red Bank Liquors. (Rendering by Stephen Raciti Architect. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A plan for a retail cannabis shop in Red Bank ran into some of the same objections fueling an effort to rewrite where such businesses can operate in town Monday night.
Among them: that it’s too close to a school.
An application to open a retail cannabis dispensary on West Street in Red Bank goes to the planning board Monday night – in the midst of a council effort to block it.
An historically large field of candidates for office in Red Bank sat elbow-to-elbow on the stage of the Red Bank Middle School for a “Faceoff Over Red Bank’s Future” Tuesday night.
The crowded race includes 13 candidates for council and two for mayor, all of whom participated (one via phone link).
A combined in-person and online audience of more than 230 heard the candidates lay out their visions and positions on issues at the event, which was organized by redbankgreen and moderated by site founder John T. Ward. The complete video is above. (Click to enlarge.)
A proposed cannabis dispensary next door to Red Bank Liquors on West Street would be barred because it is within 1,000 feet of the Red Bank Charter School. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s pending cannabis zoning law does not comply with the borough’s Master Plan, the planning board found Monday night.
On a unanimous vote, the board rejected the controversial law, finding that it violates the plan’s goal of furthering economic development.