By JOHN T. WARD
It’s all but official: incumbent Kate Triggiano and newcomer Jacqueline Sturdivant are the winners of last week’s Red Bank Democratic primary, according to updated results posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Tuesday.
Kate Triggiano at her January, 2019 swearing-in with husband, David, son, Otto, and former Assemblyman John Wisniewski. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The two women on competing tickets moved closer to claiming wins in the Red Bank Democratic primary election for council Wednesday.
By JOHN T. WARD
Incumbent Councilwoman Kate Triggiano led three other candidates after a rare Red Bank Democratic primary challenge Tuesday.
But the race for two openings on the party ticket in November was far from settled, with the second spot an even closer call.
By JOHN T. WARD
Four Red Bank Democrats square off Tuesday in a rare primary election for two spots on the November ballot for borough council.
Meantime, the borough’s Republicans have two “placeholder” candidates on the primary ballot.
A Google Maps satellite view of the public works yard and adjoining property to the east, roughly outlined in red. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank should move quickly to bond for an overhauled public works facility, according to a recommendation adopted by the Redevelopment Agency Tuesday evening.
Estimated cost, including the acquisition of property adjacent to the Chestnut Street site: $9.3 million.
Authorization of the charter study, and all five seats on it, would be on the November ballot if the council follows through on Wednesday’s informal vote. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[Updated to include borough attorney memo on charter review timeline.]
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council informally agreed Wednesday night to have voters decide whether the borough’s form of government should be reviewed for possible overhaul.
The unanimous action by the council, all Democrats, could eventually lead to nonpartisan elections, watering down the party’s long dominance of municipal government.
The council meets via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The creation of a commission to examine Red Bank’s century-old government structure is on the table when the council holds its monthly workshop session Wednesday night.
So are renovations to the mothballed Senior Center and the swan song of Business Administrator Ziad Shehady.
The Senior Center occupies a stand-alone building on Shrewsbury Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council moved to jumpstart repairs to water-damaged Senior Center Wednesday night, one day after a recommendation by the Redevelopment Agency that it do so.
But even enroute to a unanimous vote, the measure churned up bitterness among the all-Democratic governing body.
The backyard of the mothballed Senior Center overlooking the upper Navesink River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposal to repair Red Bank’s mothballed Senior Center without adding any new facilities won a Redevelopment Agency endorsement Tuesday evening.
The action could defuse one of the hottest issues in a contested Democratic race for two council seats just six weeks before a primary vote.
Ed Zipprich, left, with husband J.P. Nicolaides holding a Bible, recites the oath of office in January, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With nine weeks to go in a rare primary race for Red Bank council, a civil war within the Democratic party intensified this week. Read More
Kathy Horgan with fellow Democrats and council members Ed Zipprich, center, and Michael Ballard in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Again taking aim at their own party’s chairman, four Red Bank council members and Mayor Pasquale Menna have called for a charter study to review the borough’s form of government – and possibly, change the electoral process.
Mayor Pasquale Menna speaking with activist Ben Forest in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Nearly three years after they briefly moved to the fore, calls to reform Red Bank’s government and electoral process have yet to yield noticeable results.
Jonathan Maciel Penney speaking as a candidate at the West Side Community Group forum in 2019. (Photo by Ben Forest. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Republicans announced two “placeholder” candidates for borough council in the November election Monday.
Party Chairman Jonathan Maciel Penney said he had filed campaign papers for himself and Christine Stout.
Fortune Cultural Center co-founder Gilda Rogers, left, and Councilman Michael Ballard. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank’s Democrats have formed a Black caucus to “bring forward future civic leaders.”
The party announced the group’s formation on Monday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
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.
Only two candidates formally sought three seats on the borough school board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A write-in candidate expects to join the Red Bank Board of Education when it reorganizes January 5.
And as telegraphed by early results from the November 3 election, a newcomer has displaced Red Bank Regional High board’s president.
For more than five hours Saturday, a small, rotating group gathered in Riverside Gardens Park for a low-key celebration of the election of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
There were no speeches: just virtual hugs, some tears, as well as cheers – punctuated by honking horns and occasional middle fingers from passersby on West Front Street.
Below are some some reflections on the election outcome among participants.
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.
The administration building on the Red Bank Regional campus in Little Silver. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Newcomer Stephanie Albanese appears to have displaced incumbent president John Garofalo from the Red Bank Regional High board of education in Tuesday’s election.
As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, the Monmouth County clerk’s incomplete vote tally showed Albanese (seen at right) leading Garofalo, 1,352 votes to 649.
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.
A prospective voter peers inside Red Bank borough hall shortly before the 6 a.m. start of election voting Tuesday.
Amid concern about the spread of COVID-19, borough hall is the only polling location for all Red Bank voters this year. In-person voters will be given paper provisional ballots to complete; disabled voters only will use accessible voting devices.
Polls remain open until 8 p.m., the hour at which mail-in ballot drop-off boxes, including the one seen at right above, will be locked. Find more information here. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)