RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER TO REOPEN AT LAST
After a four-year closure, Red Bank’s Senior Center will formally reopen next week, the borough announced Tuesday.
RED BANK: HOGAN, PORTMAN SPLIT ON ‘DEBATE’
Mayoral candidates Tim Hogan, left and Billy Portman, right, at last week’s dedication ceremony at the Senior Center. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s two mayoral candidates disagreed Monday on whether one of them has “refused” a call for a one-on-one debate.
RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER LOBBY DEDICATED
Tom Hintelmann addresses attendees at the event in his late father’s honor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See note below
By JOHN T. WARD
The lobby at Red Bank’s long-closed Senior Center now has a name, in honor of the late Thomas E. Hintelmann, the borough’s longest-serving council member.
Several dozen attendees crowded into the foyer of the Shrewsbury Avenue facility Tuesday evening to memorialize Hintelmann, who served on the borough council from 1975 through 2004.
RED BANK: EVENT SLATED AT SENIOR CENTER
Repair work continued at the Shrewsbury Avenue facility last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials have scheduled a dedication ceremony this week at the borough’s long-closed Senior Center.
But not, it turns out, to reopen the facility, which still isn’t quite ready for prime time, according to the interim borough Administrator Darren McConnell.
RED BANK: CANDIDATES JOSTLE FOR POSITION
All council candidates participated in the League of Women Voters’s online event. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Thirteen candidates for Red Bank council sought to make an impression on voters during a fast-paced candidates showdown Monday night.
The occasion was an online event hosted by the hosted by the League of Women Voters of Monmouth County, the first of two planned showdowns ahead of an historic election May 9.
RED BANK: PORTMAN CITES HOGAN ‘CONFLICT’
Mayoral candidates Billy Portman, upper right, and Tim Hogan, lower left, with league volunteers during the forum. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank mayoral candidate Tim Hogan‘s job as president of Riverview Medical Center would present a “massive conflict of interest” if he wins, incumbent Billy Portman said Monday night.
The two jostled for position at the first candidate showdown leading to an historic May 9 election.
RED BANK: VOTERS TO GET FIRST LOOK VIA ZOOM
By JOHN T. WARD
Up to 15 candidates for Red Bank office may appear together at an online forum Monday night.
The League of Women Voters of Monmouth County event will offer borough voters the first opportunity to compare the two mayoral contenders and 13 candidates for six council seats in the historic May 9 election.
RED BANK: MAYORAL CONTENDERS UP FOR ‘FACEOFF’
Mayoral candidates Billy Portman, left, and Tim Hogan. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Incumbent mayor Billy Portman and challenger Tim Hogan have agreed to participate in redbankgreen’s “Faceoff Over Red Bank’s Future” next month.
So far, nine of the 13 candidates for council also have agreed to answer questions at the event.
RED BANK: CANDIDATE FACEOFF SET
With a high-stakes election nearing, Red Bank voters will have a chance to see and hear from up to 15 candidates for municipal office at a future-oriented redbankgreen forum next month.
The League of Women Voters of Monmouth County is also doing a thing.
RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER WORK DELAYED
Red Bank residents begin their fifth year without access to the borough’s Senior Center this month.
What’s up with the repairs to the long-closed facility?
RED BANK: SOME VOTERS HAD OTHER IDEAS
 
Five voters wanted former Republican Mayor Mike Arnone, seen here in 2015, back in office. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Billy Portman may have been the only candidate on the ballot to succeed Pasquale Menna as Red Bank mayor in this month’s election, but 94 voters had other ideas, according to data released by the Monmouth County Clerk Tuesday.
Among the non-candidates receiving write-in votes were two former mayors, a rock guitarist and a recent Red Bank Regional High School graduate.
RED BANK: MIRANDI & JACKSON CLINCH SEATS
Democrats Angela Mirandi and John Jackson at the West Side Community Group candidate’s forum last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
As it appeared on election night, Red Bank voters elected Democrat Angela Mirandi and running mate John Jackson to the borough council last earlier this month, according to completed tallies.
Voters also overwhelmingly approved a referendum to change the town’s form of government and election process, and elected political newcomer Billy Portman to succeed Pasquale Menna as mayor, official results posted by the Monmouth County Clerk Monday showed.
RED BANK: VOTERS FAVOR DEMS… AND CHANGE
Democrats Angela Mirandi and John Jackson at Jackson’s home Tuesday night. (Photo from John Jackson. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank voters appeared to have stuck with Democrats in Tuesday’s election – while also clamoring for both a new form of governance and a wider field of future candidates.
As of midnight, incumbent Democrat Angela Mirandi and running mate John Jackson held strong leads in the race for two council seats, with an unspecified number of mail-in ballots yet to be counted.
At the same time, voters overwhelmingly approved a referendum to overhaul the town’s form of government, and elected as mayor political newcomer Billy Portman, who ran unopposed on a platform pushing for the history-making changes.
RED BANK: GOP ATTACKS AT RACE’S END
The council candidates, clockwise from top center, are Mark Taylor, John Jackson, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Angela Mirandi. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Republicans went on the offensive in the closing days of the race for two seats on the Red Bank council, to be decided in Tuesday’s election.
GOP mailings included some unexpected characterizations: that their opponents are “MAGA” Democrats who “participated in a Trump-like scheme to overturn” the results of the Democratic primary in June.
RED BANK: ‘CIVILITY’ ON VOTERS’ MINDS
The event was held in a room at Triumph Brewing Company restaurant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Civility was top-of-mind for some of the 65 or so Red Bank voters who packed a room for the first of two candidates’ nights held Wednesday.
Following a late change of heart by two candidates, all four contenders for council seats, as well as the lone candidate for mayor in the November 8 election, were present.
RED BANK: CANDIDATE FACE-OFFS SET
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank voters will get two chances – or one and a half – this week to size up the candidates in the November 8 municipal elections.
Only one will be in-person. And neither will feature all five candidates.
RED BANK: DEMS TO SKIP ONE OF TWO FORUMS
Democratic council candidates John Jackson and Angela Mirandi at National Night Out in August. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s two Democratic council candidates have decided to skip the traditional West Side Community Group forum scheduled for this month.
Instead, John Jackson and incumbent Angela Mirandi are expected to participate only in a virtual League of Women Voters’ event the same week, a choice their Republican opponents criticized Tuesday.
RED BANK: SENIOR CENTER UPDATE
A contractor carries building materials into the Red Bank Senior Center last month.
What’s up with the repairs to the long-closed facility?
RED BANK: PORTMAN READY FOR MAYOR’S MIC
Billy Portman in a scene from the 1994 short film ‘No Time,’ directed by Darren Aronofsky. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After his mic-drop win in the Red Bank Democratic primary last month, Billy Portman enters the general election campaign as – in all likelihood – the first mayoral candidate in borough history with an IMDB listing and a “filthy” rap record on his résumé.
It turns out the 53-year-old building contractor/cover-band singer has had a long involvement in comedy and films, too.
RED BANK: PORTMAN CLAIMS LANDSLIDE WIN
Billy Portman at Red Rock Tap + Grill Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Political neophyte Billy Portman claimed a landslide victory in Red Bank Democrats’ mayoral primary Tuesday night.
At the same time, enough members of an 18-candidate reform slate for the party’s county committee appeared to win races to ensure a change at the top of an organization Portman had criticized for “machine politics.”
RED BANK: PORTMAN SEES INTERIM ROLE
Billy Portman addressing supporters at a fundraiser held at Tino’s Restaurant in late April. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank mayoral contender Billy Portman is “not looking for a lifetime in politics,” he says.
In fact, if all goes according to plan, he’ll be able to hand the reins to his successor just five months after being sworn in, he says.
RED BANK: BALLARD TOUTS ‘TEAM’ GOALS
Michael Ballard at Sickles Market in Red Bank in May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Unlike his opponent in the June 7 Red Bank Democratic primary, Michael Ballard says he’s in it for the long haul.
“I am running to be the mayor of Red Bank for the next four years,” Ballard told redbankgreen last month. And with his “team,” he vows to return the governing body “to a pre-2018 council that was not at each others throats.”
RED BANK: BALLARD AND PORTMAN TO FACE OFF
The two contenders for mayor in Red Bank’s June 7 Democratic primary have agreed to a virtual debate.
RED BANK: MIRANDI CHALLENGE DROPPED
Councilman Ed Zipprich attaches a borough pin to the jacket of Angela Mirandi after her swearing-in ceremony February 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A legal challenge to Angela Mirandi‘s appointment to the Red Bank council earlier this year has been dropped, redbankgreen has learned.
But while the lawsuit filed by Councilwoman Kathy Horgan and Democratic party secretary Kate Okeson failed to dislodge Mirandi, it shone a harsh light into the workings of the local party under Councilman Ed Zipprich, whose leadership faces an historic challenge next month.
RED BANK: ZIPPRICH DEMANDS TOWN’S COSTS
Ed Zipprich, center, with council colleagues Kathy Horgan and Erik Yngstrom in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank councilman and Democratic party chairman Ed Zipprich issued a “demand” Tuesday that two party members who sued for the removal of Angela Mirandi from the council reimburse the borough for its legal expenses.