Sue Viscomi at a school board meeting in March, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three Red Bank council members were silent Wednesday in the face of accusations that one of them had smeared a resident by accusing her of using “racist” language last month.
Monica Urena speaks to the borough council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A resolution that thrust Red Bank into a national debate on illegal immigration won narrow approval by the borough council Wednesday night.
A watered-down version of it, that is.
Rabbi Marc Kline at Monday’s Human Relations Advisory Committee meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After weeks of silence, the Red Bank council is expected next month to consider a proposed resolution that has thrust the borough into a national debate on illegal immigration.
Human Relations Advisory Committee Chairman David Pascale told the group Monday night that he’ll be at the April 12 council meeting to “stand by” a statement that calls for town officials to “monitor and challenge” any costs arising from federal efforts to find and deport undocumented aliens.
The HRAC, meanwhile, rejected member Ashley Homefield’s proposal that the committee simply “make a statement on behalf of the community rather than pushing [a resolution] to vote by the council.”
Pro-immigrant protesters, above, outnumbered opponents outside borough hall both before and after Monday’s meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With rallies before and afterward heavily favoring the rights of undocumented residents, Red Bank’s Human Relations Committee voted Monday to oppose “any forced collaboration” between borough police and federal authorities when it comes to enforcing immigration law.
Short of declaring Red Bank a “sanctuary city,” the committee passed, by a 5-2 vote, a resolution that instead calls for town officials to “monitor and challenge” any costs arising from federal efforts to find and deport undocumented aliens.
Council President Cindy Burnham at her final meeting as a member of the governing body Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Firebrand activist Cindy Burnham ended her term on Red Bank’s council Wednesday night vowing to continue the work that made her its most consistent contrarian.
On her way out, she cast the last in a long series of “no” votes in which she was the lone dissenter.
Council candidate Kellie O’Bosky Colwell says the borough sewer needs an “overhaul” in light of reported bacteria levels in the Navesink. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Calling for an “emergency” weekend council meeting, the two Republican candidates for Red Bank council suggested Friday that poor upkeep of the borough sewer system was to blame for elevated levels of harmful bacteria in the Navesink River.
The meeting didn’t happen, and it’s not clear who, if anyone, candidates Kellie O’Bosky Colwell and Brian Hanlon asked to schedule one.
Meantime, incumbent Councilwoman Cindy Burnham, a former Republican now running as an independent, blasted the pair for “egregious” politicizing of the issue.
Having been denied a return spot on the Republican ticket, Red Bank Council President Cindy Burnham, seen at center right, hosted an open party at her Wallace Street home to kick off her re-election campaign as an independent Sunday night.
“It’s not a fundraiser — it’s a friend-raiser,” Burnham said, quoting one of her daughters, as about two dozen partygoers mingled in chilly weather in her garage and driveway while a live band played. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Council President Cindy Burnham, seen here at her 2014 swearing-in with state Senator Jen Beck at left, plans an independent run for a second term. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
You might call it the “no-party-ties party” when Red Bank Council President Cindy Burnham launches her independent run for re-election next month with a bash that she says is open to all borough residents.
After licking her wounds about being dumped from the 2016 Republican ticket on Sunday, Burnham confirmed Thursday that she’ll mount a solo run, one based on her record as an activist and “the voice of reason” on the governing body.
And she’s kicking it off with a party at her home that will feature a live band — Kül d’Sack — and free food, by Greek Eats.
“If there’s on thing I know how to do, it’s throw a party,” she told redbankgreen.
Councilman Mike DuPont at his final council meeting Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A 25-year run of Democratic rule in Red Bank entered its final phase at a low-key borough council meeting Wednesday night.
Councilman Mike DuPont delivered his swan song after three terms, having been defeated by a Republican, Mike Whelan, who wasn’t yet born when the Democrats attained their current majority in 1990.
Mike Whelan, flanked by Councilman-elect Mark Taylor and GOP Chairman Sean DiSomma, celebrates at the county Board of Elections office Friday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
[See update on DuPont concession below.]
Republican political newcomer Mike Whelan claimed victory, again, after a recount of votes in this month’s Red Bank council election Friday.
The new tally, ordered last week by a Superior Court judge at the request of incumbent Democratic Councilman Mike DuPont, showed that Whelan beat DuPont by three votes — one more than his apparent margin of victory going into the recount.
“I’m happy this process has worked out,” Whelan told redbankgreen, minutes after Monmouth County Clerk Christine Giordano Hanlon declared him the winner. “Now, it’s time to get to work.”
By JOHN T. WARD
Citing the thin vote margin, a Superior Court granted a request for a recount in the Red Bank council election Friday.
The action by Judge Katie Gummer, in Freehold, means that incumbent Democratic Councilman Mike DuPont still has at least one more shot at reversing his apparent two-vote loss in last week’s election.
Councilman Mike DuPont, with his wife, Doreen, beside him, addresses Democratic supporters on election night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Republicans blasted incumbent Councilman Mike DuPont as a “sore loser” Thursday for seeking a recount of his apparent two-vote loss in last week’s election.
DuPont is scheduled to appear before a judge in Superior Court in Freehold Friday on his petition for a recount, which Republicans say would constitute an “unprecedented” fourth counting of votes from the November 3 squeaker.
Councilman and Democratic party chair Ed Zipprich, right, with Democratic council candidate Michael Ballard at the borough Halloween parade last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
[SEE UPDATE BELOW ]
An eleventh-hour election email purportedly sent by Red Bank Democratic Party chairman and Councilman Ed Zipprich has drawn fire from Republicans both for its content, which they allege was “word-for-word” plagiarized, and for the method by which it was distributed.
Republican chairman Sean DiSomma and Councilwoman Linda Schwabenbauer both said Zipprich took an email that Schwabenbauer sent out Monday afternoon in support of the two Republican council candidates and tweaked it into an endorsement of the two Democratic candidates.
Then Zipprich sent his version out to recipients whose addresses he improperly obtained from the borough parks and recreation department, said Di Somma, who called for an investigation by state election authorities.
Red Bank school board candidate Mike Clancy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of six candidates on the ballot in this year’s Red Bank Board of Education election apparently doesn’t belong there.
Mike Clancy acknowledged to redbankgreen that he hasn’t lived in town for a year, as required by law — and said he didn’t know he had to.
Councilman Ed Zipprich, left, at Democratic HQ on election night in 2007. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A video showing Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich under arrest for driving while intoxicated in 2011 is “making its rounds among Monmouth County’s politically connected,” the Asbury Park Press reported Friday.
On its website, the newspaper includes a link to the video on YouTube, but YouTube shows the video as having been removed by the user, who is not identified.
Cindy Burnham, left, addresses the audience as Sean Di Somma, Kathy Horgan and Sharon Lee listen at the Westside Community Group’s annual candidate’s forum Thursday night. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The question of whether to keep or sell Red Bank’s municipal water utility was among a handful of issues that split the four candidates for borough council at a debate Thursday night.
Republican newcomer Sean Di Somma said he’d sell it, one of several moves he’d make to “bring the council into the 21st century” and end the “fuzzy math” surrounding local taxes.
Incumbent Democrats Sharon Lee and Kathy Horgan contended the water system wouldn’t find a buyer willing to take on the debt and expense of upgrading a system, parts of which are 100 years old, and that Red Bank was better off keeping it anyway.
Cindy Burnham, the environmental activist who shares the GOP ticket with Di Somma, suggested that “the water utility could be a moneymaker’ for the town, but what really hits homeowners in the wallet is the sewer portion of their bills.
Differences over that issue, taxes and the fate or a piece of borough-owned waterfront property dominated the 17th annual candidates forum organized by the Westside Community Group at River Street Commons Thursday night.