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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.

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November 30, 2022 - 7:50 am |

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.

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November 22, 2022 - 7:47 am |

RED BANK: NEWCOMER TO LEAD MAJOR CHANGE

Mayor-elect Billy Portman, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna at a campaign celebration at the Dublin House Pub Tuesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s 114-year run under the “borough” form of government is now officially slated to end next summer.

And the person voters picked Tuesday to lead them to that moment is a political newcomer, building contractor and part-time singer who says he is “humbled” to be in the role.

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November 9, 2022 - 3:15 pm |

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.

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November 9, 2022 - 2:00 am |

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.

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November 7, 2022 - 7:35 am |

RED BANK: HISTORIC REFERENDUM ON BALLOT

Red Bank would still be known as the “Borough of Red Bank,” even if the form of government is changed by referendum, Charter Study commissioners say. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

While Red Bank’s 114-year run under a “borough” form of government is widely thought to be nearing an end, that’s still a matter for voters to decide in the November 8 election.

And even though no widespread opposition to the ballot referendum on the change has materialized, there has been some pushback. In addition, voters continue to seek  clarity about the stakes, said Charter Study Commission Chairwoman Nancy Facey-Blackwood.

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November 4, 2022 - 4:15 pm |

RED BANK: PENNEY CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

Jonathan Maciel Penney addressing the council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njA Republican candidate for Red Bank council called for an investigation Wednesday into the abrupt firing of the borough attorney in July.

 

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October 27, 2022 - 7:57 am |

RED BANK: MIRANDI Q&A

Council candidate Angela Mirandi. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government –  the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.

But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.

To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.

Here’s what Mirandi had to say.

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October 26, 2022 - 7:48 am |

RED BANK: PENNEY Q&A

Council candidate Jonathan Maciel Penney. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government –  the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.

But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.

To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.

Here’s what Penney had to say.

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October 26, 2022 - 7:47 am |

RED BANK: TAYLOR Q&A

Council candidate Mark Taylor. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government –  the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.

But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.

To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.

Here’s what Taylor had to say.

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October 26, 2022 - 7:45 am |

RED BANK: JACKSON Q&A

Council candidate John Jackson. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government –  the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.

But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.

To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.

Here’s what Jackson had to say.

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October 26, 2022 - 7:43 am |

RED BANK: PORTMAN Q&A

Mayoral candidate Billy Portman. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

In the November 8 election, Red Bank voters will pick three members of the municipal government –  the mayor and two council members – for terms that begin January 1.

But the winners may be in office for only six months, depending on the outcome of a ballot referendum on whether to change the town’s form of government. Adoption would trigger another election in May, 2023, for mayor and all six council seats.

To learn their views of the referendum and other issues, redbankgreen recently sent a set of questions to each of the candidates: mayoral contender Billy Portman, who is running unopposed; and council candidates John Jackson, Angela Mirandi, Jonathan Maciel Penney and Mark Taylor.

Here’s what Portman had to say.

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October 26, 2022 - 7:40 am |

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.

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October 20, 2022 - 7:59 am |

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.

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October 17, 2022 - 7:52 am |

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.

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October 5, 2022 - 6:30 am |

RED BANK: ZIPPRICH, TAYLOR TRADE BARBS

With Mayor Pasquale Menna in the background, Councilman Ed Zipprich attached a borough pin to the jacket worn by Angela Mirandi after her swearing-in as council member in February. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Eight days after former councilman Mark Taylor blasted current Councilman Ed Zipprich as the source of “chaos” in Red Bank government, Zipprich returned fire Wednesday.

In a prepared statement, Zipprich slammed Taylor for “ineptitude” as a council member and for purported failures of leadership at the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation.

Taylor, in turn, doubled down in his attack on Zipprich.

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September 21, 2022 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: TAYLOR ENTERS COUNCIL RACE

Mark Taylor has previously served as a councilman and member of the Charter Study Commission. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Former Red Bank councilman Mark Taylor is running for a seat on the governing body again in November, he announced this week.

The Republican’s entry into the race throws up a hurdle in what had appeared to be a clear path for two Democrats.

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September 16, 2022 - 7:57 am |

RED BANK: BBQ KICKS OFF REFERENDUM PUSH

Democratic mayoral candidate Billy Portman flipped burgers at the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The outcome of the public question on the ballot in Red Bank’s November election – whether to change the forms of both government and elections – appears an easy call.

Voters last year overwhelmingly approved the creation of a Charter Study Commission, which in turn unanimously moved the referendum to the ballot in July. And so far, no organized opposition has emerged.

Still, looking over their shoulders, referendum advocates held a Labor Day campaign launch event with the aim of drumming up support at the polls.

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September 6, 2022 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: REFERENDUM ON CHANGE SET

Chairwoman Nancy Facey-Blackwood at the Charter Study Commission’s final meeting. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank residents will decide whether to give the town’s governmental structure an historic overhaul following action by the Charter Study Commission Tuesday night.

Adopting its final report en route to dissolving itself, the commission made one last tweak to the November referendum, calling for run-off elections in cases where no candidate wins a majority of votes.

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July 20, 2022 - 10:50 am |

RED BANK: CHARTER REFERENDUM ADVANCES

A view of Wednesday’s Charter Study Commission meeting. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank residents would vote on whether a “council-manager” form of municipal government should be implemented under an agreement by the Charter Study Commission last week.

If approved by voters in a referendum expected in November, the change would would replace the management structure in place since the borough’s creation in 1908.

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July 11, 2022 - 6:00 am |

RED BANK: NONPARTISAN ELECTIONS ADVANCE

Ben Forest outside Sickles Market last September. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njLamenting the “unpleasantness” of Red Bank politics in recent years, Charter Study Commission member Ben Forest made a tearful plea for nonpartisan elections Wednesday.

The commission’s other four members informally agreed. They also began sorting through alternatives to the borough form of government in use since the town was carved out of then-sprawling Shrewsbury Township in 1908.

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June 16, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: YASSIN CHARGED WITH THEFT

red bank, nj, hazim yassinThen-Councilman Hazim Yassin at a Red Bank Education Foundation fundraiser at the Red Bank Elks Club in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

redbankgreen hot topicFormer Red Bank Councilman Hazim Yassin has been charged with stealing more than $7,600 from the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.

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May 9, 2022 - 5:00 pm |

RED BANK: TURNOUT LIGHT FOR FORUM

A screengrab of Wednesday’s meeting, held via Zoom. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

An online public forum held Wednesday night by Red Bank’s  Charter Study Commission was brief, as only two residents chimed in.

But more have weighed in by email, according several commission members. And one consistent theme is that residents don’t want an appointed mayor, they said.

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May 5, 2022 - 7:50 am |
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