Over the last two elections, Red Bank voters have expressed their dissatisfaction with their municipal government and transformed a Democratic stronghold into a swing town by splitting their partisan preferences in Council candidates.
Tomorrow, Red Bank will either turn over their government to Republican office holders with a 4-2 new majority, split partisan control of the Council 3-3, giving Democratic Mayor Pat Menna a deciding vote, or keep the current status-quo of 4-2 Democratic partisan control with Menna presiding over meetings and cutting ribbons, but having no power over policy.
Democratic incumbent Michael DuPont, 54, is running for his fourth term. Joining his effort to retain Democratic control of Red Bank is Board of Education Member Michael Ballard. Ballard, 52, replaced former Council President Art Murphy who resigned after a video of a drunken rant of him deriding a small business went viral.
Challenging DuPont and Ballard are Young Republicans Mark Taylor, 37, an attorney and Michael Whalen, 24, an insurance executive.
As the campaign comes to a close, the Democrats seem desperate to maintain control and their composure.
Red Bank GOP Council Candidates Mark Taylor and Mike Whelan.
Red Bank Republican candidates for borough council, Michael Whelan and Mark Taylor, issued a statement criticizing their opponent, Councilman Michael Dupont, and the rest of the Democrats on the council for giving John Morrongielo, the private investor who owns the Locust Landing affordable housing development, a $75,000 break on fees due under the developer’s PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) agreement and municipal services agreement after 16 of the 40 affordable rental units were damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
Dupont laughed uproariously yesterday when he heard the Republicans claims and said that they were “outlandish”and “inaccurate.”
On September 10, 2014, Dupont introduced Resolution 14-242 which granted temporary relief from paying annual service charges to Locust Landing for 2013 and 2014 and provided that the Land Taxes paid on the property be applied to the service charges due under the PILOT agreement.
The newly constructed West Front Street Bridge, also known as the Hubbard Bridge, will be closed to motor vehicle traffic from 6 a.m. on Wednesday August 12 through Wednesday August 26, according to a statement by Freeholder Tom Arnone.
The bridge connects Middletown and Red Bank over the Swimming River. It will be open to pedestrian traffic during the two week period.
The purpose of the closure is to allow utility workers to move overhead power lines off of the old bridge to newly constructed underground facilities, and to the contractor to reconstruct intersections on both the Red Bank and Middletown sides of the span.
Arnone said the other option was to have the contractors work in stages, over a twelve week period, which would have kept the bridge open but slowed traffic considerably for three months. The chosen schedule, made in consultation with elected and administrative officials in both Red Bank and Middletown, will allow the bridge to reopen prior to the Labor Day Weekend and before the start of school.
“This schedule allows motorists to make adjustments to their travel plans for two weeks,” Arnone said.
Red Bank Council President Art Murphy told MoreMonmouthMusingsthat he will resign from the borough council and he will not stand for reelection in November. He expects to submit his resignation by Wednesday of next week.
“Yes, I am stepping down,” Murphy said when asked if he was resigning, “this has been in the works for a while. They’re (the Red Bank Democrats) are looking for my replacement. I have a lot going on with my business.”
Someone going by the pseudonym “occupyredbank” has put Red Bank Council President Art Murphy’s drunken vulgar rant to music and published the tune on soundcloud.
Warning: the lyrics are not work or child friendly.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for Red Bank Council President Art Murphy yesterday when RedBankGreen posted a video of his drunken vulgar rant with former patrons of the former Red Bank business, Lucky Break Billiards.
Before the morning was out, the Asbury Park Press had picked up the story and Red Bank Republican Chairman Sean DiSomma was posting memes of Murphy on facebook. Murphy is a Democrat running for reelection this year. If DiSomma’s GOP candidates beat Murphy and his running mate, Councilman Michael DuPont, Republicans will control the Red Bank municipal government for the first time in this millennium.
EATONTOWN – A 37-year-old Red Bank man has been identified as the victim of a fatal Friday morning shooting in the borough. Shortly before 12:15 a.m. Friday, Eatontown police responded to the entrance of Country Club Apartments, at the corner of Tilton Avenue and Country Club Road, after shots were fired at the location, the Monmouth… Read the rest of this entry »
Discussion to end a five year moratorium on parking fees in the area was tabled at Tuesday’s Council Meeting due to the absence of Mayor Pat Menna who is recovering from heart bypass surgery. I wish Menna well and pray for his quick recovery.
I don’t know enough about the western Monmouth Street parking situation to opine, but if the businesses and Republicans think charging for parking is a bad idea, it probably is. The wiring for the parking kiosks was installed in 2012 and 13 new kiosks will cost the borough $135,308. $10,400 per kiosk, installed, sounds to me like more of a ripoff than $1 per hour to park.
What is really dumb about Red Bank’s paid parking is the coin operated meters in the heart of the business district located along side kiosks.
Traveling through the heart of northeastern Monmouth County got a lot easier this week after State,County and Local officials celebrated the reopening of the West Front Street Bridge, AKA Hubbard’s Bridge, that connects Middletown and Red Bank over the Swimming River.
The five month long replacement project that came in as promised before the Memorial Day weekend.
The opening follows the construction of a new 488-foot long steel girder bridge to the north of the existing West Front Street Bridge.
April is certainly the cruelest month, as T.S Eliot wrote. Spring keeps peeking out followed by rainy and cold days here at the Shore. So, why not cheer yourself up by jumping into the Shore Art Circuit as it emerges from its winter torpor.
New exhibitions are emerging like the daffodils in your garden. Last weekend at least two galleries held openings. One was the A.J. Dillon Gallery of Art in Atlantic Highlands with an exhibit entitled “Art in Nature,” a theme appropriate to the season, despite the chill. The other was held in Red Bank. The Art Alliance held a juried member show with two themes–“Contrasts” and “Personalities.” The curator of the show was Michael Burrus Johnson who had several paintings displayed in the showcase front windows of the gallery.
As I strolled around the small gallery gleaming with a wide variety of styles, Bathers by Miguel A. Fugeras drew me in. At first glance, the piece looked like a wood block print—a powerful rendering of statuesque tall women in black and white bathing in a river. But up close, it’s clearly a drawing, probably pen and ink. It’s an arresting piece that reinterprets the time honored, traditional theme of artists painting (dressed) women or female nudes at the seashore, ocean, or other body of water. Virtually all major artists from Botticelli to Degas have painted these scenes. But in tone and feeling, Fugeras’ drawing feels closer to Picasso’s Demoiselles of Avignon because of its angles and abstract nature .
Bathers by Miguel A. Fugeras. Drawing. The Art Alliance.
Over the last two elections, Red Bank voters have expressed their dissatisfaction with their municipal government and transformed a Democratic stronghold into a swing town by splitting their partisan preferences in Council candidates.
