Smack in the middle of a dysfunctional phase, Red Bank voters will be asked to approve a new form of government in November after a Charter Study Commission recommended hiring a borough manager and switching to non-partisan elections.
If approved, Red Bank would hold a May 2023 election to pick a new mayor and fill six council seats.
The Charter Study Commission’s report was a repudiation of controversial councilman Edward Zipprich, who had also served as the Red Bank Democratic municipal chairman.
That would mean a six-month term for the likely winner of the Red Bank mayoral race this fall, Billy Portman. Portman had run off the line and clobbered Zipprich’s hand-picked candidate, Michael Ballard, in the Democratic primary.
Portman is a supporter of the change of government.
County committee candidates allied with Portman won a majority of seats, and Zipprich was replaced as municipal chair by Councilwoman Kate Triggiano.
The mayor and two council seats elected in May 2023 would get four-year terms. The other four seats would get an initial two-year term, followed by four-year terms beginning in 2025. The panel recommended runoff elections if no candidate gets a majority of votes.
Voters would not know which council member gets what seat. That would be determined by a drawing on July 1 of next year.
Zipprich had been accused of “holding the reins on who can run,” and the switch to non-partisan elections was viewed as a way of combatting a perceived conflict.
But Zipprich told the panel that he did not see the conflict, suggesting that there was “distinct difference” between being a councilman and a party leader.
The charter commission was established after 70% of local voters approved a referendum.
“The Commission viewed this as a mandate to closely examine Red Bank’s Borough form of government – which has existed over one century – and determine whether a newer form of government should guide Red Bank through its second century,” their final report said.
They found the current borough form of government was “not meeting the needs of Red Bank.”
“While it can be debated whether certain inefficiencies are caused by the form of government or its officeholders, the Commission finds that the Borough form itself presents two clear structural deficiencies that can be improved upon,” the panel of four Democrats and one Republican, along with Republican attorney Michael Collins, wrote.