Change Of Government In Red Bank Will Go Before Voters In November

RED BANK, NJ — Now that the Red Bank Charter Study Commission has presented its recommendation for a nonpartisan, Council-Manager form of government in the borough, the head of the commission says it's time to bring its conclusions to the community.

Commission Chairperson Nancy Facey-Blackwood and the other commission members will take a well-deserved break in August.

But come September, Facey-Blackwood said the commission will begin meetings with various community groups, such as senior citizen organizations, to educate the public about the commission's recommendations.

The proposal for the change will be put before voters in the Nov. 8 general election, she said. If adopted, voters will elect a new government in May 2023.

"We're very happy," she said of the commission. "We took our time and were thorough." she said.

The report of the commission can be found on the Red Bank Borough website. The 48-page report not only offers recommendations, but provides reports on all the input the commission received from experts, from government officials here and elsewhere and from elected officials.

The commission adopted its report on July 19.

"After reviewing the options available to it, the Commission recommends that Red Bank adopt the Council-Manager form of government with nonpartisan elections, as further detailed in this report," the commission said.

The report explains that the "Council-Manager form allows a directly elected mayor to serve as the head of government and as a voting member of the council – not just a tie-breaker. The mayor and council exercise all legislative powers and set the policy for Red Bank.

"In turn, the mayor and council hire a manager to run the day-to-day municipal operations. The manager carries out the executive functions, and the mayor and council are required to act through the manager.

"The Commission believes this structure will directly address and rectify the micromanagement issues that have been seen in the current Borough form," the report says.

In November of 2021, voters in town established the Charter Study Commission by a 70 percent margin, the report notes.

"We had nine months to complete the report and we were right on time," Facey-Blackwood said.

The commission was comprised of Mark Taylor, vice chairperson; Michael DuPont; Benedict Forest and Kathryn Okeson. The vote on the recommendations was unanimous, Facey-Blackwood said. And she said the commission "kept an open mind" as it studied the issue.

Study a 'mandate'

The report said that the overwhelming majority vote to establish the Charter Study Commission was seen 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."

"Over the past nine months, the Commission has educated itself – and the public – by conducting numerous interviews of current and former Red Bank governing body members, current and former business administrators, current employees, a political scientist, local government experts, and elected officials from other municipalities," the report says.

"The Commission also received public comment at meetings, through written submissions, and informally made to individual commissioners," the report says.

The Commission found that the current Borough form of government "is 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:

• First, the Borough form "lacks sufficient delineations of authority for officeholders, which has allowed councilmembers to meddle, micromanage, and overstep their role as individual legislators. The Borough form indiscriminately vests executive responsibilities in the collective mayor and council and contains an optional business administrator, allowing the latter role to be altered by the whims of council. The Borough form’s inefficiency is compounded by the governing body being nominally led by a 'weak mayor' that only casts tie-breaking votes. The Borough form of government lacks defined and effective roles for the mayor, councilmembers, and administrator, which are required for Red Bank’s government to operate efficiently in the 21st century."
• Second, the Borough form’s annual partisan elections have created a "divisive environment that has undermined Red Bank’s government from properly functioning. The high frequency of elections prevents the council from embarking upon long-term projects without being impeded by short-term political considerations. The partisan system has caused elected officials to oppose the other party's ideas for strictly political reasons in divided government, and when there is one-party control, there has been in-fighting on public display that has prevented consensus building," according to the report.

'Outsized party influence'

The report explains that "nonpartisan elections will allow any candidate to run for office by filing a petition, counteracting the outsized influence of party endorsements and favorable ballot position, which has directly affected the council’s governance in recent years," the report says.

And the town has seen its share of in-fighting in recent years.

Most recently there was a contentious mayoral primary in which the current Mayor Pat Menna was not supported by the Red Bank Democratic establishment led by Councilman Ed Zipprich (until recently the head of the Democratic party in town) in favor of support for Councilman Michael Ballard. A challenge for mayor came from outside the party structure from Billy Portman who won that election in a solid majority. Portman will face a Republican in November, but he is favored to win in a Democratic-leaning town.

Portman ran on a platform of bringing nonpartisan government to Red Bank, and welcomed the commission's recommendations:

"If you have been watching or attending council meetings lately, you can see for yourself that things are out of control. Hopefully, residents will vote in support of the charter study recommendations and we can begin to bring some sanity back to Red Bank government," Portman said.

Lingering organizational issues in the borough include the fact that the police chief now must fill the role of interim administrator, there is no chief financial officer and Borough Attorney Greg Cannon was fired two weeks ago in a surprise move by the majority Zipprich wing of the council over the objections of the mayor and two council members. Menna did not appoint a replacement for borough attorney put forth by Zipprich at that meeting.

Public question on ballot

Under the Charter Study Commission's recommendations, those elected would serve four-year terms, with elections staggered every two years. The recommendation also provides for run-off elections in the "unlikely event that candidates fail to attain a majority of votes for mayor and/or council. After the new government is installed on July 1, 2023, it may choose to move future municipal elections to November, which this Commission recommends that it do," the report says.

Here is what voters will see on the November election ballot:

"Shall the COUNCIL-MANAGER PLAN of the Optional Municipal Charter Law, providing for SEVEN (7) council members to be ELECTED AT LARGE for STAGGERED terms at NON-PARTISAN
elections to be held in MAY, with the MAYOR ELECTED DIRECTLY BY THE VOTERS, with run-off elections to be held thereafter if a sufficient number of candidates fail to attain a majority of votes,
be adopted by the Borough of Red Bank?"

The following explanatory statement will accompany the public question:

"The voters of the Red Bank are asked whether to approve a change to Red Bank’s form of government from the Borough form to the Council-Manager form under the Optional Municipal Charter Law, commonly known as the Faulkner Act.

"If approved, Red Bank will be governed by a council of seven (7) members, which includes a directly-elected Mayor, who serves as a voting member of the Council. The Council will exercise legislative powers and set municipal policy for Red Bank.

"The Council shall appoint a Municipal Manager, who will exercise all executive and administrative powers. The Municipal Manager shall serve at the will of the Council, subject to removal by a simple majority vote.

"The Mayor will be directly elected by the voters for a term of four (4) years. The remainder of the Council members will be elected for staggered terms of four (4) years each. In order to
initiate staggered terms, four (4) of the council members elected under the new form of government shall serve for only two (2) years, to be determined by lot at the organization meeting of the first Council. The remaining two (2) Council members and Mayor would serve an initial four (4) year term, with a municipal election held every two (2) years.

"The council shall be elected at large through nonpartisan elections held on the second Tuesday in May. If a sufficient number of candidates for mayor and/or council fail to attain a majority of votes, a potential runoff election for that office would be held in June. After the new Council is installed, it may choose to move subsequent nonpartisan elections to the day of the
general election in November, with potential runoff elections in December.

"If the change of government is approved by the voters, the first municipal election will be held on May 9, 2023, and the new Mayor and Council members will be installed on July 1, 2023."