Atlantic Highlands operates on a borough form of government, with six members elected to serve staggered three-year terms. Voters elect the borough mayor directly, who serves a four-year term. Two council seats are open this year. File Photo/Emily Schopfer
By Emily Schopfer
ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Four candidates will be running for two full-term seats on the Atlantic Highlands Borough Council in the Nov. 3 election. Early voting is now taking place through Nov. 1.
Incumbent Democrats Alyson Forbes and Jon Crowley’s terms expire Dec. 31, and both are running for re-election. Republicans Blaise Piazza and Brian Boms are challenging them.
One seat from Atlantic Highlands on the Henry Hudson Regional School District Board of Education is also being contested.
Council candidates did not respond to requests for interviews. The following information comes from online sources.
Republicans Brian Boms and Blaise Piazza are running under the slogan “Bring Back Balance,” according to the Atlantic Highlands Republican Organization’s Facebook page. The pair are running for council because “they believe our community benefits when different perspectives have a seat at the table. Their priorities are straightforward: fiscal responsibility, accountability, affordability, public safety, and respect for different points of view… This isn’t about division. It’s about balance,” read an Oct. 19 Facebook post by Atlantic Highlands Republican Candidates.
Boms is a former Atlantic Highlands Council president and is currently a real estate associate, a member of the Atlantic Highlands Volunteer Fire Department, and chairperson of the Monmouth County Library Commission.
Piazza is a retired senior special agent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
According to the official Atlantic Highlands Democrats website, Jon Crowley and Alyson Forbes’ most recent accomplishments on council include establishing new contracts with “more competitive wages for our police and DPW to promote retention and career building,” as well as investments in recruitment for the Atlantic Highlands Fire Department; improvements to infrastructure, such as roads and playgrounds; and community initiatives, such as the Arts & Culture Commission and Movies in the Marina initiatives.
If reelected, Crowley and Forbes would prioritize an updated master plan that preserves the borough’s small-town charm while adapting to modern challenges. The team says the candidates would also prioritize affordability, focusing on families, seniors and fixed-income residents.
Crowley is a longtime Atlantic Highlands resident, first elected to council in 2017. During his time as council member, he “authored fourteen ordinances, including permitting public art, protecting trees,” and “established an emergency radio station and a ban on single-use plastics years ahead of the statewide regulation,” according to the official Atlantic Highlands Democrats website. Crowley has an over three-decade-long career in television, working as a writer, director and showrunner.
Forbes lives in Atlantic Highlands with her husband and two rescue dogs and has been on the council since 2024. Professionally, Forbes is the publisher and COO of Catapult, an independent publishing house. In her current role as council member, Forbes serves as council liaison to the Finance and Personnel Committee and serves on the Harbor Commission and Atlantic Highlands Arts Council.
Regional Board of Education Election
The Henry Hudson Regional School District (HHRSD) Board of Education will also face a contested November election for both the Atlantic Highlands and Highlands boroughs. In Atlantic Highlands, three candidates – Megan McGuane, Brent Sonnek-Schmelz and incumbent Daniel Sutton Jr. – will vie for one full-term seat. There is also an open seat for a one-year unexpired term, for which no petition was filed.
This article originally appeared in the October 29-November 4, 2026 print edition of The Two River Times.
