By John Burton
RED BANK – Borough voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 4 to elect a slate of candidates, sending to Washington, D.C., a U.S. senator and their member to the House of Representatives and two members of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Along with that lineup, a little farther down the ballot, borough residents will be asked to select two of the four candidates who will serve for the next three years as part of the six-member borough council.
Voters may also vote for incumbent Democratic Mayor Pasquale Menna, who is running unopposed for a third four-year term.
Heading the top of the ballot, a choice for U.S. senator. Cory Booker, the incumbent Democrat, who was elected last year to fill the late Frank Lautenberg’s unexpired term, is seeking a full six-year term. Running against Booker is Republican Jeff Bell, who won a four-way primary race in June to secure the GOP slot on the ballot.
Residents from the 6th Congressional District will have a choice between incumbent Democrat Frank Pallone Jr., who has been serving in the House since 1989, and Republican challenger Anthony E. Wilkinson, an Old Bridge attorney.
In the 4th District, voters will have the choice of incumbent Republican Chris Smith, who is currently serving his 17th two-year term in the House, or Ruben Scolavino of Freehold, an attorney who ran unsuccessfully for Monmouth County sheriff last year.
On the county level, Republican incumbents Lillian Burry and Gary Rich are seeking another three-year term to the five-member freeholder board. Opposing them are Larry Luttrell, a Holmdel attorney, and Giuseppe “Joe” Grillo of Asbury Park, co-owner of a family-owned business.
Burry has been serving as a freeholder since 2006 while Rich was elected to his first term in November 2011. Luttrell ran unsuccessfully last year for freeholder. This is Grillo’s first run for public office. He previously worked as executive director of the Monmouth County Democrats.
Locally, incumbent Democrats Edward Zipprich and Juanita Lewis are seeking re-election and being challenged by Republicans Sean Di Somma and Linda Schwabenbauer.
Zipprich and Lewis have been serving on the council since 2008 and are seeking their third term. Di Somma ran unsuccessfully last year for council and is currently the Republican municipal committee chairman. This is Schwabenbauer’s first run for elected office.
The Two River Times posed nine questions individually to the four candidates, asking them to respond to some of the pertinent issues in the borough and this race.
Di Somma and Schwabenbauer each offered responses; Zipprich and Lewis answered collectively.
Following are the questions and the answers, which correspond to the question number. The responses are as the candidates have written them.
The questions are:
1. There has been a long-standing debate over whether there are “two Red Banks” – separate and unequal in considerations for services, etc. Is that a mischaracterization, a misperception or an accurate depiction? If you believe it is the case, how can you help to correct it?
2. Why seek (re)election? And, please, be specific without using the term “to give back.”
3. The proposed Locust Avenue recreation area/”spray park” (for lack of a better term) has sparked contention and controversy. How do you stand on the proposal and why do you feel that way? How do you feel about the borough allocating money for recreational purposes given how tight finances are and concerns over taxes?
4. Speaking of taxes, for challengers what areas are available for additional budget trimming and cost savings? Be specific. For incumbents, has the current majority and administration done everything possible for cost savings and keeping taxes as low as possible? How much precisely, have taxes risen since you’ve been on the council? What is the borough liability for sick/vacation pay? How do you plan to pay for likely retirements over the next year? Are there any areas of additional savings that you would like to see investigated?
5. How would you evaluate the condition of the borough-owned parks? Is enough being done to offer recreational opportunities? If not, what else can be done? Should officials proceed with plans to remediate and eventually develop the former West Sunset Avenue incinerator site for a park? If not, what should be done with that borough-owned property?
6. There has been some somewhat heated debate over privatizing some services borough employees have traditionally done, including solid waste pickup. Is this something the borough council should pursue? Why or why not?
7. Code enforcement and quality of life issues are concerns heard during political campaigns. Issues like alleged overcrowding of single-family homes used as boarding houses, property maintenance and noise are just some concerns voters have expressed. Has code enforcement been aggressive enough? If not, why? What other concerns are you hearing about as you campaign in the community?
8. A parking garage in the borough’s downtown commercial district has long been debated. Where do you stand on this issue? Should it be a priority and, if you favor a garage, where should it be built? Should it be built with a private developer or as a municipal project?
9. If elected or re-elected, what will you tackle first in January?
The candidates’ answers are numbered to match the questions:
From Republican candidate Linda Schwabenbauer:
1. Red Bank’s Borough Council serves multiple constituencies – we have homeowners, renters, landlords, businesses and state and county government partners. There’s diversity within many of these groups, too, and this is both Red Bank’s strength as well as our primary challenge as public servants – how do we address the needs of all constituencies simultaneously? I’ve spoken with people across the borough, and every voice expresses the same fundamental thought – our residents want to be heard, and to have a say in how our borough makes decisions. It’s no secret that residents on the west side of Red Bank in particular feel underserved. I’ve met with them to talk about concerns ranging from rising property taxes to crosswalks, and I believe there are opportunities there to improve basic services. One thing I’ve learned in my career is the power of consulting with others. On council, I plan to consult with all Red Bank’s residents before reaching conclusions on voting matters, and for advice on what matters ought to be raised for discussion.
2. I have a strong financial background, and I think I can really help. When we set the annual budget for Red Bank, we have to match expense to revenue just as we do at the company where I work. I don’t see that happening. Instead, I see taxes rising every year – both the actual tax and the “hidden tax” Red Bank levies on its residents in the form of a quarterly water/sewer bill. I actually just did a study comparing the average Red Bank residential water/sewer bill to what the same family would pay in Atlantic Highlands (where they own their own system, like Red Bank) and Fair Haven (which uses N.J. American Water) – Atlantic Highlands is $236/year cheaper, and Fair Haven is close to $500/year cheaper. I also looked at the water utility budget and saw a $500,000 surplus in the 2014 budget, and a $950,000 surplus in 2013. Clearly, we’re overcharging residents for water and sewer – because we need the money to pay for spending elsewhere that we’re not willing to cut. I also can’t find a five-year plan for Red Bank, something that would project revenues and expenses over a longer term so we can see where we’re headed beyond this year, and I’ve seen that hurt us in the past when (for example) we are faced with the need to pay out obligations for retiring employees and find ourselves in the position of borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars – this was completely foreseeable, but we were caught unprepared. I’ve done this kind of work before, and can do it again for Red Bank.
3. I am fully in favor of building a park somewhere west of Shrewsbury Avenue so that nearby children would have a fun, safe place to play without having to cross such a busy roadway. We have a grant from the state to build such a park. I would envision something like what we have at Marine Park, with playground equipment that’s easily maintained and useful year-round.
The spray park, on the other hand, would be neither of these things. The spray park will be useful from May through September at best, but will not see much activity once the fall chill sets in. In addition, building a spray park means maintaining a spray park, and while a grant from the state might give us enough money for the “building,” it doesn’t help with the “maintaining.” Water features require continual chemical treatment for sanitation purposes, and the equipment itself is expensive to configure and maintain in proper running order. Plus, there’s an ongoing cost for the electricity required to keep things running and prevent freezing. Last but not least, the proposed site was designated as a wetlands nature preserve just eight years ago, making the location itself problematic. We can get a better park for the same money, and just as much “smile mileage” from our children, with a simpler park designed for year-round use.
4. Having looked in detail at the water/sewer utility budget, and having looked over the remainder of the budget more generally, I’ve identified a number of areas I’d like to dig into. We seem to have a high number of borough-owned vehicles relative to our size, for example, and I also see that we spent $73.9 thousands in emergency snow removal last year – I wonder why we outsourced that work to companies using dump trucks virtually identical to borough-owned equipment. More significantly, out of a $21 million budget, $2.8 million – over 10 percent of our spending – goes to pay interest on Red Bank’s debt. I’d like to understand how our debt is structured, what rates we’re getting, and whether there are opportunities to bring down the debt servicing costs. When I talked to our town’s CFO about our debt load, she told me we are well under the maximum that we are permitted to borrow under the law. This means the potential exists for our interest payments to more than double someday. I mention that because it underscores the need to carefully monitor spending and develop a long-term plan to prevent the kinds of surprises that require us to suddenly borrow large sums just to manage through the current year.
5. We have great parks here in the borough – it’s one of the things that makes Red Bank such a terrific place to live. Unfortunately, some have fallen into disrepair. (I think right away of our beautiful red clay tennis courts, for example.) Park maintenance should be a basic function, since it directly impacts quality of life here, and our parks provide low cost recreational opportunities for all Red Bank residents. I have not studied the West Sunset Avenue incinerator site in detail, but I’ve seen that we’re using this area to store our borough-owned dump trucks and so would need to relocate these elsewhere before proceeding with any plans for this area. Given the amount of work we’d need to do in order to make this site suitable for a park, in conjunction with the need to allocate more funds to maintain the parks we already have, it’s not clear to me that remediation of the incinerator site should be an immediately priority for us. As mentioned, though, I haven’t spent time studying this in depth, and I remain open to other viewpoints.
6. We can’t rule anything out – everything has to be on the table if we’re going to make decisions for Red Bank that result in the highest and best use of tax dollars and create outcomes that are more than just politically palatable. We’ve got to examine every way that our money is spent – for example, we spend over a million dollars in insurance premiums within the water/sewer utility budget. I don’t doubt we need the insurance, but what’s the bidding process like, and are we getting the best coverage for our dollar? And we need to think about whether public/partnerships could work for us, in areas like solid waste pickup where we might choose not to privatize but still look to save costs.
7. Code enforcement personnel do the best job they can – I think a lot of people don’t realize that the current administration passed an ordinance (2009-07) that delays prosecution for landlords. This means that landlords get a pass the first time they get caught with a violation – they are given time to correct the problem, and if the problem persists (assuming we check to see), they get fined at that point. Now, if you’re a landlord, what’s your incentive to keep things up to code, knowing you won’t get fined if you get caught? Quality of life for Red Bank’s residents clearly was not the motivating force behind passing that ordinance. So when considering the effectiveness of our code enforcement personnel, I keep in mind that their hands have been tied – they can only be as effective as the law allows. We need to review this ordinance and either modify its provisions or reverse it entirely, because I don’t believe it has the best interests of Red Bank residents as its basis.
8. We should definitely look at the parking situation. As a resident, I opposed the proposal made many years ago to turn the entire White Street lot into a parking garage, because the proposal lacked financial viability and would also detract from an open area in the center of town. I’ve discussed this with several residents as I’ve gone door-to-door, and I’ve heard some interesting ideas – I think it may be possible to expand parking via a smaller-scale project that wouldn’t take up the entire space. Development of such a facility opens the door again to a public/private partnership opportunity, and so I don’t view the decision of private developer v. municipal project as necessarily an either/or proposition – we have to consider all options.
9. Budget, budget, budget! My first priority will be to understand exactly where and how our tax dollars are spent, so I can help cut expense. I’ve talked a lot about how our water/sewer bills contain a hidden tax, and to do away with that, I’ll need to find ways to cut costs elsewhere. I held a meeting the other night (in place of the canceled council meeting) to talk with residents about the water utility budget, and one man was very concerned that cutting our water bills will simply result in higher taxes elsewhere – and he’s right, unless we find ways to cut expense. I’ve done budgeting for years at my current job, and I know that cutting expense can be painful when revenues are declining, but it’s necessary. The key is to recognize that you won’t get all the way there in year one, but you can develop a three-to-five year plan and put yourself on a glide path toward a budget that works. By making changes incrementally, you minimize the pain that comes with reduced spending and can better evaluate the effectiveness of each piece of the longer-term plan as it unfolds.
Republican Candidate Sean DiSomma:
1. Unfortunately, the politicians seem to always want to divide us amongst racial, income and geographic lines. The mindset stems from leadership on down. It is import to me to bridge that gap between the “two Red Banks.”
2. Red Bank is a wonderful town and the place that I have chosen to live going forward. Red Bank is one of the most poorly run towns with one of the highest tax rates in Monmouth County. I think we can do better.
3. The spray park is a political folly designed to grab votes during an election. It is a park that Zipprich and Lewis are trying to build while ignoring residents concerns about safety, the poor structure, environmental risk as well as the maintenance costs that will go on forever. I unequivocally oppose this multimillion dollar water park.
4. We need to look at the way we handle services in this town from garbage to water as well as how we can reconfigure our massive debt load and lower debt servicing costs.
5. Anyone who has been to our borough parks knows that they are poorly maintained. In addition, our recreational programs are sorely lacking compared to other municipalities. There is no political leadership from Juanita Lewis. She has failed to oversee this department in a meaningful way and has been an absentee councilwoman.
6. We do not have the information to make that determination. The council has failed to submit a meaningful cost-benefit analysis so there is no way to truly know. By our estimate, looking at alternatives to garbage disposal could save the borough up to $1 million in the first year alone.
7. In 2009, the council passed an ordinance, which allowed for deferred prosecutions for slumlords who allow overcrowding. This has caused school enrollment to surge by almost 30 percent since then. That surge has been one of the main reasons that property taxes are on a pace to near double over the next five years.
8. It would have to be the right garage, with the right scale and likely with private investors. As I’ve stated publicly, we need a concrete proposal to make a determination but I am somewhat open to the idea.
9. Working to attempt to stop the runaway property tax crisis we are in and begin working on the important quality of life issues like overcrowding, crosswalks and the high cost of living.
From Democrats Juanita Lewis and Edward Zipprich:
- There is only one Red Bank. Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich ran on that platform during our first campaign in 2008. We are advocates for the whole town and continue to ensure that all of our citizens are represented fairly and equally. To describe Red Bank as two towns is an unfortunate mischaracterization and supported by people unwilling to see the progress we have made. Councilwoman Lewis spearheaded the redevelopment of the Count Basie Athletic Complex for everyone to enjoy. Councilman Zipprich continues to work to enhance the services provided by the Department of Public Utilities so that all residents benefit from the services and facilities provided and managed by the town. Councilwoman Lewis and Councilman Zipprich, in fact, represent a diverse coalition of lifelong and more recent residents, working together to ensure that we continue to move forward as one community.
- Juanita and Ed are seeking re-election to continue our commitment to the community. Councilwoman Lewis is a former member of the board of education and Councilman Zipprich was originally appointed to the planning board before being elected to the borough council. We continue to be active members of the Red Bank community and are engaged with many local organizations. In addition to his responsibilities as council member, Zipprich continues to serve on the planning board. Lewis made the Count Basie 365 Cultural Series a reality, and has successfully organized free, open-air jazz concerts in the pocket park on Shrewsbury Avenue for the past three summers in order to celebrate Count Basie’s legacy in his hometown. Juanita also moderates the Red Bank Chapter of the NJ Orators, a not-for-profit group that teaches youth from 7 – 18 years of age to learn the art of public speaking and effective communication. Ed Zipprich serves as a trustee at Count Basie Theatre and as vice president for the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that raises funding to supplement the science, technology, engineering, arts, math curriculum in Red Bank’s public schools. It is these types of commitments to the Red Bank community that motivate us to serve. We continue to work to bring about change in the way the borough does business. We hired a new CFO, a new borough clerk, a new tax collector and helped to select a new Police Chief. Our goal is to make government more transparent through our award winning municipal website. We are running for re-election to continue serving the people of Red Bank by improving the way local government services the community.
- This Westside neighborhood supports the park project as do residents throughout the borough. There was a petition circulated before the Red Bank Council with over 300 signatures supporting the conceptualization of a park and nature area. Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich support our neighbors and believe that it is our responsibility to represent those residents’ voices in Borough Hall. Who is against a recreation area for our children? We believe our children deserve a safe haven in which to play in their neighborhood. They need to be able to see and enjoy the bald eagles and natural environment. Monmouth County has stepped up to partner with the Borough by providing approximately 47 percent of the cost to construct this park. We’ve thought it through and we support it.
- This Red Bank administration continues to look at every possible option to keep taxes as flat as possible. The State of New Jersey reduced Extraordinary Aid to Red Bank by $350,000 since 2010. Additionally, our annual state aid was reduced over the last four years while the borough’s contractual obligations still had to be met. Our town is also home to approximately 16 percent nonprofit entities. The borough continues to do more with less. Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich, as members of the finance committee, have delivered balanced budgets within the state-mandated 2 percent cap for five consecutive years. We support inter-local service agreements to provide neighboring municipalities with necessary services while adding revenue to our town. We continue to examine the budget and reduce unnecessary expenditures and ensure that the municipality lives within its means. We have been firm on the administration’s bidding contracts for professional services and acquisition of supplies, materials and equipment. Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich are cognizant of the fact that we, too, are taxpayers and approach budgeting in a serious fashion. Councilwoman Lewis is a financial professional with over 20 years of business management experience. Juanita fully understands the importance of maintaining fiscal controls. Councilman Zipprich’s background in administrative services provides strong oversight for budgeting and responsible growth. Both Lewis and Zipprich successfully supported establishing a reserve fund for the anticipation of the liabilities of the Borough to payout.
- Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich work in tandem between their respective departments (DPW and parks/recreation) to maintain and enhance all of the borough’s parks including the community garden and the pocket park on Shrewsbury Avenue. Our state of the art athletic complex at Count Basie Fields was re-engineered and rebuilt in collaboration with the borough Board of Education, Red Bank Catholic, Monmouth County Open Space and CDBG programs, and the State of N.J. Green Acres to offer increased opportunities for recreation for the entire community. Riverside Gardens Park was completely refurbished this past spring after hurricanes Irene and Sandy eroded and deteriorated the structural integrity of the retaining walls and other portions of the riverfront park. We recognize the importance of Riverside Gardens and the beauty it affords residents and visitors alike to view the beauty of the Navesink River. These treasured assets are the focal points of seasonal activities. Both Councilmembers believe that these facilities should be utilized by every member of our community. Juanita and Ed worked with the parks and rec and vision committees and area partners to produce concerts, movies, exercise and dance in the parks. We also brought back the aerator fountain at Mohawk Pond this summer. Through the leadership of Lewis and Zipprich Red Bank parks realized $4.2 million dollars in grants and cooperative partnerships to accomplish revitalization. We believe that the West Sunset former landfill site should be developed into a riverfront park with waterfront access, a living shoreline, river walk and 21st century technology to better preserve our resources and provide a natural learning environment for everyone to enjoy. We continue to work with the State of N.J. to make sure that no additional local taxpayer monies are spent on remediation.
- Juanita and Ed continue to study the issue in order to determine what is best for the municipality. We agree that a full financial analysis must be completed in order to plot a future course. There is definitely more research to be done before we make this critical decision.
- Code enforcement is a complex concern for our community that requires a difficult and delicate balance. It is also a cost-prohibitive municipal task. The expenses associated with surveillance and the potential infringement on the privacy of our resident lives is a major concern to Juanita and Ed. In cases of overcrowding, as a matter of public safety, Lewis and Zipprich believe that landlords should be held accountable to the letter of the law.
- Parking has been a contentious issue in the business district of Red Bank going back to the 1970s. Councilmembers Lewis and Zipprich favor a public/private partnership with a 21st century approach to an environmentally friendly solution to this challenge.
- Ed and Juanita would like to undertake further reorganization of the administration. We believe there are significant opportunities to cut costs and streamline processes associated with running the borough. Our goal is to provide transparency and ensure municipal accountability. We will live up the faith and trust put in us by the taxpayers of Red Bank.
