RED BANK – The all-Democratic borough council will be challenged by Republican candidates this November. Incumbents Kathleen A. Horgan and Erik K. Yngstrom are running against Allison E. Gregory and Jonathan M. Penney.
Horgan has been a Red Bank resident for 20 years and a council member for 12 years. On the dais she has commissioned a management enhancement report to audit the structure of borough operations and spearheaded the revitalization of the Eisner Memorial Library, among other projects.
She has professional experience in the business and nonprofit worlds and started her career in Washington D.C. at the National League of Cities, an advocacy group that represents cities, towns and villages, she said.
“Local government has always played an impor tant role in my life,” said Horgan. Her late husband Drew was an international consultant to local governments and served as the secretary general of an international organization of local governments. She was “strongly influenced” by his work.
Her bid for re-election comes with a desire to see current projects through to completion. This includes pedestrian safety projects, which she cited as a major issue in the borough, along with parking and park improvements. The council is installing four-way stop signs at dangerous intersections and traffic-calming measures in residential neighborhoods, as well as curb and crosswalk painting, she said. It also received a $1 million grant to improve infrastructure and pedestrian safety on Shrewsbury Avenue and another grant for safety improvements at the train station.
Similarly, her running mate Erik Yngstrom named pedestrian and bicyclist safety as a top concern and priority if re-elected. “I pushed to include pedestrian safety initiatives in our road replacement programs and changed the borough’s policy to install larger traffic control signs,” he said. Crosswalks with flashing lights could be implemented in heavily trafficked areas to solve issues as well, like on Maple Avenue and East Front Street near the hospital, he said.
“Additionally, I support our local police and their enforcement efforts to ensure drivers obey the rules of the road.”
Yngstrom has been a Red Bank resident for seven years and a council member for three; he is currently the council president. He is an attorney in the Monmouth County area and is a partner at the Lomurro law firm in Freehold.
Noting his love for the town, Yngstrom said he wants to run for re-election to see projects through that he has moved for ward such as the Bellhaven Nature Preserve and Marine Park. “I also want to continue to improve infrastructure projects in town and improve pedestrian safety throughout the entire borough.”
Candidate Allison Gregory has lived in Red Bank for three years with her husband and two children. She has been a real estate agent for 12 years, winning distinction in recent years. She also has experience in social work and corporate planning.
She, too, cited pedestrian safety as one of the biggest challenges facing Red Bank, as well as tax increases, wasteful spending, poor morale in borough departments and a lack of opposition on the current dais. “It’s a one-party ruled town. I think on a local level it’s important to have that balance,” she said. Gregory is running for election to change that.
“I want to get more involved in the community that I’m raising my family in,” she said. She also purchased Norma Todd’s former house, the co-founder of Lunch Break who died in 2008, and felt she should give back as Todd did in Red Bank.
Jonathan Penney moved to Red Bank five years ago and lives with his fiancée. He is an insurance defense attorney for Geico. While he has become acquainted with the law in his work, Penney said it’s his personality and background that will best suit him for council and connect him to a population of Red Bank he feels needs better representation.
A Mexican American with dual citizenship, Penney criticized the current council’s lack of resources for its Hispanic residents. To his knowledge, the council has never celebrated Cinco de Mayo in Red Bank and said there is no opportunity for non-English speakers to talk at council meetings.
After the 2012 midterm election Penney said extra publicity was given to young minority Democrats who ran for Congress. “I knew just from my own anecdotal experience that there are plenty of (young minority) Republicans and I felt that I needed to show that. I needed to step up and be a minority voice however I could,” he said.
Penney hopes to see less politicization in Red Bank. That’s why he wants to bring nonpartisan elections to the borough. He noted that non-partisan elections in Asbury Park in the past few years have brought “a real renaissance” to the city.
