By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – Two council incumbents are debunking a rumor circulating in town that falsely claimed they were not running for reelection in November.
Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, one of the incumbents, made it very clear in a phone call with The Two River Times that she and her running mate, Hazim Yassin, also an incumbent, are seeking reelection to full-term seats on the all-Democratic dais.
Her statement came days after Red Bank Democratic Party Chairman Ed Zipprich issued a press release stating that the two “did not file letters of intent to run” but that two different borough residents did: LeRoi Jones and Bruce Maida, a zoning board member. It also came about a week after Gov. Phil Murphy hosted a virtual Zoom fundraiser for their reelections which was attended by an estimated 100 people, Triggiano said.
“Our Democratic Party process is long-standing and very simple,” Zipprich said in the release. “Party members were advised, via multiple email notifications and social media posts, of the nominating requirements. Interested candidates must submit letters of intent to the municipal Chair and/or Vice-Chair Lauren Nicosia by the deadline, which this year was February 15, 2021 at 5 p.m.”
But according to Triggiano, she and Yassin have taken all of the proper steps and had already filed their nomination petitions with the borough clerk. Jones and Maida filed with the Red Bank Democrats whose chair files with the clerk for them, Maida told The Two River Times. All four candidates are seeking the endorsement of the Monmouth County Democrats.
“It’s in the Monmouth County Democrats’ hands at this point and, to be clear, it’s always in the Monmouth County Democrats’ hands,” said Triggiano. “We’re doing everything right. We’re going through all the proper channels.”
She declined to comment on Zipprich’s press release. “We’re excited to run,” she said, adding that she and Yassin have been given plenty of support from residents while going door to door seeking petition signatures. She said a few individuals sent messages to her later asking that their signatures be “destroyed.” The requests all used similar language, she said, noting she does not “directly” know why that happened.
She also shared frustration about an article in the New Jersey Globe, which covers political news in which Zipprich told a reporter that he spoke with Triggiano and Yassin before he issued the press release and alleged that they weren’t running. Triggiano said that was a lie.
“Misinformation is a cancer in our country right now and it’s very complicated,” she said, adding that she has been “fighting a misinformation machine for over a year” and that things are now coming to a head.
Focusing on the more positive aspects of their candidacy, Triggiano highlighted that she and Yassin are two first-term council members in their early 30s who have spent the majority of their first terms on council amid an ongoing pandemic. Despite that, the two have passed and spearheaded several environmental policies, implemented the popular Broadwalk to support businesses, started the first volunteer translator program in the state, established the first Red Bank Pride event and more.
Jones and Maida said in a joint statement issued Feb. 18 that they both decided “independently and without coercion from any outside influences” to run against the two incumbents despite being “fully aware of the upheaval to the ‘politics as usual’ approach to municipal government this would cause.”
“I see what’s going on in our town. Our town is going in the wrong direction. I see a plan for a redevelopment agency that plans to declare that the whole town is in need of redevelopment and I fear we’re going to lose our way of life,” Maida said Tuesday in a call with The Two River Times.
If elected, he plans to stop “gross overdevelopment” in town as he recently did as a zoning board member who objected to plans for a nine-story, mid-rise residential project proposed atop the existing Pazzo MMX restaurant and adjacent parking garage on West Front Street, he said. He also wants to see the senior center repaired as soon as possible and to beautify Marine Park and relocate its adjacent parking.
“I’m looking to get things done. The four council members that have been voting as a block right now are voting with the town administrator. The town administrator is running the town through the council. It’s supposed to be the other way around,” he said. “I want to bring decency back to the board. I want to bring an agenda that works to the benefit of the town, not for their own personal agendas.”
The formal Democratic nominating convention will be held virtually at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 2. The winning candidates will get the endorsement of the Monmouth County Democrats.
This article was originally published in the Feb. 25 – March 3, 2021 edition of The Two River Times.
