By John Burton
RED BANK – “We have a lot on our plate,” assured Mayor Pasquale Menna after he took the oath of office this week, commencing his third term as mayor.
With the commencement of a new year, Menna, a Democrat, as has been his tradition, offered a look back on what he said was an eventful year and look ahead as the borough council conducted its annual state-required organizational meeting on Sunday.
Along with Menna taking the oath of office, re-elected Democratic Councilman Edward Zipprich and Republican newcomer Linda Schwabenbaur were sworn in for their three-year terms.
In what has become his traditional, loquacious style – “Anybody bring their lunch? Or a NoDoz?” the mayor asked in a self-deprecating manner – looking back at the year just passed, Menna said, “We’ve done a great deal…We dealt with difficult budget” requiring council and the borough employees, “to do more with a lot less.
“We kept a tight budget,” and one that continued to provide needed services, he stressed to the full-house crowd that included the entire Board of Chosen Freeholders, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) (who swore in Menna and Zipprich) and other officials past and present, along with family, borough employees and well-wishers.
The year was also marked by the restoration of the NJ Transit historic train station, a $2.5 million, project that has been named in honor of former mayor and state Supreme Court Justice Daniel J. O’Hern. That, Menna said, is “an anchor, a fulcrum,” lifting the entire west side and for its redevelopment. That redevelopment, which amounts to “tens of millions of dollars,” spent by developers, according to the mayor, is in the works with large-scale projects such as West Side Lofts and the future Anderson Building project. And speaking of the entire area, “It’s come back to life,” he said.
The past year was also a tumultuous one for the public library, with a struggle and eventual resignation of its almost the entire board of trustees over a budget dispute. “It’s better now than it was last year and will be better still,” this year, he predicted.
Even the ongoing construction of the West Front Street Bridge will improve life for residents and visitors, he assured.
In the coming year the agenda will be to revise zoning, signage and the taxi ordinances updating what he said were “anachronistic” and in some cases “anti-business.”
As for the long-standing discussion of a parking garage for the downtown, Menna said he wanted to continue to pursue a public/private partnership that made sense for all parties.
The six-member council, now composed of two Republicans and four Democrats, constituted a “good team” with “friendship around this table goes back a long way,” with some of the members, with Menna noting he began on the council in 1989.
“What keeps us together is working for the common good,” Menna noted.
Another initiative will be reinstituting the mayor’s charity ball, currently set for May 1, with proceeds going to assist the public library and the Parker Family Health Center.
Schwabenbaur, elected in November in her first run for public office, compared the council to the 1980 Olympic hockey team. “Everybody brings something different, a remarkable skill set,” she said. “And when we work together we can achieve great things.”
Much like when he was elected to previous terms, Zipprich, who is starting his third, said he “has a good feeling” about what the future holds given the dedication and hard work of the council. “We will continue doing the people’s work here in Red Bank,” Zipprich said.
