By Allison Perrine
RED BANK – It’s been a busy, successful and at times tough year for Red Bank.
Over the last 12 months, the borough has faced criticism from a number of residents on various fronts – from planning decisions to government operations – and council infighting. And most recently, personal issues have been dragged into the spotlight.
The latest saga comes as the borough considers a change in its form of government. This November, residents will be asked to weigh in on whether or not they would like the town to consider some form of change. If it is approved, five residents will be selected to serve on a designated charter study commission to see what the best change would be for Red Bank, if any. Residents Scott Broschart, Nancy Facey-Blackwood, Ben Forest, Kate Okeson, Mark Taylor, Michael DuPont, John Jackson, Jesse Garrison, Thomas R. Wieczerzak, Aimee Humphreys and John Gosden, have submitted petitions for candidacy for the Red Bank Charter Study Commission. Broschart made a statement in August, calling it “a once in a generation opportunity for the residents of Red Bank to make an informed and educated decision about how our local government should operate.”
Over the past year, one of the most controversial topics covered regularly by The Two River Times involved the Red Bank Senior Center. The building on Shrewsbury Avenue has sat in disrepair since 2019. After a protest and numerous intense public comment sessions at council meetings, professionals drafted plans and ultimately decided to rebuild the center in its existing location.
More recently came the borough’s decision to eliminate its animal control department and join a shared service agreement with Monmouth County for the services to reduce costs. Some residents felt it was a mistake and argued that doing so would result in slower response times to calls. Some said longtime animal control officer Henry Perez has become a fixture in Red Bank.
Borough administrator Ziad Shehady resigned after spending nearly three years as a top official in the borough. Then Red Bank’s chief financial officer Peter O’Reilly submitted his letter of resignation in August. Both positions remain unfilled.
And now personal issues have added to the appearance of a borough in disorder. An article by RedBankGreen last week brought to light a lawsuit against Councilman Hazim Yassin, chairperson of the borough’s finance committee, who is being sued by his landlord.
Filed in March 2020 by Molly Pitcher Village, LLC, the suit claims that Yassin has not paid the rent on his Branch Avenue apartment since January 2020.
After news surfaced online, The Two River Times reached out to Yassin for comment.
“My landlord and I are in a dispute and it is working its way through the process of the courts,” he said. “While this dispute started before COVID, the situation has been complicated by the pandemic on several levels, which resulted in the courts being closed and caused numerous delays. I am optimistic that my landlord and I will reach a settlement, but if not, the court system will resolve it.”
Yassin went on the say that he feels this is not a public matter. “Frankly I don’t view this as anyone’s business but my own and my landlord,” he said. “So when contacted by the media I did not immediately respond. I did not see the newsworthiness of covering a rent dispute, as well as my lawyer advising me not to discuss the details of this case publicly.”
Yassin also took exception to some of the facts mentioned in the article, implying they were solely added to inflame the situation.
“RedBankGreen chose to mention that my insurance license has lapsed,” Yassin said, “which clearly was done with a negative connotation. My current job as a financial consultant – a promotion from my previous position – does not require the license, so its lapsing occurred in the normal course of events and is irrelevant to my employment.”
According to the legal complaint, Yassin has been a tenant of the building since September 2017. The landlord issued an eviction notice Feb. 28, 2020. When the complaint was filed in March 2020, the councilman owed $1,529.27 so long as there were no late fees. Debt accrued from there. The monthly payment on the apartment is just over $1,500 and records dated through Aug. 1, 2021, show that Yassin’s last payment was made Jan. 5, 2020.
Court proceedings were rescheduled five times last year due to the courthouse being closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as shown in court documents. The delays led to a mandatory remote settlement conference Aug. 6.
The millennial’s term on the dais is up this December. He recently ran for reelection in the Democratic Primary but lost to fellow council member Kate Triggiano and challenger Jacqueline Sturdivant. The two will run for the two full-term seats along with independent candidate Suzanne Viscomi. Republicans Jonathan Maciel Penney and Christine Stout, who filed in the Primary Election, have since withdrawn, according to the Monmouth County Votes website.
Borough resident Forest, one of the candidates for the charter study commission, openly supported Yassin and Triggiano during the Primary Election. He said that while he doesn’t “know anything about Hazim’s personal business with his landlord,” he has had “a very positive relationship with him both as an elected official and as a resident of Red Bank.”
“I did call and ask him about it and he immediately gave me the explanation… that he’s having a dispute with his landlord and that COVID is complicated. But I’m not an expert on landlord-tenant disputes,” said Forest. “I certainly have no problem with the council president finishing out his term and I have no regrets about supporting him.”
The article originally appeared in the September 16 – 22, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
