RED BANK – Democrats Jacqueline Sturdivant and Kate Triggiano have won three-year terms on the Borough Council in Red Bank.
Sturdivant, a newcomer, received 2,029 votes, and Triggiano, an incumbent, received 1,894 votes, to win the seats, according to results posted online by the Monmouth County Clerk’s Office. Suzanne Viscomi, who ran as an independent candidate, received 997 votes in her bid for a seat on the council.
The 2021 election was conducted with vote by mail ballots; with early in-person voting on nine days in late October; and with in-person voting on Nov. 2.
The results listed above were on the Monmouth County Votes website as of Nov. 4 and will remain unofficial until they have been certified by the county.
Democratic Councilman Hazim Yassin will end his term on the council in December.
No Republican candidates appeared on the ballot as the party’s nominees withdrew from contention prior to the general election.
With the victories by Sturdivant and Triggiano, Democrats will continue to hold all six council seats and the mayor’s office in Red Bank.
In other election results, Red Bank voters approved a public question that asked if they wanted to empanel a charter study commission which will conduct hearings and public forums, collect evidence and make recommendations in keeping with its charge to determine if the borough’s current form of government is the most appropriate for Red Bank.
The question received 1,996 “yes” votes and 884 “no” votes, according to the clerk’s office, which means the charter study commission will be created.
At the same time, residents elected five individuals ls to serve on the charter study commission. There were 11 residents seeking the five positions on the panel.
According to the clerk’s office, the five individuals who received the most votes were Red Bank Environmental Commission member Nancy Facey-Blackwood (1,129 votes); former Borough Councilman Mark Taylor (939 votes); Human Relations Advisory Committee Chairwoman Kathryn Okeson (948 votes); Red Bank Borough Public Schools Board of Education member Ben Forest (874 votes); and former Borough Councilman Michael DuPont (857 votes).
Falling short in their bid to earn a seat on the charter study commission were Scott Broschart (826 votes); Aimee Humphreys (824 votes); Jesse Garrison (759 votes); Thomas Wieczerzak (645 votes); John Gosden (596 votes); and John Jackson (592 votes), according to the clerk’s office as of Nov. 4.
Several forms of government are available for New Jersey municipalities.
Red Bank currently has a partisan political form of government that consists of six Borough Council members who serve staggered three-year terms and a directly elected mayor who serves a four-year term.
The council members vote on action items (i.e., resolutions and ordinances). The mayor only votes on action items if there is a tie on a specific item.
