Red Bank City Hall on Dayton Boulevard
After a year of false starts, Red Bank finally is getting a new city manager.
Randall Smith, a businessman from Tallahassee, Fla., accepted the position Tuesday after the city’s Board of Commissioners voted 4-1 to hire him over Charles Beale. Commissioner Ruth Jeno was the only one to vote against Smith.
Before the vote, commissioners said both candidates were qualified for the job, but Vice Mayor John Roberts, who nominated Smith, said the new city manager needs to move Red Bank forward.
“I think what the city of Red Bank needs, it needs something different,” Roberts said. “We found an outsider [in Smith] … someone that has not been involved in a city manager position before and someone that thinks outside of the box.”
However, Jeno had concerns about Smith’s prior connection to the city.