Politics & Government

Socialist Freeholder Candidate Backs Community Garden

Pat Noble, 18, backs the efforts of gardeners trying to develop a community garden in Red Bank.

It’s official: socialists support fresh fruits and vegetables.

Pat Noble, an 18-year-old Red Bank resident and member of the Socialist Party USA running for election onto the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, has endorsed the efforts of volunteers who hope to develop a community garden on a vacant lot along the Navesink River.

Though a community garden, in theory, has found support from the borough’s council, its location remains a point of contention. Gardeners want to see the project developed on the lot just off of Front Street, citing its centralized and highly visible location as some primary reasons.

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Though they’ve been reluctant to provide reasons of their own, Red Bank’s council members want to see the garden developed, well, anywhere else.

In a release, Noble called the excuses given by Red Bank’s council at various meetings this year “numerous, but all unjustifiable reasons.” The issue has been discussed at various meetings throughout this year. Though the community gardeners hoped to rush approvals along in order to beat the planting season, their efforts, thus far, have left them with nothing.

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In an effort of compromise, the council has asked the garden members to look elsewhere to start their project. A report developed by volunteers identifies more than 20 possible locations throughout the borough where a community garden could be located, though few are ideal.

Noble’s support of the community gardeners came following a Socialist Part of Monmouth and Ocean Counties meeting in June where Cindy Burnham, a supporter of the community garden, handed out copies of a garden proposal and spoke about the project.

According to Noble, the Front Street location “proves beyond a reasonable doubt that 94 West Front Street is the spot where this garden should be.”

A possible location for the garden, one that Noble sees as a poor consolation prize, is in the back of the Red Bank Middle School. Earlier this week, members of the community garden were inspecting the location, which is currently best used as a play area for the district’s children, who have little options when it comes to open playing space in the borough.

Above all, Noble wants to know why the Front Street location is unacceptable.

“The borough council has not been truly forthcoming about why they are opposed to this proposal, instead giving a plethora of reasons that don’t hold up to logic or reason,” he said in a statement. “They have failed to live up to the mandate of a democratically elected government on this matter, and they must be held accountable for it.”


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