Longtime Union Beach mayor dies at age 66

The borough of Union Beach is mourning the death of Mayor Paul Smith, who died Thursday at the age of 66.

Smith, the mayor of the Monmouth County coastal community since 2007, died from health complications, according to the Monmouth County Sheriff's Office, but it didn't specify what those complications were. Union Beach councilman Charles Cocouzza told MoreMonmouthMusings he died after after falling at his home and suffering a cardiac arrest at Riverview Hospital.

According to the Asbury Park Press, he led Union Beach through its rebuilding after Superstorm Sandy and presented former President Jimmy Carter with a key to the borough after he spent a weekend building 13 homes in one weekend in 2013.