November Election Special Edition

EDITORIAL OPINION

Note: Kin Gee, an Editor/Writer of Better Holmdel, is a candidate for the Charter Study Commission.

New Jersey now has in-person early voting starting this Saturday, Oct. 23rd to Oct. 31st from 10 AM to 8 PM except on Sundays (10 AM – 6 PM). Early Voting is limited to only ten locations in all of Monmouth County. You can vote in any of the locations but it looks like the Cullen Center, 1776 Union Ave, in Hazlet may be the closest Early Voting Location for Holmdel residents.

This year, there will be three public questions on the November ballot:

1. Increase funding for the Open Space Trust Fund

2. Increase benefits for the volunteer first responders

3. Establish a Charter Study Commission

See our earlier post for a more detailed discussion of these three public questions:

https://betterholmdel.wixsite.com/home/post/holmdel-voters-to-decide-on-3-public-questions?fbclid=IwAR2bnQ1RgSVjmNtQ7At0HXCrDogPFoGbBKHsWyRUgZc_PGxJOj_dveqyfFI

Mayor Greg Buontempo, Deputy Mayor Cathy Weber, and Township Committeeman Prakash Santhana support all three public questions and urge Holmdel residents to vote YES on all three public questions. Various Holmdel citizens groups such as Citizens for Informed Land Use (“CILU), Preserve Holmdel, and Save Holmdel Village have issued statements in support of one or more of these three public questions.

We agree with their positions and urge Holmdel residents to vote YES to all three public questions.

Holmdel Board of Education

Besides the two candidates vying for the one seat on the Township Committee, there has been a very lively election campaign for the Holmdel Board of Education. On one side are three challengers, Dr. Surekha Collur, Kimberly Tuccillo, and Weiping Wang, running together on the slogan Better Holmdel Education. On the other side is Terrence Wall, a current Board member running for re-election and two candidates that he supports, Jill Perez and Kristy O’Connor.

Wall has made the sensational claim that the labor union is running three candidates trying to take the schools over. Collur, Tuccillo, and Wang filed an ethics complaint against Wall with the School Ethics Commission and asked that he provides evidence or resign from the Board. Wall has not produced any proof or evidence to support his accusation.

Wall has also implied that the Zoning Board and Dr. Surekha Collur, who was appointed as an alternate to the Zoning Board just this year, are somehow responsible for what Wall described as the “most dangerous bus stop in Holmdel history.” However, Dr. Collur points out that, as posted on the Holmdel School district website, it is the school district that determines bus routes and bus stops

According to an article in centraljersey.com, Wall has a history of making accusations, including accusing then-Mayor Serena DiMaso of making anti-Semitic remarks in 2006, without providing evidence to back up his claims. See:

https://archive.centraljersey.com/2006/01/19/its-high-time-for-wall-to-come-up-with-proof/?fbclid=IwAR2JL__pyyH2dP1C6qeRSFM1GMtUze2XfwW5M2tOcPBxQfVzds-OvF7MY-A

Collur, Tuccillo, and Wang have not only refuted Wall’s claims but put forth their priorities if elected center around their campaign slogan” Children, Not Politics”. You can get more information from Collur, Tuccillo, and Wang’s Facebook page “Better Holmdel Education” and their website https://www.betterholmdeleducation.org/.

Voters should ultimately decide for themselves but if you need some guidance, please see our suggestions in the photo below.