“The Tale of Two Townships” - With Apologies to Charles Dickens

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EDITORIAL OPINION

Feb. 26, 2020 – In Middletown, there were two Democratic candidates, Sean Byrnes and Jenna Sager, that ran together for the Middletown Township Committee in the 2019 election. Unfortunately, in September 2019, Sager, in what she thought was off the record comments, was caught in a video saying police officers are criminals and should not play a role in combating the opioid crisis.

After the release of the video, the local Chair of the Middletown Democrats and the Chair of the Monmouth County Democratic Party acted very quickly and decisively to criticize Sager and to pull their support of her. In particular, within days of the release of the video, her running mate Byrnes issued a statement that her comments were derogatory, asked for her to withdraw her candidacy, and then separated his candidacy from her.

In Holmdel, after a highly contested primary, there were two candidates, incumbent Mayor Eric Hinds and Chiung-Yin Liu, running on the Republican ticket for Township Committee. Roughly around the same time as the Middletown video incident, evidence of emails and witness testimonies showed that Hinds attempted to divert money for an artificial turf field at the Holmdel Swim Club within two weeks of a bond ordinance specifically for a detailed list of improvements to existing fields with no mention of any projects at the Swim Club, let alone a $2.5 million artificial turf field. The Township Committee conducted an investigation into the unauthorized expenses of $58,000 by Township Engineer T&M Associates and ultimately censured Hinds for his conduct.

Despite the extensive press coverage and in stark contrast to what happened in Middletown, Liu was silent throughout this process and continued her candidacy alongside Hinds.

Bannergate

Not only did she not distance herself from Hinds, Liu was also a willing participant in what was dubbed as “Bannergate”. On October 4, 2019, at a football game at the Holmdel High School, a big Hinds/Liu banner was put up along the fence where everyone can see - a direct violation of the Board of Education policy against political signs on school property.

The banner remained up during the game and was not taken down until near the end of the game.

Both Hinds and Liu attended the game and, in fact, posted a picture together along with a picture that highlights the banner at the game. Hinds served on the Township Committee for 9 years. Liu served on the BOE for 9 years. So, Hinds and Liu, know or should have known that their banner on school property is in direct violation of BOE policy.

First Asian-American for Holmdel TC (NOT)

After Bannergate, a Hinds/Liu political mailer was sent to residents stating that Liu is trying to make history as the first Asian-American to serve on the Township Committee. Not only was this false and misleading, it’s disrespectful to David Chai, who is a Chinese descendent, a long-time Holmdel resident, an engineer that worked for many years at Bell Labs, and had served on the Holmdel Township Committee starting from 1996 and as Mayor in 1999.

Lawsuits

In the Mayoral race in nearby Highlands, incumbent Mayor Rick O’Neil trailed challenger Carolyn Broullon by just one vote after a recount and conceded. In Holmdel, Liu trailed independent candidate Prakash Santhana by two votes after a recount, but, instead, chose to file a lawsuit challenging the results of the election. Meanwhile, her running mate Hinds filed what the Township Committee considers to be a frivolous lawsuit against the Township for his censure.

In the latest events, Liu’s attorney, wishing to amend their lawsuit, sent a draft of an amended petition and seek approval by all other parties to sign a consent order eliminating the need for the legal expense of filing a motion to the judge. However, after receiving the agreement by all other parties, Liu’s attorney filed a different amended petition than the draft that he had circulated without alerting all the other parties.

In the amended petition, Liu named individuals, which included a former Township Committeewoman and the children of two elected officials, whose ballots they seek to disqualify so that their votes would not be counted. Within hours of the filing of this “unauthorized” amended petition, the names of these individuals were made public. Perhaps not surprisingly, Liu’s running mate Hinds immediately cried “voter fraud”.

The amended petition filed by Liu contained some glaring errors. As an example, the petition stated that “as a result of the recount, the unofficial and uncertified results of the election were …” There is one problem with this statement – it is false. In the same afternoon of the recount, the election results were certified and made official. The results were posted on Monmouth County’s election website that evening. Because the election results were certified and made official, Santhana was sworn in as a Holmdel Township Committeeman on January 2, 2020.

In another example, the petition alleges Julia Vitale cast a vote in the election and made the assertion that she lived outside of Holmdel and “Therefore, Mr. Vitale was not eligible to vote in the election.” (Emphasis added.)

Obviously, Liu has the legal right to file a lawsuit and challenge the election results. However, it is a shame that this appears to be used in a politically motivated fashion to attack elected officials and legitimate private voters. Just like the case of Hinds’ lawsuit against the Township, which was dismissed with prejudice on Feb. 14th, the judge in this case will decide whether the claims and assertions made by Liu have any basis or merits. The judge has set a trial date of May 4th for the lawsuit, implying a protracted and costly lawsuit.

Omens?

Liu was silent when all the evidence about Hinds’ wrongdoings emerged. Subsequent to that, she appeared to be complicit with Hinds in direct violation of Board of Education policy despite her 9-year tenure on the BOE and in sending out a false and misleading political mailer. Now, Liu appears to be in coordination with Hinds in using her lawsuit in a politically motivated way. Will these actions portend the future of Liu?