Holmdel Candidates Split On Issues

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By Jay Cook
HOLMDEL – A pair of Democrats, Karen Strickland, who is running in her fourth consecutive election, and Barbara Singer, new to the political scene, look to oust the incumbent Republican grasp on the Holmdel Township Committee, includes current Mayor Eric Hinds and Committeeman Michael Nikolis.
Both parties have several issues at hand in town, ranging from fighting the Monmouth County Reliability Project to whether two synthetic turf fields should be built on site at Cross Farm Park.
Strickland, a 62-year-old adjunct English professor at Brookdale Community College, has been active in town for years. She is a founding member of Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU), a former Holmdel School Board member from 2002-2008, and a former parents’ association president at Holmdel High School.
She wants to bring Holmdel back to its blueprint.
“We really as a community have lost touch with our Master Plan, and I think we’ve lost touch with what attracted a lot of people to Holmdel,” Strickland said. “People moved to Holmdel for number one, the schools, and number two, kind of what you would call the ‘bucolic’ quality of life.”
Over Labor Day Weekend, she was one of the citizens who walked around Holmdel collecting signatures for a petition to put the $3.3 million bond ordinance for Cross Farm Park’s field construction up for public referendum in this election.
Although she recognizes that there is a need in town for such a project, finding the right place is paramount; in her eyes, Holmdel High School fits the bill.
“There already is the infrastructure there, the lights and the parking, so we don’t have to destroy a beautiful park to do it,” said Strickland.
Singer, Strickland’s running mate, is participating in her first election. The 48-year-old attorney currently works at Drazin & Warshaw, P.C. in Hazlet.
She was encouraged to run by neighbors who signed that Cross Farm Park petition. She said they are the reason she is now campaigning in the Nov. 8 election.
“This is obviously an issue where major amounts of people are against what the township was doing, and I felt that those people needed a voice and that the fairest thing to do would be to put it to a town-wide vote,” she said.
Another issue on Singer’s radar is the recent closure of Holmdel Fire Co. #1.
“This whole fire issue is something that Karen and I want to get a hold of,” she said. “They’ve been negotiating since 2014; that’s a long time to be negotiating for fire services.”
The incumbent Republicans have their own views on where Holmdel’s future lies.
Hinds, 46, works as the resident director of wealth management at Merrill Lynch in Summit. He has been mayor since 2014, and with reelection, hopes to stop the controversial JCP&L utility proposal from affecting Holmdel.
“Without question, the biggest thing that I worry about is the awful plan to build the JCP&L high-tension lines along our border,” he said, referring to the Monmouth County Reliability Project. “It would have such a negative effect on the home values, tax structure, the overall look, not just for Holmdel, but for the entire Bayshore area.”
Hinds and Nikolis both spoke to the NJ Transit Board of Directors at the Oct. 13 meeting where the project was discussed.
“Hopefully they take the time to come out and visit our area. That’s what I’m most hopeful for – is that they literally get up and they come drive, and they see what the Bayshore area’s about,” said Hinds.
Also on the mayor’s agenda is to continue the work being done at the former Bell Labs, now known as Bell Works, which Hinds believes is the best thing to happen in Holmdel in more than 50 years.
“We are going to create the most intriguing commercial business base in all of New Jersey,” he said. “It is game-changing for Monmouth County.”
Nikolis, 42, was sworn into the Holmdel Township Committee on May 2 when committeeman Joe Ponisi left that position. It is also his first time seeking election.
Nikolis is the owner of Bill’s Flower Market in Manhattan, the board chair for the environmental committee in town, and is the president of Holmdel First Aid, a position he has held for the past nine years.
His background as a first responder is the reason behind his opposition to the Monmouth County Reliability Project, as the Holmdel First Aid building on Centerville Road is situated right below the proposed lines.
“We use radio communications to communicate with our ambulances,” Nikolis said. “Those high-tension power lines have a history and are known for radio interference, and that’s what I spoke about at the New Jersey Transit Board Meeting.”
Regarding the Cross Farm Park expansion, which was unanimously approved by the committee on Sept. 6, Nikolis believes the project is a “no-brainer.”
“Kids that are engaged in youth sports and are outside playing, they live healthier lifestyles, they do better in school, they’re more socially adapted and they’re less likely to get involved with drugs and alcohol,” he said.