Photo by Allison Perrine
HOLMDEL – “It’s a new dawn in Holmdel,” a resident said at the township committee’s reorganization meeting Jan. 2, as two Independent candidates assumed their new roles on the formerly all-Republican dais.
Newcomers Cathy Weber and Prakash Santhana were sworn in to three-year terms on the committee that night, marking the first Independent victories in Holmdel in over 20 years. Their victory came after a tumultuous year rocked by allegations of nepotism at town hall, diversion of public funds for turf fields, unauthorized expenses and a tight election.
A new mayor and deputy mayor were also named at the meeting. Committeeman Rocco Pascucci nominated committeeman Greg Buontempo for mayor, which was unanimously approved by the committee. Buontempo, a Republican, replaces Eric Hinds as mayor, who did not win his bid for reelection.
Addressing his fellow committee members, Buontempo said, “Rocco, Cathy, Tom, Prakash, thank you. I’m truly grateful for your confidence in me, both as a committeeman and as mayor.” He thanked his supporters.
Buontempo announced that after hearing feedback from the community, Holmdel will reinitiate its finance and traffic safety committees in 2020. “We have a tremendous amount of interest from residents who want to be involved and we are grateful for that,” he said.
He ended his remarks discussing what he called one “flaw” in Holmdel, that in the last three municipal elections in town, less than 40 percent of all registered voters cast a ballot. “The fact that it’s not 100 percent is almost appalling to me,” he said. “I think, frankly, we should be ashamed of ourselves as a community. We could, and should, do better.”
His remarks come on the heels of a very close election in Holmdel. Santhana, who was sworn in that night, is only two votes ahead of Republican challenger Chiung-Yin Cheng Liu. Election Day results showed that Liu was three votes ahead of Santhana, but a recount in December put Santhana two votes ahead of Liu. Through her lawyer, Liu is now requesting a Superior Court judge review the ballots, especially ones she feels were cast in her favor but rejected unfairly.
After Pascucci nominated Buontempo for mayor, he nominated Weber for deputy mayor. She replaces Mike Nikolis in the position, who also did not win his bid for reelection. However, he was approved as a planning board and environmental commission member at the Jan. 2 meeting.
“I can’t think of anyone up here who could do the job better,” Pascucci said of Weber. The committee unanimously supported the nomination.
On her first night as a committeewoman and deputy mayor of Holmdel, Weber asked the committee to amend its current structure for its Rules of Order, allowing the public to comment on agenda items at the start of the meeting. “We can hear from the public of any issues or concerns before we vote on any- thing,” she said, which received a round of applause from meeting attendees. It was unanimously approved by the committee.
One resident, James Yannello, spoke during public comment Jan. 2. Directing his comments to Weber and Santhana, Yannello said that while he could not speak on behalf of all the activist groups in Holmdel, “I can tell you all how thrilled they are that we have some independence on the committee.”
Speaking to Buontempo, Yannello added that while he, again, can’t speak on behalf of all Holmdel groups, “I think whether they’re Democratically biased or Republican biased, I think most groups in this town are supportive of you.”
But, he told Buontempo, “the days of nonsense” are over. “We have dozens of people watching what’s going on, everything. And for you to have turned a blind eye during this election and on other periods with what has gone on in this town is beyond nauseating. It’s a new dawn in Holmdel. I hope it maintains to be this way going forward.”
Yannello was just one of well over 100 people who attended the meeting, held in the public library at Bell Works. Buontempo even called it “probably one of the best turnouts” he has seen for a Holmdel reorganization meeting. Freeholder Lillian Burry, Free- holder Deputy Director Patrick Impreveduto, Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso and many other elected officials attended to show their support.
In addition to political figures, members of the Holmdel First Aid Squad were installed at the meeting and took an oath of office. Many other professionals were appointed to various groups and positions in town.
This article originally appeared in the Jan. 9, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
