Four Residents Seek Two Township Committee Seats in Election

Four residents are competing for two open seats on the five-member Township Committee in the Tuesday, Nov. 8 election.

Township Mayor Patrick Impreveduto is running for re-election, along with new candidate Greg Buontempo, on the Republican Party ticket. On the Democratic Party ticket, Brian McFarland and Anish Kumar are seeking office. The term is for three years.

The Republican team of Impreveduto and Buontempo are stressing the "continuance of strong fiscal leadership in Holmdel" in their campaign.

Mayor Patrick Impreveduto, an education consultant, has served on the Township Committee for three years, the last one as mayor. It was a year in which the Township Committee challenged Town Hall department heads to use layoffs, attrition and consolidation to reduce spending by 10 percent to offset spending in the $20 million budget, and moved to join the county health care department for cost savings on personnel.

It was also a year in which the Committee voted to raise quarterly sewer bills an average of 15 percent for the average homeowner to rebuild a surplus that had been drained dry in recent years. In June, the Committee also voted to raise municipal property taxes by an amount which came under the 2% state property tax levy cap, which worked out to a $55 increase for the owner of a house assessed the township's average of $616,769.

"I kept taxes stable and did not reduce services," he said. "I'm fighting for the people of Holmdel, constantly," he said.

Impreveduto said planners are working on the township's redevelopment plan for of the 472-acre vacant property owned by Alcatel-Lucent, which he hopes to have it in hand by year's end, in anticipation of a buyer.

His Republican Party running mate Greg Buontempo is a NJ sales manager for Sprint. He joined the race in September after Committeeman Rocco Pascucci withdrew his bid for re-election, and started going door-to-door on nights and weekends to introduce himself to residents, he said.

Buontempo has not held elected office before, but has been serving as an appointed member of the Holmdel Township Planning Board for the past four years, where he said he worked on the township master plan and has supported requests by some Route 35 businesses to have larger, brighter signage in order to be more noticeable. He is a former HYAA volunteer sports coach and member of the Holmdel-based Bayshore Community Hospital Foundation Advisory Board. This year, Bayshore merged with the larger Meridian Health Care system to the south.

"My view is, when a hospital does well, the environment and community around it does well. Why? Because you have more doctors offices, labs, test center, a whole community. One of the largest verticals in our economy right now is health care. What they want to do with the hospital is going to have a great impact for the community."

The Democratic team of McFarland and Kumar, running under the slogan "Solutions that Work," say their combined experience in money management and contract negotiations would be an important asset to the governing body, particularly because the Township Committee's sub-finance committee said there will be a $2.3 million shortfall in 2012.

They are also proponents of a more transparent government that values more input from citizens, particularly on the future of the unoccupied Alcatel-Lucent site, which once contributed significant ratables to Holmdel. They are also interested in preserving open space.

Brian McFarland is a member of the non-profit Friends of Holmdel Open Space, on the executive board of Citizens for Informed Land Use and a former HYAA volunteer sports coach. He said his experience as a sales team leader would be useful to building consensus in town.

In 2010, Brian McFarland and Janet Berk ran on the Democratic ticket, but lost to Republicans Serena DiMaso and Eric Hinds. 

One thing he would focus on is quality-of-life issues in town, McFarland said. "People are frustrated with the little things, like road and brush clean-ups in the past year," he said. McFarland said he would be mindful to avoid "miscommunication and mismanagement."

McFarland, who appears on the ballot as 'Hugh Brian McFarland', and who works as sales executive in software/hardware solutions for global investment firms, said he would approach government leadership by listening carefully to residents' concerns. "People complain of a lack of openness," he said. "They feel that people get shut down in public meetings."

If elected, he would be able to involve Holmdel's best and brightest to step up to lend Homdel their expertise. "I know people who stopped attending Township Committee meetings because they feel they are not heard," he said. Neither Democratic Party candidate attends the Township Committee meetings regularly for this reason, he said.

He urged Republican-leaning Holmdel voters to think twice before automatically voting the party line. "I’m hoping people are very open-minded and give careful consideration to all of the issues," he said. 

Democratic running mate Anish Kumar is a newcomer to township government. He works as a portfolio manager at a hedge fund in Red Bank.

"I think one of the fundamental things about Holmdel is the budget, and I think our business experience can address that," he said. "Given the dire straights Holmdel will be in in coming years, due to the budget shortfall, I think I could definitely alleviate those concerns," said Kumar.

Kumar said he would be proactive about interesting potential buyers to come look at the Alcatel-Lucent property in Holmdel. "I'd be courting technology companies," he said.

He would advocate for preserving open space. "I think we can do it through zoning. Development is putting a lot of pressure on our infrastructure. The more we develop, the more we'll look like Hazlet, as opposed to Colts Neck," he said.

The election is this Tuesday, November 8.

To read more interviews with the candidates, see:

• The Independent's article on the election from the Oct. 27, 2011 edition.
• Asbury Park Press interviews with the candidates published on Nov. 5, 2011.

Also, visit these websites:

Holmdel Democrats (candidates' own site is mkholmdel.com)

Holmdel Republicans (candidates' views are included)