The Grass Isn't Always Greener........

The Holmdel Charter Study Commission kicked off January with 1 Democrat and 4 Republican guests, from Holmdel, Colts Neck and Millstone. The discussions covered the pros and cons of the Township Committee form of government, which Holmdel currently operates under. As a prior candidate for the Holmdel Township Committee on the Democrat Party line and as the current Chair of the Holmdel Democrat County Committee, I was interested in comparing my thoughts with that of these active Republicans when it comes to elections and local government.

It was not surprising to see how our form of government has the same pitfalls from a Republican point of view as it does from a Democrat point of view, highlighting the point that this very old form of government no longer works in today's society. Many towns in NJ have long since changed their form of government. Some main issues the guests shared their opinions on: partisan vs. non-partisan elections/how candidates wind up on their party line, length of term for the representatives/annual elections, if residents should directly vote for the Mayor, what provides for the most accountability, financial considerations.

Red Bank too is currently looking into changing their government, also having passed a referendum in 2021, to create a Charter Study Commission. "The Red Bank Republican Organization would once again like to reiterate our support for the Charter Review resulting in non-partisan elections. It has been an issue which our organization and many of our past candidates for Borough Council have campaigned for strongly." May 6, 2021, The Red Bank Republican Party Facebook Page.

All the representatives at the Holmdel meetings shared the pitfalls of not only a Township Committee form of government, but most importantly, how that plays out in reality. For theory is one thing - reality another. At the conclusion it was clear that while one guest would stick with it, with several "tweaks" (which in reality could easily just mean it's a different form of government....), the Township Committee no longer is the best vehicle for running towns. The difficulties as expressed by the guests, were compounded by the current political chess games within the current Republican echelon but keep in mind, this is something that can occur at any time down the road as well, so a long term solution is needed. This is not a "Democrat" issue - the grass is NOT greener on the other side.....and the current form of government simply is not producing some end results that the guests wanted such as residents having more of a voice, and an election process that is fairly conducted and locally controlled.

Overall, there was agreement that if a town is being controlled by one party or one faction of one party, that is simply not good government and switching to other options that lend themselves to good and fair governance, is best. We have seen in Holmdel, and heard from other towns, that often elections are lost not because of bad candidates or bad ideas, but simply because of bad politics. So what now? How do we remedy the inherent issues with our current form of government as well as the political issues that can affect good government?

February 3rd, 7PM, at Town Hall, is a public hearing so residents can offer their opinions on our current form of government. The Commission is next moving to phase 2 - which is to study other forms of government. So follow along with these meetings to see what our options are! Here is a link for meeting dates: https://www.holmdelchartercomm... and here is a link for uTube videos of the prior meetings:

Barbara Singer, Holmdel