“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.” – Mark Twain

In an earlier post, we pointed out how Impreveduto is misleading or has his facts wrong in his “How We Got Here” opinion piece.

Impreveduto uses pejorative terms, attempts to paint with a broad brush based on innuendos, and then makes general assertions without foundation in his various opinion pieces.

Let’s take a look at some more examples.

1. In his opinion piece, Impreveduto likes to use the term politically-connected individuals or say that this individual knows that individual or that he or she donated to that and similar assertions as if those assertions mean something or are somehow a bad thing.

In a small town like Holmdel, is it really a big surprise that people in our community know each other, especially if they have been active and share common values like preserving open space and good local governance? And if they know each other, so what?

Is it surprising that individuals support and donate to causes they believe in? And if individuals either donate or volunteer to help a local candidate they support, so what? That is democracy at work and the bedrock of our country!

However, individual donations are very different from professional firms.

Why? That is because professional firms that donate to candidates or elected officials often have the expectation of being appointed and benefiting from those appointments financially. That is known as “Pay to Play”.

Former Holmdel tax appeal attorney Matt O’Donnell donated $1,000 to Tom Critelli’s campaign in 2018 and $2,000 to Eric Hinds’ campaign in 2019. Holmdel has now filed a lawsuit filed alleging O’Donnell overbilled local taxpayers and has “unjustly enriched” as a result of his “fraudulent and criminal activities”. T&M, the previous Township engineering firm that used to bill Holmdel Township several hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, donated more than $5,000 to Impreveduto in 2021. T&M is not the only professional firm to have donated to Impreveduto.

2. Let’s follow Impreveduto’s logic and reasoning some more. Impreveduto knows former Mayor Eric Hinds, who was censured by the Township Committee in 2019 for attempting to divert more than $2 million for an artificial turf field at the Holmdel Swim Club.

Impreveduto also knows Tom Critelli, the former Mayor and Committeeman who did not recuse himself for about a year even though a property that he has a financial interest in is being proposed to be included in the affordable housing plan that would increase the value of his financial interest or that, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, may have improperly received a $10,000 payment shortly after he was elected to the Holmdel Township Committee.

Finally, Impreveduto knows Terence Wall, who, according to a centraljersey.com article (see link below), is the only Committeeman other than Hinds that has been censured by the Township Committee in the last 25 years, the only elected official who has a police report filed against him by then-Deputy Mayor Gary Aumiller, and the only BOE member that had a school ethics complaint filed against him in the last 20+ years.

https://archive.centraljersey.com/2006/01/19/its-high-time-for-wall-to-come-up-with-proof/?fbclid=IwAR0munEm7zkqPyNhMe46fDISd9ZtTQLsRqrI9we6T-rtTx_GnvfpGvEEsHM

Following Impreveduto’s reasoning and logic, should we draw any inference or assume that Impreveduto is part of a cabal that wants to maintain power for corrupt purposes that benefits their personal or political agenda and is not in the best interest of Holmdel?

3. Within the Council-Manager form, New Jersey state law allows different options that include electing the mayor directly, at large, or by wards, partisan or non-partisan elections, staggered or concurrent terms, etc. Some towns may prefer not to elect the mayor directly, have wards instead of at large, have concurrent terms instead of staggered, or continue to hold partisan elections. Those towns made their decisions based on the facts and circumstances that pertain to their situation and residents’ preference.

The fact is that the Holmdel Charter Study Commission did not look at which towns did this or that, whether it’s the most common or least common. What the Commission did do was to fully explore the options that were available and made recommendations based on what it believes to be the best for Holmdel, regardless of what other towns may or may not have done.

Impreveduto cited certain statistics in support of his case and then claimed “They didn’t do any research. But we did.” The gist of Impreveduto’s statistics is that relative to Holmdel, Council-Manager municipalities in New Jersey have larger populations, higher population density, higher levels of municipal spending, etc.

Mark Twain once said, “There are lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

Monmouth County has 10 other municipalities* that operate under the Township Committee form of government as Holmdel does. What if I told you that, relative to Holmdel, these other Township Committee municipalities, on average, have higher populations (145%), higher population density (over 250%), and lower median household income (74%).

What does that mean? Setting aside the Charter Study Commission recommendations, should we be concerned and change our Township Committee form of government due to these statistics? I believe most Holmdel residents would say no, it does not matter. What matters are the specifics for Holmdel.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” Holmdel, with its rich history and Bell Labs, has been a town known for its excellence and innovation!

Like the statistics for Township Committee municipalities, the statistics mentioned for Council-Manager municipalities also don’t matter.

What matters is that the Council-Manager form of government is very similar to our current form except that it gives more power to the people by letting them elect the mayor directly and have a say in local law and it creates a fairer election process by eliminating undue influences by out-of-town party bosses

Holmdel residents have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to decide the future of Holmdel.

Vote YES and put Holmdel residents first!

Kin Gee

Chairman

Holmdel Charter Study Commission

* Middletown Township is included since it refers to its governing body as Township Committee and essentially operates like a Township Committee form even though it officially operates under a special legislative charter that preserves many of the characteristics of a Township Committee form of government.