When People Tell You Who They Are – Believe Them

In August of 2021, before I was elected to the Holmdel Township Committee, I attended a township meeting. A major topic of the day was the pending development at Potter’s Farm. On then-Mayor Buontempo’s watch, a massive development was proposed to overtake this venerable property. The development itself is something I was not in favor of, but on this evening, it wasn’t the development that left me shocked and appalled … it was the dereliction of duty exhibited by then-Committeeman Prakash Santhana.

In a vote meant to help facilitate the process toward development, Committeeman Santhana said, “I don’t know the specifics of it. I haven’t seen it. But I’ll vote YES.” You can see it here for yourself. That is an actual statement. Not taken out of context.

He didn’t know the specifics of the development, but was willing to help it move along. He cared so little that he didn’t even bother to do the most basic work to make an informed decision, an informed VOTE. In my opinion, it was a staggering betrayal of the public trust.

Sadly, that is not the only time Mr. Santhana’s integrity, or competence, can be called into question.

Less than one month ago, I challenged the Buontempo / Santhana campaign on the historic debt they ran Holmdel into and their position that they SAVED taxpayers money by “converting” the debt.

Their response: “Before Buontempo was there, the accumulated short-term debt was close to $20 million”.

There’s only one problem with this statement – it’s not true. Buontempo became mayor in 2020. An audit of our financials before he became mayor, reveals NO short-term debt. This image from our audit is proof …

And now here we are again … Mr. Santhana, presumably for political gain, has attacked our school district. Based on the response sent by our Superintendent in which he articulated very clear facts that refute Mr. Santhana’s attack, it would seem that Mr. Santhana has either – knowingly or unknowingly – misrepresented the truth (as his campaign did with the debt challenge) OR has not done his homework (as he exhibited during the Potter’s Farm vote).

Either way, this pattern of behavior is not only troubling, I believe it disqualifies him from consideration for office.

• In Holmdel, you don’t attack our schools to score cheap points.
• In Holmdel, you give every vote the utmost consideration before making a decision.
• In Holmdel, you treat every taxpayer dollar with the respect it deserves.

As elected officials we have an obligation to do everything we can to serve the best interests of Holmdel and honor the faith our residents have placed in us.

We’ve seen Mr. Santhana fail in that capacity now more than once. Lest we forget, the last time he served – he abandoned his position, abandoned YOU, before his term was completed.

Over and over again, Prakash Santhana has told you who he is … BELIEVE HIM.

PS – with Mayor Foster and Deputy Mayor LaMountain at the helm, we ended up saving Potter’s Farm from development.