Where's the MONEY Holmdel?

I regularly attend Township Committee meetings. Lately I’ve been asking for an update on the status of the financing for the Holmdel Library. The Holmdel Township Committee had a few years before, informed residents the library would be moved to Bell Works and the cost of the new library would be essentially…..FREE. Holmdel Township bonded to cover the expenses and residents were told that there would have to be fundraisers so that we could get a free library. The Holmdel Library Foundation was set up to receive donations. Bell Works hosted the first fundraising event and since then I have been asking our Township Committee how much money was raised.

This is an obvious question after a fundraiser, especially since future fundraising would have to be undertaken. Initially, the responses were ‘no amount known’ because they were still putting the numbers together and ‘no amount known’ because they were still waiting for some donors to send in the money. OK. It’s well over a year later now….. The township committee either doesn’t know or won’t say it. Why won’t Mayor Critelli and Deputy Mayor Buontempo tell the residents how the fundraiser went? Why won’t the Mayor or Deputy Mayor just ask their friends who are Trustees of the Holmdel Library Foundation how much money was raised and how much money will Holmdel residents be responsible for raising in the future to pay off the bond?

Why is the TC refusing to provide any information despite being repeatedly asked? The results of a fundraiser for the benefit of the town should be shared with residents, as happily as the news of a brand new FREE library was. The simple question “where is the money” propels our Township Committee into a three ring circus, but never an answer. It is time for transparency in government.

Barbara Singer
Candidate for Holmdel Township Committee