HOLMDEL — Four candidates who are running for two open seats on the Township Committee are offering residents different perspectives on how to move the township in the right direction.
Democrats Barbara Singer and Karen Strickland are challenging incumbent Mayor Eric Hinds and Township Committee member Michael Nikolis, who was appointed to fill a vacant seat in May.
Strickland, 62, is a Democrat seeking a seat on the Township Committee for the fourth time and says she is committed to better involving citizens in the decision-making process. She said many residents do not feel welcome speaking at Town Hall meetings and feel ignored by their elected officials.
“Why do citizens have to keep hiring lawyers to get the township to pay attention?” asked Strickland.
According to a press release, she was referring to a lawsuit residents filed to force a referendum on a $3.3 million bond to fix Cross Farm Park.
Strickland also wants to preserve Holmdel’s rural and bucolic characteristics, slowing development and reinforcing the family-friendly feel of the town.
She is an adjunct professor at Brookdale Community College.
Hinds, 46, is a Republican seeking re-election as mayor. He has been on the Committee for six years and served the last two years as mayor.
“I feel like I’ve put Holmdel in the right direction,” said Hinds in a press release.
He wants to continue bringing new programs and ideas to the township, such as the monthly newsletter he sends residents to keep them informed, a career event he organized for local students and Community Cleanup Day. He says the biggest challenge facing the township is JCP&L’s proposed transmission line that will pass through Holmdel and other parts of Monmouth County.
A group of residents also recently sued the town over a bond ordinance to install synthetic turf fields at Cross Farm Park. Hinds, who voted in favor of the bond ordinance, said he respects the residents’ opinions, but believes the project will benefit the town.
“For 16 years I’ve watched us virtually put no money into athletics,” he said in the release. “You’re never going to accomplish anything without making people upset.”
He is a senior vice president for wealth management for Merrill Lynch.
Singer, 48, is a Democrat running for a seat on the Holmdel Township Committee. She is seeking election to the committee for the first time and said recent lawsuits filed by residents against the township encouraged her to run.
“People have to be really upset to go to these lengths,” said Singer in a press release. “I didn’t feel it was a good direction for the town to be going in.”
She wants residents to feel like they have a committee that listens to their concerns. Singer also wants to retain Holmdel’s rural character by controlling development and making sure new projects fit the overall vision for the town instead of being done piecemeal.
“That kind of family feel … that’s the feel I want to maintain in Holmdel,” she said in the release.
She is an attorney.
Nikolis, 42, is a Republican seeking election to a Township Committee seat. He was appointed to fill a vacancy on the committee in May. He is chairman of the Holmdel Environmental Commission and president of Holmdel First Aid.
He says he wants the town to ramp up its efforts to fight the opioid epidemic because he sees how it affects families and children when he responds to opioid overdose calls. He wants the town to pilot a state-funded program for recipients of Narcan, an antidote to opioid overdoses, and encourage recreation and healthier lifestyles among children.
His other priorities include seeing the redevelopment of Bell Works, which will include a newly built public library expected to open in 2017.
“I care deeply about this town,” said Nikolis in a press release. “I’ve always been on the scene, been active in Town Hall. I’m no stranger to Town Hall.”
He is a florist and the owner of Bill’s Flower Market in New York.
