HOLMDEL Giving residents the chance to learn more about this year’s Board of Education contenders, Citizens for Informed Land Use (CILU) hosted a candidates forum.
Seven candidates are running for four available seats on the Holmdel Board of Education. Incumbents Eileen Briamonte, John Martinez, and Peter Reddy will face first-time candidates Daniel Bodnar and Jamie Collins for the three-year terms.
Newcomer candidates Jaimie Ochojski and Terence Wall are both running for the one-year term. Election day is on Nov. 7.
More than 20 residents attended the forum where each board candidate delivered a speech introducing themselves to the residents, on Oct. 16, at the township Community Center, located at 4 Crawfords Corner Road.
Briamonte, 44, has been a resident for 17 years and has been on the board for one year. She is raising two children who are in the school system and has been married for 20 years.
Utilizing her degree in mathematics, Briamonte currently works in the information technology field and had a job in computer programming for 10 years. She also is a tutor who tutors children from Fair Haven, Middletown and Rumson, according to Briamonte.
“My passions are always going to be S.T.E.A.M. related and when I say S.T.E.A.M. I also mean with the arts…I think when people hear S.T.E.A.M. they just think science and they just think technology and they think of a specific type of student, but the thing about S.T.E.A.M. is that it is for all students and it can help in areas of art as well as technology, math, [and] science,” Briamonte said. “I am pretty passionate about that and that is something I am comfortable [with] having my information technology background.”
Briamonte said that more education needs to be done surrounding social media interactions in order to foster safe learning environments for students.
“The Holmdel 2020 is one of the things I am really passionate about now moving forward, because it is opening up a lot of things that we don’t currently have here in Holmdel..I think with the referendum that is really going to help us now move in the direction where careers are moving in the 21st century,” Briamonte said.
Martinez, 43, has been a resident for 13 years and has served on the board for three years. He is raising three children who attend schools in the school system and has been married for 18 years.
Currently, Martinez is employed by Johnson & Johnson. He also operates a charity and a business that handles real estate.
“Everybody wants the best for their kids and for the taxpayers there is no doubt, but when you look at our community everybody is engaged into what’s the end game, which is making sure that the kids get educated [and] the kids have a full experience not just in sports, but in the arts,” Martinez said. “Part of my vision with this referendum is to make sure that the arts are not forgotten…When you look at our current environment it’s not encouraging our kids to be in the arts, it’s just not.”
Martinez said that the board must continue to improve sports, but also improve the schools’ technology, science labs and math scores.
“The reason why I am running again is when I look at the referendum, when I look at the work that has been done, there still are a lot of things that are unfinished. So I am looking at one more term to make sure that at least my vision and my passion for everybody involved basically gets us to the end,” Martinez said.
Reddy, 45, has been a resident for 10 years and has two children in the school system. Currently, Reddy is the board’s vice president and has served on the board for three years.
After finishing college at St. John’s University, he served in the army for four years. Today, Reddy is an account executive for Honeywell that deals with school construction, referendums and energy projects. Reddy said he has coached 30 sports teams over the years. He is also the chair for the board’s buildings, grounds and safety committee.
“The hardest job going forward is going to be this $40.3 million referendum, with out a doubt…this is a really really big deal so where I look at it, we want to keep doing what we are doing. We have worked probably for the past 16 to 18 months to plan this and now the hard work really ensues, because the two things that I have done in the last three years is taxpayer in mind and the children, everything is about that,” Reddy said.
Reddy said that his wife went to school in town from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade just like her brother and sister did. When they went to back to school night at Satz School a few weeks ago, she was sitting in the same science lab she was in 25 years ago.
“We have a $40 million project and the next three years to get it done so that is really probably the number one reason why I want to continue on this board, because the last three we have been working on it and I want to make these schools better and make this town better in turn,” Reddy said.
For more information visit www.holmdelschools.org/board-of-education/board-members.
Contact Vashti Harris at vharris@newspapermediagroup.com.
