Rocco Impreveduto Voted Mayor Of Holmdel; Brian Foster, Deputy

HOLMDEL, NJ — It was a night for family and fresh starts at the annual reorganization meeting of the Holmdel Township Committee Tuesday night.

The election by the committee of a new mayor, Rocco Impreveduto, and deputy mayor, Brian Foster, were the highlights of the agenda.

But there was other important action as well:

A pledge was made by the committee members not to accept donations from developers before the committee or other township boards.

And the committee voted to create an Ad-Hoc Redevelopment and Economic Development Advisory Committee to assist the Township Committee in its "significant development" decisions.

But first, the elected officials, all Republicans, took their oaths of office in this first meeting of the year:

DJ Luccarelli, who served as mayor in 2023, was, in November, re-elected to the Township Committee and Joseph Romano was elected to his first term on the governing body. They were both sworn into office by Assemblywoman and former Holmdel Board of Education President Vicky Flynn, R-Monmouth.

Once seated, the new Township Committee, in unanimous votes, named Committeeman Rocco Impreveduto as mayor and Committeeman Brian Foster as deputy mayor. They had nominated each other. Impreveduto is in his final year of his first term, and last year served as deputy mayor. Foster was elected to the committee in 2022, along with Committeewoman Kim LaMountain.

In a ceremony filled with family connections, former Holmdel Mayor and County Commissioner Pat Impreveduto gave the mayoral oath of office to his son, Rocco. Rocco Impreveduto's immediate family - his wife Danielle and three sons - joined him.

After the oath of office, Impreveduto thanked his parents - his mom from whom he inherited his patience, he said, and his dad for setting the example of being a township official.

He remarked how his father saw the township through Superstorm Sandy's aftermath and noted his father's part in bringing the Bell Works office and entertainment complex to fruition.

"If I can be half as good at this as you were," he told his father, "Holmdel is in good hands."

Committeeman Foster was next up, sworn into office by Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners Director Thomas A. Arnone.

At the dais, the new Township Committee took care of other business for the new year - making professional and volunteer committee and board appointments. You can see those on the township agenda for the meeting.

Impreveduto pledged to provide a "transparent and fiscally responsible" government. A guiding principle of the Township Committee in 2024, he added, will be "what's best for Holmdel."

Resolutions approved

And to start, the committee passed two resolutions Impreveduto said can help them in that goal:

The committee approved creation of the Ad-Hoc Redevelopment and Economic Development Advisory Committee "to assist in obtaining citizen input" regarding these issues.

Residents must apply to become members of the committee by Jan. 12.

The Ad-Hoc Committee will consist of the following membership:

• Up to seven public members to be appointed by resolution of the Township Committee.
• One member of the Financial Advisory Committee to serve ex-officio.
• One member of the Township Committee to serve as a liaison to and ex-officio member of the Ad-Hoc Committee.

The Ad-Hoc Committee may review publicly available documentation and hold discussions on "relevant consideration," the resolution states, and may make recommendations to the Township Committee through the liaison.

The Township Committee invites any residents of Holmdel who are interested in serving as public members on the Ad-Hoc Committee to submit a letter of interest to the Township Clerk no later than Jan. 12. Appointments are expected to be made at the Jan. 23 Township Committee meeting.

Impreveduto said the advisory group can provide input on such matters as the redevelopment of the former Vonage site, for example. The Township Committee in December directed the Planning Board to study if the former 88-acre site should be designated an area in need of redevelopment - as requested by the owner of the property. You can read more background here.

Then there was the pledge to not accept campaign contributions from developers before Holmdel.

"The Holmdel Township Committee is opposed to any candidate for Holmdel municipal office accepting campaign contributions from developers who seek to develop within the Township of Holmdel and (who) must appear before the Holmdel Township Committee, Holmdel Township Planning Board, and/or Holmdel Township Zoning Board of Adjustment for land-use related approvals," the resolution says.

It added that under the state Elections Transparency Act, the Legislature has pre-empted municipalities from adopting their own pay-to-play ordinances.

So the local resolution is a way the committee can "express its opposition to campaign contributions by Holmdel developers."

And, in the event a member of the governing body voting for the resolution receives a contribution that is later determined to be from a Holmdel developer, that member pledges to "donate the campaign contribution so that it cannot be utilized for his or her electoral benefit."