County: BOE candidate calls Holmdel home BY ERIN O. STATTEL Staff Writer Mike Collins HOLMDEL- The residency status of a candidate for the Holmdel Township Board of Education was the subject of a recent investigation by the county. Mike Collins, candidate for the Board of Education, is a student at New York University in Manhattan but maintains a legal, primary residence in Holmdel, according to an inquiry by the county Office of the Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration. According to Collins' campaign manager, John Blakeslee, an investigation by the Office of the Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration into Collins' legal residency was prompted by an article about his campaign that appeared in theMarch 5 issue of the Independent. The article quoted Collins as saying he lives inManhattan. The bylaws of the Holmdel Township Board of Education state, "Each member of any board of education shall be a citizen and resident of the district." According to Hedra Siskel, county superintendent of elections and commissioner of registration, Collins was found to reside on Ladwood Drive in Holmdel and to be a registered voter in voting District 5. While being interviewed at his residence, Collins showed his license to the investigator, whowas satisfiedwith the Board of Education candidate's residency status. According to Collins, after the article was published, a letter was sent to the Office of the Superintendent of Elections and Commissioner of Registration asking for clarification in the matter of Collins' legal and primary residency. Siskel would not comment on who had initiated the investigation. According to Siskel, unless Monmouth County students attending college out of town register to vote where they attend school, the county remains their primary residence. "It's really unfortunate that the issue of my residency has been used as a political football," Collins said. "My primary residence is inHolmdel, but because of the discrepancy in the newspaper article, some peoplewere asking me about it while I was on the campaign trail, and it led to an investigation." While Collinswas found to legally reside in Holmdel, where he is a registered voter, he does use the New York University Manhattan dormitory "for discretionary use," Blakeslee explained. "It should be about the issues, not where my legal residency is," Collins said in an interview. "We should be focusing on what is really important in the election, and that is the issues concerning Holmdel's schools."