A new age in Millstone?
As the new year dawns, the dark political clouds which have lingered for so long seem to be lifting over Millstone.
The secretive Millstone Coalition, which has tried to gain control of the municipal government, appears to be shrinking and hopefully will soon disappear from the landscape.
Also on the bright side is word from Mayor Evan Maltz that the "private" investigation of Township Committeeman Bill Kastning’s role in a failed land deal is finally coming to a close, and the results, together with the full taxpayer cost, will be revealed next week.
The Millstone Coalition suffered its first political loss in November, and now Mayor Maltz, who founded the organization back in 1999, is publically distancing himself, saying he doesn’t want the coalition’s endorsement if he seeks re-election in November.
He says he never intended for the coalition to become the political action group that it became, raising money for candidates and trying to preempt the local GOP and Democratic Party organizations. Interesting.
One of the most outrageous things about the coalition was its secretiveness, raising political cash and endorsing candidates while never being accountable to anyone.
Concerning the Kastning investigation, a full explanation is long overdue, both to the public and to the outgoing committeeman, who was made to suffer needlessly.
It was ironic to hear Mayor Maltz praise Kastning at the committee’s recent year-end meeting, going so far as to call him the "best committeeman Millstone has had," when the mayor could have put an end to the so-called "private" investigation at any time.
It started in September 2000, the same time as an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, which fully exonerated Kastning in January 2001 — a year ago.
Kastning had been expected to seek re-election in November but withdrew at the last minute.
We don’t know exactly why, but assume he didn’t want to expose his family to any more of the stench of the dark side of Millstone politics.
With the seeming demise of the coalition and the expected conclusion of the "private" investigation, the dark clouds appear to be lifting.
Hopefully, they will find a permanent resting place in the township’s political archives.