Election season officially opened this week, with races heating up in the West Windsor municipal election and in the contest for seats on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education.##M:[more]##
Three political newcomers — Adam Shrager, Randy Tucker, and Richard Kaye — submitted their names by the February 28 filing deadline for two open West Windsor seats on the School Board, while incumbent Patricia Bocarsly was the sole candidate filing for the one available Plainsboro seat.
West Windsor board members Steve Smith and Linda Geevers will not run for re-election, but sources have told the News that Geevers is gearing up for a run for a seat on township council. Geevers says that she will have an announcement in the near future.
West Windsor was the scene of the most dramatic political announcements. In addition to the speculation about Geevers, Berrien City resident David Siegel also told the News this week that he intends to run for council.
Meanwhile, with the Thursday, March 17, filing deadline for the West Windsor municipal election fast approaching, council incumbents Jackie Alberts and Alison Miller announced this week that they will not seek re-election.
But while Alberts is retiring from the political scene, Miller has her sights set on a different office — township mayor.
This year’s Tuesday, May 10, municipal election in West Windsor has the potential to significantly change the township’s political landscape. Up for election are the mayor’s position, and two seats on township council. Both the mayor’s job and council seats are for four-year terms.
During a press conference held at the Windsor Plaza (Acme) shopping center on Thursday, Miller announced her candidacy. Miller, 59, is expected to run against incumbent Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh. Hsueh has not officially announced his plans but has indicated a strong probability that he will run for re-election.
“Our government needs decisive leadership with a real commitment to open and responsive government,” said Miller, a resident of the township for 17 years. She lives on Windsor Drive off of Route 571 near High School South.
Miller said that in Hsueh’s four years as mayor, he should have allowed a higher level of public involvement.
“I would like to provide people with the opportunity to participate in processes that affect them” Miller said. “I think that people who wanted to participate in the decision-making process were preculded because of (Hsueh’s) style. We can certainly do better.”
Miller said she announced her candidacy at the shopping center — located in the heart of downtown Princeton Junction — because she feels the area can be better served by township government.
According to Miller, several years ago the state denied a request by the township to have the area designated as a village center. At that point, she believes that Hsueh dropped the ball.
“There was no further public pursuit (by Hsueh) of turning this area into a better village,” says Miller. “It needs to be safer, walkable, and more attractive. So instead, the initiative had to be taken over by the local residents. I think that that is less efficient than having government take the lead.
“West Windsor is too big for only one village center. We need others, but (downtown Princeton Junction) needs to be one of them. We could have done better and we should do better.” Other elements of Miller’s platform include:
• Installing safety improvemnts on township roadways;
• Pursuing improvements for all modes of transportation;
• Fostering community involvement;
• Preserving open space;
• Encouraging programs for youth, developed by young people;
• Pursuing opportunities for new tax ratables that will have low impact on current residents; and
• Ensuring that new development preserves existing neighborhoods.
Miller has served a total of 10 years on the Township Council and sat on the Planning Board for six years as council liaison to the body. She has also served on the Zoning Board, and Affordable Housing Committee.
A self-employed consultant, she is also a member of Friends of West Windsor Open Space, the state League of Municipalities Legislative Committee, amd the Central New Jersey Transportation Forum.
Miller said she intends to announce in the near future whether she will to run on a slate with candidates for council.
Hsueh declined this week to comment on Miller’s candidacy, and says he anticipates making an announcement regarding his future sometime next week.
On Wednesday, Jackie Alberts announced that she will not seek re-election in order to spend more time with her family. “While I love West Windsor, I love my family more, and at this point I want to spend more time with them. I’ve enjoyed my six years on planning board and six years on council. Over the years my family has grown, and with it my family responsibilities. As a result I have to step aside for now.”
“I’m announcing early in the hopes of bringing forward some highly qualified candidates to run for my seat on council,” Alberts adds. “I was dismayed by the lack of an election two years ago. It’s not democratic and it’s not good for West Windsor.” Alberts is referring to the 2003 municipal election in which Kristin Appelget, Franc Gambatese, and Charlie Morgan all ran unopposed.
“I challenge those who step forward to run for council and mayor to grapple with the real issues in the campaign,” says Alberts. “Of course there are the perennial West Windsor issues of traffic, taxes, and managing growth. But there are also specific issues this time around: how to handle the idea of a transit village; balancing the need for ratables with ensuring an acceptable quality of life; providing basic infrastructure such as roads and sewers; and meeting the challenge of a possible Princeton Hospital (locating in the township).”
Alberts adds that she may not be done with politics, though, and would not rule out a run for political office in the future.
The decisions by Alberts and Miller guarantees that West Windsor council will have two new members come the annual re-organization meeting on July 1.
According to sources, Geevers opted not to run for re-election to the board of education to pursue a council seat. When asked why she was not running for a third term on the board, Geevers responded that she was looking to “pursue other opportunities.”
“I really thought about it right up until the deadline to file,” she says. “I’ve served six full years and have been satisfied in my opportunity to shape our district. I will remain active in the school district as we continue to build on the success that we are now celebrating.”
Siegel, 45, a resident of Berrien Avenue, says that he is circulating petitions in hopes of getting enough signatures to run for council. In order to qualify for the ballot, a candidate must gather the valid signatures of 137 registered West Windsor voters.
Siegel, a resident of the township since 2000, says that with two vacancies on council this year, the township needs people who can “do a good job” for the township.
“I hope to promote a more transparent, proficient, and responsive government in the township than we’ve had in the past,” Siegel says. “I’ve been a regular attendee at council meetings. I think I have some idea, at least, about what West Windsor does, and what it needs, and I hope to be able to help the township go forward.”
An active member of the Berrien City Neighborhood Association, Siegel works as a software developer for Cognos Corporation in Independence Way in South Brunswick.
Four File For Three WW-P Board Seats
by Jack Florek
You don’t need to be a psychic to know that in the school board elections on Tuesday, April 19, there will two brand new board members from West Windsor and that Patricia Bocarsly will be reelected to her second term in Plainsboro. That’s because both sitting West Windsor board members, Stephen Smith and Linda Geevers, chose not to run for reelection and Bocarsly is running unopposed.
Smith, who has served with a Lincolnesque presence for six of his eight years on the board as either president or vice president, said that he recently reached his 65th birthday and would like to spend more time with his family.
Geevers, who has served as the board’s vice president, is the chairperson of the administration and facilities committee as well as the WWPSA negotiations committee.
In her last month and a half on the board, she remains focused on getting the budget passed. “That is our highest priority,” she says.
The challengers for the two vacated seats in West Windsor are Adam Shrager, Randy Tucker, and Richard Kaye.
Shrager, a resident of West Windsor for the past eight years, is a math teacher in the Hopewell Valley school district and an adjunct at Princeton University. He formerly worked on Wall Street but left to pursue teaching career shortly after the September 11 tragedy and is a published author. “I was went through the alternate route path to teaching,” says Shrager. “I now go to work every day and am happy to be there.” He and his wife, Lisa, have a son who attends second grade at Maurice Hawk Elementary School.
Shrager says that he has considered a run at the board for a long time. “With my experience as a business executive and as an educator, I feel I have a lot to offer,” he says. “WW-P faces some nice challenges in the future. I see maintaining excellence while managing growth as one of them.
Tucker is a 10-year resident of West Windsor. He and his wife have two sons, a freshman at High School South and a daughter at Grover Middle School. A director of engineering at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics (a Johnson & Johnson company), Tucker feels that he is the right man to tackle the district’s omnipresent capital improvement problems. “In my work I face the same kind of capital issues that the district is facing,” he says. “The question of how to efficiently make long term capital plans in the reinvestment of older facilities with sufficient cost controls and productivity gains is something that is a part of my experience.”
In addition, Tucker has volunteered in the PTA and the West Windsor recreation department, as well as doing outreach at local high schools and at Raritan Valley Community College.
Richard Kaye and his wife have been residents of West Windsor’s Village Grande for over five years. A retired school principal at South Brunswick High School, Kaye participated as a member of the core team in formulating the strategic plan that was passed by the board last month.
Kaye feels that strategic planning offers WW-P a real opportunity to advance its reputation as one of the best in the state. He says that the South Brunswick school district had also undertaken strategic planning initiatives during his 25-year career there. “I understand the critical questions. When you have unlimited needs and limited resources, it is important to look at things in a reasonable fashion.”
In a letter to the editor printed in the March 7, 2003, issue of the News, Kaye wrote, “There is a strong community feeling that the board has not been responsive to community questions. The right and need for a community participatory process of looking at options is non-existent. This issue must be a board priority for improvement.”
Bocarsly says that running for her second term was an easy decision. “I think there is a steep learning curve for board members. So I am really look forward to a second term.” Among the issues she sees facing the board are the implementation of strategic planning, the middle school study, and the K-12 curriculum changes.
