Three candidates have been chosen for the redevelopment financial committee, and the fact that one of them is not a West Windsor resident is causing a little controversy.##M:[more]##
According to Councilman Charles Morgan, he and Councilwoman Linda Geevers interviewed five potential candidates to fill spots on the redevelopment financial committee. The three who were ultimately chosen were Steven Manzari, Ron Rumack, who also serves on the West Windsor Parking Authority, and Cosmo Iacavazzi, a Pennington resident and former mayor of Hillsborough who is the vice president and director of new business development for Commercial Property Network, based on Emmons Drive in West Windsor.
Resident Mike Baxter, who was one of the candidates for the committee, however, is charging that his selection for the committee sounds like “the fox guarding the hen house.” In his letter to the editor on page TK, Baxter points to his outrage that “someone that doesn’t live in our town, doesn’t pay taxes in our town, can improve the quality of life in their town by diminishing ours, and is employed by a large development company that can profit from the redevelopment, is going to guide and review decisions that will deeply affect our town.”
Morgan, however, says Baxter’s arguments are misstatements of fact. “He pays taxes in our town because he works here,” Morgan says.
“I think it’s an unfortunate characterization to suggest that this person is going to be able to outweigh our committee decisions on what’s best for West Windsor,” Morgan said. “At the same time, having an outsider’s perspective can prevent myopia on our side.”
Morgan said after he and Geevers interviewed all five candidates, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh also interviewed them. He then called Morgan and Geevers and told them he liked two of the candidates, including Iacavazzi. Morgan said at first, he had a problem appointing someone who was not a West Windsor resident, but said this was one disagreement he was not going to have with the mayor. He even suggested during a meeting last month that because he felt all of the candidates were qualified, that all five be appointed, but it did not gain support with the rest of council or with the mayor.
In addition, “he’s got redevelopment experience, he’s got governmental experience, and his business is here in West Windsor,” Morgan said of Iacavazzi, who was a first-team All American running back at Princeton in 1964 and had a brief career as a professional football player. “You do want diversity. Teams are strengthened by diversity. What this gentleman does is bring diversity of residency to the conversation. It doesn’t mean it’s going to outweigh the core beliefs of the team, but it will contribute to the team.”
Morgan also emphasized that financial work on redevelopment should be separated from the planning work. He said as of right now, there is a scheduling problem with all of the members of the committee, and he is waiting on the clerk to come up with a chart to show everyone’s availability before the members can begin meeting.
