Three candidates are seeking election to two open seats on Plainsboro Township committee in the Tuesday, November 3, election, with Republican challenger Paul O’Brien running against incumbent Democrats Neil Lewis and Nuran Nabi.
In his effort to get elected, O’Brien faces a daunting task — breaking the political iron grip that the Plainsboro Democrats have held on the township’s governing body for more than a decade. In fact, no Republican has been elected to the Township Committee since the early 1990s.
The following are the profiles of the three candidates:
Neil Lewis, of Bradford Lane, is a 26-year township resident and a vice president at Xenobiotic Labs in Plainsboro. He was elected to the Township Committee in 1995 and has been deputy mayor since 1998.
Lewis said one of the biggest challenges facing Plainsboro is dealing with traffic and the lack of routes traveling east to west in central New Jersey. He the town has been working on a regional solution.
“We all face the challenges of morning and afternoon commute times, and we’re looking for creative ways we can minimize the impacts on neighborhoods and ways we can all work together to make things better,” Lewis said. “It doesn’t look like we’ll get much help in pulling traffic out of the local neighborhood, so we’ve instead been looking at intersection improvements and bicycle and pedestrian paths,” to get people out of their cars, he added, pointing to Village Center as an example.
Another challenge, said Lewis, is dealing with economic issues. One focus, he said, is trying to get more money from the state. The town should also “be continuing efforts to work on joint purchasing and cooperative efforts, where we know it can benefit the residents.”
Lewis adds that Plainsboro has earned a reputation for economic and fiscal responsibility. “Careful economic planning has probably eased the stress for us” in terms of keeping property taxes flat. “We still have the most affordable municipal tax in our county and region and an excellent bond rating, all of which saves money for taxpayers. We’re still trying to hold our costs down.”
He also points to Plainsboro’s ability to draw major businesses, like pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, which recently located its major operations into the township. This provides more ratables to help offset taxes, he said.
Lewis said he is also proud of the township’s expanding recreational opportunities, which provide a “fun, energetic, and exciting environment for people who want to have their kids grow up in an area with a good education and good opportunities.”
Another area Lewis wants to enhance is communication with the residents. He said the township’s website, as well as its newsletter and local access channel, provide a great resource to residents to get information. “We’re trying very hard to make sure people have the opportunity, not only to be part of the community, but have ready access in many ways.”
Lewis was born in New York. His mother was a stay-at-home mother until he got to junior high school, when she worked for Avon Cosmetics, managing sales. His father was a private investigator and owned a home security business.
Lewis earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the City University of New York and then earned his PhD in medicinal chemistry from the University of Kansas. While doing post-doctoral work in drug metabolism at Ohio State, a position opened up and Lewis became an assistant professor in the chemistry department from 1972 to 1982.
Lewis moved back to the east to take a job in the drug development program for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. He and his wife, Nancy, wanted to move to a place that had open space, like the rural environment of the Midwest, but also wanted to live where Lewis could commute to New York.
They heard about the school district and moved here in 1983. They rented for one year before buying their home in Plainsboro. Their two children are graduates of the WW-P school district.
Once Lewis had stopped commuting to New York, he began getting involved in the school-related volunteer committees. After chairing the referendum committee that lobbied to build High School North, he was asked to run for Township Committee.
Lewis said the leadership in town has allowed for careful build-out of the township — including the preservation of more than 50 percent of the township as open space — into one of the best places to live and work, Lewis said. He points to Fortune Small Business Magazine’s Top 100 Places to Live and Launch a Small Business, on which Plainsboro was listed as number 52 in the nation.
He cites projects like Village Center, the new University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro, and the new library, still under construction as examples. He also points to the recent preservation of the Bulk farm, one of the last large parcels of land at over 80 acres, which provides continuous acres of open space and farmland along Cranbury Neck Road.
“We’re always open to new ideas,” he said. “What makes our town such a great community is its great cultural and educational diversity,” he said. “We have a wonderful mix of housing which evolved over time with careful planning. The whole question is whether or not we can continue to make it a worthwhile effort for people who want to continue to work in our immediate area.”
Nuran Nabi, a resident of Kinglet Drive South, was appointed by the Township Committee in November, 2007, to fill the committee seat vacated by Ginger Gold Schnitzer. He was re-elected to fill the remainder of the term, which expires on December 31. He has previously served on the Planning Board (two years) and then the Human Relations Council (three years), and is also a member of free public library foundation.
He and his wife, Zeenat, have been living in Plainsboro since 1994 and have two sons, Mushfik and Adnan, both of whom graduated from the West Windsor-Plainsboro school district.
Nabi’s mother was a housewife and his father was a landowner in Bangladesh.
Nabi said he is proud of the township’s record of being financially responsible. “We try to put the interests of the citizens first, and as a result, we have lower taxes and improved amenities. We also are getting a new library and have a Village Center, and now a new hospital is coming to town. The combination of all of these things has improved the quality of life in this town.”
When the hospital was first proposed in the township, Nabi was a member of the Planning Board that heard the application.
One of the slogans Nabi said he is trying to promote in town is: “We are small, but beautiful.” He said he truly believes it is one of the “best places to live and promote business.”
Nabi said he hopes to continue working to provide services to the township residents. One of his goals is to continue to support the township’s open space policy, and he wants to expand the township’s volunteer efforts, as well as recreational activities for seniors and the cultural awareness programs. “Promoting youth volunteerism is very important because that really allows us to build responsible citizens of the township.”
Given the rough economic climate, Nabi said he and his colleagues are mindful of the necessity to keep costs down. Volunteerism can support many activities in the township and can help keep these costs down, he said.
Prior to moving to Plainsboro, Nabi lived in New York City for four years, New Brunswick for 10 years, then in North Brunswick from 1984 to 1994. He said he and his wife moved to the township because of the school system. “Though I could afford private education, I believe in the public school system,” he said.
Currently, he is serving as senior vice president and board member of Applied Resource & Photonics Inc., of Harrisburg, PA. A retired research scientist, Nabi worked 22 years for Colgate Palmolive Co. and retired as an associate director of technology. He was the inventor of the Colgate Total toothpaste technology and has more than 100 patents and publications to his credit.
Nabi first got involved in the township’s recreation and human assistance programs, where he worked on developing programs for the senior citizens and special needs children as well as cultural activities.
His work with the human assistance program included organizing activities to collect food cans and food supplies, enhancing senior activities. He also organized a story telling as an English as a Second Language program. He felt it was important “to give back some of the positives I received from the township.”
In his more than 10 years of involvement in the township, “I learned a lot about the township people,” he added. “They are very open minded, and they respect each other very much in this cultural area.”
Paul O’Brien, the owner of the Plainsboro-based Golden Rule Real Estate, has been a resident of the township for 14 years. He is also the founder of the Plainsboro Business Partnership.
O’Brien (www.OBRIEN2009.com), who grew up in New Milford, has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Pace University in Manhattan and a master’s in public administration from Kean University. His mother was a buyer for an independent department store in Bergenfield, and his father was a business forms designer for a firm in New York City.
At the time he moved to Plainsboro, he was working for a brain injury rehabilitation center in North Brunswick, and he wanted to lessen his commute from New Milford. He and his wife, Denise, who have a 14-month old daughter, Briget, found Plainsboro to be more affordable than Bergen County.
“As I got to know Plainsboro, I really enjoyed all it had to offer,” including the parks, he said. “I became active in the softball league in town. From there, I bought my first condo, and then moved to where I am now,” which is in the Princeton Landing development.
In the past, he has managed several assisted living facilities, and worked for healthcare organizations.
O’Brien said he wanted to found the Plainsboro Business Partnership because it was something he wanted to see in the township for a long time. In his previous career in healthcare and running assisted living facilities, he had been part of networking groups. There were organizations for businesses, but “they are always geared toward either more of a regional focus, and they didn’t have anything to do specifically with Plainsboro,” he said.
“My observation is that Plainsboro doesn’t have anything specifically to address the needs of what’s going on in Plainsboro.” He points to the Greater Middlesex Chamber and the Greater Mercer Chamber, but nothing is solely devoted to people doing business in Plainsboro.
He said that with the Village Center, it looks as if the business community is gaining momentum and it would “be great for business owners and residents to get together and think a Plainsboro first attitude.”
In addition to his real estate business and his work with the Plainsboro Business Partnership, O’Brien also serves on the Human Rights Committee for Allies Inc., a company that provides support services to people with developmental disabilities and other challenges. He also serves on the Plainsboro Human Relations Committee, which develops programs and approaches to establish community awareness and understanding of the townships’ ethnic population mix. He also is the president of his golf league and the head coach of his Plainsboro co-ed softball team.
“Since I am so involved with everything in Plainsboro, it just seemed logical for me to allow the residents of the town a choice in selecting or electing someone for Township Committee,” he said. “I spend a majority of my time everyday in town. I’m accessible; I’m here. You see me in Superfresh, you see me on the golf course, and you see me walking my daughter around Morris Davison Park.”
O’Brien said his experience in executive management, where he has led large numbers of people toward a common objective has given him the skill in “team building, listening, and problem solving,” and that his approach to running an organization will bring a fresh outlook to the Township Committee.
If elected, he said he would first “foster a business-friendly environment, encouraging new and continued growth among Plainsboro’s proprietors.” He said he would also “bring balance and broader representation to the township government through accessibility and accountability.”
Another of O’Brien’s goals is to educate residents “through deliberate actions about what is available in town, relative to a ‘Think Plainsboro first’ attitude.”
His experience in executive management and in working for large corporations will help him look at the budget closely for cost-savings, he said. “I can work as a team member in trying to come up with creative ways to get things done under budget constraints,” he said.
When asked about the Democratic domination in township committee elections in recent years, O’Brien said he feels the challenges are yet to be seen. “More times than not, folks on the Committee run unopposed,” he said. “When it’s over — win or lose — I can look back and see what were the successes and failures of the campaigns, but the response I’m getting through all of my campaigning has been overall positive.”
O’Brien said he is not familiar with any of the Republican candidates who have run in the past. “I offer a fresh perspective, fresh outlook, and fresh attitude. I think of myself as just another Plainsboro resident, but one who wants to represent the interest of the common Plainsboro resident.”
