At first, after losing the election, I was on a bit of a roller coaster, a bit of a bumpy road,” says Kamal Khanna, reflecting on his loss in the West Windsor Council elections. “But now I am at peace with it and am moving forward. I will cherish my four-and-a-half years on the council. I helped the council to be very productive, especially for the two years I was the council president. I also made a lot of friends, at the local, county, and state levels, and these things go a long way toward building on future plans.”
Khanna notes that while it would have been nice to be re-elected, it is not the end of the world for him. “I will finish out my term on the council, and will remain involved in the local issues. After being on the council for four-and-a-half years, I know what is going on and what needs to be done, and may actually have a greater impact as a private citizen. I can have more independence in my overall thinking, and can share my opinions without being constrained by my position.”
“For this reason,” Khanna continues, “I am going to keep myself free, and not become a member of any township boards or commissions. But I am keeping my options open. I am the vice chair of the Democratic committees in both West Windsor and Mercer County, so these positions will necessarily keep me involved in the issues, in politics. And who knows what opportunities will arise at other levels of government? I am going to look beyond the town council and see what else I might want to get involved in.”
Khanna owns and runs his own business, and plans to focus more time on that. In addition, he would like to spend more time at the gym and with friends and family. “It will be nice to be able to have evening plans once in a while — at least I can go out from time to time with my wife.”
Khanna’s term will be over at the end of December; he has three more council meetings to attend. “I am very proud of what I have helped to accomplish: a sustainable budget; the lowest tax rate in the area; high bond rating; more parking; more facilities that have improved residents’ quality of life. We got a lot done.”
“The one issue I want to see completed before I leave the council is the ban on smoking in some public places, such as in parks and in front of the entrances to public buildings. I proposed this ordinance four months ago, and the township health department has been working on it. It will be discussed at the agenda meeting [part of the council meeting] being held next Monday, November 25, and I am hopeful that it will be introduced that night as well. I really want to get this done.”
When asked if he has any advice for the new council, Khanna replies, “First, I congratulate Linda Geevers and Peter Mendonez, and offer them good luck and best wishes. I believe the incoming mix of council members will work together. I have confidence that even though they all have very different personalities and ways of doing things, that they will figure out a way to work together to get things done. We won’t have the stalemate that we had a few years ago because they owe it to themselves and to the residents to avoid that.”
Khanna believes that both the council and the administration will have to take responsibility for getting the job done, and then figure out how to compromise to make sure things get done, without politicizing the issues. “Otherwise,” he says, “why bother being in the position at all? This is what I must do in my own business. I have to compromise with others all day long, or else nothing gets done.”
He does have some concerns over the possibility that ballot confusion may have affected the outcome of the election. “[Eric Payne and I] have accepted the result because what else could we do? But I do believe that the placement of the names on the ballot affected the election. I believe that had the tickets been aligned the results would have been different. I will not speculate on who would have won and who would have lost, because how could we know that? But the results would have been different, for sure.”
Khanna continues, “All three teams worked so hard to promote their tickets and not just individuals, so it is a shame that the ballot did not reflect that. Keeping the tickets together — that could have been done and that should have been done, and in the future I would strongly urge all of the candidates to come together and decide together to have the ballots aligned by ticket.”
“The other option is to make West Windsor a partisan town,” he adds.
Khanna does not agree that the municipal election should be moved back to May, rather than being held in November, because more people come out to vote in November. “Throughout the campaign, I found that people were very concerned about the local issues and the local candidates, more so than the state ones. Plus, we already have too many elections and spend too much time and money on them.”
“No one likes to lose over a technicality — it is very hard,” he notes. “But I have moved on, and am looking forward to discovering my future options. I have gained a gazillion friends and supporters over the last four years, and sincerely wish to thank them for their support. They are what this is really all about. And I am proud of what I have I have accomplished. Overall, it’s been a really good ride.”
Upcoming events: The next Council meeting will be Monday, November 25, at 7 p.m. in the municipal center.
The annual tree lighting ceremony will be held on Sunday, December 8, at 7 p.m. at the Ron Rogers Arboretum.
