Election Tuesday, November 5, wasn’t all about township politics. Six candidates were also running for three open spots on the West Windsor-Plainsboro Board of Education. Four vied for two seats in West Windsor. Two competed for the Plainsboro opening. Each town had one incumbent running: Louisa Ho from West Windsor, and A.G. “Mani” Manikandan from Plainsboro.
Ho won reelection, receiving 2,855 votes, although her unofficial running mate, Rakesh Kak, who received 2,432 votes, was not elected. Instead, Scott Powell, who had run twice before for the board, won the second West Windsor slot, receiving 2,967 votes, the highest for any school board candidate. The fourth West Windsor contender, Yingchao Zhang, received 1,553 votes.
West Windsor’s newcomer to the board, Powell, ran for the board unsuccessfully in 2010 and 2011. But on his third attempt he received the most votes of any of the school board candidates. He earned a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from the University of Southern California. In his response to the WW-P News’ candidates’forum, Powell described himself as a product manager at Prudential Financial, who “manages revenues and expenses and cultivates long-term customer relationships” and “excels at ensuring the delivery of high-quality service to both the institutions that purchase their products and the individuals who receive the benefits.” Powell has resided in New Jersey since 2006, having moved to the state from California to take a position at Prudential’s Iselin office.
Powell has two children, one who attends Village and the other who is at Maurice Hawk. His wife, Michele, works as an operations director for a professional trade organization in New Jersey. She is the current president of the Special Education Parent Teacher and Student Association (WW-P News, June 28).
In Plainsboro, newcomer Yu “Taylor” Zhong won the election with 1,451 votes, upsetting incumbent Manikandan, who received 1,341 votes. After losing the last election to current Plainsboro board member Rachelle Feldman Hurwitz, Manikandan had been appointed to the board to fill a vacancy when Ellen Walsh resigned and moved from Plainsboro.
Zhong, the newcomer to the board from Plainsboro, was one of the residents who put his name in contention to be appointed to fill the Walsh vacancy. Soon after Manikandan was named the appointee, Zhong announced that he was running for the seat and began submitting a series of letters to the editor of the WW-P News and other area newspapers detailing his views.
In an interview for a June 28 WW-P News article introducing the candidates, Zhong said, “I have been trying hard to communicate with Plainsboro residents. Some people think I am aggressive because I write so many letters, but that’s just my way. I find writing to be an effective way to communicate. But I have also spoken with hundreds of residents to learn their opinions and ideas. If I am elected, I will do my best to balance people’s main concerns: school safety, superior education level, and school tax rates.”
Zhong, who has a degree in physics from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, has worked as a risk manager at a financial firm in New York. Both of his parents were teachers and he been involved as a board member of the Chinese School and served with Louisa Ho on the ad hoc facilities committee set up by David Aderhold, now the superintendent.
Zhong and his wife, Jennifer, have twin boys who attend Grover Middle School.
