Beyond the wintry weather Plainsboro Township’s reorganization meeting on January 2 held no surprises. “It was a very low-key meeting which ran very smoothly with no controversy or surprises,” said Mayor Peter Cantu.
“We were very concerned about the weather, and so we wanted it to be quick and efficient. We cancelled the refreshments and made it clear to the staff that they did not have to attend, because we were concerned about everyone’s safety. But really we needed to have the meeting, because we technically wouldn’t have had a functioning government unless people were sworn into their positions,” Cantu explained.
Long-time committee member Ed Yates, re-elected to township committee in November, was out of state and was unable to attend due to the weather; he will be sworn in at an upcoming meeting. David Bander, also elected in November, was present to be sworn in. As expected the committee voted to reappoint Peter Cantu as mayor and Neil Lewis as deputy mayor.
Committee members will all retain their current liaison positions: Cantu is liaison to the administration and finance departments; Lewis remains the liaison to the department of public safety and environmental issues; Yates is the liaison for planning, code enforcement, and the historical society; Bander remains the liaison to the public works department and the Council of Community Associations; and Nuran Nabi will continue his role as liaison to the departments of recreation, community services, and the municipal court.
Cantu remarked that 2014 marks his 40th year on the township committee and his 34th as mayor. “I am very proud of all of our accomplishments here in Plainsboro throughout the years, especially as Plainsboro is a growing community. What I am most proud of is the fact that Plainsboro is a community that really works. We are a very diverse community in many ways, and yet we all get along, respect each other, and work well together.”
“I recently had the pleasure of attending the graduation ceremony of one of the English is a Second Language (ESL) classes which are run by the Plainsboro library. The students represented some 15 to 20 countries from all around the world, and they really came together as a cohesive group, sharing stories and experiences from their homelands and learning about the other’s cultures. It was truly a wonderful thing and speaks to what I am most proud of about Plainsboro,” Cantu added.
In addition, the mayor and committee reappointed several individuals to township boards and committees and made a few new appointments. New committee appointments included the addition of David Bander to the Cable TV Advisory Committee and Sanjeev Agarwal to the Zoning Board. Vincent Vecchia was appointed to replace Howard Becker, who moved, to the library’s board of trustees.
“Vecchia is already serving on the Library Foundation, and he has done an excellent job,” said Cantu. “I have great confidence in him and am very pleased that he will become a trustee as well.”
Cantu also praised the township staff, and the many volunteers that serve on committees or otherwise assist the community, as well as the professionals who work with the town, for their hard work, dedication, and professionalism. All of the township officials were reappointed, including Municipal Court Judge Edward Herman, township prosecutor Craig Hubert, public defender Robert Schwartz, township attorney Michael Herbert, tax assessor Thomas Mancuso, tax collector Lois Burns, township auditor David Kaplan, township engineer David Samuel, and transportation committee coordinator Lester Varga.
The committee also set the dates for its meetings, which will continue to be held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building. The 2014 holiday schedule was also approved. The committee voted to adopt the 2014 temporary budget while the new budget is being developed and established the 2014 recreation fees for summer camps, recreational programs and classes, bus trips, and more.
