At the Monday, May 14, Council meeting Fu-Grand Lin was appointed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment to fill an alternate II term for the remainder of 2012. At the April 30 Council meeting Bryan Maher had raised concerns over the way that volunteers were appointed, saying that there were seven very qualified applicants for the position. Council only directly appoints members to the Zoning Board and the West Windsor Parking Authority.
To resolve the issue, on Monday, May 14, Council met for 20 minutes ahead of its scheduled session to discuss the zoning board appointment. Each council member selected their top two choices to fill the role. Although Lin was the incumbent and the eventual choice, others nominated for the position included Heidi Kleinman and Gary Zohn, who ran for town council last year. His former running mate, Bryan Maher, made a point of saying Zohn was respected in West Windsor, having earned nearly 2,000 votes last November.
Another person who wished to be considered was Alok Sharma, who Council President Kamal Khanna said is “a young man looking to contribute.” Sharma has been an outspoken parent at school board meetings in the past six months, most notably leading a charge against abandoning the parental overrides for honors and AP courses (WW-P News, December 2, 2011).
Council voted during its business session, and Lin was the unanimous choice. Linda Geevers had to recuse herself from voting for Kleinman, however, because of personal connections. Knowing that Council would not prefer one person serving on two township boards, Lin volunteered to give up his seat on the Site Plan Review and Advisory Board to be considered for the Zoning Board.
The following resolutions were also approved at Council’s May 14 meeting:
– A request from D.A.R.E. New Jersey, Inc., of Cranbury to have a fireworks display on Saturday, June 2. The rain date would be Sunday, June 3.
– Jessica Kates Galatro was appointed to the Shade Tree Commission, filling an unexpired term through December 31, 2014.
