In his quest for re-election to a second term, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh is not only in a contest against his opponent, but is also up against history.
Since the establishment of the mayor-council form of government in West Windsor in 1993, no mayor seeking a second term has been re-elected. The township’s first directly-elected mayor, Thomas Frascella, was defeated in 1997 by Carole Carson. Then in 2001 Carson was turned down at the polls in favor of Hsueh.##M:[more]##
Hsueh, 60, is seekeing election to a second term on the Community Vision slate along with council candidates Linda Geevers and Heidi Kleinman.
“It took me almost four years to come to where we are today,” says Hsueh. “When I took over, we had to start from square one in many different areas. There were many structures in place at town hall that needed to be changed, and many projects I wanted to do. I feel like we’ve just started and I hope to have the opportunity to continue.”
Hsueh was first elected to public office on West Windsor Council in 1993.On the first day of the new government on July 1, Hsueh was elected as the township’s first council president. He was also the first Asian elected to West Windsor government.
The story of Hsueh’s journey to councilman and then mayor began several decades ago on the other side of the world. Hsueh was born in Taiwan in 1944. His father, Cheng-Yuan, was a Japanese-educated engineer and his mother, Ching-Lan, was a homemaker.
He attended the National Taiwan University, where he earned a degree in engineering. After college, Hsueh served a mandatory year of service in the military as a second lieutenant.
In 1969, Hsueh came to the United States to study for a graduate degree at Rutgers University, and received his masters degree two years later. While he was in the military, Hsueh had dated a woman named Shu-Yin Kao (Sue), but left her behind when he went to Rutgers, corresponding with her by mail because long-distance phone calls were too costly.
In 1971, Hsueh earned his graduate degree, went back to Taiwan, married Sue, and brought her back to America with him.
After earning his doctorate at Rutgers, Hsueh was hired by the state Department of Environmental Protection as a senior engineer specializing in modeling and trying to project water quality issues into the future.
For 12 years, the family lived in Hillsborough Township and Hsueh commuted every day to the DEP’s Trenton office. The decision to move to West Windsor came in 1984 when Hsueh was becoming increasingly frustrated with his daily commute to Trenton, which had grown from about 30 minutes to almost an hour.
The Hsuehs were driving on Route 571 one day and saw signs for Princeton Oaks, where construction was just starting. They stopped and visited the sales trailer and decided to buy the home in the development where they continue to live today.
By 2002, when Hsueh decided to retire after 27 years at the DEP, Hsueh had worked his way up to become administrator of the Water Supply Administration, managing some 94 employees and an annual budget of some $27 million.
“One of the reasons I took early retirement and worked longer hours (at town hall) was because I found it wasn’t as simple as I thought it was going to be.”
“We have never really had a long-term vision or plan for the community,” Hsueh says. “This is something I’ve been trying to accomplish in my first four years, but it’s not something I can change overnight. We have a master plan but it’s not really enough. We have to have to be able to implement the plan.”
The key, he says, is to have a fiscally sound municipal budget as the foundation on which to build the township’s capital planning. “If we can have a strong financial system here, we can tie things together and get a long-term vision.”
Although Hsueh believes the township is headed in that direction, West Windsor is facing other complex challenges that won’t be solved overnight. “All of the issues facing us are a big elephant, and I can’t swallow it all at one time,” says Hsueh.
One “elephant” is the widening of Route 571 through downtown Princeton Junction. “After I was elected,” says Hsueh. “I looked into Route 571 and was told by the county that there was no budget to do anything on the road.” County and West Windsor officials had been negotiating a plan for reconstruction of the road since the early 1990s, but nothing was ever built. “In 1998 the money was taken back by the state because the town and Mercer County could not reach a consensus,” says Hsueh.
The situation changed after the election of current County Executive Brian Hughes in 2003, Hsueh says. “The day after he was elected, I talked to him about the project and he was very sympathetic.”
Hughes agreed to pursue the 571 project anew if the township could present a plan that was supported by both the council and the administration.
The township completed a concept plan and met with county planners several days before a pedestrian was killed after being hit by a car on the road. The concept was due to be unveiled to the public at a planning board meeting in March, but Hsueh opted to release the details early after the fatality.
The mayor has appointed a task force to work with the state to create a vision study on the possibility of constructing a transit village where the acres of parking on the west side of the station currently sit. The township and state held several public meetings last year to present ideas and gain residents’ input. The final vision study is due out before the summer, says Hsueh.
The question of whether to build a transit village at the Princeton Junction train station is related to the Junction redevelopment question. “By the summer we will have the final plans for the Alexander Road Bridge; the transit village vision study; have the Route 571 design finalized with county and state; and the Bus Rapid Transit study. Once we get to that point, we can move full speed ahead for a plan for the train station area, but we can’t do that until we understand how all these pieces come together.”
Also likely to be decided in the next four years is the rezoning of the old American Cyanamid Property, now owned by General Growth Properties of Chicago.
“I have made it very clear to the property owners that I want them to come up with a circulation plan before we talk about land uses,” says the mayor, adding that he doesn’t want “another shopping mall” on the property.”
The township will also likely have to deal in the near future with the University Medical Center at Princeton, which is reportedly looking at several sites in West Windsor to build a new hospital.
Hsueh says he is in favor of the hospital coming to the township. “But I have no idea where they are right now. Everything is still open for discussion, but that doesn’t mean I’m committing the town. With any business organization looking at coming to West Windsor, until we know what we’re getting out of it, I won’t say no.”
Although the hospital is a non-profit organization, the township can work out a payment in lieu if taxes (PILOT) so it doesn’t lose out on tax revenues, says the mayor. “The hospital would also help empty office buildings to be occupied because it would create a need for a lot of doctors’ offices. Hospitals also don’t create peak-hour traffic.”
Hsueh points out that he was able to resolve other problems that have been around for years. The reconstruction of the Alexander Road Bridge, the scene of frequent traffic tie-ups during the morning and evening rush hours, was a question officials had wrestled with for decades.
“When I took over, the bridge was a controversial issue and people in different communities where divided over the many options to reconstruct the bridge,” says Hsueh. “I contacted the state DOT and worked out an understanding with them, and went with the only option that DOT could make a 100 percent commitment to.
“All of the other options would have required an environmental impact study that would have delayed the project for years. Just this construction alone will cost $9.7 million. If we had missed this opportunity, then the project might have never happened.”
As it turns out, Hsueh says, the bridge reconstruction is one of the final orphan bridge projects for the DOT in the foreseeable future. “This is one of the last projects the state can afford to pay for. We’re lucky we were able to work out an agreement with them in time.”
DOT’s plans call for a new bridge to be built near the existing bridge, with a traffic circle called a “roundabout” to control access to the intersection on the Princeton Junction side of the span. According to Hsueh, the state is already talking to property owners about acquisition of land necessary for the realignment of Alexander Road.
Communication was also an area Hsueh wanted to improve. In February, the mayor conducted a town hall meeting with residents.
“The meeting turned out to be very positive,” says Hsueh, who plans to continue holding the meetings on a quarterly basis. “I got a lot of ideas from people I never met before, and this will continue. I want this government to be open to the public. There’s a lot of talent in West Windsor and I would like to get people mobilized and involved.
Hsueh says he has also worked to improve relations between council and administration. “After I took over (as mayor), I offered all council members the chance to have meetings with me on a regular basis. Some took advantage and some did not. But I am always available to take their phone calls.”
The mayor says the town should also look at hiring a public information officer to better inform residents. “I’m hoping that in a growing community like West Windsor, we will be able to have a key person to assemble and disseminate information to the public. I try to do as much as possible, but there’s a limit as to how effective I can be.”
Hsueh says his administration procured more than $9 million in grants paying for items including open space preservation, the Junction vision study, the cleanup of Grovers Mill Pond, streetscape improvements at the old Princeton Junction firehouse, and a study of the redevelopment of downtown Princeton Junction.
Hsueh also obtained a grant from the state to hire Orth-Rogers & Associates, a traffic and transportation firm, to study pedestrian and bicycle path needs in the township. The study was completed last year and is on track to be approved by the township’s planning board.
“Even though the economy was bad, we were able to keep moving ahead with money from county, state and federal governments,” says Hsueh. “We’ve just started on many of the projects and now we need to keep moving on these.”
The mayor has also been an outspoken advocate of a bus rapid transit (BRT) system serving the Route 1 corridor. “It is a new concept of mass transit and we were the first ones in the whole state talking about it. I’m happy that I was able to convince other mayors in the region to support idea, and the DOT agreed to spend $914,”000 to do a BRT feasibility study, which is due to be done this year.”
Another initiative Hsueh points to as being significant is the formation of the Art Center Formation Task Force, which evolved into the West Windsor Arts Council. The council is currently working with the township in efforts to transform the old Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company firehouse on Alexander Road into an arts center.
“It is important for mature communities to have cultural and arts activities on a regular basis,” says Hsueh. “Access to these types of events is very important. The arts center is the kind of thing that will help to bring the community together.”
Hsueh also has plans for an expansion of the township’s senior center. The plan calls for the township to pay $500,”000 for the building and the rest to be financed through county and state funds. He adds that the expanded center can be made available for activities for all ages, in addition to programs for senior citizens.
“With most of these projects I started from square one. I had nothing coming from previous administrations. I feel I have done a lot to make sure we got things moving in the right direction, and I’m hoping that in next four years I can bring them to the point where we will be able to bring them to completion.”
