Township Council President Charlie Morgan has confirmed rumors that he intends to run for mayor in the election this coming May against current Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, who will also seek re-election.##M:[more]##
Morgan, a consultant on finance and employee benefits using life insurance structures, has been on council since 1999. In July, after taking over as council president, Morgan said he did not know if he would run for mayor.
Now Morgan says that “events over the last couple of weeks have convinced me that it is time to respond positively to the many people who have asked me to run for mayor.”
Hsueh says he is not at all surprised by Morgan’s announcement. “Charlie has been planning a run for mayor for longer than the last couple of weeks.”
The announcement comes less than a week after InterCap Holdings filed a lawsuit (see front page) against the township, and about two weeks after council voted to send a draft redevelopment plan for the 350-acre Princeton Junction train station to the planning board for review beginning on Monday, January 5.
Morgan sent out a press release on December 18 focused mainly on redevelopment and financial issues, and in it, expresses his belief that InterCap CEO Steve Goldin is bluffing by filing the lawsuit.
The press release also exemplified the tension that has been seen all year during work on the train station redevelopment.
“The people of West Windsor deserve a mayor who will worry about what they want rather than worry about what the state or the county wants; a mayor who will put their growing tax burden and not a personal agenda at the very top of the list of West Windsor priorities; a mayor for whom the job is a landing point and not a stepping stone,” Morgan wrote.
Morgan also said he felt the township needed a mayor with a business background who understands basic management practices, “with the emphasis on financial management, rather than a career government employee who has no business background.”
“They need a mayor who promises a tax positive redevelopment and then actually delivers a financial plan showing how it will be tax positive,” Morgan added. “We are about to finish a redevelopment plan that is a starting point for negotiating what might be built at the train station. And now we have been sued by a developer who wants to use hardball tactics as his primary negotiating strategy. We need someone who has experience negotiating complicated deals in the big leagues and who has the backbone to stand up for the best interests of residents rather than developers.”
Morgan says that he has the experience in negotiating contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars as the founder of a business, Nonqualified Benefit Funding, that grew to $14 billion by the time he left. and from this experience, Morgan says he believes Goldin is bluffing.
“I have the will power to walk away from a bad deal where the financials do not make sense,” he said about the lawsuit. “I have the skills now and don’t need on-the-job training. I will conduct hands-on contract negotiations rather than delegate them to the Township attorney at great cost to the taxpayer.”
Hsueh formerly served as a state administrator with the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. He was previously appointed by the governor to sit on a state health facilities financing authority and was also once appointed by the governor to serve as the treasurer on the state Water Supply Authority.
Hsueh says he does have substantial financial background, pointing to his position as treasurer with the state water supply authority, and pointed to what he feels are his accomplishments in the area of finance as it pertains to his work with the township. He pointed to the AAA bond rating the township received in November, 2007, under his tenure, and says the township has already saved about $800,”000 this year.
He also pointed to other projects important to residents that have come to fruition in the last year alone. “How many years in this community did people talk about Grover’s Mill Pond and talk about Alexander Road?” he said. “Finally, we’ve got all of this resolved.” The pond was dredged this past fall to remove hundreds of years of sediment that accumulated, and the NJDOT opened the brand new Alexander Road bridge earlier this month. He also pointed to progress with the farmer’s market, arts council, and his efforts to improve bicycle and pedestrian-friendly paths in town.
“I think if we keep moving in those directions, eventually you’re going to see a majority of what the West Windsor residents want,” Hsueh said. “We are moving to continue to strengthen our financial capabilities, and I’m very optimistic. That’s why I feel it’s important to have everything on the right track.”
Morgan also said that the township needs a mayor “who actually works with Council rather than blocking it — and who is proactively responsive to residents’ views during municipal planning.”
But Hsueh says Morgan “has single-handedly held up the redevelopment process including the provision of long sought after parking for West Windsor residents, jeopardized funding for badly needed infrastructure improvements, and continues to be a controversial and divisive influence on council and in the community.”
“Over the last seven years, I have worked positively with residents, volunteers, and representatives from all levels of government as well as with other members of council to improve the quality of life in West Windsor,” he added. “I am proud of our accomplishments to date and look forward to the opportunity to serve the residents of West Windsor for another term.”
Morgan has scheduled his first fundraiser for Monday, January 19, at the Amici Restaurant, where he says he plans to chat with residents about critical issues the township faces.
