West Windsor’s rule banning political speech at Council meetings 100 days before an election came under fire at the meeting on August 19. So much so that township attorney Mike Herbert Jr. ultimately determined that it was no longer a valid law and as such is unenforceable — opening the doors for anyone, political candidate or otherwise, to espouse any and all viewpoints during the 100 days leading up to the election.
The restriction, a township ordinance based on federal law, was both written into the agenda and read aloud by clerk Sharon Young at the start of the meeting, causing several residents, including Jim Solloway, Janet Lerner, and John Church, as well as candidates Debbie Hepler and Rick Visovsky, to comment on the legality of the provision.
“Eight years ago, we were working with Plainsboro and the WW-P school district on a shared services agreement for the public access [cable TV] channel, and all three entities agreed on this language, which was taken from federal law regulating cable station programming, and we wanted the language to be as fair as possible,” Young explained. “All three of us adopted similar language, and it is actually a township ordinance: Chapter 60-4.”
The language is as follows: The cable TV channel is not intended as a mechanism to promote any particular issue or candidate for public office. Declared candidates, including their spouses and agents, who are persons who have publicly announced their intention to run for an office are precluded from advocating any cause, viewpoint, or opposed policy of a partisan nature on the channel 100 days before the election.
Council member Kamal Khanna also expressed reservations about this provision, and the remaining council members agreed that the provision needed to be reviewed and potentially amended. Council Vice President Kristina Samonte googled the provision during the meeting, and noted that the township ordinance was based on part of the federal telecommunications act, known as the fairness doctrine.
Attorney Herbert, who also expressed reservations about the restriction, then researched the issue further, and noted that the federal fairness doctrine has been strongly criticized and is no longer being followed by the federal government.
“Although this is a preliminary assessment, I believe that our ordinance, which reflected federal law eight years ago, is no longer valid or enforceable, because the underlying federal law is no longer being followed. We should take it off of our agenda. I will research the issue further and provide a legal opinion on the issue, but I believe people are free to speak about anything they want during the public comment period. It is legal for us to restrict their time to three minutes, so that we can conclude the meetings in a timely manner, but people can say whatever they want.”
Herbert later elaborated that “the purpose of this ordinance was to limit what types of speech could be aired on public access television, not what can be said at a council meeting. People have always had the right to speak on any topic during public comment, with the understanding that the cable station could choose not to air that portion of the broadcast.”
“Having said that,” Herbert continued, “I would still advise people to exercise proper decorum and refrain from making personal attacks or saying inappropriate things. This is a town council meeting and a certain level of decorum should be followed.”
Traffic Concerns. Cranbury Road resident John T. Jones spoke about another safety issue on his road, in addition to the sidewalks already being discussed. On behalf of the homeowners he referred to as “east enders,” he said “we fully support the initiatives being put forth by those I call the ‘west-enders’ — the homes between Route 571 and Grover’s Mill.
“But those of us who live to the east also have serious safety concerns. There have been at least 30 accidents in the significant bend in the roadway adjacent to my house, the most recent being on August 13, when a car that skidded on wet pavement knocked out eight sections of my picket fence, numerous shrubs and landscaping, part of my cyclone fence, and then hit a large oak tree, which was a good thing, because otherwise the car would have hit my house. The damage estimates I have received from my landscaper to repair the damage are significant.
“This is a very dangerous section of Cranbury Road, and we would like to have a guard rail installed, from just past the Kings Mill development to the driveway at 252 Cranbury Road. We would also like speed cameras to be installed to track the speeds of all drivers using the roadway,” he said.
Council member Linda Geevers responded: “We will talk to Chief Pica about your concerns, and there will be follow-up on this issue.”
Budget Items. Council unanimously approved the insertion of the 2013 Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over statewide Labor Day crackdown grant into the 2013 municipal budget, at a cost of $4,400; authorized the reimbursement of refuse, recycling, and snow removal costs for 2012 to the following homeowners’ associations: Colonnade Pointe, Village Grande at Bear Creek, Princeton Greens, Windsor Haven, and the Elements at West Windsor, at a combined cost of $34,332; and authorized the reimbursement of solid waste collection costs for 2012 to the Windsor Woods Luxury Apartments, the Mews at Princeton Junction, and Avalon Watch communities at a combined total cost of $247,962.
In addition, Council approved two professional services agreements with Roberts Engineering Group; the first for engineering and surveying services for the miscellaneous pedestrian sidewalk improvements program, for $29,000; and the second for engineering and surveying for the annual road improvement program, for $42,000. The Council also approved a services agreement with BANC3 Inc. for engineering and surveying design services for the Emmons Road resurfacing program, at a cost of $9,256.
Ordinances. Two previously discussed ordinances were also introduced. The first, an ordinance to amend and supplement ordinances relating to “Building Prohibition along Watercourses and Floodplains,” has been preliminarily reviewed by the environmental commissions and the planning board. It will return to the planning board within 45 days, and the public will be given a chance to comment at that time. A second public hearing will be held at the October 15 Council meeting.
The second ordinance, to extend the affordability controls for an inclusionary development known as Avalon Watch Princeton Junction, will be scheduled for public hearing on Monday, September 30.
