Longtime Plainsboro Township administrator Robert Sheehan has announced his resignation and will depart June 26.
Sheehan worked for Plainsboro for nearly 20 years, first serving as director of community development from 1993, and then as administrator since 2003. Sheehan replaced Patrick Guilfoyle, who had worked as township administrator for 16 years.
Sheehan declined an interview request though he did respond to questions via E-mail.
“I have worked for Plainsboro Township for 19 years and during that time the citizens of Plainsboro have been remarkably supportive and have treated me with kindness and respect,” Sheehan wrote.
When asked why he resigned, Sheehan explains “he came to realize it was time to go and explore new opportunities,” though he has no specific plans at this time.
The News profiled Sheehan upon his return to the township on December 5, 2003. A resident of Lawrence, where he lives with his wife, Donna, Sheehan grew up in Plainfield in Union County. His father worked as a pipe fitter and his mother was a factory worker. His son, Mike, is the boys’ basketball coach at High School South. Bob Sheehan earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in city planning from Rutgers University in 1980 and 1983.
Before working in community development for Plainsboro, Sheehan worked as township manager and director of community development in Lawrence from 1989 to 1993. He also served at the state department of transportation and the office of management and budget.
Sheehan returned to Plainsboro as administrator after working for nonprofits for three years, serving as executive director of Martin House in Trenton, operations director at Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia, and co-founding and serving as deputy executive director of After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP) in Philadelphia.
Back in 2003, Sheehan said his three years away from working in municipal government helped sharpen his professional focus, before choosing to return to Plainsboro’s professional environment. “I think that experience honed my management of staff skills,” he said. “I worked with people of all backgrounds and expertise who had many different kinds of responsibilities, including social workers, lawyers, budget people. It was interesting and diverse. But ultimately I decided I wanted to be back in government.”
Mayor Pete Cantu says the township has hired a firm to assist in the search for the next administrator.
“We’re disappointed to see him go, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” Cantu says. “We’d like a strong manager. We’re losing one in Bob.”
