West Windsor welcomed its new business administrator, Marlena Schmid, with a round of applause and greetings from long-time residents at the Monday, July 9, Council meeting. Schmid, who was announced as the nominee 10 days earlier by Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, was approved by a unanimous 5-0 vote from Council. Her confirmation followed a series of one-on-one meetings with Council members in the first week of July.
Despite leaving her prior job as administrator of Cranford abruptly after becoming caught up in what was apparently political infighting, Schmid was viewed in favorable terms by the West Windsor decision-makers. Councilwoman Kristina Samonte said she met with Schmid for 90 minutes the week of July 4 and left the meeting “very impressed.” Council Vice President Linda Geevers said Schmid’s experiences “will raise the bar for professionalism at town hall.”
The consensus was that Schmid’s qualifications for the job stood out among the 40 applications West Windsor received. She has 12 years experience as a township administrator in Cranford, six years as assistant business administrator in Princeton Borough, and multiple certifications — including at the CFO level and as a state-certified purchasing officer.
School Board President Hemant Marathe, who along with Geevers and three others comprised the committee that selected Schmid, said she was unique among all the other candidates for the job. In particular, Schmid’s experience in municipal finance impressed him. “In my opinion she came out as one who is very familiar with the municipal processes and one who would fit nicely with the culture of West Windsor,” Marathe said.
Schmid’s appointment in West Windsor is a homecoming of sorts as she lived in Plainsboro from 1993 to 2000 while working in Princeton Borough. Schmid rented an apartment in the Ravens Crest development until May of 2000, when she left town seven months after taking the Cranford position.
Even after Schmid bought a home in Cranford part of her roots stayed in Plainsboro. Her father, Werner Schmid, a former town manager himself, is a current resident of Princeton Landing and serves as vice chairman of Plainsboro’s Zoning Board of Adjustment.
On July 9 Werner Schmid attended his daughter’s swearing in ceremony and held the Bible as Township Clerk Sharon Young read Schmid her oath of office. During the Council meeting, Marlena Schmid said both of them fell in love with the area in the 1990s. She recalls spending time in and around West Windsor 15 to 20 years ago.
“Some things never change, and it’s really exciting to see the farmland actually being used for agriculture. West Windsor is a wonderful community. It’s so attractive and charming, and the thing I missed most about this area is wide-open space,” Schmid said.
Schmid also touched on the quality of life value she perceives in the township. “The assets here make it so attractive for families to come here and raise their children and for people to age in place,” she said.
One of Schmid’s first orders of business was touring the Schenck Farm and its new buildings on Wednesday, July 11. Kay Reed of the West Windsor Historical Society said she was eager to show Schmid what is being done to preserve the town’s farming heritage. In an interview on Thursday, July 12, Schmid said she had “a refreshing experience” getting out of the office to study West Windsor.
“It brought back fond memories of the open fields when I was living down here (in Plainsboro). There were nights where it amazed me driving on dark, bending roads at night and seeing the fireflies. You really don’t have that appreciation when you’re living in a more suburban type of area,” Schmid said.
The oldest of five children, Schmid grew up in Teaneck and attended Teaneck High School in 1976. Schmid then earned her bachelor’s degree at American University, followed by a master’s degree in public administration at George Washington University.
Municipal government has always had a role in Schmid’s life, as her father served as the township manager of Teaneck. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Actually I shadowed him, and my interest in local government really developed because of seeing him and going to council meetings. I also had a professor of American government in junior high school, and basically in those years I decided I was definitely going to pursue higher education in city administration,” Schmid says.
Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu, a former director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said Werner Schmid was a well-known administrator who held his position for many years. Cantu also said Marlena Schmid was considered for a municipal position in Plainsboro several years ago, and like her father she has strong qualifications as an administrator.
Schmid says some of her father’s success was predicated on her mother’s role at home — raising five children, which made her “the domestic engineer of the house.” Schmid says her mother was also proactive in managing the family’s residence.
“I learned to do project management from her because of the responsibility of projects around the house, including ones where she went and got bids from contractors for repairs,” she says. In addition to her father in Plainsboro, Schmid — who is single and does not have children –– likes spending time with her two dogs, a Silky Terrier and a Yorkie/Cairn Terrier mix.
Marlena Schmid’s career started as a management and budget analyst for Arlington County, Virginia, working there from 1983 to 1989. “I was exposed to all aspects of a full-service community from police to fire, emergency services, there was a water treatment plant, and Arlington did its own garbage pick-up. It was an extremely large county government operation with no incorporated towns or cities in it,” she says.
In 1989 Schmid took a position as the assistant to the city manager in Hallandale, Florida, a coastal community with a council-manager form of government. Hallandale primarily comprised senior citizens, but it also prepared Schmid to manage under crisis, as she was present for Hurricane Andrew’s rampage through Florida in 1992.
Schmid is proud of the diversity of geographic settings she has worked in — from the nation’s capital region to Florida and finally New Jersey. In 1993 Schmid came back to her home state and became the assistant administrator of Princeton Borough, a “town-and-gown community.”
For Schmid, her life and career has come full circle. She recalls that in her first go-round with the Princeton and West Windsor area, there was a vote to consolidate the Princetons that failed in the borough but passed in the township. But that’s not the only similarity she sees to today’s local operations.
“The other thing about working in Princeton was that it gave me an introduction to shared services. At the time (before consolidation was confirmed) the borough and township shared 17 municipal services, so I had experience with that,” she says.
Schmid has a sister in Howell. She says her teenage niece and nephew, who are her godson and goddaughter, are like her own children. Schmid also has a niece in Dingmans Ferry, Pa., and another living in northwestern New Jersey.
Schmid also takes an interest in government operations around the country. When she visits her brother on the West Coast, she likes to know find out other cities are run.
“It’s a little hobby of mine — when I go visiting other cities I like to check out their governments and observe what they are doing. Perhaps there’s things I might be able to bring back,” she said.
Schmid makes her daily commute to West Windsor from her home in Cranford. In her 12 years as township administrator there Schmid had a 1.5-mile commute. What she does now is the reverse her former commute from Plainsboro to Cranford. She says it’s been an adjustment, but due to her “ability to navigate the beautiful backroads of the Middlesex/Mercer County area” she has managed to adapt well.
West Windsor officials are betting she will adapt just as well to her new position in town hall.
