The revitalization of Route 571 and lowering property taxes were the two main issues that dominated a debate held October 19 between West Windsor Council candidates Diane Ciccone and Andrew Hersh.
During the 45-minute debate — co-sponsored by the West Windsor Retirees’ Group and the Village Grande Civic Association — Ciccone emphasized her role in getting the council to tackle the upcoming budget as early as September in order to go through spending with a fine-tooth comb, while Hersh touted his professional experience in dealing with budgets and spending.
The mayor, Councilman Charles Morgan, and Council President George Borek, as well as about 30 residents attended the debate, held in the council meeting room at the municipal building.
Ciccone, who was appointed to council in April, said she worked to get an energy audit for the township included in the 2009 budget to find places to reduce energy costs. And in addition to urging the administration and council to hold the pre-budget meetings, “I’ve also asked them to find new ways to find more shared services,” as well as find more opportunities to engage in bulk services and review the healthcare contracts for employees, she added.
In addition, Ciccone said the township needs to work hard to attract new businesses to the township. “If Chicago can market itself for the Olympics, why can’t West Windsor market itself to bring in businesses?” she said. “We need to wear two hats at the same time,” and bring in businesses that are good for the local and regional economy while also reducing spending.
With regard to the budget, Hersh said: “This is my background; I’m an expert at this. I’ve done this for 13 years.” He said the way to reduce taxes was to set objectives to target cuts, while also bringing in new revenue.
Ciccone, in response, said that the council has already set those objectives, “and it’s the administration that has to prepare the budget.”
Hersh said he advocated the formation of a task force specifically to look at areas for reduction and that the council lacks an expert in finance. He said he thinks council “wants to achieve that budget, but I don’t think they know how to do it.”
Hersh argued that if Princeton Borough was able to form a budget with a zero percent increase, West Windsor should be able to do the same. “I know we don’t have to reduce services to reduce the budget,” he said. Like Ciccone, he also advocated joining in bulk purchases with other entities like the state, county, and other municipalities. “We can improve services by cutting out bureaucracy.”
Hersh said that West Windsor faces strong competition from Princeton and Plainsboro in attracting businesses and that the best way to bring them in is to actually talk to the businesses and explain to them the benefits to locating in West Windsor.
Ciccone said that while “we’re all embarrassed by Route 571,” the township is legally only able to use its ordinances as tools for getting developers to comply with beautifying the corridor. However, those ordinances only require those property owners to board up the buildings. She said she is working to toughen up the language in the ordinances to get the improvements made.
She said the Planning Board, of which she is a member, recently forced Princeton University to clean up its property off Lower Harrison Street as a condition of a site plan approval. A similar situation can occur with Route 571 if the ordinances are revised, she said.
“We need to have a destination,” she said of Route 571. Her long-term goal is to have cafes, restaurants, and a walkable downtown area, she said.
Hersh, on the other hand, touted his work in circulating a petition from residents, urging the rejuvenation of the downtown area before any other development. He also has invited the new property manager of the Acme site to West Windsor to speak to residents (see story page 16).
“I’m for redevelopment, but I think we need to focus on Route 571 first,” he said. And, he said, he does not want development at the train station that will impede commuters’ ability to reach the train station in a timely manner.
Candidates were also asked how much more money they felt the township should spend on redevelopment. Ciccone said that the township has already budgeted for a redevelopment attorney to “start to put the pieces in place” after the council approved the redevelopment plan last spring. Until the economy bounces back, however, “we shouldn’t be spending any more money.”
Hersh pointed out that the township has spent $800,000 already and said that he would “not have spent it.” Instead, he said he would have formed a resolution that “would have required developers to pay for it.”
The township spent $600,000 through the process of creating the redevelopment plan. The council approved another $200,000 upon the adoption of the plan so that township professionals could work with state and county officials on traffic circulation design for the area.
Ciccone responded by saying that in the redevelopment statute, West Windsor will get the money back. “We don’t need a resolution to say something that’s already going to happen.”
The candidates were also asked how they felt about creating satellite parking or bus transportation to the train station. Hersh said he had already presented an idea to the mayor to use a bus donated by Princeton University to provide service to and from the train station between 6:30 and 8 a.m. He said the township could charge commuters $3 to $4 to ride. After the morning commute, he proposed the bus be used to transport seniors throughout the day before returning to the train station to handle the evening commute.
Hersh also criticized the township’s action with regard to New Jersey Transit’s work to put out a request for proposals for a new parking garage, which it expects to do in January, saying the township has slowed down the process because it was picky regarding the location of a new garage. He said he felt the township should “let the experts negotiate” the work to bring in a parking garage. Any parking garage that is built should be close to the train tracks.
Ciccone, however, said the township spent a lot of time working out the parking issues, and that the West Windsor Parking Authority has been working with New Jersey Transit and township officials. “The parking has to be put in a place that does not impede or add to the congestion,” she said.
The candidates were also asked what they would do to increase emergency preparedness, especially with the recent H1N1 virus threat. Hersh said he would engage the business community and the township’s health officials to see if the business community could provide money toward the township’s health initiatives. He also said the township should ensure it had enough vaccinations in place to administer to the population. Hersh also said the township needed “to work with the businesses and public to pass a plan and engage them,” he said.
Ciccone countered, however, pointing out that the township already had a plan in place. “Can we improve it? We can always improve our plan.” Instead, she said the township should focus on doing more public relations to get the word out, including emphasizing the plan more on the township’s website.
Hersh said he would “be happy to work with the township to test that plan.”
Ciccone said her priorities including fixing up Route 571, expanding the township’s open space program, and working to help the council work together in a “respective” manner. “I’m an active listener, and I do my own research” into matters that come before council, she said. She said she wants West Windsor to be a town that is “safe, vibrant, affordable, and provides our children and adults with a great place to live.”
She said she also wanted to work to reduce the rancor on council and that it should not be rehashing old issues. “I always put the residents’ best interests at heart.”
Hersh said his decision to run “wasn’t about defeating Diane in this race; it was about serving the community.”
He said, speaking of himself, that if residents wanted someone to really make an impact on taxes, they should elect the candidate who has 17,000 hours of experience in working with corporate spending plans. He said he would also work to improve the budget performance and increase council’s responsiveness to residents’ concerns. He said he would also increase volunteerism in the community. “We need to support you, lower your taxes, and tap into your expertise” to help the community, he said.
