After seeing four business administrators in the last six years, West Windsor may have finally found the perfect fit. After more than seven months on the job, Business Administrator Chris Marion seems to have eased into the position and found a way to salve some of the ills that have beleaguered township administration. ##M:[more]##
The major issue identified by both Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh and the council before Marion was hired was improving communications between the administration and council, and also the administrator’s office and township employees. Relations in both areas had suffered under previous Business Administrator Barbara Evans, who retired last January. During her tenure as administrator Evans was often at odds with council and also had difficulties with members of the staff.
“When I interviewed for the job, they made it clear that one of their major goals collectively was to improve communications,” says Marion. “To do that, administration has to be responsive to certain questions being raised by council. That means going to the meetings, taking a lot of notes, and getting back to them as soon as possible.”
He also has recently assembled a public information committee to look at communications both internally and externally. To date, the group has held a few meetings and reviewed the township’s web site and considered initiating a newsletter. “They’re also looking at other townships to try to see what they are doing.”
Marion was selected by the mayor out of a field of some 70 candidates and his appointment was unanimously approved by the council. He started in the job at the end of March. Marion did such a good job in his first months that he was the subject of high praise during the council’s annual reorganization meeting at the beginning of July.
“Thank you for bringing Chris Marion to us,” Councilman Charles Morgan told Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, who sat with Marion at his side during reorganization. “I have noticed since his arrival the collegial style and focus on details that he has brought. I feel really good about the coming years.”
Council President Franc Gambatese also praised Marion. “He has been a welcome breath of fresh air. It is like the whole puzzle is finally falling into place for the township.”
For Hsueh, the hiring of Marion was important. Although the mayor’s position in West Windsor is defined as a part-time job by the township code, in the first years of his term Hsueh was working hours in excess of a full-time job.
“I feel very strongly that we are lucky to have him here,” says Hsueh. “I am very happy with a lot of the things that are going on. This is the first year that (administration) has been able to move ahead with a lot of the things we want to accomplish.”
Marion, 33, seemingly has brought a new level of energy to the business administrator’s job — the most powerful non-elected official in township administration. Previously, the position had been filled by people near the end of their careers.
In 1999, long-time Administrator Robert Bruschi left to take the administrator’s job in Princeton Borough after years of dealing with the political pressures brought by West Windsor’s change of form of government in the early 1990s, and uncontrolled development.
Bruschi was succeeded by Richard Van Noy, who retired after less than a year on the job, amidst rumors that he didn’t get along with then-Mayor Carole Carson. The remaining year of Van Noy’s term was filled by Police Chief Frank Cox, who acted as an interim and ran both departments. Chief Cox retired several months after ending his tenure as interim administrator.
Cox was replaced by Evans, long-time township clerk, after Shing-Fu Hsueh was elected mayor in 2001. Evans decided to retire less than halfway through her term last January.
Marion may be young, but he already has many years of government experience under his belt, and comes armed with a love of running municipal government. Born in Edison New Jersey, Marion’s family moved several times during his childhood.
His father, who died in 2001, worked in the purchasing field in the food industry and his mother was an art teacher. His family lived in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Idaho, and Michigan.
Marion graduated from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and then attended Villanova University, earning a BA in political science at age 21 in 1993.
Marion says when he entered college he wanted be a doctor, and then pursued pre-law, but became interested in government after taking a political science class. “Some of the classes I took at Villanova led me to a career in city government. It’s really the front line of public service.” After Villanova, Marion earned a master’s degree in Public Administration specializing in state and local management at the University of Delaware, and a masters in Business Administration from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia.
During graduate school, Marion worked as an intern in town government in Elsmere, a small community in New Castle County, Delaware. “I also interned working for the state, but I felt removed from the public.
“The thing about working in local government,” he adds, “is that you get an immediate reaction from people — good or bad. You know where you stand at all times. You really have an opportunity to impact people’s lives at the local level, getting involved in things like trash pickup or recycling issues. These kinds of things are the ones that most people are concerned about.”
After earning his MPA from Delaware, Marion got a job as assistant to the town manager in Mansfield, Massachusetts, a town about the size of West Windsor north of Providence, Rhode Island.
“I worked there for about a year and a half, and then moved back down to the Philly area to pursue my MBA at LaSalle University, Villanova, and then St. Joe’s.” After obtaining his MBA, Marion was a management analyst for Lower Merion Township, PA.
His next career stop was as assistant administrator in Marlboro. Also around that time he married his wife, Stephanie, a seventh grade language arts teacher, and the couple purchased a condominium in Canal Pointe in 2000, where they lived for about three years.
After working in Marlboro for about a year, the former business administrator left to take a job working for the state, and Marion was appointed to the position by the mayor — a job he stayed in for more than two years before being hired by West Windsor.
While working in Marlboro, the Marions moved to their current home in Freehold “a seven-song ride in the car” away from West Windsor during the morning and evening commute.
Marion says when the business administrator’s job in West Windsor became available, he decided to apply for the position because of his familiarity with the community. “While I lived in the township, I would attend council meetings every once in a while and I also watched them on television. When the job opened up, it was definitely a first choice for me because I loved living in West Windsor.”
After years of political in-fighting in the 1990s between various factions in township government, and costly legal battles with developers over issues of growth and affordable housing, West Windsor had gained a reputation as being a politically contentious community.
For Marion that wasn’t a problem. “In Marlboro, the political environment was difficult,” he says. “I had to work very closely with council to make sure they had the information they needed. Having lived in West Windsor, I was familiar with the council people here and familiar with some of the issues.”
“One thing I’ve learned is that elected officials don’t like surprises,” Marion says. “If there are issues that need to be addressed, we have to work together to work them out and get things put into policy. So far, the process has been very open and communicative.”
Marion said that, in his first six months, getting to know the department heads and the operations of township administration has been his most important priority, as well as getting budgeting and personnel issues in order.
“I held introductory meetings with all of the departments and divisions, and attended all council meetings to find out what they wanted me to address,” says Marion. “I also tried to get to meetings of all the boards and committees to listen to them and work to formulate a game plan for the upcoming year.”
“When dealing with internal and external communications, you have to understand people’s communication styles and then adapt to them. I had my own way of doing things in Marlboro, and it was tempting to try to do it that way here. But I knew it was important to get to know and understand the culture in West Windsor.”
“When I was up in Massachusetts I made a poster that said community, cooperation, and common sense. I think you should try to take those principles into anything you do,” says Marion. “The council and the mayor have to trust you, and I work on enhancing and improving relationships constantly.”
Marion says another important goal is coming up with a technology plan for the township. “We need to look at a variety of things, from how we use our website, to how we communicate internally.”
Marion says he also hopes to upgrade the existing finance system and has been meeting with the finance staff in that regard. “One of the areas I would like to zero in on is the purchasing system, getting it to the point where it is concise and complete. I sign every purchase order for the township, so I know that there are ways to improve the system.”
One of the negatives associated with the business administrator’s job was that the term of the job runs concurrently with the mayor’s term, which ends next June 30. If Hsueh is not re-elected in the May municipal election, it’s possible that Marion might not be retained.
“I realize that it comes with the territory (in this line of work),” Marion says. “The important thing in my position is to stay focused on the next six months and try to work through the key issues of purchasing, the budget, and personnel. I have to try not to look too far ahead.”
Marion credits the township’s department heads with helping to make his job easier after coming on board. “One of the things that made many of the transitions so positive were the efforts of people like Bob Hary (health and human services director), Pat Ward (community development director), Joe Pica (police chief), and Sharon Young (township clerk). They really have helped to set a favorable tone for my tenure here.
“I’m very pleased to be in West Windsor,” Marion says. “It’s a good match for me personally and professionally.”
