The following is a press release from the Mandel, Gawas, Stevens campaign. The three are incumbents running for reelection to West Windsor Council.
West Windsor Township Council members Andrea Sue Mandel, Sonia Gawas and Michael Stevens announced that they are seeking a second term in the upcoming Nov. 7 election.
The team is running under the slogan “Community Leaders for West Windsor,” which reflects their long-time service as volunteers and leaders in the Township. They took office on Council in 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and actively helped lead the Township smoothly and safely through a time of crisis.
In their next term, the team pledges to continue its efforts to enhance West Windsor’s quality of life. A major goal has been keeping municipal taxes flat. Over the past four years the team has worked to attract commercial and retail companies and to minimize residential overdevelopment which increases the tax burden. Residential growth will be a particularly key issue as the Township faces another Affordable Housing round in 2025.
Improving the Township’s infrastructure to improve safety and traffic flow will also continue to be an important team objective, including resurfacing roads, repairing sidewalks, adding bike lanes, and creating pedestrian crosswalks.
Preserving open space has always been essential to West Windsor as the community seeks to preserve and protect its natural environment. The team was instrumental in saving the 126-acre Hall property from becoming a 400-unit housing development. Their efforts were also significantly instrumental in recently earning West Windsor the Sustainable Jersey Silver Certification.
Andrea Sue Mandel, the current Council President, has served on West Windsor’s Planning Board and Environmental Commission. Andrea is a long-time volunteer and leader in the Girl Scouts, FIRST robotics, and other local organizations. Her 40-year career in engineering and management for Fortune 500 companies and her consulting business, managing people, budgets and capital projects, prepared her for her Council duties. As someone who has had to break barriers as a woman pioneer in engineering, she has spent years mentoring young women from all backgrounds to be leaders. Andrea’s commitment to the environment is evident in the many related projects she has championed, such as WW National Drive Electric Week (now in its 6th year), adoption of EV chargers in many new developments in town, the pollinator and rain gardens on Township property, and promoting a program to address flooding from the Millstone River.
Andrea says, “I have been an active volunteer in the town for the last 30 years, and hope the people give me the opportunity to continue my work on Council. I’m a logical problem solver and consensus builder and am passionate about West Windsor and making it better every day.”
Sonia Gawas, who has served as Council President, is an active long-time volunteer and leader in WW-P schools, including as President of the Maurice Hawk and Millstone River PTA. She is an advisor and on the board of ISAAW (Inspiring South Asian American Women) and Unified-Spectrum (a non-profit group committed to creating career opportunities for the neurodiverse population). Having lost her first husband in the 9/11 attacks, she found the strength to move forward in a new country by opening up her apartment to other grieving survivors. As a senior account executive in the pharma industry, she managed multi-million dollar budgets for major mental health industry clients. In addition to her Council and volunteer work, Sonia raises her two children who attend WW-P schools.
Sonia says, “I believe we can make the world a better place if we all work together. I have chosen West Windsor to be my home, along with my husband, Ram, who is a volunteer firefighter. I have volunteered for our town for the last 14 years and I will continue to do so to improve our community’s quality of life.
Michael Stevens, Council Vice-president, worked for Bristol-Myers Squibb as the Vice President of Medical Affairs and served on a number of NIH protocol teams in the HIV/AIDS area. As CEO of StimBiotics, Dr. Stevens’ medical research is today focused on the development of novel antibiotics to target multi-drug resistant bacteria. Volunteerism has always been important to Michael. When High School North began participating in the FIRST Robotics Competition, he became a founding parent/mentor for the team. After being rescued by the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company during Hurricane Irene in 2011, he joined the fire company where he served as Fire Police Captain and Grants Committee Chairman to secure a $300,000+ FEMA grant for new breathing apparatus for West Windsor’s volunteer fire companies.
Michael says, “West Windsor is a community we can all be proud of, but we have to be willing to work hard to keep it that way. I bring a long professional history of making hard decisions to the Township Council to benefit all segments of our community.”
With a proven record of service and achievement and concrete goals for continued service to the community, the team of Mandel, Gawas, and Stevens is asking for your vote on Nov. 7, so they can continue to serve West Windsor.
Michael Stevens, Sonia Gawas and Andrea Sue Mandel.,
