I write in support of Hemant Marathe for mayor of West Windsor. As an educator and school leader for the past 37 years, I have made many decisions about complex problems and have seen many leaders in action. I worked with Hemant for the past nine years and I believe that his leadership skills would be a great asset to the township of West Windsor. I write this letter to describe some of my direct observations in working with Hemant.
Hemant is dedicated and persistent in pursuit of what is right. As board of education president, Hemant saw that a potential charter school would take precious financial resources from the district. He worked tirelessly to get fellow board members, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members involved in the issue. This included networking with the leaders of the surrounding communities — at the school board and township levels — and he brought the issue to the attention of the leaders at the state and county levels. I believe that he successfully led a coordinated effort to keep those tax dollars in WW-P for all of the students instead of funding a small charter school for a select few. He brought the groups together for a common vision of educating all students.
Hemant listens to the issues and collaborates to determine strategy. When parents approached the school board with the idea of donating field lights for both high school football fields, the arguments against accepting this donation seemed insurmountable. Instead of taking the easy path, Hemant collaborated with all stakeholders to find a solution. He worked with the administration and board of education to develop a process to listen to all of the benefits and the concerns. He appointed a board committee and a community committee to study the issue. Throughout the process, Hemant demonstrated skills that will transfer well to the role of mayor.
Hemant Marathe is passionate about West Windsor and is a proven leader who is not afraid of complex, emotional issues. Hemant is thoughtful and considerate of all those with whom he works. He focuses his leadership on working with all people for the good of the whole community. Those are two of many examples of why I believe the leadership skills Hemant demonstrated as school board president will transfer well to the role of mayor of West Windsor.
Victoria Kniewel
Former WW-P Superintendent
Kindness. Compassion. Empathy. These are words that seem to be missing in so many people’s vocabularies these days. These words certainly are not missing in Hemant Marathe’s vocabulary. He lives them every day.
People say to lose a child is the most horrific thing a parent can experience. However, if you lose a child to suicide, not only do you suffer the tragic pain of loss, but the community judges you. Some turn their backs on you, and you face discrimination, as many people do not understand that suicide is only the symptom of an illness.
Hemant Marathe was there for me and my family in our darkest hour. We lost our precious son. Our daughter, Katelyn lost her beloved brother. While other community members did not understand and offered no support, Hemant was there for Katelyn. Katelyn was now the sister of the student who completed suicide, and she became the target of the entire school’s attention. Most adults don’t know how to handle a suicide, so how does a 15 year-old?
Hemant was always kind. He was compassionate. He listened. Most importantly he was available. In this world of no one ever having enough time, Hemant always made time for us. Hemant promptly answered E-mails. He would meet with us, in his home, after a long, hard day of work. It didn’t matter. He knew we were hurting as a family, and he knew how important it was to help. Hemant helped navigate through the administration and allowed us to arrive at solutions to help make Katelyn’s time at school easier.
Hemant is a man who truly cares. This was evident on Katelyn’s graduation day, when he gave her the gift of books, one being “SWITCH – How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.” Hemant was thinking of Katelyn when he truly didn’t have to. Even after graduation, he wanted to help her even though it was not professionally required. Hemant’s kindness and his willingness to go above and beyond, helped move our family forward in healing.
Hemant Marathe will be an excellent mayor for West Windsor. He has kindness in his heart and he is a man who truly wants to help others.
Tricia Baker
Plainsboro
For the first time in his political career, Mayor Hsueh is faced with an opponent in Hemant Marathe who is better qualified and has a better track record than he does. This has led to a panic in the Hsueh camp as evidenced by his characterizing Marathe’s business experience as a disqualification for the job. Does the mayor seriously think being a business owner is a detriment to being a mayor?
Since the mayor is professing his new-found love for West Windsor, let me remind him and the voters of some history. Less than three years ago when Linda Greenstein won the senate seat in a special election, Mr. Hsueh was the first to put his hat in the ring and campaigned quite vigorously to win the nomination for the state assembly seat. So much for his desire to make West Windsor the best town in the U.S. His desire to move up to the county and state level is so strong that he refused to support West Windsor residents in their fight against Mercer County Community College’s solar farm just so he wouldn’t offend the county executive and freeholders.
How can we be sure that if Hsueh is reelected he will promote the best interests of West Windsor residents rather than his own desire to move up in the political world?
Mayor Hsueh is currently meeting with NJ DOT officials to resolve plans for Route 1. Unfortunately, all meetings are taking place behind closed doors, and residents of West Windsor are unaware of the solutions being discussed. Why have residents not been involved in the process of making changes that will affect their safety and quality of life? Why hasn’t the West Windsor council been kept informed, even in closed session, about what plans are being discussed? After all, they will be responsible for paying any expenses incurred by the township as a result of proposed changes. The next meeting with Commissioner Simpson was scheduled for October 10. Will we know before the election what plans are being proposed?
On issue after issue — from the proposed $5 million expansion of the municipal complex, to Cranbury Road sidewalks, to the Route 1 traffic solution — Hsueh has been less than transparent with residents of West Windsor. It is time for a change in leadership.
In Marathe we have a candidate who has demonstrated over the past nine years as school board president how to run an inclusive and transparent government and still get great results. Please join me in electing Marathe as our next mayor and his running mates Linda Geevers and Peter Mendonez as council members.
Bharat Damle
Meridan Court, Princeton Junction
In the next few years West Windsor could be dramatically changed. The old American Cyanamid property has been purchased by the Howard Hughes Corporation, and all 660 acres across from the Quakerbridge Mall are on the agenda for development. Depending on what is built there, we could have either crowded classrooms and higher residential property taxes, or we could have additional access to businesses, shops, and services along with a greater commercial tax base. The outcome of this year’s mayoral and council races couldn’t be more important to West Windsor.
Let’s look at the record. Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh obviously prefers residential over commercial development. West Windsor’s residential household share of the tax burden increased from 65 percent when he was elected in 2001 to 70 percent today. Additionally, the mayor championed the Transit Village, which promises at least 800 new housing units that will impact our schools and our already crowded roads.
Now look at the mayor’s ticket. Hsueh’s running mate, Eric Payne, is a residential real estate agent. Their campaign manager, Andrew Jacobsen, is also a residential real estate agent. When it comes time to decide the balance between residential and commercial development on the Howard Hughes property, how can we be sure the decision would be made in West Windsor’s best interest? This is clearly a conflict of interest. Would you trust Mayor Hsueh to be in charge for a potentially much bigger Transit Village II at the American Cyanamid property?
At this critical point in West Windsor’s development, re-election of our current mayor would not be in our town’s best interest. West Windsor needs a better balance of commercial and residential development. We need to be sure the crown jewel of our town, our school district, isn’t swamped by dense residential development. We need a leader who will protect the wonderful assets in this town — our schools, our ease of transportation, and our open space. It’s time for a change.
Please join me in voting for Hemant Marathe for mayor and Linda Geevers and Peter Mendonez for council.
Yogesh Kher
As a West Windsor resident and a former small business owner in West Windsor, I found Catherin Anico’s letter asserting that Mr. Marathe is unqualified to be mayor because he runs a small business to be insulting. Mr. Payne, Mayor Hsueh’s running mate, has also made a similar assertion.
If Mr. Hsueh’s worst criticism against Mr. Marathe is that he runs a small business then West Windsor will indeed be served well with Marathe as our next mayor. It shows that after spending 20 years in the municipal building, the last 12 as our mayor, Mr. Hsueh has become a career politician who has lost touch with ordinary West Windsor residents.
Given this attitude of Mayor Hsueh’s, it is no wonder West Windsor has achieved a reputation as a town that’s difficult to do business with. A direct result of this is that the burden of property taxes that homeowners must shoulder has increased from 65 percent to 70 percent during Hsueh’s 12 years in office. To add insult to injury, Hsueh has presided over a 130 percent increase in municipal taxes during those 12 years.
I am certain most West Windsor residents think of running a small business as a positive for any mayoral candidate. For the last 12 years Mr. Marathe has proven that he can successfully run the WW-P school district, operate a successful small business, and raise a family all at the same time. If Marathe can run the district with $165 million dollar budget and more than 1,100 employees, I am certain he can handle the $40 million dollar township budget and a couple hundred employees.
Past behavior is an excellent indicator of future behavior. So let’s examine the track records of both candidates. While Marathe has not missed a single school board meeting for the last seven years, Hsueh has missed every council meeting during the past two months. During his 12 years on the school board, Mr. Marathe has missed only two board meetings, one in 2001 and another in 2006.
While Marathe has personally answered almost every phone call and E-mail he has received as the president of the school board, Mr. Hsueh has a full-time paid assistant provided at taxpayers’ expense, and still he does not answer E-mails — especially when the topic is a difficult one, such as the Cranbury Road sidewalks or the solar project at Mercer County Community College. While Marathe has demonstrated the ability to discuss tough issues and take decisive actions, Hsueh has hidden behind legality to avoid discussing even the RFP for the Cranbury Road project or the proposed $5 million renovation to the municipal building, among others.
It is clear West Windsor Township will be better served with a change in leadership. It is indeed time for change. Please join me in electing Marathe as our next mayor and Geevers and Mendonez as our next council members.
Meghana Tawde
Penrose Place, West Windsor
