As a life long resident, I have only ever attended two council meetings. As a student at WW-P High School, I was forced to go once for a grade. As a parent I just attended another meeting regarding the Class III Officers. I’m not active in our local politics. I should have been, but I haven’t been. But on June 10th everything changed.
On June 10, while I circled the parking lot waiting for my husband at the McCaffrey’s shopping center, I had the unfortunate luck of witnessing a car pulling out of a parking spot and hitting another parked car. A common occurrence perhaps, but then, the driver of the car purposefully realigned and drove off. Shocked that this was happening, I grabbed my phone and took a picture of the car leaving the scene.
I found a parking spot and waited in the pouring rain with three other witnesses who had tried to stop the woman. We called the West Windsor Police and eventually, a man carrying a large birthday cake returned to find the entire passenger side of his car damaged. His 14 year old daughter, the birthday girl, sat depressed and disheartened while we all met with the police.
To my great dismay, when my summons came to appear as a witness for the state, the name of woman who allegedly fled the scene—Alison Miller—was familiar. Why? Because she is the president of township council here in West Windsor. My heart sank. How could a public official willfully break the law? This wasn’t a speeding ticket, this wasn’t a parking ticket. This was a complete lack of integrity.
I had wondered who the self-centered cowards were that hit cars in parking lots and didn’t leave notes, but never could I have imagined it would be a woman in charge of making decisions for our entire town. Anyone can have an accident. Anyone can make a mistake. I’ve made plenty of mistakes myself. It is the person that takes ownership of their mistakes and learns from them that grows as a person.
If Alison Miller can not be trusted to simply do the right thing when she has a simple accident; when she is unwilling to accept responsibilities for her actions, how can we trust her to make decisions for us? How will we know she will be unbiased toward the West Windsor Police when they are the department that ticketed her?
On July 9, I had to appear in court, a date and location that had been changed three times already. Miller was allowed to plead to a lesser offense, and the original charges were dropped. However, this accident still happened! Councilwoman Miller still made a gross lack in judgement demonstrating a complete disregard for someone else’s property.
As residents, we can not forget that Miller took an oath to uphold the law and on June 10 she willfully ignored the law. Upholding the law doesn’t just apply to her town council meetings, but also when she is acting as a general citizen.
Councilwoman Miller has brought shame to her position by her own actions. I would not have been summoned to testify for the state, I would not have been interrupted from my job, and I certainly wouldn’t be writing a letter to the editor, had Miller simply done the right thing.
Councilwoman Miller may have served our township honorably, however at some point her own values have shifted. They have shifted to a position where destroying someone else’s property and not taking responsibility is okay.
It is time for the residents of West Windsor to know the character of the people that represent us. It is time for our township council to be a true representation of our town. It is time for Councilwoman Miller to step down.
— Christine M. Calandra, West Windsor
