I believe we have discovered a crack in the window of the Shing Dynasty.
It seems the Emperor is forever out of town while West Windsor is burning.
The directly elected, fully accountable, most cost effective leader of West Windsor is continually missing in action. Municipal budgets have increased every year during his tenure.
Despite incubating three directly elected lawyers on Township Council –– in addition to the best legal advice taxpayers can afford –– it is the little stuff that has run unchecked. To wit: The Power of Ten
1. Over $1 million in Transit Village/On Goldin Pond approvals and litigation without a voter referendum.
2. An Emperor-inspired capricious termination of our Animal Control Officer’s absence, permitting a fox to run rampant.
3. The $70,000 premature release and whodunit of Village Grande contractor vendor funds.
4. Failure to stem the loss of the full-service post office and prospective lease with a short walk for municipal employees.
5. A plethora of unending no-bid professional service contracts.
6. Public money spent $1.38 million to benefit blue herons and the JCC.
7. Despite a PhD in water engineering, no action in 20 years to mitigate Washington and Alexander Road flooding but is now poised to mitigate the problem with public money to benefit a private developer. Why isn’t the developer fully funding this study?
8. Failure to enforce leaf-brush ordinance timetables with commensurate fines.
9. Mayor opposed November elections in favor of costly, low-turnout spring votes.
10. Silence. Silence is not Goldin.
Bonus: 11. Loss/shut down/departure of the former Hillier firm without a chirp.
My experience has been that it matters little what any of us say or do. I guess my three minutes of televised silence was the strongest message yet. A mirror can expose a lot, eh? We must use our money to make change.
Let us hope the newly elected Council is sufficient to make a difference.
Pete Weale
Penns Neck
