Shame on George Borek for playing political games at the first town council meeting of the New Year. Mr. Borek wouldn’t support Bryan Maher as council president because he said he isn’t a good leader. So let’s examine Mr. Maher’s leadership record.
Mr. Maher is the first Council president in the 15 years I’ve lived here to insist upon and achieve a zero-percent increase in the budget, and I’m sure the record goes back many years before that. Financial stewardship is a part of every decision Mr. Maher makes for the township. I cannot say the same for Mr. Borek, who has been on council for nearly eight years and has voted for every bloated budget the mayor has set before him.
Mr. Borek said he disagrees with Mr. Maher’s “my way or the highway” approach. On the contrary, Mr. Maher stands up to anyone who adopts that kind of bullying approach with regard to the rights of West Windsor residents. Mr. Maher is an advocate for the people of this town.
When the county wanted to build a huge solar eyesore in the backyards of South Post Road residents, did the mayor or Mr. Borek stand up to them? When Cranbury Road residents came repeatedly to the township, asking for sidewalks for safe passage, did Mayor Hseuh or Borek help them? When residents voiced their support to save the Grover House and prosecute those who stole from it, did Hsueh or Borek do the right thing? They did not. It was Mr. Maher who supported every one of those groups of residents.
I share Mr. Maher’s frustration for the stalemate we find ourselves in with regard to the township attorney. Mr. Borek supports the mayor’s childish behavior of refusing to put another attorney up for the job. By seeking more appropriate and less expensive counsel for West Windsor, Mr. Maher is again working on behalf of the people.
I have known George Borek for many years. In fact I helped him in his initial campaign for election back in 2007, when he promised to vote NO to 1,000 homes at the train station. Unfortunately, as soon as Mr. Borek was elected he threw his support to the mayor’s pet project and voted in favor of Goldin’s housing development. Luckily the developer lost funding and was unable to build. But it was no thanks to Mr. Borek, who betrayed the people of this town.
Now we face an even greater threat in the form of Howard Hughes Corporation, which wants to build an enormous development on the 658 acres of farmland on Quaker Bridge and Clarksville roads. Howard Hughes has repeatedly declined to state how many homes they wish to build, but if you examine their other properties — and note that they’ve identified a significant parcel of land on QB Road for schools — you can estimate that the number could easily be upwards of 5 to 10 thousand homes.
Given Mr. Borek’s track record of promising to vote against developments like this and then flipping his loyalties, I certainly don’t trust him to protect us from Howard Hughes. But I do have faith in Mr. Maher, who has repeatedly demonstrated his tenacity for protecting West Windsor residents. I’ll take a leader like that any day.
Virginia Manzari
