While Governor Christie can reduce state spending by weeding out ineffective and costly state programs, unless the West Windsor and Mercer County governments learn to reduce their spending no one will see real tax reductions. West Windsor residents understand this all too well.
In the last 10 years the municipal tax levy rose 124 percent and county taxes rose 79 percent. It is time that municipal and county elected officials learn that they work for us and not the other way around. To ease residential taxes, West Windsor has to encourage businesses to locate here. I once asked the developer of a large project why he did not consider West Windsor. His answer was that it is almost impossible to get anything approved in West Windsor.
Lauren Kohn wants to streamline the process of obtaining municipal approvals and to insure that the council members are accessible to business leaders. Kohn is uniquely qualified to accomplish this goal due to her business expertise in software and technology industries. She also has a BA from the University of Texas.
Reforms at the state level are ephemeral without long-term municipal and county reform. I urge you to vote for Lauren Kohn, Gary Zohn, and Bryan Maher.
Christine V. Bator
6 Wheatston Court, Princeton Junction
First a quick thank you to all of the candidates for town council. It is thankless job, with long hours, contentious issues, and low pay. This election is a very important one. There are clear choices on the ballot that will shape our town and our tax burden for years to come.
Candidate Linsday Diehl is a strong proponent of the Transit Village. From what I’ve read, she thinks that it will be tax positive and financed by the state. I find this position at best to be naive, at worst disturbing. George Borek and Kristina Samonte are of like perspective, just not as extreme as Diehl’s.
The mayor promoted InterCap’s financial analysis of the transit village as the official financial impact analysis for the transit village. There is some wackiness in that assessment –– assumptions like per school kid costs of $2,800 when the other West Windsor school kids cost $12K to $15K each depending on how you look at it. What is different about those kids that they cost 80% percent less to educate than our other children? Let me give you a hint –– it’ll mask the transit village cost to the rest of us taxpayers. The study is riddled with those kind of pro-developer assumptions. And, you know something –– I’m fine with that –– of course a developer is going to paint the best picture for a development. The problem is that our municipal government accepted it without independent vetting. And, George Borek –– you are just as much responsible for that as the mayor. You could have insisted on an independent financial analysis –– instead you caved to the developer and the mayor’s pressure to accept the analysis as the one used as part of the agreement to Move Forward with Intercap. George –– I do like you as a person, but this was just plain wrong.
And, to be clear, I think everyone in our town wants successful redevelopment at the train station. The key question is what is redevelopment. The pictures from InterCap show water fountains and sidewalk cafes. Somehow the pictures of the 800 condos and traffic mess didn’t make the glossy pictures. I’m pro-redevelopment on 571 –– our downtown –– and, the train station area. The question is at what cost in taxes, quality of life, home values, and quality of our schools. Our town council will shape that development. Ask yourself if you want someone that will accept what the developers tell us at face value or vet and challenge their statements to insure we get something that is in the best interest of our town and its current residents.
I question our fellow town residents on Washington Road with signs for Borek, Samonte and Diehl. It makes me think of some of the tea partiers that vote for people who advocate positions that are not in their own best interest. The increased traffic and flooding on Washington Road will be ruinous. This will impact your home values and quality of life.
Taxes — mine have gone up $6,500 (67 percent) in the last decade. This is ridiculous. Most of that increase is a direct result of the policies and spending of the mayor. Our township debt load has risen dramatically. So we not only have high current spending, we are also locked in to serious future spending to pay off the debt. The steady tax increases remind me of the story of the frog in the pot of water with steadily increasing heat. Just because we have become calloused to steadily increasing taxes doesn’t mean it has to be that way. You need to ask yourself who do you trust with your money?
I’m voting for Maher-Kohn-Zohn.
Mike Baxter
West Windsor
I would like to share what I know about Lauren Kohn, and why I think she would be an excellent member of the West Windsor Town Council.
There can be a lot of reasons to run for Council, but what I have seen in Lauren is a real desire to improve the quality of life in our town. It is apparent to anyone who knows her that Lauren lives by her values, and what she values is family and community. Her dedication to our community would be the bedrock of all her decisions on Council.
Lauren also combines personal energy with a measured and thoughtful approach to problem-solving. She doesn’t jump to easy but possibly wrong conclusions; rather, she considers all sides of an issue with care and intelligence. And she encourages those around her to contribute their opinions while respectfully working through differences. What clinches the deal for me is that Lauren is a peacemaker without being a pushover.
Lauren Kohn would be a bright and thoughtful voice on the Council, and I wholeheartedly support her candidacy.
Kathy Bybee
West Windsor
At the October 24 Council Candidates’ Forum in Town Hall, one major point of difference between the two slates of candidates revolved around the InterCap question. During the 45 years that I have lived here, rarely has one single issue caused such deep division in West Windsor Township. The question has now passed out of Council’s hands and will go to the Planning Board and various state and county agencies, so it’s still far from being permanently settled.
Most of us would like to see some sort of redevelopment in the train station area. However, having high-density housing there remains extremely controversial. Candidates Borek, Diehl, and Samonte stand completely behind the InterCap project with its 800 housing units, while candidates Maher, Kohn, and Zohn propose a much more measured approach. The latter candidates are concerned with the question of taxes and other issues discussed below but also believe that the true town center is along Route 571 and will remain there in the future. I agree with them.
Large projects always have impacts to the community. If these outweigh the potential benefits, then obviously one shouldn’t encourage the project. In the InterCap case we must consider four general categories of impacts: fiscal, traffic, the environment, and public safety.
The TischlerBise fiscal study that InterCap paid for has serious deficiencies, most importantly a very low and unrealistic per pupil cost for the additional student load that we could reasonably expect. Other issues include a near total neglect of the increased municipal services that would be required, as well as the negative cash flow arising from the loss of more than $413,000 in annual tax revenues between the time that the present valuable buildings on the site would be torn down and certificates of occupancy issued for new construction. This could easily take several years. Again, there was no consideration of the large capital appropriations that the township might find it necessary to incur. These could incluce additional school and public safety facilties, unanticipated road expenses, and many others.
All these factors point out the urgent need for a thorough and independent fiscal impact analysis of the project. The administration promised one much earlier and never followed through. Instead, they simply took the deeply flawed TischlerBise study at face value.
Regarding traffic, the InterCap project could easily have 2,000 or more residents, and 1,150 parking spaces are planned in garages reserved for residents only — not commuters in general. The site is in a cul-de-sac, with the only entrances being on Washington Road after it branches off of Route 571. Major road construction would be required, including two new traffic lights in close proximity on densely traveled Route 571 and State Route 64, which is the short road going over the bridge and linking up with 571 on both ends. The additional traffic load, even with the presently unfinanced Vaughn Drive extension leading to Alexander Road, could be unbearable — especially since the Millstone Bypass connecting 64 with Route 1 and passing through the Sarnoff Woods has been abandoned for the foreseeable future.
Environmental impacts include the fact that Washington and Alexander roads already flood badly during significant rain events. The InterCap project would cause an increase in the impervious (i.e. roofs and pavement) coverage on that site from the present value of about 65 percent to as much as 95 percent as allowed by the settlement agreement. There are no present plans to handle the additional runoff that would surely result from this change, and in fact there may be no realistic way to address this problem due to the inherently unfavorable topography and the proximity of Little Bear Brook.
With a possible population density of 80 or more people per acre, we can anticipate significant public safety issues with the InterCap project if it is built, especially since it is so close to high-speed, high-traffic rail lines.
Council candidates Borek, Diehl, and Samonte favor pushing ahead with InterCap, even to the point of possibly overruling future recommendations from the Planning Board. Candidates Maher, Kohn, and Zohn want to take all the above factors into thorough consideration. This is one reason, among many others, that they will have my vote on November 8.
John A. Church
West Windsor
Something is on fire in the West Windsor Council election. George Borek, the incumbent on the Moving Forward team, is a paid firefighter in Jersey City and also serves as a registered, paid lobbyist for the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey (PFANJ), one of the two union organizations that represent firefighters in New Jersey. PFANJ’s parent organization just donated $2,600 to Borek’s campaign fund.
West Windsor currently has 11 paid firefighters who belong to the PFANJ. The annual West Windsor budget covers salary and related expenses for these employees. And Borek has voted to approve each year’s budget during his tenure, rather than recuse himself, despite his being a lobbyist for these 11 West Windsor employees. Borek erred by voting for the budgets that fund the very same firefighter employees for whom he gets paid by the union to lobby.
This strikes me as a breach of political integrity and the public’s trust. This is not the behavior that deserves to be rewarded at the polls on November 8. I suggest the voters look elsewhere for ethical candidates to serve next year on our Council.
Gene R. O’Brien
Campaign Chair, Strong Leaders for West Windsor
I want Maher, Kohn, and Zohn on Council. At the October 24 debate it was clear Bryan Maher, Lauren Kohn, and Gary Zohn wanted Council jobs to be “hands-on” active and were able and willing to do homework to dig into facts and numbers, while George Borek, Lindsay Diehl, and Kristina Samonte wanted to be passive — and were satisfied with simplistic examinations of issues, or offered excuses. Here are examples:
For the question on making West Windsor more business-friendly, Maher said he wanted to reach out to business owners to learn what they need and help expedite solutions. Kohn talked about reducing red tape and associated delays and costs. Zohn talked about filling the approximately 2 million square feet of locally vacant commercial office property. In marked contrast, Borek punted to township employees, Diehl wanted to delegate to a committee because she felt Council “didn’t have time to do it,” and Samonte wanted a commission, saying “we only facilitate, we’re not professionals.”
For a Route 571 safety question, a priority due to three fatalities in recent years, Borek observed the county did repaving. Diehl said over the last 20 years Route 571 had “improved dramatically,” she’s “seen the plans — we’ll have bike lanes. Cars slow down for bike lanes. It’s in the works.” Samonte said transportation funding is from the state and federal governments, we need to work with the county, and defended slow action, “government is different than business — there are several stakeholders.”
Maher said we’ve paid a lot of taxes to the county, and stressed Council needs to be persistent in getting our needs met. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil. Activities need to be prioritized and sped up, and we need to get back our fair share of taxes!” Kohn said, “The improvements were authorized five years ago, they are not done, and we need to spend the money in the right places.” Zohn, a cyclist, took exception to Diehl’s comment, saying, “Cars don’t slow down. We need to get the job done!”
For a taxes question, Maher, Kohn, and Zohn did their homework. Maher cited, “over the last 10 years, West Windsor’s population grew by 21 percent, yet school taxes grew by 4 percent, county taxes by 79 percent, and West Windsor’s municipal taxes by 124 percent, almost six times the population growth.” He said he had reviewed the budget, found the Clerk’s Office and garbage/trash removal not to be problems, and stated, “The capital structure needed to be fixed by taking advantage of generational lows in interest rates and matching debt life with use life.”
Samonte claimed Maher had not considered inflation. Maher rebutted that inflation was only 27 percent during the 10 years while the municipal tax increased 124 percent, and added, “West Windsor was not matching residential growth with business growth.”
Kohn called for a careful analysis of budget surplus levels and costs for overtime, consultants, litigation, and attorneys. Zohn emphasized, “West Windsor should open a line of credit, as other municipalities do, in order to reduce the surplus while maintaining the AAA rating.”
Diehl agreed we need more businesses, but argued West Windsor’s tax rates had not gone up as much as other New Jersey cities. Maher rebutted with specifics on nearby municipalities. [Post debate I asked Maher to confirm his comments, as I didn’t catch everything. He said, “For 2011 over 2010, the municipal tax in both Princetons and Hamilton actually went down and Hightstown was flat. while West Windsor went UP 6.95 percent last year.”]
Maher, Kohn, and Zohn demonstrated the energy and professional expertise to bring collaboration, incisive analysis and decision making skills to our Council. Borek, Diehl, and Samonte demonstrated they view themselves as “non-professionals who only facilitate,” were indifferent to getting taxes under control, passive about getting back our fair share of taxes, and wanted to defer business development to others.
Sandra Donovan
Sapphire Drive, West Windsor
My name is David Kohn, and my wife, Lauren Kohn, is running for Council in West Windsor. Lauren is running to so that she can take action to address the issues that affect families and individuals in West Windsor, including our high taxes, the overdue redevelopment of Route 571, and flooding/public safety. Lauren’s superhuman ability to do so many things simultaneously, so quickly, and so well makes her a natural for confronting the myriad issues that demand the attention of Council .
Unfortunately, misinformation about my wife was recently printed by an opposing candidate. I must address these inaccuracies and set the record straight.
To start, Lauren graduated in absentia from the University of Texas at Austin in 2009. She has a BA in English, which she pursued because of her love of literature and her natural writing talent.
It is this talent that led her to start a blog, a sort of online journal in which she chronicled various interests and events in her life. Before the birth of our son, Lauren discussed the concerns of a mother-to-be in her post “Baby Update.”
That was a particularly stressful time for us, especially after we were given information that suggested our baby might have a potentially lethal genetic abnormality.
Lauren noted her heightened sensitivity and described the work she was doing to prepare for our son’s safe passage into this world, saying, “I am very susceptible to fear and anxiety these days, and I think that managing that well will lead to a more peaceful, less painful birth.” Aside from this context, two words from this quote — “these days” — were also left out, drastically changing the meaning.
Fortunately, our son was born without complication, and he has grown into a curious, active little boy. Lauren has worked hard to share her passions with our children, even while working from home for our company, Software Advisors LLC, and as a freelance writer for a healthcare company. Her quote, “I wear many hats, often at the same time, but I am not very good at finishing projects,” references the many craft projects she has undertaken with the children and put aside for later so that she could focus on our family and her work.
Given that Lauren’s blog focused on her parenting and personal experiences, she was taken aback and distressed when a candidate — easily recognized by his aggressive attacks — began to E-mail members of her team. The sender threatened that it was their “last chance to make room for [him] on the ballot” or he would “make a mess of this whole election.” Although her blog had no identifying information on it, we were concerned for our family’s safety and removed the posts.
Over the years, I have watched Lauren take on challenge after challenge, seek out and absorb the information she needs, and adeptly guide our family through uncertain times. I am confident that Lauren’s dedication, ability and perspective will make her an effective Councilwoman.
David Kohn
A recent handout from Council candidates Borek, Diehl, and Samonte is headlined “Do you want West Windsor to Move Forward?” This headline is superimposed on an illustration of what looks remarkably similar to the InterCap Holdings plan for its project near the Princeton Junction train station. This illustration is in the same style as those published in local newspapers by InterCap as well as in InterCap’s Pattern Book for the project. Although unsigned, might the candidate’s illustration be by the same artist as InterCap’s? If not, it sure looks like a convenient imitation.
Why is this important? By implication, InterCap appears to be backing Borek, Diehl, and Samonte. We are left to wonder whether InterCap resources are being devoted to their campaign. Is that fair to the community?
If not, why are Borek, Diehl, and Samonte broadcasting a message that they are willing to get cozy with InterCap?
As taxpayers in West Windsor, we need to have confidence that our Council members will objectively represent our interests. Wouldn’t you agree? Unfortunately, with Borek, Diehl and Samonte it appears otherwise.
That’s why I’m voting for Bryan Maher, Lauren Kohn, and Gary Zohn. They are honest, thoughtful, independent and just the type of folks we need on Council. As their campaign treasurer, I know they are not beholden to any special interest groups. They want to serve the best interests of all.
Marshall Lerner
3 Sapphire Drive, West Windsor
This Town Council election season has certainly been an interesting one. And for me, as a West Windsor resident, it’s been an embarrassing one. I hate the mudslinging that politicians do on a national basis, and I find it particularly distasteful in a local election.
After criticizing George Borek’s running mates Diehl and Samonte for name-calling and bringing down the level of decorum, Greg Harris indulged in exactly the same thing with his one-page ad “comparing” the candidates. Mr. Harris singled out Ms. Kohn in an obvious personal attack. When I asked Mr. Harris about the ad, he said “I warned her very nicely, and very clearly, that if she refused” to answer his questions about her personal life, he would use it against her. Is this an example of how Mr. Harris would behave if elected to Council? Taking statements out of context, twisting people’s words, and hurling baseless accusations?
One may wonder, as I have, why Mr. Harris would go after Ms. Kohn personally, but not go after, say, Mr. Borek professionally? After all, there are four years of Mr. Borek’s comments, actions, and votes on council that would be fair game in an election. And there are plenty of comments, actions, and votes to disagree with Mr. Borek on. Here’s my theory: I think Mr. Harris dreams of being a part of the Strong Leaders for West Windsor team, but alas, there are only three seats. And the only way he could think to win one of those spots was to personally malign one of the three.
There is one thing that Mr. Harris and I agree on: Strong Leaders for West Windsor is exactly what our town needs. I became convinced of this at the debate last week. Bryan Maher showed an impressive command of the facts and understanding of the numbers involved. Maher, Kohn, and Zohn brought fresh, innovative ideas as to how to decrease our taxes while improving the quality of life in our community. They actually understand the process of restructuring debt. Their opposition, in contrast, mentioned several times that they’d form a committee to address fiscal matters, since they themselves do not have the expertise. So my questions are: 1) why bother to elect them if they don’t have the expertise, and 2) who would be on the committee? West Windsor voters deserve to know who their decision-makers will be.
My vote will be for Maher, Kohn, and Zohn.
Virginia Manzari
Princeton Junction
Route 571 (Princeton-Hightstown Road) has always been our downtown and will clearly remain so in the future. The InterCap project is years away. Despite what its promoters say, it’s off the main thoroughfare and will never serve as our real downtown. We should therefore concentrate on making 571 the best it can possibly be.
Now that the new Rite Aid is up and running, the renovation project at Windsor Plaza — the old and convenient “Acme Center” — will be the next big improvement. We need to take action while the opportunity is here. We’re all looking forward to seeing it develop. Besides providing jobs, this project will be a haven for new and attractive small businesses and will give our neighboring towns something to look up to for a change.
The abandoned half-finished buildings behind the Ellsworth Center are another disgrace and nuisance. Obsessed with other matters, the administration has been only half-heartedly trying to get this problem resolved.
Since 571 is a county road, they are ultimately responsible for its redesign and improvement. Council can help this process by passing any new accessory ordinances that may be needed to get this rolling.
With this and the upgrading or replacement of other obsolete buildings along 571, we will start feeling good about West Windsor again. One of our main jobs as new Council members will be to encourage and push for additional renovation and replacement projects. The administration and local boards must of course follow the necessary approval processes, but we will strive to make sure that delays are minimized.
To ensure these needed functional and aesthetic improvements are completed expeditiously, I urge you to elect myself, Bryan Maher, and Lauren Kohn.
Gary Zohn
