##VIDEO ID:Mo_nth9wOF0## ER did good okay I call this meeting to order it's the uh council's business meeting of August 26 2024 roll call daas here Jers here Mandel here Weiss here Whitfield here have we been adequately noticed for this meeting yes we were adequately noticed on January 19th 2024 to the times and the Princeton packet filed with the Township Clerk if everybody would please arise for the salute to the flag flag United States of America uh right before we get into the ceremonial uh matters and some proclamations um I'd like to uh this to take this moment right now to have a moment of silence uh for two West Windsor residents that recently passed away uh Mary skank uh passed away on August 15th at the age of 98 Mary uh was committed to service throughout her life notably as a lifetime member and three-term president of the Ladies Auxiliary of the West Windsor Volunteer Fire Company in 1983 Mary co-founded the West Historical Society based uh in the skank house which is where her husband Warren was born another member of our community Daniel hos passed away after a recent tragic accident I understand he was known for his vibrant personality and uh as a dedicated student at notredam high school and he was involved in various clubs sports teams community service projects and for his duties at uh St David the King Parish so on behalf of that mayor council Administration um we want to uh extend our deepest sympathies to the scang family and to the hos family so please join uh the council in a moment of silence okay thank you everyone okay we'll move on to ceremonial matters and uh topics of priority for consideration we have a proclamation uh making September 2024 the fourth annual shop West Windsor month there's Proclamation so I will read that whereas West Windor Township is home to many vibrant retail establishments including shops restaurants and personel and Home Services and whereas these retail establishments provide Goods services employment and tax revenues which benefit the people of West Windsor and whereas these businesses provide a unique flavor to West Windsor and intertwine with our fabric as part of our quality of life and whereas many of our local businesses support our community activities such as community events school programs police fire and Emergen services and the volunteer fire departments sports teams clubs girl and boy scout projects charitable organizations and more and whereas we encourage West Windsor residents to shop our local businesses all year and wish to highlight this importance on an annual basis during the month of September whereas mayor morate and the members of the township Council wish to encourage the success of our businesses and have provided a West Windsor business directory on the township website for all to see now therefore be a Proclaim that September 2024 is shop West Windsor month and encourage the residents of West Windsor to shop locally during the month of September and all year any Council comments on this but um just want to thank all of you some of you over the years have worked on the business directory on a Township website uh few years back we we were out there um at the start of Co even a little bit before we were all wearing masks and all and uh we were just trying to help our businesses encourage them and and talk to them so yeah we um we started the shop um West Wister um month um uh during covid in 2020 um and um Andrea myself um we went around um looked at all the businesses um to see which which business was open because there were many questions um nobody knew what was open and what was not so um the idea came along from that point to help our local businesses um survive through um covid and we came up with the shop West Wier um month for September thinking that would be a good month when some you know um everybody's coming back from summer schools are reopening so everybody's back in town um the idea is to um support local businesses so this is this is our fourth um an this is the four and um we actually Andrea and I um um just recently met with um a high school student who is going to help us update the directory right um and we expanded from that we went around during Co to see who was still open then as um then as things started opening up we started reporting that restaurants could be you could actually go into a restaurant and eat them eat there and we tried to promote people to come back into these businesses that had been hurting and at some point we expanded and we bought some nice shop West Windsor magnets which if anybody would like on the back of their car we just purchased some more we're going to be giving them out Community day but if anybody wants one we we'll have them available uh I usually carry a few in case uh a store we stop at a new store opening and they we give them a few and things like that and so we've been trying to up with a lot of new things that we try to add continuously to make to make this work so we do encourage everybody to shop locally okay so we have uh one more pral Nation for this evening gay very this is a very special evening very special father I do want to thank gay for the help with the shop West Windsor because we put it we put all that together we put all the things and and gay spent many hours actually putting them into our website so thanks right so as many of you know um our Township Clerk gay Huber is retiring uh last day is August August 31st it's this coming this Friday and uh she has done an absolutely phenomenal job over her 37 years here working for the Township in various positions but but you know made it all the way up the ladder Township Clerk and we we certainly appreciate that very much and gay has um an incredible work ethic I mean she she's like one of these people that will be first in in the morning and last out at night um and anytime any council members or the administration we need need help or assistance with anything you know we always we always go to gay and she she gets back to us with a smile on her face so uh you know we we we really appreciate we appreciate that that all you do it's a lot of tedious work um keeping track of of so many different things G gay was um born guess he was born in in your home in Princeton hospital but yeah my B born and raised there pretty much and uh throughout your life you've always been been helping people there there there's no question about that when we get to the proclamation you'll see so many of the highlights of the things that that gay has done for people so there's certainly a lot of um you know sacrifices that she made with with her time not just here but but in helping all sorts of people and organizations so all of that work um you know it it just makes for a stronger West Windsor and um you know so I am um very very happy that I was able to to work with you for the past uh 19 years don't start trying to hold it to guess so um anyway you've been inspiration um to me and to all of us so uh thank you for your service to the community and certainly have a very happy and healthy retirement and I'll see you around at the next Township event you bet yeah so gay you Martin yeah very brief you know me you know me very brief so you've seen a lot and I'm not aging you but you've seen a lot in this Township um good bad and other uh you've worked very very tirelessly for everyone in this community which is a blessing to have you uh you given me a all knowledge because you've been here a few more years than I have my 18 years here but you've given me so much knowledge in our conversations about so many different things and perspectives here in West Windsor so I just want to say thank you thank you thank you uh you've been an incredible asset to this Administration to this Township so many people may not realize all the work that goes into what you do uh but we do and we sincerely say thank you I wish you all the best in college when you get married no no wrong speech sorry sorry wrong speech wrong speech but but I I I I sincerely wish you all the best um you you deserve this retirement you deserve these accolades you deserve these flowers and you have actually absolutely been an instrumental piece of the betterment of this community for many many years and um God has blessed you sincerely with a beautiful family and a great husband right over there who's always been by your side so we want to thank him for sharing gay with us because obviously in in in Partnership and marriage and and and you know you have to share so much of your time you know sacrifice so much of your time so we sincerely say thank you and wish you all the best to God be the Gory and God bless you and your family thank you um I'm just going to give a little personal story about when I first met gret gay um I about was at least 20 years ago and um Girl Scouts would March in Memorial Day parade and they would go in troops and so I decided I'm going to organize it and get a whole bunch of troops and we were going to do it um as a group and I noticed since I had been going to this Memorial Day Parade since I moved in here in 88 ' 89 I guess started um that only the Boy Scouts got to actually give the Pledge of Allegiance and stand in the color guard and I called Gay and I said hey I've got a whole bunch of Girl Scout Troops then we're going to be in the parade and I think the girls should also be up there in the color guard um and I thought that was going to be easy but she sort of said oh and I never asked her who she had a pull their arm or leg or whatever it was but she did get back to me and she said yeah how many troops you have do you want one from one from each in the color guard what do you want and um so I got our girls up there and for the first time in West Windsor history our girls were standing up as color guard and leading the Pledge of Allegiance with the boys we didn't take it over and it was just so special to me to to see my daughter and all our daughters up there with with the boys now and being part of that color guard and being able to lead that pledge and be be equal um and uh I don't think I've ever said how much that really did mean to me to see my daughter standing there in her uniform with all her badges leading a pledge of allegiance and seeing other girls standing next to him and in different years and it's been equal like that since then so um thank you gay for modernizing us and putting us all together that way um and uh I'm just you know wanted to let you know um I'd also want to thank you for your guidance when I joined Council uh especially when I suddenly became council president during my first year in the middle of covid and then the year after that was that was a crazy year for absolutely everybody and a fresh fresh woman Council woman uh as as president that was um you know makes it more exciting um everything that you did to get us through the covid years and coming in here and working during that time and I know that that was um you know that was a risk uh for all your patience during all the many agenda meetings and I know I can be I can I can probably try some patien um are your guidance with procedures ordinances proclamations and more um I might put gay against Mike Herbert here as better lawyer Mike you P yeah yeah um and and for always always looking out for all of us and always being there thank you know see you're going you're going to college she could teach the law school I told you here a while has been sitting in this seat yes sir I have another Memorial Day um story uh because that's when I first met gay um the first um but almost close to 16 years ago when we moved here um the first event we attended with our newborn baby was the Memorial Day parade and here I see this this young young energy walking around giving instructions to everybody and putting everybody in line with a big smile on face um lots of patients at the end end of the ceremony giving food out water out uh making sure everybody's taken care of um had another interaction with her through Mom's Club when we um toured um Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company um Denise um was help helped us um tour gave um all the the little toddlers running around let them do whatever they want to do I still remember in the middle of the presentation there was a fire call and you had to leave and the the two three year olds were like was amazed by that um experience um soon after we actually held a um fundraiser a Halloween fundraiser at the Wun at the firehouse for the children's Ward at the new hospital that opened up that was when I really got um to work closely with gay I don't know if you remember that was um long back um that uh um but what I'm trying to say is I always saw you in places and um with a smile with patience making sure everybody's taken care of um when I came um took office for Council in 2020 um not knowing covid was soon following um within the first quarter of us being on um on the job um you guided us through everything um you know you held our hands and took us um gave us all the information we need anything you are being our goto girl for any questions concerns even before we get to Mike we would go get to gay because gay would have the answer um saved money yeah I you GNA say that I have to watch those budgets um over the years I've seen you play so many roles in this Township um with the same dedication same patience same smile taking care of everybody um I'm not going to say bye to you because I'm sure we'll see you around town at many different events yes but we are going to miss you here um thank you for everything um I know Allison has learned from the great so she would be wonderful um but we're going to miss you thank so thank you gab for all your years of service at the township it's kind of rare to have a municipal clerk who also resides in the same Township and so we've had the privilege of having gay lead the clerk's office for all all of these years uh her deep commitment to the township as a resident and Community leader combined with her commitment to the duties of the clerk's office has resulted in really exceptional service to the people and the employees here in West windbur now I'm not sure how many people really know what the clerk actually does the position of the and you're probably still figuring it out um the position of a municipal clerk is really an extremely challenging job due to the broad scope of responsibilities and the need for precise attention to details um as the official keeper of Municipal records the clerk must ensure that all documents from Council meetings to ordinances are accurately recorded and accessible the clerk serves as a lison between the public elected officials and all the Departments requiring really strong communication skills and the ability to manage diverse and sometimes conflicting demands the role also oversees involves overseeing elections U maintaining compliance of pretty complex local state and federal regulations and handling sensitive information all of which require a high level of Integrity discretion and most important patience balancing these duties while responding to the needs of the community makes the position of municipal clerk both demanding and crucial for the smooth functioning of our local government you've set a high bar for everyone to follow um but I'm confident that that Allison who has been under your tutelage for years will uphold the standards that you've established I remember earlier this year in my first meeting with you um in my role as a council member you said something to me which you probably say to every new council member but you said to me my job is to keep you out of trouble yep and so far so good although you know a little trouble a little good trouble is not such a bad thing um I wish you the very best um in your retirement and look forward to seeing you out and about in the community I'll be there sure Marina I'd like to read a message from mayor Pont marate on behalf of the mayor during my 23 years as an elected official I've missed very few meetings and never one with an important matter on the agenda like this one I am sorry for not being present today thanks to all who have come tonight to make public comments I will certainly watch watch the entire tape of the meeting and listen to every comment gay I am so sorry I could not be here tonight for your last council meeting as municipal clerk thanks to you and your family for your long distinguished service to the community I am sure you will stay involved not being a Township employee will give you more freedom to speak your mind that's the mayor speaking I fully expect you to be commenting during public comment at a future council meeting and I'm sure incoming clerk Shen will give you more slightly more than three minutes a long happy and healthy retirement from H thank you okay thank you uh well we have our Proclamation for you gay and I thought it'd be nice if um like each one of us took a couple of whereas Clauses and readd it since it is from Council it's also signed by the mayor um so it's uh your send off here so I'll read it um start reading it whereas gay Huber a lifelong resident of Westminster Township and alumni of the first graduate in class of West wior Plainsboro high school has a deep rooted and valuable history in the community and whereas following a long family history of serving the community beginning with her great-grandfather who who was a founding member of the Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company and her uncle who was a fire chief in the 1950s gay became a member of the Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Company in high school and rejoined again when and her husband Dennis became Fire Chief and today she and her family family continue as active members and where gay was a woman Space Incorporated advocate for over 15 years and is currently an officer of the Historical Society of West Windsor which he has been a member of for over 30 years and can still be seen volunteering as a dossier at the shank Farmstead and where as inspired by her previous military service in the National Guard gay has helped organize manage and participate in the Township's Veterans Day ceremony as well as the Township's Memorial Day parade for many years and whereas gay originally started working for West Windsor Township in 1977 as a receptionist and returned in 1988 to work in various positions until she joined the clerk's office as an administrative assistant in 2001 was appointed Deputy clerk in 20 2004 and appointed Township Clerk in 2018 serving for six years and whereas gay received her registered municipal clerk certification in April 2004 and obtained additional certification from The International Institute of Municipal clerks as a certified municipal clerk in July 2015 and whereas gay has dedicated unaccountable hours to public service going above and beyond to serve and support the community she loves and gay is respected and appreciated for sharing her valuable institutional knowledge with the many people she has met along the way and whereas in retirement G will start a new Journey exploring new places spending time with her family and friends and enjoying her Pond and Gardens now therefore be it resolved that mayor Kat morate and the township Council of the township of West Windsor County of Mercer state of New Jersey hereby congratulate gay M Heber on her retirement from over 37 years of employment with the township be it further resolved that they express their gratitude on behalf of the residents of this community and wish gay M Huber health and happiness and all of her future endeavors hey you got a quick cyan e okay I've tried to write a few words several times in the last couple of weeks I'm can ask my husband the recycling can is full um it's very hard for me um there's so many people I want to thank so I'm going to try to hopefully not forget anybody but first I want to thank my husband Dennis my daughter Renee her husband David who I refer to all the time is my son-in-law and my daughters Dawn and Tara thank you for all your love and support I want to thank all the residents who have reached out to me over the past several weeks to wish me a happy retirement it has been a pleasure to serve you all these years to the township Council here this evening and all of the councils before them that I've served it has been a pleasure and an honor to have worked with you all also to Mayor Shay who actually is when I moved over here after he was elected in July of 2001 and mayor morate for all their years of support even though I don't directly work for them it has been a pleasure to have known and worked with you to Marina there are not words that can express what you have meant to me all these years as we have worked together we will stay in touch of course to Mr Herbert thank you for all your support especially these past six years that I have been the Township Clerk I will be forever grateful to both you and your father I learned so much from both of you to Carrie best wishes for the future with West Windsor I know you will do us proud to Allison Joey and Dawn what can I say you are the best of the best and I know you are all ready to take the Reigns and move the clerk's office forward to everyone who I have worked for for so many years all the staff the people who have retired the people who are still here I thank you all for your support each and every day we have made a lot of challenges between covid and renovating a building s yeah renovating a building during covid and not moving out uh there was challenges but we met them all and also Sandy when that came through my parting words to all are no matter what the issue there will always be those who are passionate for one thing and are passionate for one thing and passionate against but I've learned over the years is to always respect each other's opinions even if they are not yours and to always agree to disagree but to work together for what is best for the over 30,000 residents of West Windsor Township again I want to thank everyone for their well- wishes and I'm not leaving West Windsor it's my home and I will still be around whether it's volunteering with the fire company the Historic Society or helping with Memorial and Veterans Day thank you all I am very humble we just like to take a five minute break um for some some pictures and he can say U you know talk to gay for five minutes all right thank you what taking a break Direct no no for hey for put if everybody would please take their seats well might hear some public comments okay if everybody would please take their seats Hey everybody please be seated we're going to continue with the meeting okay we're moving on to the um first public comment of the evening we have two one is at the end of the uh of the meeting uh so if you'd like to make a public comment and this is this is outside of the the hearings we have five hearings we have public hearings so if you'd like to make any public comments outside of anything that you'd like to say at any of these hearings then then please come uh to the microphone now now state your name um and address and you'll have up to three minutes thank you my name is Andy Lupo 47 Sam Marco street am I I just wanted to thank gay you've been so wonderful to me for helping us through little leag challenges and the parking authority challenges uh and and you and your family have done so much for our Township so I just want to wish you the best in retirement thank you for all you've done to help thank you thank you hi Paul liedy I'm the president of the Historical Society West Windsor I actually have three things to talk about first one is a reminder that West wisor bike fest is on September 88th the reason I'm mentioning this is because this is a collaboration this year between the bicycle pedestrian Alliance the Historical Society the Arts Council and the township of West Windsor so if anyone's interested in learning more uh Henry Murphy and the red Polo right there has some uh cards and the township also sent out an email recently the second item is I actually want to thank the Town Council for making a uh moment of silence for Mary skank um as they mentioned uh it she was one of the co-founders of the historical society and on the uh theme of Public Service uh she was as uh Linda had mentioned a public servant for many decades in uh West Windsor and then the third item of course is I want to congratulate gay Huber um it's been a pleasure working with her over the past few months as now the vice president of the Historical Society and she's been a wonderful um member of the Historical Society public service and Community member and an inspiration to me and I'm sure many other people in this room so thank you thank you good evening John Church 11 Princeton Place I just want to say again thank you gay for all your years of service you have been terrific help to me in many capacities I remember the time you swore me into my first full term on the Zoning Board in your private office I appreciated that so all the best on your retirement we're going to miss you and I can't wait to hear you make public comment someday at one of these meetings we look forward to it thank you gay so much I'm John Raider and I would also like to thank aay because it was my late wife Ray Raider who with Carol Carson then mayor of the Town started the Memorial Day parade and the Veterans Day ceremonies and gay I want to thank you so much for all you've done to continue it and all you will be doing to continue it I've enjoyed participating in them with you as well thank you again thank you John okay seeing no one else that would like to speak um we'll move on to Administration comments Public Works is working in zone for as of today and we'll be doing so through the rest of the week uh municipal offices will be closed on Monday September 2nd in observance Labor Day there will be no trash collection on Monday residents with a Monday Thursday collection will only receive trash service on Thursday September 5th um Public Works will be closed for drop off of materials on Saturday August 30 1 for the H for the holiday weekend and on September 9th once a week trash collection will return and my final announcement is that on Saturday September 7th from 8:00 am to 2 PM at the West Windsor Township Public Works facility 70 Southfield Road there will be a fall cleanup day this is your opportunity to declutter donate and dump and by dump I'm referring to recycling of propane tanks batteries scrap metals fridges freezers tires used motor used motor oil unboxed electronics laptops computers faxes M faxes copiers printers and the like uh dumpster items broken broken items wood fencing outdoor play toys exercise equipment please no mattresses feel free to donate your unwanted bicycle New Jersey bike exchange will fix it up and give it new life let your bike right on and Goodwill will be on site accepting donations of books movies toys home decor games puzzles housewear shoes clean clothing and accessories working small appliances and electronics um it's a Rainer shine event and again there's more information or similar information about um the items I just went through on the township website um under current news that's all the announcements I have for this evening thank you thank you um council member comments uh Sonia thank you um let me um start by wishing happy janash me to everyone who are celebrating today and tomorrow um on August 16th I attended the India Pakistan um Independence Day celebration thank you ruhaniat um for bringing this new tradition to West Wier um it's it's uh wonderful to see um the two communities together coming together and celebrating together um on August 18th I attended um uh the Alex's Lemonade Stand um held by um Arjun and Rohan this was their 10th year um doing it um the weather was making many nervous um but it held up and um I have seen those boys since they were in Elementary in moris Hawk um and Arjun is um senior now this year um really proud of um the young men um tells a lot about the parents suit and um nilam congratulations on raising wonderful um young men the family is truly a family that gives back to the community um on August 29th if you can spare some time in the evening two of our high school seniors um um and and um Alice have arranged a cleanup at um the DNR Canal path at turning U Basin Park um around 6 PM um so join them if you um can join help with this initiative Township will be H other things Township will be hosting its um 23rd um 911 September 11th Memorial on September 11th at 7 p.m. at Ron Rogers arum um ahead of that on September 10th a group of veterans from 10 14911 um who walk 100 miles every year um the day before to get to the memorial in New York City will'll be passing through our town they have been doing this for several years just like last year we'll be hosting them uh last year was the first time we actually hosted them at the um Memorial in our town um at the Twin Pond Memorial as I call it um so they would be U passing through that and we'll spend few minutes they don't stop because they are walking Non-Stop and so we don't have an exact time when they will be passing through uh it all depends on what time they start and you know conditions the environment um and the weather but um just keep a lookout for updates from either myself or or our Police Department um would be sending some information out on that please do come out and support them um look up their information on 100 14911 comom um every year um they um uh carry a flag that means something to one of the veterans and that's what they walk to the memorial um this year one of the um veterans who spent some time in Baghdad um has brought the flag and that's the flag they're carrying as of today they have 32 members who are walking um last year I know the um oldest person who was walking with them was 79 year old and they walk rain or shine for 100 miles nonstop um so do um keep an eye on that um Council would be um providing some snacks for them um just quick things because they just pick up and grab and go um the one other thing that Council has been um doing for last four years and this would be their fifth year and I thank all my council members to um support the idea when I brought first brought that idea out up um in 2020 was to place flags at um the memorial every year we have come up with um different themes um of how we place the flags this year um my idea is to place 343 Flags in memory of all the firefighters that perished that day um message me if you would like to help um us um do that we will most likely um Place those flags the weekend before so which would be the seventh and eth weekend if you would like to help I would we would take any help and U hard to get that let's pray that it rains because the ground would be softer for us to get the flags in if not uh my husband and I think Dan you said you will bring um lastly I want to uh wish everyone um good luck and um best wishes for a school um start of school year many are going back to college this year uh this week um many of our uh school students would start school next week on September 5th um so good luck okay uh Dan uh I think covered everything that I was going to call out so I have nothing to add okay uh Andrea okay um yeah if anyone does that that ground is really hard to get those flags into and um but the um 100 for 911 is is an extremely moving experience um so if you do have an opportunity uh to come out uh tonight we had a moment of silence for two of our West Windsor residents one was Mary shank who left us at the age of 98 uh Council gave her a proclamation a couple years ago for her work with the historical society which has been mentioned um many don't know she was also an avid bowler and was part of my Wednesday morning coffee League way back when Mary had a life well lived and thank her for all she did for the community uh the other Resident was D Danny house who I did not know uh he left us way too young at 18 in a tragic accident uh he leaves behind a beautiful family many friends he was at the start of his adult life head headed for college I understand his witch was to be an organ donor and to live on in others he had a life too short but full of love and meaning I'm sure we all pray for his family I hope everybody's summer is winding down nicely I'm enjoying the back to back College pictures and the start of the back to school pictures although it is really hard for me to let Summer go as we discuss September 8 shop West Windsor month so get off your computer and Shop in some of our local stores and eat in the restaurants um check out the local directory and our high school student AR chander has agreed to help Sona and me update the directory so we look forward to having the updated directory in the past couple of weeks I've enjoyed the Indian Federation of Mercer County summer picnic an indeed Independence Day celebration an open house at learning roof and the Conor family's annual lemonade stand that raises so much money for Childhood Cancer every year I even attended an opyan celebration for a friend's son which was like a bar mitzer with Chutney please please pen on registering for the bike fest that is coming up on September 8th I'm always amazed at the wonderful opportunities in our town to be part of so many events and cultures and I encourage all to add to it and to take part in it every day and Adventure thank you thank you Andrea Martin I do not have any comments at this time um I'll just say briefly uh that I did attend the 10th Annual Alex's Lemonade Stand um it's a a fundraiser for uh Childhood Cancer Research um and uh I just want to thank uh our June and Rohan Conor for for their um dedic in organizing this each year and uh there also uh every year if you go to this you'll see police uh fire emergency services and and all the trucks there so it's it's nice the kids enjoy enjoy seeing the trucks and uh yeah it's it's a nice event uh I recently attended a lovely evening in community park to celebrate Independence Day for India and Pakistan um I just wanted to thank all the police fire Emergency Services um for their Valiant rescue efforts um at the scene of the tragic car accident on L lwin Boulevard it it was very very very very difficult um but thanks to them they train many of them you know they live here and so everybody um you know works hard to to save lives as much as they can uh good luck to all the students returning uh to school and um I hope that everyone will join us um on September 11th for the memorial service well thank you Linda for responding as fire police um for the incident as well that's okay any any comments anything no I'm good okay we're moving on to our uh first public hearing okay before I read the the ordinance I want to um do a little outline so everybody understands what is being done and njsa 4069 A-1 184 is submission of initiated ordinances to council by voters of the municipality the voters of any municipality May propose any ordinance and may adopt or reject the same at the polls such power being known as an initiative at the August 12th Township council meeting as the clerk I certified to counsel for njsa 469 a190 that a sufficient number of registered voters in West Windsor signed a petition asking to change from nonpartisan elections to partisan elections the only thing required at that time was to set the date for a public hearing which was done per njsa 469a 191 voting on ordinances if within 20 days of submission of a certified petition by the clerk the council shall fail to pass an ordinance requested by an initiative petition and substantially the form requested the clerk shall submit the ordinance to the voters public comment period will be held just like any ordinance and once this is completed and the public has been public comment has been closed by Council the council will need a motion to adopt the ordinance and a second needs to occur in order to place the ordinance on the table for them to discuss and comment if there is no second to the motion then no discussion can take place this is per Robert's Rules of Order which the council has adopted once the discussion is completed the council will ask for a roll call vote again regardless of the outcome of the Roll Call vote the question will be submitted to the county clerk as a Westwinds or question on the November ballot the only way the question would not be on the ballot would be that at least four of the five petitioners in writing file with the municipal clerk to withdraw the petition within 10 days 2024 an ordinance of the township of West Windsor in Mercer County New Jersey submitting a public initiative to the voters of West Windsor Township concerning alternatives to the Township's form of government okay 2024 d24 so anyone uh would like to make a public comment on this the hearing is open please state your name I have yeah I have a list okay name and address up to three minutes okay this is a public regular standard yep hearing Mr Lup Andy Lup 47 San Marco street I'm not a politician this is new to me uh to the mayor and councel thank you for all the time and effort you put in for us that said I do not support any of you because of the Dr I by your name I support you because I believe you're trying to do what's in the best interest of the township you make decisions to benefit us each and every day now Others May disagree from time to time uh and they have elections to change who the council people are the mayor might be over 30 years ago West Windsor decided to change from partisan to nonpartisan politicians and residents believe this was in our best interest this is still true today I want our elected officials to make decisions that will benefit West Windsor not their parties under our current nonpartisan system any Resident can decide to run for office by acquiring appropriate signatures under our current nonpartisan system candidates can create cross-party tickets and run together as we have now cross-party candidates are indicating their desire to work together to align on local policies for the benefit of our townships wouldn't this be a nice idea for Washington actually crossing the aisle as opposed to being as divided as we are on the national Level under our current non-party system nonpartisan system we don't have primaries so independent voters who actually make up the largest group of registered voters in our Township can actually vote for the candidates they choose during the general election under the current nonpartisan system if an election elected official resigns and this has happened recently anyone can apply for the vacated seat Council will interview the candidates and choose the most appropriate candidate if we go backwards and switch to the partisan system Everything Changes I heard an important reason for change is transparency well there's no secret to candidates affiliation you can simply ask them or look online for it the entire point of being nonpartisan is to take the party's involvement out of the process under a partisan system parties will not allow cross party tickets while you can split your vote and select someone from each party there's no indication that they will work together once elected the parties will be driving in the issues so much for inclusion in that case under a partisan system we will have primaries the parties will decide who the candidates are if you are not chosen by a party you cannot then turn around and run as an independent in a general election also Independents can't vote in the primary if they want to stay independent they will only be able to vote for the candidates chosen by the party during the primaries now sure Independents can run on their own but they don't farewell at all currently in Mercer County partisan communities of the 57 elected officials zero are Independence under a partisan system if a candidate resigns the party chooses which candidates the council can select from I don't believe now is the time for us to take steps backwards and divide our community we should continue to look forward and work together for our Township I agree to chair this effort to provide information to our residents about the implications of the proposed change I will be voting no for this effort to divide us I hope residents will take the time to understand what's at stake and join me in voting no on their ballots thank you Sandy sto Sandra Shapiro 15 Wickham way I've lived in West Windsor for 45 years through partisan and nonpartisan elections it is important to have information about the candidates for Council and mayor in West Windsor we do not have a proper newspaper any longer we have only one that is published once a month and contains mostly ads the printed exchange of ideas has been lost returning to listing political party affiliations on ballots will help to advise voters of candidates allegiances and give them an idea of how they might interact with other elected officials within the county and the state while ballots will list candidates party affiliations candidates who are not affiliated with any party may still run for office and be listed as independent or unaffiliated I would like to add that I was taken aback when receiving a political email from the mayor how did he amass his email address list the email under the banner of an organization advocating retention of the status quo included misinformation trying to justify the recent past years that have changed West Winds or land use policy by using faulty planning I endorse returning to listing Party official affiliations on the ballot thank you thank you my name is Keith Marshall I live at 23 Morano Drive I vote for Mr Lupo uh my wife and I have been living in the West Windsor for 14 years when voting for um elected officials in this town School Board councel we made our choices based on education experience and the vision of the candidate for our Township if if she or he were elected it is unimportant to us if the candidate was a Democrat Republican independent or libertarian what is important is a candidate's commitment to maintaining and improving the quality of our life in the Township in a fiscally responsible way when I was solicited to sign a petition converting nonpartisan voting to partisan I asked the person making the request for the reasons why such a change was necessary the response was nonpartisan voting was uncommon my wife and I find West Windsor an uncommonly excellent community in which to reside which in my view results from persons with diverse views coming together to decide matters of local interest without being beholden to an agenda dictated by party affiliation our elected officials must be doing something right our home values have increased and in our 55 year and older community a home offered for sale is snapped up in a month or two from time to time there are no homes available for sale I don't wish to see the contentions and ranker that attend the national politics into our local community I don't wish to see a council member vote against a measure just because it's being sponsored by a council member who is from another political party I don't see how National policies such as health care Social Security immigration National Defense U taxation fiscal and monetary policy and so forth have anything to do with our local community why fix something that isn't broken I therefore will vote against the petition and urge my neighbors to do so also I must say I just observed in conclusion that one of the uh mantras on the seal is tranquility we have a lot of retirees in this community and Tranquility is an important value also and I think nonpartisan voting is a measure that increases Tranquility decreases uh contention and ranker and um with that I conclude thank you thank you Mr Marks Dan marks 28 Westminster Corp pron Junction uh just want to keep this brief I do not support the ballot uh question and we'll be voting no and I encourage our my fellow residents to do the same uh I just wanted to make a quick Point uh the opposition wants to make this a question or this make wants to make this question a referendum on the mayor and council's performance and and uh or lack of performance and you know where they stand in the issues and I want to make it clear it's not so I don't I'm not sure why that's circulating around um you know this the measure is what it is it's uh it will disenfranchise the majority of our community giving less of a choice and it's also funded by outside sources who have no business whatsoever meddling in our local election process it's just not real I I have no idea why they're doing that but um that's it just want to keep it brief thank you Mr Murray good evening council members and members of the public uh my name is Bob Murray I resided at 20 Lori Lane for 40 plus years uh and I was referred to is old mayor Murray during my tenure in West Windsor several things have happened and I'd like to just give you a little bit of history and serves as a background to why they make the statements I make I started in West Windsor with Bob balini planning the sewer system for this town at the request of Chief Maguire I formed the first juvena conference committee here in West Windsor and as police commissioner I worked with Chief Cox served on a planning and zoning boards and chaired the planning board for several terms and served on County Commission and mayor for two terms uh and that's what I really want to talk about today um for Township committee we decided at that point in time when I was mayor and Jack flood then took over at the uh Inception of it uh we decided to form uh not a Township committee but a strong mayor council form of government and with it a nonpartisan voting to better represent the planning and structure of this our town and its governance why our community was growing at an increased rate from its original base of several thousand to well over 10,000 our cultural mix was also changing with the influx of Asian and Indian residents and it was felt at that time that a nonpartisan voting would be a better representation of our community and the way and manner it planned its future as we look at West Windsor now population is over 30,000 the cultural mix is some 70% Asian and Indian our current immediate past mayors represented both Asian and Indian communities I believe while much was changed in West Windor as a community and its growth and basic principles of the government form and the voting has provided this community with a proper and blessed and best plans where we have come and where we are heading changing our voting methodology will do nothing to improve the current success in operating and managing this town it's no strong logic or reasoning for this change and no stated value for making the change I therefore strongly urge West Windor to continue its nonpartisan voting and to vote not to make any changes in the way and manner of voting at this time and as an interesting PS here I went back and looked at the records and it was interesting that at the time we made the change the strong influence was one Pary influence that said we want to make a nonpartisan form of government as an isn't it interesting that that same party now wants to change it back to a partisan structure so as a former mayor this was a wonderful town here I raised my two children here and Kathy and I enjoyed it unfortunately my wife passed in this past year but it was a wonderful town to live in and I still my hearts in West Windsor and actually piece of real estate because I have a grave plot at Dutch neck Family Church yes so I may be here a lot longer than many of you I thank you all for your time and I thank the public for listening thank you thank you very much Mr Church okay uh good evening again uh John Church 11 Princeton Place uh good evening Madam president and council members in 1992 our Charter commission recommended that we change our form of government into the mayor counsel form as Allowed by the fauler act the commission also recommended that we make our elections nonpartisan our new Charter included this provision and it was adopted in a referendum now petitions are often used to initiate new ordinances but petitions to amend a charter come under much more restrictive rules the permitted types of such amendments are very limited these are listed in section 25.1 of the fauler ACT they include whether election should be held in May or November whether council members should be elected at large or by wards where the terms should be concurrent or staggered whether the mayor should be a council member or separately elected and how many members a council may have no other kinds of Charter amendments are permitted Madam president nobody can just make up new kinds of amendments this would inject chaos into the fauler Act only a state can change the rules there is another way the petitioners could have found a court case or other precedent that would allow this new type of amendment but I'm not aware that they've done this nor has any attorney as far as I know found a court case or other precedent I've searched for such a precedent myself but with no result the default is to allow only the types of amendments specifically authorized in the Faulkner act and these don't include whether elections should be partisan or nonpartisan there are several local fauler act towns that do have partisan elections but I believe their Charters were that way from the beginning and not changed by later amendments uh now is the time for a president precedent to the contrary to be cited if there is one I don't think there is one one please note also that uh section 150 of the fauler ACT refers to the uniform nonpartisan elections law which must be followed in towns that have chosen to have nonpartisan elections such as West Windsor This law specifically prohibits listing party labels with candidate names now the only option that I see for changing to a partisan election process would be to have a newly elected commission go through the whole Charter process again and have a referendum I really don't think anyone wants to go down that long and torturous path again thank you very much thank you is it Tren Trin 47 greyland Drive good evening council members public general public can you state your name and address for the record please sir uh my name is uh trar vishan and I live in uh 47 grin uh I've been a member uh a resident of uh West Wister for last 20 years and uh this is the first time I'm doing a public comment and I'm here because and uh uh I'm here overcoming my public fear because I really really strongly feel about what's about to happen in the Westminster and the uh the the the topic of partisan versus nonpartisan uh election has been bothering me for a while uh I believe I strongly believe that the partisan election would cause something like a duality this is a friend versus a friend a brother versus a brother and this is something that happens sooner or later it may not happen today but it will happen and this is evident from the uh way our country is right now and it's just not uh United States it's the whole world we see that people are fighting this is because it's US versus them kind of philosophy and so I strongly believe that we should not go the partisan way we should be the nonpartisan keep Westminster one and move forward this is for us and for the future of Westminster thank you thank you same all hello my name is satam um 78 rill well um coming from a country like I'm an immigrant I'm being welcomed here I prospered I lived in this community for almost 20 years now if things are not broken there's no need to fix it um the are lot of things which is bothering all of us like we saw what happened January 6 we saw what happened last election the current election we see all the bickering going name calling Etc I don't want to I don't want this time sorry this town to be divided on U parties in lines down the road the country that I'm coming from we go by cast we go by region we go by religion I don't want none of it I want this this this Township to be united we want to solve the problems which are in front of us we want to be good citizens we want to be Civic citizens and we want our kids to be civil to each other and not have anything which further divides us I'm independent I want my voice to be heard I don't to be Democrat I don't to be Republican I want to stay independent I want to vote for the values the candidate education and the things that he or she is going to bring in front of us quoting Michelle Obama when they go low we go High please please please please be thankful to this community and please hear The Independent voice into this wonderful town thank you and have a good evening Diane hassling I Diane hassling 12 Jacob Drive West WS I'm here tonight to show how disappointed I am with the recent petition to change the form of West Windsor's government to a partisan one mayam Webster's Dictionary defines Politics as practice of government and management of public affairs Wikipedia extends that a bit to say politics is a set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups or other forms of power relations among individuals I am fortunate to have had opport OPP unities to participate in effective decision-making groups as part of school committees our school board and several outside organizations each member seeks to understand the issue at hand listen to stakeholders and share perspectives from their life experiences to reach a decision for the good of the whole I've also observed this process on our current West wisor boards and Council by having a nonpartisan government West Windsor residents run for leadership positions and the community votes based on issues relevant to our town and the experience and positions of the candidates the process is inclusive anyone can run and get elected and all voters can participate equally regardless of party affiliation or lack thereof once elected council members discuss the issues as they relate to our community rather than based on the influence or philosophy in those in other Town County or State political parties the Wikipedia entry continues in Modern Nation States people often form political parties to represent their ideas members of a party often agree to take the same position on many issues and agree to support the same changes to law and the same leaders an election is usually a competition between different parties and it defines partisan a partisan is a committed member of a political party in multi-party systems the term is used for persons who strongly support their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with political opponents one of the ideas raised in favor of the partisan approach is that it's more transparent I've struggled to understand this as I don't feel a political party label defines a person or all of their perspectives or potential positions but if the party positions and members come first in the partisan system then party does seem to matter more than an individual candidate in that case the party label is important because of all the implications that come with it I don't want Party politics in Trenton or the state level to influence decisions made by our council members for West Windsor and I don't want the National Party political party divisiveness to infiltrate West Windsor campaigns and decisions when I told my husband about this movement his immediate reaction was that's a really bad idea when I asked him why he said I want people looking at our ISS local issues pragmatically not based on political philosophy I agree and hope that will be considered thank you thank you D Lon my name is Dale lesne and I live at 67 rainflower Lane my husband and I have lived in West Windsor since 1986 and we raised our children here my strong Democratic Values guide me and cause me to examine the policies that impact West Windsor please be assured that I have no political aspirations to run for elected office in 1993 when wiswis are at 16,000 residents it's form of government changed to a mayor council format at the recommendation of an appointed Charter Commission the commission also recommended that West wior elections change from partisan to nonpartisan to facilitate focus on local issues and specifically endorse the Democratic rights of initiative referendum and Recall now west wi's population is 30,000 and the ethnic demographic of our residents is more Diversified many immigrated from places where people are persecuted for their political party ideologies I join the petitioners Committee of Wester voters for transparency and representation because I believe an informed electorate is important to our community too many residents lack the sufficient information on municipal candidates to decide who best represent their interests knowledgeable residents are more likely to vote increasing turnout West Windsor's turnout rate last November was lower than the rates in towns with partisan elections including East Winds Ying Hamilton heightstown Hopewell Lawrence Pennington Plainsboro and Princeton this council's voting record shows that party affiliations do matter because political ideologies impact decisionmaking even though the council is comprised of three Democrats one Republican and one affili unaffiliated member I was disappointed to learn that in past years the members voted unanimously with the mayor a republican a major development applications as well as most other matters that may explain why for several years the council's policy decisions on proposed developments have been commercial Centric with inadequate consideration to storm water management or attention to infrastructure that will improve our quality of life now and protect us into the future even though the governor mandated that Municipal meetings be viewable on Zoom during the pandemic the council meetings where the bridge point8 and jvn Warehouse development applications were considered were not viewable by the public on Zoom the lack of transparency in the council's approval process resulted in outcries and objections to the projects from both West Windsor residents and neighboring towns my fellow petitioners committee members and I asked that the opponents to the initiative stop their insults and bullying their Facebook and email attacks have been based on misinformation and filled with vit and ranker such mean-spirited unwarranted and unprofessional contuct is inexcusable the time to achieve Clarity in West's electoral processes so that voters have the information needed to choose a candidate has arrived we urge everyone to vote Yes on the initiative in November thank you very much thank you g Bor my name is Gary Baylor Ted Robert drive my wife and I moved here 31 years ago and raised our two children through our school systems over that time we've seen the council um and the mayor's office change a lot and as I look around here um no it's a very Diversified Council and that's great Diversified council is nice when we're talking about um gender race religion all great but diversification should also be about ideas especially as we look at things at a local level when I read this referendum that was coming across I was kind of shocked one of the reasons I moved here was because it was an Innovative idea to have a nonpartisan Council you see that in many towns and over the years I've seen many difficult decisions on what to do best for this community um really be thoughtfully thought out and different ideas discussed debated and some people liked them some people didn't I didn't like all of them I liked many of them but the nice thing was that it wasn't about a central point of view from partisan point of view and I have yet to hear any compelling reason on why we should change this what good does it bring to have a partisan system what that will result in is we will have one voice that's the reality that's what will result there'll be one Viewpoint and that's not what it's about to manage local politics okay so the only benefit that I see is is there there's going to be money coming in from a party that will force a one decision way of thinking and a one decision way of running the town if that's what the the residents of the community wants great as I retired in April after uh working most of my career in both New York and Northern New Jersey and commuting from here okay you'll lose one resident so I would urge everybody to vote no and I would love to hear a any compelling reason for this initiative I've yet to hear one so far tonight thank you Glen sandor hi my name is Glenn sandor I live at 26 San Marco I'm opposed to this referendum and I just have some my own experiences I moved to West Windsor eight years ago um I retired now and I'm a very happy resident in West Windsor prior to that I lived in midd six County for over 30 years and in the in the uh the town that I lived the council and the mayor they didn't change hands at all it was 28 years 28 years the same mayor Democratic mayor same Democratic Council nobody ever had a chance no Republicans no Independents ever had a chance the Committees always picked their members and everything else it was a guar guarantee that Democrats were going to win now that could happen to any affiliation but it was just a guarantee that you know you would you would not have much choices in addition to that I decided one time when my my little son going into kindergarten and the school said that hey your son has to go to special education and he has to go to another school system um in middx County I like well you know the special ed you know you're going to send my kid to to another school so I decided to run for the Board of Education um just one one Dad running trying to make a better thing for his son well the Democratic Committee Member called me up and says Glenn you gota you got to join the Democratic committee and we'll help you out on winning that uh that school board he like no say I don't want to be affiliated with anything I just want to be independent he says Glenn you're going to lose right sure enough I did lose right I mean I lost by 16 votes and a very big town so I was very proud of myself I was able to help myself so there is an influence firsthand from a committee that wants to influence the school board so don't kid yourself they will influence it so I became a director of a public works in a town and the same town that I lived in and everything else and I can tell you that the Committees do have influence over your zoning board they'll help you pick a Zoning Board member they'll help you pick a planning board member they'll help you pick the township attorney they'll help you pick um many other outside contractors that's what this is all about you know is just to get more influence over one committee to make it whatever that one um you know political party is in power so I'm opposed to this uh firsthand I've seen it uh everybody knows we just saw conventions the Republicans do we really think think that the Republicans really nominated uh their candidate or did he just just choose himself same thing on the Democratic side right I mean did we really choose that person or did Biden just you know tell that person we don't need that in West Windsor I think we need open Fair we need Independence Republican people just independent people running and I'm an oppos to um this referendum thank you thank you Bill Charles good evening Joe Charles nin aloof Drive lived in town 16 years and my wife and I love the town here uh politically I'm an independent I have no interest in joining either of our political parties one thing that maybe everybody in here can agree on our national two- party system as it operates today is dysfunctional at the national level let's ask ourselves what do we want in our local leaders I want people who are going to serve the best interests of West Windsor first not their political party or out of town donors I believe that candidates need to earn our votes based on their positions in local on local issues should we blindly just vote for someone in a local election based on their political affiliation with the national party right why bother learning about the candidates positions on local issues just pull the lever for the candidate you associate with your preferred National Party that's what some people pushing this would prefer we do I'm not interested in that I'm going to vote for candidates who I think are the best for West Windsor based on our local issues regardless of their political party and you know what um if you don't like someone on the council you don't like the mayor you can vote against them you can tell your friends to vote against them you could run for office yourself we have a fair election process here where every registered voter gets to have their voice equally heard Independents make up the largest voting block in West Windsor I think it's 44% I believe is the number if the partisan proposal passes Independence will have little say in the process right we we'd have primary elections in the primary elections where The Independents can't vote moderate and independent candidates will be pushed theide in favor of well-funded party loyalists backed by their party leaders then in the general election we'll have fewer choices moderates Independents and Democrats who are not the party leaders preferred Democrats May decide to run not run in the general election assuming they may have no chance eventually we'll have elections where you have one slate of candidates running unopposed is that what we want is that what's best for West Windsor I don't think so The Advocates of the partisan initiative that build it is transparency let's be clear the issue this is not about transparency it's a strategy by a political party machine to take over our local elections keep West Windsor nonpartisan vote no in November thank you good evening everyone to 22 Lock Drive I I must start by saying that I agree with many of the previous speakers uh specifically with Mr Lupo and others who have gone in detail on what the partisan versus nonpartisan form of Elections mean and what the process looks like in over 16 years I've been a resident of the town I have experienced our multiple Township councils and two Mayors work closely for the betterment of the Town regardless of their party affiliations by the way um finding affiliations is not that hard a simple Google search will do the petition to make West Wier elections paron involves not just having a d r i or any other letter in front of the candidates as the group they call themselves ww transparency voters group um make out to be it's far more involved as Mr Lupo said in detail I do not want to go over that again but you get the idea what it would do is it would bring party affiliations based divisions and the polarizing politics to the Forefront I'm not for that that was the reason I am an independent I do not pick a party affiliation and what it's going to do to more than 40% of its residents who are Independents they are going to be marginalized they cannot vote in P primary elections and they will be at disadvantage anage during the general elections do we seriously want this kind of division in this Township let's coming this November I'm going to say no to this division tactics and I'm going to vote Yes for keeping nonpartisan uh form of government and the elections to keep us together we should work together the way we have been to make this Township a better place for all thank you thank you Henry Murphy Henry Murphy 26 Birchwood Court Madam chair I cannot pretend to the eloquence of the speakers before me Mr Lupo Marshall Murray Tamar here Joe Charles but I just wanted to take the opportunity to get hry can you um raise I just wanted to come up and express my support uh to vote no on this petition for all the reasons previously stated and I won't ruin their eloquence by trying to restate them thank you very much Travis meerson I'm not sure how much more I can add to this but I do want to add my voice uh I've had the opportunity to see up close uh the workings of West Windsor's M municipal government due to my wife's advocacy uh for road safety and I've been able to speak with many members of our Council and with our mayor and I witnessed up close a diverse group of people with diverse viewpoints who seem to care deeply about our community I've been struck by the focus on Solutions and dialogue rather than adherence to political ideology I haven't witnessed The Retreat to sides or teams that I have witnessed in other townships I believe that this is due in large part to our nonpartisan status during the last few months of signature gathering for this ballot measure I've seen a lot of political propaganda that we typically only see at the national level I've seen people accused of being anti-democracy for speaking out against the effort to change our form of government I've seen the issue framed as framed misleadingly as just about transparency with the true effects of the ballot measure obscured I don't think that the proponents of the ballot question are bad people we probably agree more politically uh than we disagree but we don't need this kind of partisan nonsense in our Township I love the sense of community that I've found in West Windsor I love that it doesn't matter what is happening at the national level when it comes to our local politics I love that a Democrat a Republican and an independent can all run together on the same ticket I love that the state and County political machines don't choose our candidates I love that our voters have to be informed on the issues rather than just voting party line candidates a party line of candidates selected from an out from group by groups from outside the community I love nonpartisan West wsor so I would urge everyone to vote no on the ballot question in November Ben blein hi uh Ben finklestein 43 Arnold Drive um I'm certainly in favor of this uh ballot initiative and I'm not here today to change anybody's Minds I'm here today to just talk about the discourse I'd like to elevate the level of the discourse there's been so much misinformation online it's been pretty outrageous we've heard from people in this room uh who are s who are I'm looking at right now and folks and a person who's not here right now who said that this would impact the Board of Education that's not true in the state of New Jersey there are no partisan elections uh legally in New Jersey and the case that you mentioned earlier that sounds like a real problem um to the gentleman who spoke earlier um we've heard rhetoric that said that this campaign is connected to Robert Mendez that's just an outrageous lie and what it amounts to is bullying we can't have folks uh you know we are Grassroots organiz ation there were 50 more than 50 volunteers that collected more than 1,500 signatures that's not Robert Mendez that's not a machine that's West Windsor volunteers that's hey that's me I was the number one signature getter so I'm I'm here this is my face I'm part of this too but I don't want to be accused of being connected to Robert mende is because that's a lie and it's really not acceptable if you want to have highquality discourse in this town because what it's amounted to it's amounted to bullying and it's not just myself and I have definitely been I would argue a victim of some of the bullying online but it's a great number of the people who are part of this there's no reason to have this conversation be full of lies and misinformation people should not be bullied and harassed for their political beliefs we need to elevate this discourse I welcome anybody to an honest conversation based in facts and logic I'm not interested in this current situation that's based in misinformation and lies so I encourage people to vote Yes for transparency thank you Maya Kamar an honest conversation best based in facts I just want to add that Ben just said the signatures ma'am I'm sorry could you please state your name and address for the right that's I know everybody's passionate tonight uh my name is Maya comt 40 Shadow Drive West Wier I just heard an honest conversation based in facts I just want to point out that the signatures were not collected just by volunteers that were paid canvassers that went around and that was not transparent that just went on I'm I want to start by expressing my gratitude to every one of our elected officials whether officials whether our Visions for this town align or not I believe each of you are here with the genuine desire to improve our community I deeply respect the time and energy you invest in making our town a better place today I want to address the referendum that will appear on the ballot I am strongly opposed to making our town partisan 30 years ago we went from partisan to nonpartisan at that time we made the decision to ensure fairness and focus on the candidates rather than their party affiliations since then our elections have centered on the individual candidates and their Visions for our towns rather than the National Party ideals we have seen a diverse mix of Independents Republicans and Democrats coming together United by their commitment to our community unlike the decisiv national political scene consider this simply identifying as a democrat or a republican does not necessarily reveal a person's views on every issue not every Republican is pro-life and many Democrats support the right to own own a weapon our political identities are complex and party labels alone do not provide a full picture of an individual stands on issues for example and purely an example councilman Dan Weiss ran as a Democrat and while I respect his efforts I've not seen his views clearly articulated on Township issues his current social media present highlights community events but lacks details on his position knowing he's a Democrat tells me nothing I look forward to learning more about his perspectives I am also concerned about practices introduced by the local political committee supporting this proposal we now see paid canvassers who lack any sort of training who are unfamiliar with our town Distributing misleading information whereas in previous elections candidates are well-informed local volunteer supporters conducted door too Outreach Additionally the recent elections have seen substantial Financial contributions from this committee and politicians outside our town raising concerns about external influences on our local politics partisanship will make it wor moreover some members of this group have engaged in unacceptable behavior on social media calling people trolls accusing them of not living here and other derogatory names we should question whether this behavior is appropriate and consider if introducing partisan lines will unify or further divide our country our community my primary concern with this referendum is its impact on the independent voters our town has a significant number of independent voters and the proposed primary election would exclude all of them contradicting the claim that it aims to increase voter participation we must protect the rights of our independent voters and ensure their full participa in elections please vote no on adding a primary and vote no to keep and keep West Windsor nonpartisan thank you Mona Jane thank you my name is Mona Jean I live on 87 K Blain I a Westminster resident from last 16 years I raised both my kids here with my husband and fortunately the kid said that college was easy so there's something right going on in our schools and of course the schools are made from the parents guidance and all that so everything is going right again the person who came to my door somewhere around 27th of July for the signature was not transparent he did not offer me any explanation kept on handing me the paper a printed paper which had some gibberish a long one I asked him why he was here what was his purpose he had nothing to offer me he just gave me the print paper did not speak a word he was I think 22 to 25 year old boy it was kind of little shady something like you're cheating something lying there was nothing right about that paper which he presented me and the second thing I wanted to say why are we dividing our town with Party politics aren't we divided enough nationally and we are bitterly divided we already have an example where the doors are closed and an de and a nominee Presidential nominee is out of the door do we want that investment sir and why do we want a Democratic party the state party or the GOP State party interfering into my town my problems are small Street lights potholes garbage collection maybe School some security some police presence for the all the other party things we have a party process a primary process for the state elections and national elections for my small needs we need somebody who can work across the ISS so please say no to to the November referendum Andy Brown I'm Andy Bromberg 24 Providence Drive and I'm angry I'm really angry tonight for this proposal this is nonsense now um so I I listen to a lot of comments I just want to say something I was approached a month ago by someone to ask me to sign the petition he says sir just sign a petition it doesn't mean you're voting no or yes it just means you want to get it on the Val on the ballot so I said to this gentleman why would we want to change our Council consists of three Democrats one independent and one Republican I'm a Democrat three Democrats I said what's wrong with that he says they're only Democrats and name only Democrats and name only what is that mean who's going to select the Democrats if it's not the people here um are the the person who just uh spoke earlier said he's the most uh the biggest V count he he was the one who got the most um signatures who is this guy I who is this guy how long has he been in town all the people that spoke before are such I have such respect for them they're the contributors they're friends of West Windsor bicycle Society they're previous Mayors they're volunteers they're people who go around I I know all these people someone said something about Menendez oh someone said something about Menendez come on that's that's just a scare tacket on their side and I also heard people from Union County are going around getting um uh people to sign also I've been here and this isn't a rubber stamp Council they've been against the mayor and uh when they're not against the mayor they discuss it and and and they go for it um so what else now I I I'm not too I'm not like gay an expert in in law but I did hear that four people four petitioners could actually present this no matter what I implore them not to go forward with this it's going to cost the people who are against this petition to to to fight to raise unnecessary money the other side is going to raise a lot of money we're going to start hating each other I don't know what's going to happen please do not submit this petition let's send it tonight is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this topic John Raider 17 honeyflower Lane and a member of the charter commission and it's because I served on that Charter commission that I am speaking I didn't realize it was on the agenda I came here to salute gay Huber tonight uh but I ran and I had to follow the same rules that all of you as independent candidates have to file you have to get more signatures on your petition to run than the partisan yes and I went and collected all those signatures myself and I got elected as one of the five people out of 12 candidates and one thing I in particular remember is Mayor former mayor Murray saying there is no connection between the issues in West witer Township and the issues dealing uh related to the National parties and you inspired me to go with the nonpartisan and in fact the commission the charter commission was unanimous in favor of the nonpartisan there was a split between whether it should be Council manager or mayor counsel but on nonpartisan we were solidly unanimous so I just want to say I still stand by my vote on that Charter commission thank you thank you hi my name is Puja me I uh live at 17 Shadow Drive um this is the first time I'm coming here to share My Views uh so you can imagine uh this is an important topic to me and my family um I I came to West wior about 18 years ago and uh we love this town um Westminster is a small Clos nit Community neighbors are caring and cordial to one another the elections are fair and clean and most importantly things get done trash is collected roads are fixed schools are enhanced and crime rate is low in short things run smoothly and get done unlike in the center with partisan politics where people the the members vote on party lines there are so many examples not even like just recently the immigration Bill the best bill was voted down because of party lines we don't want that to happen in West fer let's not fix something that's not broken therefore I urge to keep our Township government system nonpartisan because because it is run by the people of West wisor for the best interest of the people of West wisor and not for a party let's keep West wisor nonpartisan thank you thank you good evening my name is Corey saffron and my address is 10 Spring Hill Drive we have been living in West Windor since 2010 I want to start by saying I strongly opposed the mega Warehouse development and I voted for tiza in the last election tiza worked very hard but the people of West Winds are voted and we lost the election by a substantial margin losing is difficult but it's very disappointing that just when the no Warehouse Sid's response should have been to find stronger leaders and stronger voices to Champion our cause the decided plan for it is to be become partisan politicians it's surprising since partisan politicians along with the media are perhaps the most despised people in America yet this is their choice at best the proposed move to partisan politics is an attempt to attract uninformed voters who blindly vote along party lines but at worst the move to partisan politics is a common geopolitical strategy to group people and label people as a weapon to hate people which has been used countless times in history often with short-term success and always with longterm devastating lasting consequences the petition from the beginning has been an exercise in deception and Desperation West wizard West Windsor residents see this destructive effort for what it is and that is to burn down the Civility and spirit of this town just to gain a few more votes because of partisan politics this country is more divided than ever the grouping of elected officials into competing political parties naturally breeds polarization the party system itself works against collaboration and the consequential polarization is a source of much Discord tension and at times even violence today political parties are thrown into two silos of people left or right but here too are contradictions someone like me May favor right-wing fiscal policy espoused by the Republican party yet be much closer to the Democrats when it comes to gun control legislation or a woman's reproductive right to choose Municipal governments like West Windsor should have no party affiliations they should be composed of counselors that work effectively on an issue by isue basis parties have organized politics for centuries considering the blind partisanship and disunity has C it has caused it may be time to assess its effect on society in closing my message to the petition Partners is that our our side needs leaders not politicians the only good that has come out of your effort is that myself and many many others have been energized and activated to be vocal and involved to fiercely oppose what you are doing my voice and local network is strong and I will be working very hard so every West Windsor resident will vote no to partisan politics thank you is there anyone else who wishes to speak is there anyone else who wishes to speak on this topic if not um marlina anyone from the administration any comments um as part of this okay yes can you hear me let me state that these comments are mayor morat's and if you don't like them please don't be mad at the person reading them that's me those are the mayor's words not mine I have spoken extensively about this issue both at Council meetings and on social media about how this is really an attempt to make it impossible for a mixed ticket like Linda Jers and Martin Whitfield or Andrea Mandel Sonia gaas and Mike Stevens to even run there is a reason there is a reason why not a single independent candidate has been elected in any town in Mercer County with a partisan government over at least the past 30 years that is the real threat to democracy we don't have to talk hypothetically about the effects if the proposal passes since the wreck department recently showed the movie Back to the Future let me illustrate what would have been the effects on West Windsor's government if the partisan system was in place mayor Shay would never have been elected mayor of West Windsor mayor Shay was a registered Republican in 2000 in 2001 he ran with two running mates Alison m and Jackie Alberts who were registered Democrats it was a mixed ticket not allowed by the partisan system in 2005 mayor Shay ran with Linder Jers and Heidi kimman again a mixed ticket of independent Republican and a Democrat not allowed by the partisan system in 2009 mayor Shay ran with Linda Jers and Kam con once again this was a mixed ticket not allowed by the partisan system in 2013 mayor Shay ran with Kamal cona and Eric Payne again a mixed ticket not allowed by the partisan system in every election mayor Shay ran on a ticket that is not allowed by the partis system being proposed the simple question is do you want to to prevent a future mayor Shay from even running in an election for mayor in West Windsor don't believe all the misinformation the proponents of the petition are spreading ask them how mayor Shay would have run under the partisan system in every election what column on the ballot would he be listed in would he have ever become one of the longest ser in mayors of West Windsor let's examine the devastating effect the partisan system had on one of the petitioners Ying sha Zang YZ was a sitting council person in 2018 a few Democrats conducted an unofficial nomination process behind closed doors in 2019 and threw YZ off the ticket while y z was told he couldn't run that November since less than 40 people behind closed doors decided that was best for West Windsor where West Windsor voters better served when 40 people behind closed doors made the decision that 20,000 voters should not have an opportunity to vote for YZ if the system had such devastating effect when used unofficially how much more damage will it do if it was officially adopted the corrosive effect of the partisan system was in full display during the primary elections this year representative Kim successfully sued to abolish the party line in primaries however even after abolishment of the party line the primary process favors people endorsed by the regular party organization thus if the process goes through the majority of West ons or voters will be restricted only to vote for candidates approved by party bosses behind closed doors even if you were a registered democrat or republican remember that the party bosses may not like a candidate you prefer and in that case you are out of luck the question on the ballot is not who you support but rather your right to support them if you vote for this proposal you are potentially signing away your right to support the candidate you like the only Silver Lining about this paragraph is that it has woken people up normal non-political people who don't like what is being proposed and they are speaking in higher numbers with each passing day as evidenced here tonight people are learning about the political party based system and don't like the system when they find out the truth Andy Lupo a longtime resident with an exceptional record of community service is leading a group of Independence Democrats and Republicans to defeat the paragraph thanks to thanks to over 200 people who have already joined him in this effort as supporters please join him in his efforts to save democracy in West Windsor let's keep West Windsor the Envy of others and what others aspire to be vote no on the question that's from mayor hamont arate okay right right thank you um hearing you to do a motion no no I just need a motion to close the public hearing move second gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes uh motion approved that was motion to close the public hearing right so um is there a motion to adopt ordinance 2024 -24 so moved right is there a second I'm going to Second for the purpose of discussion okay I Council can now discuss uh Dan thank chair I recognize that this initiative has sparked a lot of conversation particularly from those who are concerned about the influence of political parties and the Integrity of our government and I also recognize the concerns about the impact this change would have on Independent voters I'd like to clarify the language being used here whereas folks who are not registered with a political party call themselves Independence um that's independence with a lowercase eye just to be clear when voters are these voters are not members of the Independent party which is independent with a capital i um according to the board of uh elections voters who are not registered with any party are described as un Affiliated uh the distinction might seem insignificant but here's why it's important there is a narrative among unaffiliated voters claiming that the partisan election model which would result in holding Party primary elections in June to select party Representatives excluded them from participating in the selection of candidates this is simply not true every unaffiliated voter can vote in a primary all they have to do is show up at the polling station identify themselves as a registered voter and once confirmed they will be given a choice right then and there to select which Party primary they want to vote in it's as simple as tapping a button on a screen there's no cost and no barriers to vote in a primary and if you want to change your political affiliation back to unaffiliated the very next day it's a simple form that you can fill out online now there's also a pervasive narrative suggesting that our local political system is dominated by dark shadowy figures party bosses if you will who manipulate our electoral processes for their own gain there's a belief that political parties are inherently evil that fundraising for an election is somehow a Sinister act and that once elected representatives are beholden to some unseen Puppet Masters this dark portrayal displaying a deep distrust of public service and promoted using divisive rhetoric quite frankly makes me rather sad who are these party bosses that supposedly control us and why would they want to control us why would they even care or perhaps the more pertinent question is am I the party boss that people are afraid of do you really believe because I raised money to ra to run a campaign no different than any other person sitting here up here I am somehow unable to make decisions in the best interest of West Windsor do you generally think genuinely think that I lack such Integrity I find this entire line of thinking absurd and while I realize it's not always intentional I find it offensive everyone on this C council at one time or another has been a member of a political party for example councilwoman Mandel is currently the chair of the West Wind Republican Club mayor morate is a founding member of the South Asian Republican Republican Coalition which is part of the New Jersey Republican state committee and I am the chair of the West wisor Democratic committee a group of 32 duly elected West Windsor residents who represent their party across all 16 districts here now there's nothing wrong with all of this political parties provide the structure to organize they bring people together with common ideologies and offer a platform for open policy debate a platform for Community engagement and accountability however because of our current nonpartisan electoral process we have lost something very valuable we have lost public debate about policy we no longer have election debates we no longer have town halls or Community forums or opportunities for public engagement and discussion on the multitude of critical issues facing every resident of this community but make no mistake political parties and their lead leaders in West Windsor are active here but their influence is hidden within the electoral process this lack of transparency is a disservice to all members of the community regardless of your political affiliation I believe in a system where debates are open political ideology is disclosed policies are discussed in the public sphere and every resident has the opportunity to engage with their representatives on important issues a partisan electoral process would bring us closer to that ideal by fostering transparency encouraging public participation and ensuring that every voice is heard in closing I want to emphasize that the goal is to create a more transparent and inclusive electoral process for all voters regard regardless of party affiliation I understand that change can bring uncertainty and I appreciate the concerns raised by unaffiliated voters however it's important to remember that our system is designed to ensure that every voter has a voice in selecting candidates even in a partisan primary model by simply showing up to vote and choosing which Party primary to participate in unaffiliated voters can play a crucial role in shaping the future of our community the process is straightforward accessible and designed to accommodate all voters who wish to be involved so let's work together to build a stronger and more engaged Community where every voter has the opportunity to be heard and where our electoral process reflects the diverse voices and values of our citizens thank you let you have my time thank you Dan Andrea okay first of all just to note here what you what we basically just heard is that unaffiliated voters can vote in the say Democratic primary as long as they're willing to become Democrats and that's basically how the system works you if you want to vote in a particular party you have to join that party which is what everybody is saying if you're unaffiliated you can join at that day but you are joining that party it also means that you're joining that party and you're not joining some other party on some other level that you might want to make um any kind of primary vote for in any case I'll read this thing the other thing is here yes there is a difference I have not taken any money from any political party I have never taken any money for running for office from a political party as far as I know the mayor has never done that either I have run with Independence and I have run with Democrats that's about as far from a party if you want if you want to say I would want if I was some sort of party boss or whatever here there would be no way I would be pushing to stay nonpartisan nonpartisan is to me the thing I have always stood for and I did when it was Republican major um I remember compl complaining back in the 90s when I heard that Republicans were attempting to make uh some sort of a pressure that you had a you had us come to the Republican party if you want an endorsement when there were more Republicans I stood up firmly against that then and I'm firmly against it now no matter who it might be I believe in a very in a local election is nonpartisan it doesn't matter we don't even have an aisle here there's nobody here that I've ever said I'm going do this for you and you do that for me or anything like that it's always been what is good for this town what do we all think is good and there isn't even an aisle to cross and that's you know I don't know what kinds of stuff and there was some nasty thing that was sent out already on me I see uh somebody got a hold of the e-bulletin list I believe and sent some nasty thing out um and that was um that just shows you the kind of division and the kind of horrible um things that are going to happen if we go for a partisan election anyways thank you to everyone in C uh who came and spoke for the last month I've been getting a number of questions on this uh ordinance question some people want to know who is behind it and what it's about others want to know why this is happening and why anybody would want to go to a divisive partisan government while we are watching our beloved Nation being torn apart by partisanship on the national level many people have been misinformed they've been asked to sign a petition to just let us know what parties the people running for local elections belong to this change to partisan is about parties picking the candidates it's not about informing the voters there's nothing in here that informs the voter it's everything about a party picking a candidate it's a power play it's about a political party picking who will run on the party line under the candidates for Governor and Congress and State Senator said they will get many automatic unearned votes in a local election nobody else can run under that party no matter what party they belong to so if the Democrats pick somebody and say Sonia wanted to is a Democrat and is running under some other line she can't say that it's not about ad at all you don't know what party anybody is go ask us or look it up but you're not going to get anything from voting for this members of the group supporting this return to the bad old days have stated that running as an independent candidate would be just like it is now with the same opportunity to be on the ballot and win if that was true why are there zero independent elected officials out of 57 in any partisan town in Mercer County others have been told that if somebody loses in a primary they can collect signatures and run as an independent which is of course impossible because both signatures are due the day of the primary and New Jersey has a saw loser law to prevent it anyway it's had one since 1915 uh which prevents people from Lo who lose in a primary from running they even there was somebody who uh was accused of asking for a few wrin votes to run in a primary and uh this was recently I think within the last year in one town and they got a few wrin votes so they Lo but they lost the primary and they were not even allowed to uh run independent in the general election because they said no you ran in the primary uh talked about that um so what's the transparency we're hearing about when so many people were misled or Worse bullied or insulted as we've heard from some other people here into signing this petition where is the representation when 8,700 West Windsor voters about 44% of our population will not even be allowed to vote in the primaries and will have candidates chosen for them of course you can always join another party hey you can that that's but but we've heard from people they don't want to do that they want to remain unaffiliated independent whatever you want to call it but and speaking of primaries it won't matter anyway out of 13 Municipal races in six towns in Mercer County this year that's everybody that ran neither party had one primary challenge to any regular organization candidate chosen by these Party leaders not one there was you if you went in there and you wanted to vote for a municipal candidate in a primary there was no choice on the ballot nobody bothered for whatever reason or they were talked out of it and there and there was nobody there was nobody on the primary uh ballot to even vote for in a municipal election in a in a um partisan uh town this year in in um Mercer County West Windsor's always been my city on the hill where diverse people with diverse opin iions political parties colors religions nationalities and orientations can mingle freely and work together on common goals we're unique because our nonpartisan system of government doesn't artificially divide us please don't take that away and put us in the mud with so many of others in these times now I'm going to quote my neighbor Patty Ryan who lost her husband John on 911 and saw her whole Community come together for her uh you can also find the whole quote um online she wasn't able to be here today because um she's in Washington DC on a 911 advocacy group um but we have it uh it's on um the keep West Windsor nonpartisan website and I believe she also put it up on Facebook today she can say this so much better than mine I can she says I'm vinant opposed to changing our current governing structure it adds nothing to the fabric of our town one of the worst consequences of our current political climate is the spike in feelings of alienation many of us are experiencing in our relationships with family members neighbors former friends and co-workers who differ from us politically today over half of Americans report struggling with such tense division in their own families I want to continue to live in a town that is a model for non-protestant practices a town that shares ideas and is able to have discussions that relate to our future and best interest of the town we live in and not outside interests I say this from the bottom of my heart the community came out and held me up in such a devastating time in my life and at those times you see the strength and health of a town let's continue to keep West Windsor nonpartisan and be a model for so many other communities in New Jersey who have had to bow to political parties interest let's show the state that we are not Republicans Or democrats in West Windsor but Americans so I'd like to thank her for that because uh that's just so much in the terms of my feeling and I guess I'm sometimes a was it right brain or left brain and sometimes can't write feelings as well as I can facts so I'm really happy that she you know could put those words there um no matter how the council votes tonight this position will go to the county to be placed on the valot if we vote no the committee of petitioners will have 10 days to pull the question that means they can take it off the ballot if four out of five I believe of the peti of these Commissioners uh do this um they can take this horrible divisive of plan off the ballot I plan on voting no to give them that chance I ask them see what you're doing to tear this town apart and see the divisiveness you're creating listen to all these comments that all these people some of whom agree with you on things some of who disagree with you probably agree and disagree with all of us on all kinds of different things listen to they're from all different walks of life race Creeds uh parties nonp parties um just listen to what they have to say some of them have been here a long time some of them here less see the pain you're causing these people from all political Persuasions it's not too late to do the right thing and withdraw this petition for the good of our town thank you thank you Andrea Martin some of what I what I'm about to say you have heard um put this together today I normally like to speak obviously freely and very long but as you know but um I put this together I just want to read it to everyone this evening and to those online um nonpartisan has worked and I'll explain why through my personal lens and perspective because of my desire to serve our community in a greater capacity and identifying the diversity growing in our Township I decided to run for public office in 2013 Town Council 2017 School Board 2020 school board and 2021 Town Council when our team lost in 2013 I did not even think about a push to change the election process after defeat the only change had to be a greater overall understanding of our Township and its residence with more work to do in the community and as a former division one athlete we are trained to self-reflect review process and assess then work harder and be more productive in order to achieve ultimate success when people voted me to the school board in 2017 and 2020 and to Town Council in 2021 I want to believe it had everything to do with my character contributions commitment dedication my family values and of all My overall service to this community and not party affiliation in other words it was about Merit and I've always been supremely blessed and thankful that West Windsor voters looked at me the person not me and my political affiliation an actual form of peer politics which we all must agree is missing at the national political level as the first black man ever elected from West Windor to the school board and to West Windsor Town Council in our Township's 227e history I have been proud of our residents to see me for me and not look and or vote for me because of an affiliation to a political party I must say I also want to thank Diane sakone who was the first African-American council member in West Windsor who actually paved the way with that said from the national rhetoric and politics to what we see and read on social media it is evidently apparent that we need more togetherness and unity in this country State Township and far less division ask yourself this question is what we are consistently seeing at the national level in politics what we want to see as a Township there has to be something special and good about keeping the purity of things these days especially in politics and elections so why change now our nonpartisan election is not the norm and trust me that is a good thing plus we have far too many intelligent smart and creative people in this town who really care about all things West wior to actually want the national culture of politics and Vision right here in our community this angry divisive rhetoric the name calling and behavior has to stop and does nothing to advance this Township we are living in one of the most desirable townships not only in our state but in this country I personally grew up in an urban and very partisan City so I definitely know the difference and believe it or not if you look at our overall success as a Township the most positive impressive and comprehensive growth and development in West wisor was done as a nonpartisan Township Bing mayor Sheng fuch's 16-year tenure and now mayor hamat marat's tenure of six years that is why I'm so thankful that my election success did not happen through a narrow spectrum of a closed meeting a primary election or because of my party affiliation but history was made directly at the polls in 2017 in 2020 and in 2021 and of all it happened because of you I was elected by the people that is truly honorable Equitable and fair now and ask yourself another question isn't that the Democracy we actually want and strive for to have a fair comprehensive election in which people vote for you based on the content of your character your contributions our service and merit with all du respect please take an in-depth look at the contributions the service the time commitment experience and most of all selfless acts of years of service by individuals who have won elections versus the individuals who have lost elections for the most part those who won won on their Merit one on their contributions one on their overall dedication and respect for this community as a whole it was not based on one's connectivity to a political party it was their time their sacrifice Plus hours and hours of volunteer work given to all residents in West Windsor that yielded a majority of those victories and that is far more pure than partisan politics so let's take the time to have civil and respectful conversation with each other and more importantly listen to each other so that we are able to unify all of our interests and and ultimately Advance the township to Greater Heights right now in West wior there is more Community engagement in recent years than ever before there is more Community awareness of all of us on Council and the administration than ever before including knowing all of our political affiliations our work does not just cover one topic that may interest you personally but hundreds of topics and projects subjects and things that are of interest to almost 30,000 people that is local governance at its best and we understand that very well that is also why our town ship has grown to its current height of acknowledge success Statewide and National we have worked hard to toggle many different important things in level of interest that is another strong reason why nonpartisan has actually worked so very well over the years believe it or not having nonpartisan elected candidates has enabled us as a Township to elect council members who exemp exemplify diversity of thought have given us historic ethnic diversity and has enabled West win to have elected officials from many different business and professional backgrounds viewpoints and perspectives economic levels rather than just following and iding by singular subject party lines which is pushing for and actually creating more division amongst the people throughout this nation for three years we have heard that the mayor and our council's contributions are not Noble reputable and a few have even said we are at the Forefront of attempting to malign West Windsor and have not listened to the people that is absolutely false and that is the exact fearmongering that is hurting democracy as a whole and not adding to community togetherness and unity since there are only a few major topics of interest that generally make it to social media arguments and disagreements I'll note a couple of things that have happened in recent years under this Administration specifically related to new business providing quality and goods and services to our residents do you realize that in the last four and a half years almost a third of small businesses in the entire state of New Jersey have either closed or were pushed to the brink of closure but in those four same four years West wisor has successfully w many incredible diverse businesses and some major national change as well that provide Dynamic services for you our residents I'll name a few Jersey mics Planet Fitness Starbucks The Container Store Rumble boxing eye cold smile philosophy TW loures mango mango Liberty martial arts Hutchinson Home realtors Pasar malam restaurant belluna hair salon star Fitness creative on demand a new video podcast YouTube content Center the Innovative co-working space from here Harris Vette just salad blue stone lane Ocean State Job lot mes restaurant Floor and Decor the grand reopening of mcaffry black belt of America of West wior grand reopening of the New Jersey Hospital Association TJ Maxx home s Burlington profile by sford crumble cookies P bowls Embrace tutoring boot camp Goldfish Swim School with wildout Chick-fil-A Veterinary emergency group which is a much needed 24-hour urgent care for pets coming soon and probably a few that I've missed but for some reason these Dynamic businesses that added to the fabric livelihood and lifestyle of Vibrant Community doesn't get as much attention as projects that have yet to be built or may not even be built at all so once again this Administration Council and mayor are not at the Forefront of attempting to reduce the greatness of this Township but have vastly been proven involved and instrumental and contributing for many years to who we are today which is probably the biggest reason why nonpartisan works the best and will always work for this Township but if a partisan election process is approved I would personally have to run in a primary as a Democrat get approved by the same small group of people who have said that I am quote not a good Democrat or a real Democrat I still to this day do not know what that means so what would be my chances of attaining this small select groups approval now I am not afraid of competition as I guarantee I have competed against some of the best athletes in sports in elections and in businesses but this would not be fair and I fought so very hard throughout my years and my family has fought so very hard from slavery all the way to the Civil Rights Movement for Equitable and fair practices in so many areas which I thought my party Affiliates belied in as well but I clearly see this as a way to attempt to push myself and my Council colleague Sonia gaas another Democrat out of their approval process and potentially offer the ballot as Democrats and if you really wanted the best candidates of transparency we're truly about presenting the most diverse group of candidates and wanted to truly Galvanize energize this community that we all love so very much you would keep things as is and let all of us continue to unify guide and direct West wior to Greater Heights so with that said I reiterate once again and conclude with the fact that nonpartisan has clearly worked nonpartisan is the most fair and Equitable election for this particular Township and demographic having proven to yield the best and most most reputable candidates in the last 30 years and as the first black male elected to West wison Town Council I'm proud to say that I won all of my elections on mer contributions and a pure love for this c not party of isn't the fact that we made his thank you blessed Ry Martin son right I'm going to go back to my childhood grew up in a military family so moved around quite a bit every two years three years wherever my father was stationed and could bring bring family we moved around so every two years I found a new family because that's what our we grew up we never asked who they were what they belong belong to what language they spoke we were family two years later we moved to a next next town that's our new family again never asked who what why never growing up one thing that my parents my grandparents taught me was We Are One everybody is equal fast forward 2000 I moved to this country I was in my early 20s soon after a few months in I became a 911 Widow September 11th changed my life forever and I'm going to say a few things today that I had promised myself that I will never ever speak of and many don't know other than my parents many people don't know not even my husband knows about it as a 911 bdow 23 years ago I quickly learned that I need to be more politically aware of my surrounding my community as victims group we were targeted to create policies legislations for a short period of time I went along with that I became the spokesperson for the Indian Community who were affected by it many had um no idea of their life after 911 where they would belong because they were dependant of their loved ones who had passed they didn't know if the country would allow them to stay back here they didn't know what would happen to them would they they had no idea what to do so I went along I was a single person I went along I met with many senators many legislators I worked with them tried to figure out what was going on but soon very quickly I learned everybody was there for themselves not helping us very quickly soon after the following year to avoid that constant Target I switched my Apartments I changed my phone numbers I switched my Apartments again I moved around so they don't find me so I don't become their target I don't become their sound bites a week before or as soon as the August end comes along the news reporters the politicians start talking about the victims of 911 because that helps them especially if November is close by and it's election year for them it took me five years to move four different apartments and five different phone numbers before I landed at a place where nobody could find me before I moved to this town to the point that the town that I lost my husband at could not find me when they were creating a memorial because and they needed a picture of my husband they could not find me they found me much later on only about 7 years ago they found me and I'm right now working with them to correct the picture that they have on the memorial on one hand when the community came together 23 years ago to lift many like me without asking who I was all they cared was to Lift Me Up me a new immigrant in this country who lost her love of her life her high school sweetheart which was very uplifting the community was coming together but on the other hand the politicians the media were targeting to pay back for themselves that is what forced me to alienate myself isolate myself I went away from all the contacts that I had all my friends that I knew because of my husband I followed to this country for my husband I isolated myself with no connections so nobody can find me I say I say this because in current political climate that we all are living in is bringing similar feelings of alienation isolation among the community members among family members people are afraid to talk about what they believe in people are afraid to talk about who they affiliate themselves with neighbors are being called out just because they don't align themselves with the affiliation that you align yourself with is that what we want to Foster in our town this town is the longest I have lived in my life all my life growing up every two years we moved 16 years is the longest I have lived in one place this is the town that me and my husband decided to put our Roots down because of the way this community is when I ran for Council in 2019 people voted for me because they know who I am not because I am a registered Democrat which by the way as councilman bitfield mentioned I am not a good Democrat in the past couple of months I have received emails from our local Democratic clubs calling democ members to attend calling good Democrats to attend their meetings calling basically Martin and I out that we are not good Democrats is that what we want in our town in our this place where we call home this is my home I don't want to see this kind of divisiveness this kind of environment that is alienating us that's all I'm going to say thank you Sonia just want to thank everyone for coming out tonight and um sharing your your evening with us and and speaking from the heart it's much appreciated as a 29-year resident of West Windsor and an elected council member since 20 2005 my experience has been that the Township's nonpartisan elections work well the system is simply not broken I support keeping our Township elections nonpartisan having run in five successful council elections it has been a pleasure to work on campaign tickets which mostly crossed party lines there's a refreshing camaraderie of talking with one another through issues and building consensus rather than placing an emphasis on partisan ideals emanating from the national level the divisive politics out of Washington simply do not play well at home I hear this over and over again from our residents who say they want West Windsor candidates to emphasize their positions on local issues for those of you that are particularly new to our community West Windsor has held nonpartisan Municipal elections since 199 3 under nonpartisan elections qualified registered voters are free to create their own campaign tickets whether it be a mixed ticket or a straight party line ticket this allows for Less Direct influences from the political party chairs of the county and Municipal Committee in Jersey we call those party bosses they have strong influence on the party's selection of candidates and often have large campaign War chest from which to contribute to their fellow party members just review the candidates filing reports from the 2023 municipal election to see the impact of party donations in contrast if you're a registered unaffiliated you do not belong to a political party the two major parties Republican and Democrat are given by law the two far-left columns on the ballot registered unaffiliated candidates are not part of a state reg recognized party and therefore placement under unaffiliated candidates is subject to the county clerk who is responsible for ballot design moving to partisan elections would ensure a less visually desirable placement on the ballot for unaffiliated candidates while proponents of moving to partisan elections claim it's all about having disclosure or transparency on how a candidate is registered I don't find that compelling enough argument to change how our local elections are run anyone can ask a candidate what they are registered as look it up online as to how they're registered or ask someone to help them find such information I find the petition's interpretive statement woefully lacking pertinent information as presented in stated in parted States voting yes to this question will allow for a change from nonpartisan candidates for min municipal office to partisan candidates for office to appear on the ballots as either a nominee of a political party or as an independent nowhere does it mention even if only for a few extra sentences any specific wording of the impact of what the change from nonpartisan to partisan elections implies this absence of an explanation to more fully inform the electorate as to what the proposed change fully means is is quite unfortunate as it fails to give pertinent information to voters under a partisan election system candidates are first vetted by the local Party Committee in a closed meeting decisions are then made as to whose names will appear on the primary ballot with the endorsement from their party if you're registered unaffiliated you do not belong to a party and therefore your name will not be placed on a primary ballot however your candidate petitions for running in the November election are due by 400 p.m. on primary day to the county clerk in contrast to submitting them under nonpartisan elections to the Township Clerk with a current statutory due date in late August partisan candidates have a lower number of petitions required to be certified as opposed to the number of as opposed to the number for unaffiliated candidates in accordance with the statutes also right now New Jersey primaries are held on the first Tuesday in June however in the future it's possible that New Jersey's Primary day could be changed to a much earlier date as far as vacancy Replacements under our current nonpartisan vulner Act form of government and as referenced in the municipal code under procedural guidelines any eligible registered West Windsor resident can submit a completed application for the vacancy to the township clerk's office which is then given to the council for its consideration after a public selection process the council then publicly votes to fill the vacancy in contrast under partisan elections if there is a vacancy for mayor or Council the municipal Committee of the political party of the vacancy shall present to the council via the Township Clerk the names of up to three nominees for the selection of a successor to fill the vacancy this provides party control over elected officials in partisan Township elections again nonpartisan elections ensure an open fair and inclusive process for all eligible registered residents our current nonpartisan elections will continue to encourage and promote independent thinking about what is best for West Windsor for all the above reasons and while knowing that the ordinance submitted pursuant to a certified petition will go on the November ballot regardless of any action by the council I feel free to vote my conscience and do not support this ordinance okay we're ready looking around we're ready um to vote so roll call vote on this ordinance okay goas no man D no Weiss yes Whitfield no Jers no the motion to adopt has uh not been approved right we will um want to go back to the regular agenda are we're back to we have one two three more hearings tonight it's only it's only almost 10 o'clock okay just making my last meeting a moment this one as long as you don't go to one like we used to we don't want you to go 2020 420 Bond ordinance providing for realignment improvements to Washington Road in and by the township of West Windsor and the county of Mercer New Jersey appropriating 5,1 100,000 therefore and authorizing the issuance of 3,600,000 bonds or notes of the township to finance part of the cost thereof okay if there's uh anyone who'd like to make a public comment on this uh proposed ordinance please um come up to the microphone and state your name and address and you will have up to three minutes all right uh seeing none um motion to close the public hearing so move daas yes mindel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion to adopt 2024 D20 salute second gwas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes 20124 D21 an ordinance amending the code of the township of West Windsor 199 9 chapter 200 land use part 4 article 31 General provisions and supplemental regulations governing certain uses section 200 affordable housing regulation section 200- okay seeing none uh motion to close the public hearing so moved second taas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion to adopt 202 24-21 so moved second yes sorry Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes J yes 202 24-22 ordinance authorizing the lease agreement with West Windsor Parking Authority for certain real property within the township of West Windsor for public purposes okay if anyone like to make a public comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you'll have up to three minutes Andy Lupo 47 San morco Street um chairman of the parking authority I encourage you to uh approve this measure we're trying to take the bus depot and turn it into a a parking Park lot that uh I think would clean up that area of the township and I think it's long overdue so appreciate your support on this thank you anyone else wish to speak on this seeing none Madame President okay uh motion to close the public hearing so moved second Ro daas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes field yes Jers yes can I have a motion to adopt 202 24-22 so moved we second second you moved um Andrea I oh you moved second second I got gaas yes Mandel yes Weiss yes you're gonna make a brief comment oh sorry just wanted to thank Andy for um for championing um his persistence in making this happen I've lived in West Wind for 32 years and I've been looking at that that isort building my entire life um and um delighted that um we'll see some some progress there and just a little um irony here I guess because Andy's a Republican and I'm a Democrat I guess I should be voting against party in party lines and voting against this but um I fully support this thank you yes Whitfield yes Jers yes 202 24-23 an ordinance amending and supplementing the code of the township of West Windsor chapter 168 traffic and parking article 6 parking authority property section 168-46 a-40 and 16841 if anyone would like to make a public comment please come to the microphone state your name and address and you you will have up to three minutes to speak right right seeing uh none motion to close the public hearing so moved second gaas yes Vandal yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes uh motion to adopt 2024 d23 so move second any discussion nope nope okay AAS yes Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved okay moving on to the con uh consent agenda minutes of the July 15 2024 business session as amended bills and claims does anyone need anything pulled nope none all right a motion to approve the consent agenda salute second yes Mandel yes yes Whitfield yes Jers yes motion approved all right uh move on to recommendations from Administration and Council clerk 2024 r171 authorizing the mayor and clerk to execute amendment number one to the Professional Services agreement with Roberts Engineering Group LLC for additional professional engineering survey and Design Services for improvements to existing crosswalk at Village Road East fronting the Dutch neck Elementary School for 3,500 for a total not to exceed a 2300 2024 r172 authorizing the business administrator to purchase the equipment and installation of a new lighting system and other items from MCO sportings Sports lighting M what is it mus musco sorry sport Sports lighting LLC through Co-op 65 MC ccps contract escnj 24- 25-60 for 700 57,187 okay does anyone need any resolutions uh pulled no okay see none uh motion to approve uh resolution 202 24- r171 and 2024 R d172 salute second any gaas yes com Mandel yes Weiss yes Whitfield yes J yes motion approved okay we have no introduction of ordinances um we have an additional public comment this evening so if you'd like to make an uh a comment please come up to the microphone state your name and address and you will have up to three minutes okay uh thank you again uh John Church 11 Princeton Place this has to have been one of the more interesting Council meetings I've been to a long time I've been to some some doozies in the past this one is is up there in the top 10 or the top top five or top two we we strive to entertain yeah very entertaining anyway uh just to get down to what I was going to say I think probably you heard my comments earlier I don't really believe that this process was correct putting it on the ballot uh the type of Charter amendments that are Justified or Allowed by the faler ACT do not include this type of amendment they are specifically listed and this is not one of them uh it really it's it's just not the right way to do this now as I mentioned in my remarks maybe court cases could be found where these uh this kind of amendment is authorized maybe a judge has said that I haven't found one I did not find one so in my opinion uh I listen to what everyone said uh this this thing really should not be on the ballot I don't know what can be done about it now uh some kind of challenge could be mounted but uh I I just I just think it's it's not right and I I oppose having it on the ballot and I'll certainly if it stays on the ballot I will certainly vote no on this it's a we should maintain a nonpartisan form of government in this town and so we'll see what happens thank you mad president thank you anyone else Eric napic 18 Brook I'm here as facilities director of wwpsa so three hours a lot of talk about a lot I guess things that you guys needed to talk about but my item was the musco lighting so youth's Athletics is still going on we're happy to contribute and donate this funds to renovate Conover Park no political left right whatever but we do need some help with Department of Public Works they're on staffed a lot of the other sports that are going on in the township whether it's basball lacrosse crickets coming up the staff is I guess suffering from people that are not um I guess they're on leave medical leave injuries things like that so when I work with Ken or Tom into public works um I think you guys need to look at budgeting and supporting all the athletic and Youth Sports in the township as a community but you could see that we're putting and we're investing more than what you guys just approved just to put the lights in but to to regro the entire uh Park put a walking path in we're going to have everything uh as far as safe environment and provide a great uh environment for the children in this community so thank you for approving that good see thank you thank you thank you for sitting through all of that painful next time look at the agenda and we can guide you when you can show up yeah actually you could have spoken the first public com period just have seen the vote so anyway I know it's a long it's a long night appreciate your participation yeah all right all right seeing um anyone else for public com seeing none uh we'll move on to council reports discussion new business uh Sonia um Board of Ed meets tomorrow um so I don't have any report from them um the school schedule um should have come out earlier today so when I go back home I can look up the school schedule of my kids um first day of school is September 5th uh Parks Andre has not met met since we met last um just two announcements um the next uh movie in the park is on Friday um August 30th migration is going to be shown um at in the community park by the Pavilion um so it's great um last Friday before schools um reopen so that would be good um bik Fest um early registration ends um August 31st MH so um it's the 20th um anual bike fest and as um uh Paul uh mentioned correct me if I'm wrong Historical Society bicycle pedestrian Alliance Parks and Rec and Arts Council all coming together to make this happen um so do register um it's on September the bike fest is on September 8th um Westminster Community day is September 21st at um Duck Pond Park from 12 to 4: so and Rain date would be September 22nd so thank you good um Andrea um affordable housing committee hasn't met since last time the environmental commission hasn't met either there hasn't been a meeting however um they have been taking the D's new re proposal that's um under um uh under discussion right now and they've divied it up amongst the um members so they're busily working on it in between meetings thank you uh Martin sure uh the planning board met on Wednesday August 21st a full rep uh presentation and conditional use application for approval was conducted by Representatives lawyer site planner operation reps etc for veg which stands for a Veterinary emergency group application pb2 24-7 veg is a nationwide 24-hour veterinarian and Urgent Care Clinic this uh this Clinic which primarily treats dogs and cats but other animals as well would be located between Starbucks and The Container Store and a Lowe's Trader Joe's shopping center uh veg would have uh full doctors and total staff of eight available 2 24 hours a day for the community uh as an fii in the last year uh veteran Ary emergency group has helped 661 th000 pets Nationwide so they are very reputable clinic in organization this application was approved and with the amount of dogs and cats in our community uh this would just be another added well- needed business to our Township uh next planning board meeting is Wednesday September 4th thank you thank you Dan the human relations Council met since our last meeting they are finalizing the plan for for Peace Day which coincides with Community Day here they're going to kick off the stage program with a series of musical events so that that work is in progress uh the West Windsor parking authority also met and if you think our meeting long except they serve pizza so we don't get that benefit here um some important points to note the uh the repaving of on the west side of the station parking lots is complete uh some minor curb work and the uh the work for lighting that will be the pathway between the Avalon development and the train station entrance is still underway but um it's all paved we got um all the spaces are now even with double lines uh the correct hairpin it's called hair hair pin lines um which people even though it's not really changes the amount of space it makes it much more easier to to see where you're you're parking so yes with that um and uh yeah so the the other interesting so we talked about the two ordinances that we passed today um there was a discussion about the challenges that they had during the the huge storm a few weeks ago and how it impacted uh the train station and the access um there's lots of discussion about ways that they can po possibly remediate some of that but it's not something that they can do on their own I think it's still part of s of the points that I brought up in their last meeting that we need to kind of look at this from a multi- agency um and larger Community view about how do we address some of these very specific um flooding incidents and areas within the township so that discussion will continue um hopefully we can create some kind of a consor or task force to to try to address them thank you very good the shade tree commission meets this Wednesday August 28th at 6:30 p.m. so there'll be continued discussion on trees as the new uh tree ordinance will go into full effect in uh October uh and then they'll you know I'll be talking about various things including Community Day exactly for that when that goes into effect oh late late October I don't give it yeah okay um there's no need for a closed session right okay so um need a motion to adjourn in a second please so moved second all in favor I I I this meeting is adjourned thank you everyone for coming out you for everybody