Two incumbents and one newcomer hope to continue the string of Democratic dominance in Township Council elections this November.
By: Michael Arges
EAST WINDSOR The present Democratic administration has earned the continued support of township voters, said the three democratic candidates for East Windsor Township Council.
Incumbents Perry Shapiro and Hector Duke are joined by Planning Board member Al Rosenburg, who seeks to replace retiring Democrat Barry Clark.
A former radio and television comedian and producer, Mr. Rosenburg is seeking to continue making the transition from satirizing political figures to public service on the local level.
"One of the things I learned right off the bat was that these people are very serious about doing the people’s business," he said of his Planning Board experience. "There’s a tendency especially coming from my employment background to be very cynical about that, because for many years I made fun of national public figures through the radio and television."
While serving on the Planning Board, Mr. Rosenburg has seen local political leaders stand up for the people’s rights and against those trying to develop things.
"They do take this responsibility very seriously," he said. "I was very impressed with that."
Mr. Rosenburg disputes criticisms that the township government is not accessible enough.
"I think they’re very accessible people," he said of Township Council members. "It’s easy for politicians to make themselves inaccessible, but I’ve never heard anybody say that they couldn’t reach the mayor."
One of Mr. Rosenburg’s chief goals as a Township Council member is to help ensure that the township’s development continues to be under firm control.
"I like to see the area growing, but I like to see it growing in a very controlled, very cautious manner, which I think has happened," he said. "One of the fears that we had when we first moved here was that this would be another East Brunswick this was 30 years ago, so that obviously has not happened. We were concerned that this area would experience that strip mall crush that they have along Route 18."
At the same time, Mr. Rosenburg said that some commercial development is needed.
"We have to get some ratables in here because people are worried about taxes," he commented. "We are seeing some new things go in, but nothing compared to what you see on Route 18, which is frightening. I hate going there. It’s a zoo."
From 1979 to 1989, Mr. Rosenburg was part of the "Imus in the Morning" radio show, often doing comic bits in which he pretended to be someone directly involved in one of the stories making headlines. He would call in to the program pretending to be a juror or eyewitness, but say something completely ridiculous in the first few minutes so that it would be obviously a joke.
As a council member for 12 years, deputy mayor and former president of the Twin Rivers Homeowners Association board of directors, Perry Shapiro said that he has had a lot of experience mediating disputes. Stable taxes, controlled development and completing the new senior center will continue among his priorities, if re-elected.
"We worked hard the past years to keep the taxes stable," he noted. "We’re working hard now for the new senior center and to preserve open spaces.
"It’s good for the town not to have every inch developed. I think that we all came here because we liked a community that had forests and farms," Mr. Shapiro commented. "It’s good to know that we’re going to be saving a great deal of this and that the total character of the town won’t be changed.
"We’ve done a decent job in keeping any run-away development from taking place in the town," Mr. Shapiro added. "We’re working to have a balanced town between open space and farmland and some development."
Although he favors controlling development, Mr. Shapiro said additional stores such as Target, ShopRite and Genuardi’s have enhanced township life.
"There has been some nice development," he noted. "Some of the stores certainly have made life more convenient for people."
A resident of the township for more than 20 years, Hector Duke is completing his first two-year term on Township Council after two year stints on the zoning board and then the Planning Board. In his career in public service, he has especially enjoyed knowing the people of East Windsor, Mr. Duke said.
"I find it quite interesting just to meet people just to walk around and see all the things in the township," he said.
The continued struggle to control development is a focus for Mr. Duke.
"We’ve done a great job managing development," Mr. Duke said. "The growth spurt that we had was all planned, identified and authorized before we came into office."
"We’ve done some zoning changes that we think have helped a lot," Mr. Duke added. An example was the change of the zoning of One Mile Road parcels to age-restricted housing, combined with the acquisition of open space in that area.
"The township is running quite well," Mr. Duke commented. "We’ve kept taxes down, we’ve got the seniors center coming along well, we’re doing well on open space. The main issue is to keep things going the way they are."

