Pfeifer wants to help West Windsor find identity, become a ‘player’

Incumbent councilwoman seeks to retain seat Nov. 7

By: Molly Petrilla
   WEST WINDSOR — Barbara Pfeifer claims the township has lost its identity — and she wants to help find it.
   The incumbent councilwoman, who is running against challenger Will Anklowitz on Nov. 7, appeared before The Packet’s editorial board last week to discuss redevelopment, open space and other issues the community faces.
   Overall, she emphasized her wish for West Windsor to emerge as a "key player" in central New Jersey rather than the "laughingstock" she said some neighbors consider it now.
   "We have cul-de-sac communities and a train station. We’re not going to survive with that," she added.
   It is this wish for a stronger local identity that left Ms. Pfeifer "astonished" several years ago when she discovered "that I was raising my son in a town I couldn’t find. I was looking for my town, and I couldn’t find my town."
   For this reason, Ms. Pfeifer said she strongly supports redeveloping the proposed 350-acre site in the vicinity of the Princeton Junction train station.
   Though she acknowledged that "West Windsor has gotten to this ledge over and over and falls back on itself," she said she would like to see the township shelve its fears and rely on "very knowledgeable people (who) can solve problems."
   Ideally, she said, half of the redevelopment site would become open space, while the other half would include a transit village that benefits residents of the township and surrounding communities, as well as commuters.
   As a longtime commuter, Ms. Pfeifer said it is essential that the transit village present "something that doesn’t interfere with the flow of train station traffic."
   She added, however, that while she strongly supports proposals for a town center, "it would have to be tax positive for me to vote for it."
   Ms. Pfeifer said she also is interested in preserving land as open space, but would "be very careful to look at each parcel of land and make sure the taxpayers should be paying for it" before recommending or approving a purchase.
   More generally, Ms. Pfeifer said she is concerned with improving the quality of life for West Windsor residents — something she said cannot happen if people have to work outside the state to make enough money to live there.
   To help resolve this dilemma, she said she would like to see some of the 653-acre Wyeth property at the corner of Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road used for businesses that will generate "high-caliber income" for residents.
   A resident of West Windsor for 12 years, Ms. Pfeifer said she first became involved in local politics shortly after giving birth to her son, who is now 7.
   There was a consensus among parents, she said, that West Windsor was missing a "heartbeat" and lacked "community socializing."
   Soon, she joined the "MOMS" (Moms Offering Moms Support) Club of West Windsor, and created [email protected], which she described as "a grassroots organization that advocates for town hall meetings."
   Ms. Pfeifer said she became increasingly involved in community politics — helping council President Linda Geevers, Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman and Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh in their campaign — and was eventually appointed to the Planning Board as second alternate in May 2005.
   Though she was not a regular voting member of the board, Ms. Pfeifer said she was called upon to vote several times on various issues, and was present for meetings at which the initial stages of the redevelopment project were discussed.
   On May 24, the council selected Ms. Pfeifer to fill a seat left vacant by the resignation of former member Kristin Appelget.
   Since her appointment to the council, Ms. Pfeifer said she has worked to see that it remains "ethical and professional," adding, "People have to respect each other to ensure that West Windsor is respected."
   For 15 years, Ms. Pfeifer worked on Wall Street in risk management and financial product development — an experience she says is a good addition to the council.
   Though the campaign process has been a long one — including participation in three organized debates — Ms. Pfeifer said her bid for re-election has been "a real eye-opening experience."
   "It’s actually given me more of a sense of why I’m running," she added.