To replace the retiring Joseph Stonaker in January
By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — A familiar presence in some area municipal buildings will be filling big shoes in Plainsboro, following the Township Committee’s decision to hire Michael J. Herbert as Plainsboro’s township attorney. He will be installed at the committee’s reorganization meeting in January.
The Township Committee announced the decision Thursday with an eye to the December retirement of Township Attorney Joseph L. Stonaker, who has served the township since 1969.
”Joe will be missed, but he decided to retire and we needed to come up with a suitable replacement,” said Mayor Peter Canti. “Mike has a lot of knowledge of this area, and an excellent reputation as an attorney.”
Mr. Herbert currently serves both Princeton Borough and West Windsor Township in similar positions, serving Princeton for 21 years and West Windsor for 10 years.
Mr. Herbert’s firm — Herbert, Van Ness, Cayci & Goodell of Princeton — serves municipal government in other capacities, including three local planning boards, several zoning boards, special counsel positions in East Windsor and Lawrence, and sometimes as municipal litigation attorneys.
Mr. Herbert said he has long known Mayor Cantu and looks forward to working in an official capacity in Plainsboro.
”They have a town center that’s working, a new library, and a well-run government,” said Mr. Herbert. “I have known Mayor Cantu for quite some time and he’s quite a leader in New Jersey.”
The Plainsboro Village Center, the construction of the new library, and the planned move of the University Medical Center at Princeton are some important issues that Mr. Herbert said he is looking forward to working on with the township.
It will not be a problem working for both West Windsor and Plainsboro, which are permanently linked through shared borders and a shared school system.
”They are all contiguous, and for the 10 years I have been in West Windsor there hasn’t been a conflict, and we don’t anticipate any,” said Mr. Herbert. “Our firm is nonpartisan and we intend to stay that way.”
Mr. Herbert pointed to the referendum that changed the school funding formula of the West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District to a per-pupil based formula instead of based on ratables as one action that defused a possible source of controversy between the two towns he will soon represent.

