Marianne Beshai, of the U.S. National Guard, stands with Edison Mayor Jun Choi during the mayor’s annual State of the Township address on Jan. 29. EDISON – Stressing twin themes of change and unity, Edison Mayor Jun Choi said the state of the township is strong. The annual address, held at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center, outlined what the mayor felt has been his greatest accomplishments in the past year and urged support for upcoming initiatives in the next year.
The speech itself, delivered on Jan. 29, was preceded by a short welcome by the chair of the Edison Chamber of Commerce, Tom Casey, the Pledge of Allegiance led by Cub Scout Pack 66, presentation of colors by the Rutgers University Queens Guard, the national anthem sung by Edison High School senior Michael Valeriani, and an invocation by the Rev. William Gerhart of St. James Episcopal Church. After all this, Choi leapt into his speech.
“Though great challenges lie ahead for Edison, the state of our township is strong and getting stronger every day,” said Choi, flanked on both sides by screens with images of his face projected on them.
While the mayor said that much still needs to be done, he believes that many positive things have been accomplished by his administration. He said that Edison has preserved “dozens of acres” of open space, raised $3 million to restore Edison tower, and has become “a leader in communicating with our residents,” noting the launch of a new Web site and an award that EdisonTV won for best small-budget programming.
He also touted what he said were ethics reforms in the township, saying that “We have set one of the highest ethical standards of any municipal government in the state of New Jersey.” He point to the re-formation of the township ethics board as an example.
The ethics board was re-formed through official ordinance on Dec. 12 after each of the six members went through an extensive screening process. Council members at the time had expressed hope that the new ethics board would not turn out like the old one, which had become highly politicized before collapsing in the early 1990s.
The mayor also said that the township has improved public safety, citing the addition of three new firetrucks, three new ambulances, a police K-9 unit, enhanced emergency management initiatives, as well as the placement of mobile data terminals in the patrol cars. This is all with the goal, he said, of greatly increasing community-based policing.
He also stated that he had streamlined the municipal government, saying that a net total of 60 positions have been cut and that “top professional managers” have been recruited to improve services.
“We now perform our work more efficiently with 60 [fewer] employees on our payroll compared to two years ago,” said Choi.
He also brought up the initiation of infrastructure improvements such as the expansion of Route 1, upgrades at the Metropark train station, and a proposed new community center.
Another point Choi brought up was the revisions to the school funding formula, which could bring up to $3 million to the school district, later noting that as chair of the state League of Municipalities’ Mayors School Funding Committee, he worked with the administration and other mayors to help obtain more funding.
The mayor, meanwhile, outlined several new initiatives that he urged the public to support. Chief among these was his budget plan, which the mayor had previously said he hopes will lead to long-term property tax stability. The mayor said the current proposed budget stands at $115.4 million, which he said would represent a 9-cent tax increase. The budget document itself is about 170
pages and is currently available to the public for review. It has been
the subject of intense discussion
over the past few
weeks, with opponents
saying that the mayor is
overstating the township’s
financial difficulties,
with the mayor,
meanwhile, saying that
the government has been wasteful with excessive deficit spending. The council, meanwhile, recently passed an ordinance that would allow the budget to go over the state-mandated caps by about half a million dollars, despite protests from members of the public who felt discussion on the matter had been cut off prematurely.
“I ask the council to support this proposed budget and help put our township back on the road to fiscal health with long-term budgeting and fiscal discipline. The status quo will not work for Edison taxpayers anymore,” said Choi.
He also brought up his plans for the redevelopment of the Edison Train Station, the former Revlon site and Oak Tree Corridor, as well as plans to revitalize the areas around Route 27 and Route 1. The re-use of land, he said, would help slow suburban sprawl from occupying entirely new areas.
“We need to stop residential overdevelopment, including subdivisions, and encourage the beautification of our neighborhoods,” said Choi.
“The days of irresponsible developers and the parochial needs of well-connected political insiders having their way in Edison are over,” he added later to thunderous applause.
Choi also proposed the creation of a new Edison Redevelopment Agency (ERA) that would streamline revitalization projects for the community and “it also removes the process from politics.”
He also announced that he would like to start a township-wide quality-of-life improvement campaign that basically focuses on the aesthetics of the town.
It will clean up signs, remove graffiti, enforce property maintenance and increase curb, gutter and sidewalk upgrades. The street paving program will also be expanded in this effort.
He also brought back a proposal that he had put forward in 2006, a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program for redevelopment areas. The revenues generated from this program, he said, would go into a school construction fund.
“This proposed PILOT … structure will generate new tax revenues from major economic revitalization areas while not increasing the tax rate for the residents of Edison,” said Choi.
When on the subject of schools, the mayor also took the time to take a swipe at the Board of Education, with whom he has clashed on several occasions, saying that it is suffering from a “crisis of leadership” over its eleventh-hour dismissal of Schools Superintendent Carol Toth, regarded as a controversial move by many members of the public.
“The Board of Education needs to be held accountable to the citizens of Edison for these answers,” said Choi.
Finally, he urged support for his proposed police director, Brian Collier, a civilian position he has proposed in place of a chief of police. He said that such a position would improve the quality of the department, which, he said, had lacked accountability before.
“Over the years, because of a lack of accountability, the Edison Police Department has been involved in incidents that have raised questions about the integrity of the force. [But] most officers are good men and women who want to come to a better workplace and who want to be respected for the fine work that they do,” said Choi.
Some of the incidents the police department had been involved with over the years include several run-ins with the Indian-American community, an offduty officer leaving the scene of an accident, and another officer indicted for aggravated assault.
The prospect of a police director has been met with some criticism over concerns for the department’s autonomy under such a position. The critics’ logic is that a chief is a tenured position and is thus able to perform irrespective of politics, while a director serves at the discretion of the mayor. Choi had previously said that the director would be more accountable than a chief because he would not be tenured.
Choi closed his speech with a warning that enacting the measures he proposed will not be a simple task.
“They go against the grain of how business has been conducted in this town for years, and they will undoubtedly make some people unhappy. Change will not be easy. Change will take time. There will be setbacks. But as challenging as it may seem, we must remain steadfast in our goal to build a better Edison together,” said Choi.
It was around this moment that he also took the time to introduce Army National Guard Specialist Mariana Beshai, who spent a year and a half deployed to Iraq. While there, she helped build hospitals and plans to go to medical school.
“Mariana, you’re a hero,” said Choi.
He closed with an appeal for unity to all residents of the township.
“I do not see a white Edison or a black Edison or a Latino Edison or an Asian Edison. I see one Edison. … No matter what neighborhood we live in, how old we are or how much money we have, all of us want the same things for Edison. We want our families to enjoy safe streets, good jobs, great schools, clean neighborhoods and strong communities,” said Choi.