By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — Three members of Township Council voted Monday to introduce a controversial ordinance that will increase the salaries of council members and Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh beginning in 2009.
The ordinance would help eliminate some portions of a confusing system of vouchers and reimbursements, replacing them with a higher total salary for Mayor Hsueh and the five members of Township Council, according to the ordinance’s backers.
Under the measure, Township Council salaries would increase to $7,500 annually from their current $4,941, and Mayor Hsueh’s salary would increase to $25,000, from the $17,685 the mayor currently makes, in addition to a vehicle allowance. The raises would not go into effect until Jan. 1, following the November general election.
Council member Charles Morgan on Monday voted to introduce the ordinance, along with Council President Will Anklowitz and Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman. Mr. Morgan said the raises are a move toward more open government, ending what he called a confusing and unfair process of reimbursements.
”It gets rid of politics and brings transparency,” Mr. Morgan said Monday prior to the meeting.
Mr. Morgan also accused Mayor Hsueh’s administration of unfairness and favoritism involving the handing out of the reimbursement money before Monday’s meeting. He said administration officials delayed reimbursement of his submissions because of disagreements and political differences.
”I have payments pending from last year,” Mr. Morgan said.
Mayor Hsueh attributed those delays Monday afternoon to the fact that Township Council had failed to create a proper policy for reimbursing costs associated with the proposed redevelopment program at the Princeton Junction train station. He said the main culprit in complicating reimbursements was a council resolution involving redevelopment expenditures passed earlier this year.
The so-called “threshold” resolution required all redevelopment costs to be submitted to Township Council for approval. Mr. Morgan was the major supporter of that resolution, which was opposed by the administration because of the added paperwork involved.
”We have never played favoritism,” Mayor Hsueh said. “It just happened to be redevelopment-related, and Mr. Morgan submitted the vouchers the day after passing that resolution. The business administrator did not know what to do with that.”
Mayor Hsueh handed out a packet of information on the cause of the delays cited by Mr. Morgan at Monday’s meeting, which included two reimbursement submissions from Mr. Morgan. One was a $38.58 lunch date with Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner that included a redevelopment discussion, and another was a $57.14 conference call among officials about redevelopment finance meetings.
Also in the packet were two memos requesting council members put into place an improved reimbursement system. The memos called for the new system to better instruct administration officials on how reimbursements could be approved when the costs were associated with redevelopment.
At Monday’s meeting, Councilwoman Linda Geevers once again spoke out against the salary proposals, citing the economic downturn and state and municipal fiscal woes.
As the only council member voting against the salary ordinance’s introduction, she said the continued existence of a reimbursement system without the raises was appropriate. She said she was skeptical that eliminating the reimbursements would be a move toward more open government.
”Openness in government is having a salary and legitimate reimbursement for expenses,” Ms. Geevers said.
As an alternative to the raises, Ms. Geevers on Monday began discussions to revamp the current reimbursement system to better organize the process and clarify appropriate reimbursement practices for council members. Council members eventually decided to have discussions at a later date on improving the reimbursement system and developing a system to handle the submission of vouchers for approval.
The decision to delay the effective date of the raises to Jan. 1 was made to give voters time to organize a potential petition to put the raises on the ballot in November, according to Mr. Anklowitz.
”If the voters feel this is an important issue, then they have an opportunity to do that (a referendum),” Mr. Anklowitz said.
Ms. Geevers said the salary ordinance’s delayed effective date and related referendum language were offensive to both her and the public.
”That’s one of the most arrogant moves I have seen on council in the last three years,” she said. “It shows such disrespect for the residents. It says, ‘if the residents care enough, let them go through all of the effort of a referendum.’”
During Monday’s meeting Mr. Morgan said that council members current salary amounted to less than minimum wage, with his calculations showing the current salary provided compensation at around $4.75 per hour. Even with the raises, he said, that rate would only increase to $7.21 an hour, compared with the current minimum wage of $7.15. Next year the minimum wage will be $7.25 in New Jersey, Mr. Morgan said.
Concerning his potential raise, Mayor Hsueh said he would not accept the additional money, although he has not publicly declared his intentions on a possible veto of the salary ordinance.
He said that the additional $2,500 being given to council members starting next year would also mean an additional $400 a year out of township coffers, to pay for pension, health care, and associated costs. Also, no council member had averaged more than $100 in reimbursements a year, Mayor Hsueh said.
Upon being questioned about a potential veto, Mr. Morgan said there were enough votes on Township Council to override such a move, which would have to come some time after the ordinance’s final public hearing and adoption on May 19.
An override requires four votes out of the five members of council.
