HIGHTSOWN: Council—Two new members, one common goal

By Matt Chiappardi, Staff Writer
    HIGHTSTOWN — As the year turned, and the Borough Council held its annual reorganization meeting, both the mayor and the unanimously reselected council president were on the same page when it comes to the priority for 2009 — no municipal tax increase.
    That was the common denominator for the New Year’s Day meeting that saw two new faces officially begin their tenures on the council, the Republican mayor appoint the president of the local Democratic club to a spot on the Planning Board and the depleted Economic Development Committee replenished.
    And it was the common denominator between two borough leaders — Republican Mayor Bob Patten and Democratic Council President Walter Sikorski — who in 2006 ran a tight mayoral race against each other.
    “We need to try to provide the necessary services without last year’s high rate increase,” Mr. Sikorski said Monday. “It’s doubtful whether we can count on extraordinary aid, but there needs to be no rise in property taxes.”
    Last year’s rate increase was 15 cents, the third double-digit hike in a row. It would have been 24 cents if not for a last-minute $200,000 extraordinary aid grant from the state.
    Mayor Patten, in his New Year’s message, took the idea slightly further and reiterated that the council is planning to scrap its old budget and start from scratch.
    “The end that we have in mind is a budget that does not include an increase in property taxes. That is the essence of zero-based budgeting,” he stated. “This council is charged with doing this, and each council member has committed him or her self to finding a solution to this challenge.”
    It may be the tough economic times the borough faces that brought the two former opponents together. Or it may be the other challenges facing the 1-square-mile community such as a Bank Street redevelopment project that has sat dormant for more than five years.
    Whatever the case, Mr. Sikorski indicated Monday that he will be working with the mayor despite what he said were “major philosophical differences.”
    He did not elaborate, but Mr. Sikorski is a strong proponent of merging the borough with East Windsor while the mayor sees that as a last resort.
    After accepting his selection by the council to be its president for a third straight year, Mr. Sikorski called for the movement to recall Mayor Patten to cease “without further rancor.”
    J.P. Gibbons, a North Main Street resident, has been circulating a petition to get a recall vote on a special election ballot, citing Mayor Patten’s “divisiveness.” He has until Jan. 28 to get the signatures of 633 registered voters and said he had 537 about a week ago.
    Councilman Sikorski also said he hoped the council could revisit the mill project with “new eyes.”
    The borough has been negotiating to redevelop the former rug mill property behind the municipal building — one of the two significant developable tracts of land — for more than five years. The property’s owner sued Hightstown in early 2008 over the redevelopment ordinance, but the case has yet to go to court.
    Four of those new eyes belong to the new council members, Democrat Isabel McGinty and Republican Mike Theokas, who were formally sworn in at the meeting. They replace outgoing members Constance Harinxma and Ryan Rosenberg, neither of whom sought re-election.
    Ms. McGinty, a criminal attorney, also was named liaison to the Police Department by the mayor at the reorganization meeting. She said Monday that she hadn’t yet met with Police Chief James Eufemia, but is “looking forward to a productive and cooperative relationship with the chief.”
    The borough’s police force, which costs taxpayers about $1.6 million per year, has been the subject of a study to determine whether surrounding township East Windsor should take over coverage. Ms. McGinty declined to comment on the department’s future in the upcoming budget, only saying “no part of borough government is immune from scrutiny.”
    Mr. Theokas, a former member of the EDC and former borough business owner, was named liaison to that body. And the EDC, which was down to just three members at the end of 2008, is back to nearly a full complement with the mayoral appointments of unsuccessful council candidate and Republican Committee Chairwoman Ashley Hutchinson as well as Vicky Hayes, a co-owner of Bistro Soleil on Mercer Street, and Dylan Ross, a former member of the Board of Health. The appointments bring the seven-member body up to six.
    Finally, in what Mr. Sikorski said was an example of Mayor Patten’s “bipartisan efforts,” the mayor appointed the president of the local Democratic club, Chris Moraitis, to the Planning Board. Mr. Moraitis is a frequent attendee of council meetings and was named the club’s president about one year ago. He could not be reached for comment.