PLAINSBORO: Cantu facing challenger Jagannathan this year

By Allison Musante, Staff Writer
   PLAINSBORO — In the race for the Township Committee, Krishna Jagannathan knows he’s in for an uphill battle. The 26-year-old Republican is challenging Mayor Peter Cantu, the Democratic incumbent of 37 years, for the one open seat.
   The primary election for the November general election will be held on June 7. Mayor Cantu and Mr. Jagannathan are the only candidates who filed for their respective parties by the April 11 deadline. The seat carries a term of three years.
   Mr. Jagannathan, a resident of Aspen at Princeton Meadows since 2008, works for the Edison Job Corps Academy, a program of the U.S. Department of Labor, as a counselor to at-risk economically disadvantaged young people and trains them to become emergency medical technicians.
   Raised in Montgomery Township, he earned a bachelor’s in ecology and natural resources from Cook College at Rutgers University.
   His professional background includes experience in environmental health and safety, environmental engineering, business development, project management and public safety. He said he has 11 years of experience in emergency medical services, seven of which as an EMS educator.
   He said his priorities, if elected, would be lowering property taxes and strengthening the business community.
   ”I feel that the current administration is out of touch with what our residents want and need,” he said. “I don’t think our administration does a good enough job listening to businesses. We have the Plainsboro Business Partnership, but it shouldn’t have been up to (resident) Paul O’Brien to form this out of his own time, money and effort. Our government has that responsibility.”
   Some of his ideas for refreshing the business community include updating the township’s marketing materials, creating an online business directory, establishing frequent informal forums between the committee members and residents, and fostering better communication between landlords and their tenants.
   ”We need a visible presence of our elected officials in town,” he said. “I’ve heard that people who reach out to the mayor are usually successful but for people who have smaller concerns, I think the mayor is inaccessible informally. I think you’d be hard-pressed to find regular residents who have spoken with the mayor for more than a few minutes.”
   Regarding tax relief, Mr. Jagannathan said he thinks the committee authorizes excessive spending of tax dollars on, for example, road improvements and the new cultural arts center.
   ”There are already places for people to meet that are under-utilized,” he said. “We are serving a population that’s already served in an economic recession.”
   Mr. Jagannathan said he has “tremendous respect” for Mayor Cantu, but thinks it is time for a change. In response to criticism about his age, he said, “age and leadership are mutually exclusive qualities.”
   Mayor Cantu has often run uncontested or as the sole candidate of the Democratic Party during his 37 years on the committee. The most recent Republican challenger to Mayor Cantu was Bill Zeltman of Aspen Drive in 2005.
   Mayor Cantu was first elected to the committee in 1975 and has won the seat 12 times. The committee has appointed him to the position of mayor every year for the past 31 years.
   Polls will be open on June 7 from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. For a list of polling places and corresponding voting districts, check the Plainsboro Township website.