By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Two residents with strong environmental credentials failed to win reappointment to township bodies last week.
William Dondiego was not returned to the Environmental Commission and Sustainable Hillsborough Committee after two years of service on each.
Thuy Anh Le, who is also a school board member, was not reappointed to the Sustainable Committee, which advises the township on long-term environmental matters.
Mr. Dondiego said he thought he got “purged” in spite of his accomplishments.
”I wanted to keep the town moving forward,” he said. “I spoke truth to power, and you have to be careful if the power doesn’t like the truth. It’s bad enough the town is run by a single party, but now it seems they are pursuing their boards and commissions to get in line, too. That’s dangerous.”
Ms. Le was more circumspect. She said she was surprised to receive the letter notifying of her of her nonrenewal, but “it was only fair” to ask new mayor Frank DelCore about the decision, rather than make assumptions.
”It made me reflect on our achievements of the last four years,” she said, noting the cleanups, family fair and sustainable gardening and home energy workshops.
”In any way I can, I’ll continue to do this work to build a sustainable community,” she said. “This is my part of the world, where I live and work, and I want to be of service to the community. There are many ways to do that.”
Mayor DelCore said Tuesday the committees “needed a changeup.” He denied political motivations.
”We don’t do that,” he said. “We’ve appointed Democrats to boards.”
Tuesday night, the Township Committee reduced the number of seats of alternates to two, down from four, and reduced the terms to one year, instead of two.
”Only two alternates are necessary at this time,” the mayor said.
Mr. Dondiego said the first thing that probably “set in motion” his failure to be reappointed was his support for Judd Mandel as an independent candidate for Township Committee.
Mr. Dondiego said he was one of the original 130 or so signers of Mr. Mandel’s nominating petition and was one of people to deliver it to the county clerk on the last day to file in June.
After having been a registered independent voter since he was 18, about six weeks ago, he reregistered as a Democrat, he said. He did so because of his admiration for Meryl Bisberg and James Bergstrom, the top officers on the Hillsborough Democratic Alliance, whom he said offered “the only true chance to have a blended political council.”
”By taking me out of the picture, they (Township Committee) are actually hurting the town,” Mr. Dondiego said. “They’re not letting someone with leadership qualities and knowledge (he’s a civil engineer) to move the needle in town.”
He took credit for spurring Sustainable Hillsborough, the official coordinating body of the strategic plan for a sustainable Hillsborough, to host educational programs, promote recycling and cleanups with the DPW, urge people to buy local and at farm markets and to create a “green team” in town.
Those efforts enabled the township to gain a bronze certification on the state level, he said. He said he gave the Township Committee a list of things that could be done to reach the next, and highest, level, but none were accepted. Some of the actions need supportive resolutions, he said.
He, Ms. Le and Mr. Mandel all received Dodge Foundation fellowships to learn to become teachers of sustainable practices, he said.
Mr. Dondiego said he thought he might have been faulted for urging the Environmental Commission to rethink its tree ordinance following land-use applications by the Village Green apartment complex on Route 206 and the Gibraltar Rock quarry’s solar panel application on Sourland Mountain off Route 601.
Both proposals called for thousands of trees to be cleared and sought waivers to allow smaller payments into a township tree replacement fund.
Mr. Dondiego spoke in rebuttal to testimony from the Gibraltar Rock engineer at a hearing on the proposal in May.
He said he was proud of his accomplishments and leadership on the two bodies, but he was not a “do-nothing person,” he said.
”I took a stronger position that they were used to and caused them to have to deal with things, and I think they liked to deal in the shadows” he said.
Maybe Township Committee members thought he had ambitions to run for the governing body, he said, and, therefore, didn’t want to give him a forum. He said he had no interest in running.

