Departing Democrat is seen as bringing a tough independence to local government.
By: Steve Rauscher
MONTGOMERY After five years as a township resident, three years as Township Committeewoman and eight months as a Democrat, Ali Henkel will bid Montgomery adieu next week. But even with all the haste and hullabaloo accompanying her hurried move to Manchester, Vt., Ms. Henkel is still finding the time to perform the dozens of duties she has assumed as a public servant.
"I have to draft a pair of letters, and I’ve got the Open Space Committee meeting tonight …" she says, followed by a litany of other tasks she has assumed through her positions on the Township Committee, Environmental Commission, the Wildlife Management Committee and Transportation Committee.
Though Ms. Henkel has always led a political life, she hasn’t always been this active. The Long Island native campaigned for President Reagan, and lived in the nation’s capitol while her husband served in the Reagan administration. After moving to Plainsboro in 1987, she ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the Township Committee. But it wasn’t until her family moved to Montgomery in 1996 that she came into her own as the indefatigable independent that virtually everyone who knows her says she is.
"I don’t know if I’m independent so much as I’m honest," she says.
Ms. Henkel has displayed her knack for unapologetic straight talk since before she began her campaign for Township Committee in 1998, earning her the respect of some and the ire of others. After failing to win the backing of the Montgomery Republican Caucus, Ms. Henkel was persuaded to run against the caucus’ selection, current Township Committee candidate Fred Gladstone, in a primary, and won by a two-to-one margin.
"I was very resistant at first (to challenging Mr. Gladstone)," she says. "I didn’t want to divide the party."
She then captured the seat on the Township Committee without, she feels, the support of the township’s Republican leadership.
"I don’t think they ever forgave me for beating Fred," she said.
Fellow Township Committee member and friend Don Matthews believes there is some truth to that.
"I think there’s always a bad feeling with something like that," he says. "In politics, you should be able to say, ‘Okay, the public made a decision,’ and move on. But some people can’t do that."
And when the township’s Police Department imbroglio began brewing, Ms. Henkel said she soon became even more distanced from the town’s traditional leadership.
"When I first came in, I was told that there were problems within the Police Department…but I never really knew what they were because they (other committee members) didn’t go there with me," she said. "But in my interviews with (former Police Chief) Bill Beachell, I realized that he wasn’t really up to the job."
When Mr. Beachell resigned in September 2000 after apparently admitting to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office to pointing a loaded gun at a fellow officer and being named in a sexual harassment lawsuit Ms. Henkel was among the most determined supporters of hiring a replacement from within the department. She was also among the most vocal dissenters when the township ultimately named a civilian police director from outside the township, after Mr. Beachell’s original replacement, Sgt. Bob Mitchell, resigned two months into the job.
"I feel so bad for the Police Department," she says. "I feel like I really let them down in that I couldn’t convince the committee to hire someone from inside the department."
Ms. Henkel believes that if she had supported Lt. Robert Palmer instead of casting the sole vote for Lt. Greg Harkins in the committee’s original vote, then Lt. Palmer would be police chief today.
"I was the tie-breaker," she says. "It’s my biggest regret. I think our guys are good enough and they’ve demonstrated that."
Ms. Henkel says that her failure to convince the committee to hire a chief from within is her biggest regret, but perhaps her boldest statement was her decision to leave the Republican Party after more than 20 years of service. "I guess it was that I felt that the leadership within the local Republican Party was not representative of Montgomery," she says. "I liked all the Democrats and I admired what (now-Committeewoman) Louise Wilson was doing. … I saw that they were willing to take the challenge and devote the time to fight for the issues."
"I’m not sure that switching parties served her too well," said Municipal Republican Chairman Ted Maciag. "Here’s someone who had the support of the party the whole way and gave it up."
"I told her flat out that (she) jumped too quick," Mr. Matthews said. "But I never lost respect for her for what she did."
Municipal Democratic Chairman Alan Bookman disagrees.
"It’s been good to have her on board for the short time she’s been here," he said. "It’s a great loss to the community that she’s leaving."
Mr. Matthews, speaking on Ms. Henkel’s party change, added, "That’s Ali. She believes in her convictions."
That belief is what many feel will be Ms. Henkel’s legacy.
"She never holds back on her opinions," Mr. Maciag said. "She did a lot of good things … and she’ll certainly be missed, because she could really shake things up."
"You always know where she stands," says Ms. Wilson. "That’s something I always admired."
"Is that such a rare thing in politics?" Ms. Henkel asks. "I think if you’re going to be a politician, you have to have the courage to say what you feel, or else how will your constituents really know where you stand? I mean, you can’t just stick your finger up and see which way the wind is blowing, just for political gain."
In Ms. Henkel’s relatively short stay in Montgomery, she rattled a few political cages, but she says she hasn’t made up her mind whether she’ll do the same when she moves to New England.
"I really think that I’d like to get back involved with my daughters school activities," she said.
Others aren’t so sure.
"Given her personality," Mr. Maciag said. "I predict there’s going to be some quiet little town up there that’s going to see some big changes."
Look out Vermont.
Here comes Ali Henkel.