Incoming council pledges to be autonomous, professional
Hopes to tackle property taxes and overdevelopment during tenure
BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer

EDISON - Edison's four new Township Council members hope that their efforts to address property tax rates and overdevelopment will help in gaining the residents' faith during the new council members' first year in office.

The four new members - Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad, Melissa Perilstein, Wayne Mascola andAnneMarie Griffin-Ussak- will be sworn in at the beginning of this month. Relative newcomers to the political scene, they defeated both the incumbent council members and the slate organized by Bill Stevens during the Democratic primary this June before going on to defeat their Republican opponents in November. Their candidacy was organized and supported by EdisonMayor Jun Choi, and several of the incoming council members acknowledged that getting over the perception that they will be a "yes" council is a challenge that will need to be overcome.

"Based on how we came in, it's going to be rough in the beginning, faced with the accusations we're the handpicked, the rubber stamps, the 'Choi boys.' They're going to be yapping all the time," said councilman-elect Mascola, a computer technology worker from the Lindeneau section of town who has lived in Edison since 1981.

Perilstein, who has lived in the Oak Hills area near the Metuchen Border for about nine years, said that such perceptions will be dispelled, though, once the public sees the new council in action.

"I think just with time and with people getting to know me and my feelings and commitment to certain issues, they will realize I, without a doubt, am someone who has opinions and makes decision on their own, but that will come with time," said Perilstein.

All the incoming council members expressed a great interest in controlling the property tax rate. The first order of business, with regard to the tax rate, is reviewing the mayor's budget, which, in its preliminary stage, has a 15 percent increase.

"I think everyone is concerned about high taxes and I think that's something paramount.We have to try to cut back the rising expenses, try to slow down the rate of increase, that would be the first thing," said Prasad, a physician who lives near Oak Tree Road and has been an Edison resident since 1990.

The incoming council members also believe that development in town will have to be addressed, and that the township is becoming overdeveloped and that, consequently, more open space opportunities need to be pursued.

"I think one of the biggest things is overdevelopment, and I think that a true redevelopment agency, and looking at land use then, could hopefully make a positive impact for the residents, tax-wise as well as quality of living," said Griffin-Ussak, who is also the principal ofWashington Elementary School and has lived in the Clara Barton section of town for 19 years.

Both Mascola and Prasad said that their style would be different from the previous council, withMascola saying that he hopes to bring some "professionalism" to the meetings and move Edison forward.

"I really believe we need people. Basically, we have the same five people going to the same meetings, which is all fair and good in open government, but we need positive criticisms. We need the taxpayer to be a watchdog to make sure we're doing right. But you've got to be fair about what you're doing, which doesn't always seem to be that way; a lot of it is just grandstanding for the camera," said Mascola.

Prasad said he would try to avoid being combative and, instead, adopt a cerebral, meditative approach to township policy. He would like to get input from all stakeholders in an issue.

"I think the style would be different. It will be a noncombative one.We would like to pay attention and hear out everyone, all points of view, whether it's coming from the citizens of Edison, whether it's from the mayor, whether [it's coming from] any of the council members. We'd like to pay attention to all of them and not make my mind up purely on instinct or where it's coming from. I'd like to pay attention to everything that's coming," said Prasad.

Perilstein said that she looks at her entrance into the council as a mandate for change and said that she feels local politics has become too bogged down with personal issues. She believes it is time for a fresh start in Edison.

"I really do hope that the residents of the town give us time and not make assumptions about me, in particular, and any incoming council members, and give us a chance to show the town what we're really all about. I think it's time to bring Edison together," said Perilstein.