Motives questioned over township resolutions
BY JAY BODAS Correspondent

EDISON - It was procedure, not personal.

That was Councilman Sudhanshu Prasad's claim for introducing four resolutions at the March 26 Township Council meeting, three of which called for removing Lawrence Cimmino and Robert Karabinchak from the Zoning Board and Councilwoman Antonia Ricigliano from the Housing Authority.

The fourth resolution, which was the only one to ultimately pass, rescinded Prasad's appointment to the Planning Board.

"Sometimes you feel as though you are damned if you do and damned if you don't," Prasad said at the meeting. "In this place, people come to themic almost everymeeting complaining that the procedures are not followed properly. When I introduced these resolutions, the only thing I had in mind was to correct a flawthatwas brought tomy notice."

The issue centered around a rule that the council needs three days' notice to review board appointments before approving them. In the case of Cimmino,Karabinchak, Ricigliano and Prasad, the council had only two days' notice of the proposed appointments before approving them earlier this year.

After themeeting, Prasad said that there was nothing personal behind his reason to introduce the resolutions.

"There was no issue of competency or eligibility," he said. "There are no hidden agendas. Some people are sticklers for the rules, and it is unfortunate that these same people nowsay the rules don'tmatter. Itwas brought to my attention, and I am going to adhere to the rules."

"If they had not rescindedmy resolution, there would have been tough choices because I would not have joined the Planning Board under those circumstances," Prasad said after themeeting. "It was purely an attempt to correct a flawed appointment."

However, Karabinchak, who currently serves as a first alternate on the Zoning Board, said after the council meeting that he believes there was more to it than that.

"I think Dr. Prasad has concerns about me being on the board, and I think time will tell," Karabinchak said. "I had submitted my résumé to them, I think, around November last year, right after the election. They had it months before. I don't think it was procedural. He can say it was procedural, but the council has broken procedure many times since the beginning of the year."

The resolution removing Prasad from the Planning Board was the only measure to pass.

After lastweek's councilmeeting, Prasad said that he had "not yet decided" whether hewould reapply for the position, and so any member of the Township Council is now free to make a request with council President Robert Diehl to serve as the council's representative to the board. The council has set a self-imposed deadline of April 4 to finalize its appointment before it is presented at the subsequent council meetings.

"The Planning Board is one of the most active committees we have," Diehl said after themeeting. "The boardmeets often and requires the person to do some homework and research. It is important to understand the time commitment involved."