Keep politics far away from redevelopment agency
The redevelopment agency, after weeks of debate and delay and fine-tuning and clarification, is finally a reality in Edison, after the Township Council narrowly passed the ordinance that will allow the independent organization to be created.

While we were surprised at the amount of time it took for a decision to finally be made, we had no real doubts about the outcome. Mayor Jun Choi, the primary architect behind the agency's creation, has, as we have noted before, a habit of getting what he wants, and the most recent vote on the matter only reinforces this impression.

We still have no definite opinion on the redevelopment agency in and of itself, as it seems from our own research that the efficacy of such an entity depends entirely on execution rather than concept. Potentially, it can bring more jobs, business and tax revenue to Edison. It could also be an unmitigated failure and a den of patronage and corruption. Until we trade our word processors for crystal balls, we're going to hold off on determining which it will be for now. We can't know the future.

What we do know, however, is that now that this agency has been created, what it needs more than anything else is legitimacy.

It is obvious to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that from this point on, it will be the mayor's office running the show when it comes to the redevelopment agency. The argument that balance of power can be maintained because the mayor only nominates members, who must then be confirmed by the council, is rather unconvincing when one looks at its factional makeup.

The mayor's supporters make up the majority on the council and will probably confirm whoever is placed before the dais by a slim 4-3 margin. Unless it's suddenly revealed that a nominee is actually three ducks in a long overcoat, we don't see any of the mayor's choices being met with much resistance.

With this in mind, the mayor should take extra special care to not pack the nascent redevelopment agency with people perceived as political supporters already connected with the Choi clique. Even if they're not, if there is even the possibility that they might be seen as such, such a choice is ill-advised. The redevelopment agency must not only be apolitical, people must view it as apolitical. Failing in either requirement will make fulfilling its mission that much more difficult - not a good idea when the whole point of the agency is to increase efficiency in managing redevelopment projects.

It must be made unquestionably and indisputably clear, even to the mayor's staunchest opponents, that this is a professional organization that is made up not of savvy politicians but dour technocrats. The mayor's nominees must reflect this sentiment. He must reject both friends and enemies equally.

The mayor's opponents, meanwhile, must get on board with this mission by accepting that they, too, will not be a part of this agency. Provided that the mayor selects truly neutral professionals to helm this organization, opponents should not take rejection personally.

If, when all is said and done, the redevelopment agency ends up full of those friendly to the mayor and his faction, expect another front to open up in the blood sport that typifies Edison politics, with bitter arguments and rancor drowning out any potential as a force for good that the redevelopment agency may have once had.