Redevelopment agency vote a bad development for Edison
I am greatly saddened and distressed by Wednesday night's apparent party-line vote on the Redevelopment Agency resolution in Edison. I was hopeful that when [Dr. Sudhanshu] Prasad spoke expressing that there was such negativity surrounding this resolution by the people and that he hasn't heard one positive thing, that he was going to vote no. Was I ever the fool to think that logic and the cumulative effect of the taxpayers' desires was enough, for someone who represents the town, to sway their vote. Prasad, [Melissa] Perilstein, [AnnMarie] Griffin- Ussak and [Wayne] Mascola all voted yes. [Mayor Jun] Choi wins and we lose.

The effect on Edison is going to be great in terms of money to be spent and on our infrastructure. As it was mentioned by the acting superintendent of schools at a past meeting, the impact on our schools is unfathomable.

Where will we now get the extra money to build the additional schools that will be required if the redevelopment agency decides that it is in the town's best interest to build the [Edison] Exchange complete with the 700 or so dwellings? Now, after the Appellate Court ruled that towns can't force developers to build or pay into green space, it stands to reason that they won't be forced to build any extra and necessary schools that this new construction will cause.

We as a town have allowed ourselves to be shammed by someone whose allegiance is to only himself. Why then would Choi be absent for all the meetings involving this issue and others. Is he truly so disinterested in our needs and desires and did he believe that his minions would not fail him? It may be a bit of both.

There must be a way that this can be overturned by this council or legally, lest we as a town suffer the consequences of this most unfortunate decision for years to come. In my opinion, Choi will prosper as the executive director of the agency that he created.

I wish that I understood why the council members who voted yes would provide their reasons for going along with Mr. Choi. I don't believe that I ever heard an articulated reason from any of his supporters as to why they were so willing to support this resolution.
Bruce Papkin
Edison