Edison Township's top five stories in 2008

Jun Choi

Police command change

When Edison Mayor Jun Choi announced his intentions in January 2008 not to replace the now-vacant position of chief of police and instead hire a civilian police director, a conflict began between the administration and, principally, the local Policemen's Benevolent Association that lasted for months.

Opponents felt that the move threatened the independence of the police department, since the director is an appointed position and would thus be beholden to the administration. Supporters, however, felt that an outside perspective could change a police culture that they said was actively resisting positive change and real reform. The struggle ended in March with the passage of a set of ordinances that allowed the hiring of former Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Brian Collier as the township's police director and the promotion of Lt. Thomas Bryan to deputy chief, who oversees day-to-day affairs in the department.

A new council

Having won the Democratic primary and then the general election, council members AnnMarie Griffin-Ussak, Wayne Mascola, Melissa Perilstein and Sudhanshu Prasad took their seats at the dais at the beginning of 2008. Since then, they have proved to be politically powerful, often voting as a bloc to ensure a 4-3 victory on a number of controversial issues, such as the redevelopment agency and the creation of the police director position. They are generally seen as allied with Mayor Jun Choi, who supported their campaign last year; whether this is a good thing depends largely on how one views the mayor.

New school board members

The Board of Education race in April pitted three newcomers, Gene Maeroff, Amy Szilagyi and Veena Iyer, running as a slate, against two incumbents, Ray Kopperwhats and William Van Pelt. The race was short but contentious, with questions about funding sources, election law requirements, and what does and does not count as campaigning, being raised by both sides at regular intervals. When the votes were finally counted in April, however, Maeroff and Szilagyi had won seats on the board, with Kopperwhats losing his seat on the board.

The school bond saga

Proposed by the Edison school district, the $57 million bond referendum was meant to build a new elementary school and greatly expand and renovate four existing schools in order to address crowding issues connected with the town's growing student population.

Supporters said it would be tax neutral, since its funding was based on bringing special-education students, who are currently schooled outside the district at taxpayer expense, back to Edison, with the savings used to pay off the bond's debt. This did not convince voters, however, who critiqued the plan itself and expressed skepticism at the claims of tax neutrality, and it failed 3,983 to 3,644.

Undaunted, the board planned to bring the bond to a vote again at the end of September, but this caused conflict with the township's Jewish community, because the referendum would have taken place on Rosh Hashana. A month of pressure by religious leaders convinced the board to hold the referendum on Dec. 9, when it was again rejected by voters, this time with 3,620 against and 1,876 for. The district, still in need of additional classroom space, is still weighing its options for what to do next.

Edison Exchange

Developer Steve Goldin had a vision: 44 acres of stores, parks, pedestrian walkways and offices, all centered around what would be a refurbished and modernized Edison train station. There would also be 783 residential units. From the moment it was announced to the general public in March, the project immediately came under fire from residents concerned about everything from traffic impact to the Tax Increment Financing plan that would fund the development's initial stages.

While there was excitement over increased pedestrian accessibility as well as additional park space, the housing element, especially, made some uneasy.

Eventually even Mayor Jun Choi, who at that point had been suspected by some to be in league with Goldin, came out against the development, saying that the proposed number of residences was too much for the township's infrastructure to handle. Since then, there has been little to no known public activity regarding the development.