Plainsboro GOP candidate wants to slow growth
By: Gwen McNamara , Staff Writer
Princeton Packet, 10/21/2003
Richard Nicoletti faces off against two Democratic incumbents and an
independent candidate.
PLAINSBORO — Richard Nicoletti, Republican candidate
for Township Committee, is on the road to recovery.
"I am feeling better," Mr. Nicoletti said in an
interview Monday.
Mr. Nicoletti missed participating in The Packet's
editorial board
session on Oct. 7 after a health problem forced him to go to the
hospital.
Mr. Nicoletti, a teacher at Perth Amboy High School,
is vying for one of two seats on the Township Committee. Also running
are incumbent Democrats Neil Lewis and Ginger Gold and Green Party
candidate Patrick Goldsmith.
On Monday, Mr. Nicoletti sounded off on many of the
issues the other candidates discussed Oct. 7.
He is concerned the township is growing too quickly
and believes the
Township Committee should do more to improve traffic flow in the
municipality.
"This town is too
developer-friendly," he said. "And
I think the rate of growth is just too fast.
"We also need to put more pressure on the state to
fix intersections
like Walker Gordon and Plainsboro roads," he continued. "And I am
opposed to Route 92."
Route 92 has long been proposed to connect
the New Jersey Turnpike at Exit 8A to Route 1 near Ridge Road in South
Brunswick. Mr. Nicoletti believes the
roadway would damage wetlands and
have an adverse effect on the Plainsboro Preserve. The Democratic
incumbents favor the roadway.
Mr. Nicoletti said he is
interested in preserving more open space in the township, particularly
in areas other than the Plainsboro Preserve.
He is also
concerned with the availability of affordable housing in the township
and believes recent problems between the police department's
rank-and-file officers and Chief of Police David Lyon could be resolved
if the structure of the department were altered.
Mr. Nicoletti stressed he will provide a spark of
debate on the Township Committee.
"I may have an 'R' next to my name, but I am an
independent-minded
person," he said. "Right now there is no debate on the committee,
meetings are over in 15 minutes and it seems like everyone is afraid to
disagree with the mayor, at least in public. I believe there needs to
be more debate."