Plan For Public Advocate Position ‘Wasteful, Misguided’: Edison Mayor

EDISON, NJ —A few months ago, Edison residents had called for a public advocate to represent community concerns when major proposals came before the Planning and Zoning Board. Some Council members gave it a thought and planned to create a new attorney position to oppose land use applications.

But earlier this week, Mayor Sam Joshi called the proposal wasteful and said it could create a conflict of interest.

“While I agree wholeheartedly with the goal of giving residents a voice in zoning and planning decisions, creating this new position would be a needless waste of taxpayer dollars because our elected and appointed officials already fulfill that role and are accountable to the community — they need to do their jobs, not pass the buck and dodge their responsibilities,” Joshi said.

“Hiring an additional attorney to oppose land use applications would also create the possibility of the local government funding both sides of a conflict, potentially leading to costly litigation and thousands of dollars in legal fees.”

Joshi said pursuing this course of action was wrong for the Township and asked Council to reconsider its stance.

Municipalities like Paramus, Oradell, Fair Lawn and West Orange have established a position of municipal public advocate. But Joshi argued that the position is funded but rarely used in these communities, hence showing its ineffectiveness.

The idea for a public advocate has been discussed for quite some time, especially since residents have been opposing the controversial warehouse in the Silver Lake section of town and the plan to build townhomes on the site of the former Charlie Brown's restaurant on Plainfield Road.

The idea is that a public advocate would help residents oppose pending development projects being considered by the Planning and Zoning boards.

However, Joshi argues that Edison already has several procedures in place to help residents voice their opinions and oppose these decisions.

“I campaigned against overdevelopment and I have a clear record of standing with Edison residents against harmful land use decisions, but this misguided plan to create an unnecessary new attorney position would do nothing to address those concerns,” Joshi said.

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