EDO Screening for the four Council spots - March 14, 2019 at 7:00 PM at the Pines!

Well, since there are four council seats up for grabs this year, thought it would be helpful to know a few things about this years EDO screening process. So, I reached out to the new EDO Chairman, Mr. Shariq Ahmad and asked the following about public notice to anyone interested in screening and would the public be allowed to attend the actual screening:

My name is Ralph Bucci and I’m an Edison resident and a registered Democrat. For purposes of full disclosure, I’m not much of a fan of the EDO but do have a long-time interest in the town’s governance on both sides of town (municipal and school board).

My sole purpose in contacting you is to inquire if there was any public notice given so any Democrats in town who wish to apply to screen for one of the four open council spots up this year could do so. I didn’t see any but it’s possible that I missed it - so if there was such a notice, I’d appreciate your pointing me to it. If there wasn’t any notice, can you tell me why not?

Second, will anyone from the public be invited to hear the speeches of all the candidates who are screening when it comes up for a vote. If so, I would very much like to attend and hear what all the candidates have to say. As I understand it, in addition to all the incumbents - there are a number of other candidates who have expressed an interest in screening. I think it’s important that we be able to hear what all candidates have to say about how they will make Edison better.

Thanking you in advance for any info you can provide.

Mr. Shariq was kind enough to respond and provided the following information:

On the public notice query:

Thanks for reaching out! Yes there was public notice given, and this year (my first as
chairman overseeing a candidate screening) I wanted to make it even more accessible than years prior. Usually, we are only required to post a public notice in two local papers. I wanted to go further, since more people are consuming their news online nowadays. So, this year, I had the notice posted not just in two local papers (Home News and Sentinel), but also their online sites, as well as another local online newspaper, TapInto Edison, in the hopes that it would reach more people. You can search any of their websites and view it, or see it in the paper itself. Here is one of the notices for your reference (all were identical):

https://www.tapinto.net/towns/edison/categories/press-releases/articles/edison-democratic-organization

 On the public attendance at the screening query:

Yes, there is lots of interest in serving Edison Township via elected office. As I understand it, usually the speech portion of the screening is open only to the committee. I am willing to open it up to the public, especially folks who have long-time interest in the town's governance such as yourself. You and others from the public are welcome to attend. 

There are 3 factors I will take into account if I decide to close it to the public on the night of the screening:

1. If there is not enough space, I will obviously give priority to committeepeople, and ask non-committeepeople to step outside for the duration of the screening. The room and everything has already been reserved and so I will take logistical considerations into account. 

2. If it is too loud or chaotic in the room, I will request the public to leave so that the committeepeople can focus on the important task at hand and listen intently to each candidate. 

3. If the candidates or several committeepeople ask that I close it to the public and give me a valid reason, I will honor their request. Ultimately, it is a meeting of members of the Organization and they are allowed to make such requests.

I then asked if there was a list of candidates (with some bios) who were screening he was willing to share to include in this post.

Mr. Ahmad provided the following:

Candidates:

1. Sheila Angalet

2. Willie Araujo

3. Richard M. Brescher

4. Joseph A. Coyle (I)

5. Nilesh Dasondi

6. Michael R. Lombardi (I)

7. Steven P. Nagel

8. Ajay Patil (I)

9. John H. Poyner

10. Leonard D. Sendelsky (I)

11. Joyce Ship-Freeman

12. Maria C. Wise

  (I) Incumbents




Anyhoo, thank you Mr. Ahmad for allowing the people of Edison to know about the screening process, the public ability to be part of the process with candidates' paper and attendance at the screening meeting (with the caveats stated), if they so desire to attend. Also important to know who the candidates are and why they are seeking the party endorsement to fill one of the four council spots up for grabs.