Advanced Knee Pain Treatment in South Brunswick, NJ

The general election in New Jersey is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Check out our voter guide before you cast your ballot.

|Updated Mon, Nov 6, 2023 at 9:24 pm ET

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The general election in New Jersey is Tuesday, Nov. 7. Here is what South Brunswick voters need to know before they hit the polls.

This general election, school board seats will be on the ballot. Early in-person voting began Oct. 28.

Who is on the ballot?

Board Of Education

South Brunswick voters will choose from a list of nine candidates when they cast their ballots for the Board of Education this November.

Find out what's happening in South Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The candidates are:

District 16 Senator

Three candidates are running for Senator in District 16. They are:

District 16 Assembly

Four candidates are seeking two assembly seats in District 16. They are:

For South Brunswick's sample ballot click here.

When And How To Vote

There are three ways to vote this election - early voting, vote by mail and at the polling location. Early Voting: Oct. 28 – Nov. 5.

“As Americans, voting is not only our right, but our responsibility to shape the society we want to live in and to preserve our democracy,” said Middlesex County Clerk Nancy J. Pinkin. “With multiple accessible options, Middlesex County wants every resident to be educated and take advantage of the voting method that suits their needs, as every vote counts.”

Mail-In Ballot: Voters can choose one of the following options to return their Mail-In Ballot:

Eligible voters can also drop off their mail-in ballot at these locations:

Election Day: The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 7, with polls open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

In-person voting is available to all registered voters in Middlesex County. Voters may vote in person at their assigned polling place on General Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7. All polling locations can be found on the County website or on the top left corner of the sample ballot, which will be mailed two weeks before the General Election.

Polling locations will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on General Election Day.

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Magesh Kamalakannan talks about why he is seeking a seat on the South Brunswick BOE.

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — A resident of South Brunswick for 17 years, Magesh Kamalakannan is seeking a seat on the South Brunswick Board of Education in the upcoming election.

In a Q&A with Patch, Kamalakannan speaks about the busing issue, his plans for helping the district navigate budget problems and more.

This year’s election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Early voting has already begun. Click here for our voting guide.

Name: Magesh Kamalakannan

Town of residence: South Brunswick

Position sought: Board of Education Member

Family: I live in South Brunswick with my wife and 2 kids for the last 17 years. Daughter studied from 3rd grade in SB and graduated HS in 2017. Son who did his entire schooling in SB from his Sand Hills Preschool to his HS graduation in 2021.

Education: B.E.(Mechanical Engineering) & MBA (Finance)

Occupation: ITSM Professional / Manager

Previous or current elected appointed office: None

Why are you seeking to run for a seat on the South Brunswick Board of Education?

I came to South Brunswick because it was a very good school district and offered a lot of opportunities to develop from Sports to clubs and other extracurricular activities. But in the last three to five years they have been greatly compromised. I remember those days when my son and other SB kids were practicing for their USTA or GMC tournaments before 2017 under the floodlights. Unfortunately, this is not possible in SB anymore. In 2017 the lights were switched off and after COVID-19 the courts are permanently locked after school hours. How can our country produce tennis champions at the national level if all schools did like our SB administration? Then we have the recent bussing crisis when 250 kids lost their bussing because of the state budget cut and the school tried to save a small amount of $250k and put children's lives at risk. It is an accident waiting to happen in the future because of their wrong decision.

Then we have the $15.5 million (over 5 years - 2.5 million capex and 2.6 million opex every year) which was signed in by the BOE without involving the SB community on a major project of this scale. Ideally, a townhall should have been done on this project and financial experts from the community should have been welcomed to review and analyze the project as the current incumbents running for reelection don’t have the expertise to do a financial evaluation thoroughly. They should have left it to the financial experts in the community through a committee and townhall meeting to update and get feedback from residents.

The school's and BOE members’ first priority should be the students and their interests should never be sacrificed.

That is the reason I decided to run for the BOE - to speak for the students.

What according to you is the biggest issue facing the school district right now?

The biggest issue facing the school district is managing its $166 million budget efficiently. For want of 250k, they have put the lives of 220+ kids at risk. They made a huge blunder by removing the bussing for the summer field development. I took a walk on the path suggested by the school administration and immediately realized that the path couldn’t be used as they were overhead HT power transmission lines. The residents called and later found out that PSEG has blocked the path with chains between the two developments for safety reasons and the school administration totally missed it as no safety study was done till then. And we know the budget cuts are coming from the state because of falling enrollment numbers even in 2019. What planning was done to secure that? It is only last month that our BOE announced about forming a committee.

Also as the Superintendent pointed out in the last BOE meeting - for mandated bussing the state has to give $509/student a year. We have roughly 5000 mandated bussing students. And they have been giving only $400/student a year. Why has the school not demanded this $500k that is due to us every year? When I asked whether any communication was sent by school or BOE to recover this money, there was no clear response. Even considering the last 5 years, it is 2.5 million gone down the drain unclaimed or 5 million over 10 years. The $15.5 million wellness center project is definitely not needed at this budget cut time when no school district has completed 3-5 years with that project to do a meaningful ROI analysis on that.

Learning to manage its budget efficiently and avoiding unnecessary huge projects is the key that the BOE has to focus right now.

SBSD is seeing regular cuts in state aid due to the funding formula. What plans do you have to ensure student services are not cut and there are no job losses for employees?

How many budget meetings have you attended and have you put forth any solutions?

I attended the budget meeting in which the budget for school year 2023-24 was approved. I attended almost all of the BOE meetings this year and also actively encouraged other parents/residents to attend these meetings. Same in the previous years, but mostly remote due to COVID-19. Ideally, they should have a budget meeting (more like a townhall) before it is finalized to discuss the details with the residents/parents and have proper two-way communication instead of the current one-way, three-minute comment section which is not useful to put forth any solutions as they are not tracked and no feedback is given on them in future BOE sessions.

Transportation is a statewide issue. Do you feel transportation issues are being handled well by the district? If not, how do you propose improving it?

It could have been handled better in the following ways:

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the district?

What sets you apart from other candidates?

I have been living here for close to two decades and know a good deal about how our schools were five years ago and how they are now. To me, it has come down a lot and this impacts our school ranking and also our property values in the long run. I have expertise in finance and system implementation both of which are needed for a BOE position at a time like this. Unfortunately, the incumbents lack basic expertise in this area and this should be a major criterion that one should look into in the upcoming election. I have around three decades of experience working with Fortune 500 companies and can bring valuable experience to the School Board. I would like to focus on the excellence of our school district; transparency and empowering our parents and residents so they also get involved in major issues.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

SBSD has great challenges in front of it. But with a creative mind these challenges can be converted into great opportunities.

Candidate Vivek Kumar talks about his platform and why he should be elected to the South Brunswick BOE.

Patch Staff

|Updated Sun, Nov 5, 2023 at 3:54 pm ET

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – Resident Vivek Kumar is running for a seat on the South Brunswick Board of Education this November. He is running on a slate along with Joyce Mehta and Magesh Kamalakannan.

In a Q&A with Patch, Kumar talks about the need for open dialogue with the community and transparency.

This year’s election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Early voting has already begun. Check out our voting guide here.

Name: Vivek Kumar

Age: 46

Find out what's happening in South Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: Monmouth Junction

Position sought: Member Board of Education

Family: Shalini (my wife) works for the largest online retailer. Two kids - 8th and 2nd grader.

Education: B.Tech in Computer Engineering

Occupation: IT Product Owner

Previous or current elected appointed office: None

Campaign website: www.facebook.com/JoyceMageshVivek4BoE

Why are you seeking to run for a seat on the South Brunswick Board of Education

South Brunswick is a great school district for students and parents and has many highly educated and skilled residents. Our school board is representative of the whole community that elects it. The board should be able to have constructive dialogue and incorporate community input, especially on decisions that impact direct services to students or create long-term financial commitments for the district taxpayers. As a member of the board (and parent of 2 kids in school) my goal is to advocate for this open dialogue with all those impacted – students, teachers, parents, and community members.

What according to you is the biggest issue facing the school district right now?

Based on publicly available information, I think the big issues that the school district faces right now are fiscal governance and dialogue with the community. Fiscal governance should include both securing more money and spending wisely what we already have. Having an open dialogue with the community and incorporating inputs from impacted students, teachers, parents, and community members. All involved must work together to solve these issues. I encourage more community members to attend board meetings, apply to be included in public committees, provide input on decisions being made, and volunteer for any other opportunity. I encourage the board to provide more opportunities for open dialogue to the community via public committees, special task forces, etc and be more open in inviting & incorporating community inputs on significant decisions like big projects, and curriculum among others.

SBSD is seeing regular cuts in state aid due to the funding formula. What plans do you have to ensure student services are not cut and there are no job losses for employees?

A better fiscal governance is required considering state aid cuts, with two simultaneous initiatives:

How many budget meetings have you attended and have you put forth any solutions?

As a resident, I attended the board meeting where the budget for school year 2023–24 was approved. I have attended multiple board meetings, advocating for student safety and public dialogue on the issues faced by the community. I also applied for the district budget public committee in September 2022 and was not selected. Again, I applied for the advocacy public committee in October 2023, let us see.

Transportation is a statewide issue. Do you feel transportation issues are being handled well by the district? If not, how do you propose improving it?

I like the way this question is framed - it is not the issue but how the board reacts to the issues that matter to the students, parents, and community. Issues will always be there and that is why we need a public governing body like the board of education in school districts. We can do better with the transportation issues in the district, both in terms of discussing it openly with impacted students and parents and working out solutions and alternatives. A lot of districts in the state have subscription busing – I am confident that we can find a solution that works for everyone if we put ourselves to it.

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the district?

In addition to issues of fiscal governance and dialog with the community shared already, we need to focus on a Student First Policy - that is ensuring students’ safety and well-being is our highest priority in every decision made, supporting every child in mental health, academics, sports, and extra-curricular activities. As a commitment to our taxpayers, we need to work on elevating the ranking of our school district comparable to our neighboring towns; as better rankings help drive up property value.

What sets you apart from other candidates?

If elected I will bring the following skills to the board:

So, I have a combination of perspectives, experiences and skills that can help the board make policy decisions that put student excellence first while maintaining transparency and empowering residents.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I would like to share a framework to screen candidates and hopefully, it will help you decide quantitatively. Rank and evaluate your candidates based on the following criteria:

Wishing the best to all the candidates. May the best win!

Have a correction or a news tip? Email sarah.salvadore@patch.com

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The annual election for South Brunswick Township Fire District No. 2 will be held from 2-9 p.m. this Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Monmouth Junction Fire Station, 573 Ridge Road in Monmouth Junction.

South Brunswick Fire District 2 covers the Monmouth Junction, Dayton and Deans sections of the Township.

Registered voters of the district will be asked to approve the proposed 2024 operating budget, as well as to elect two commissioners to three-year terms.

The 2024 budget for Fire District No. 2 calls for total appropriations in the amount of $1,272,200, which represents a decrease of $1,124,043 (-46.9%) compared to the 2023 adopted budget. The primary cause of the proposed decrease is attributable to $1,100,000 of capital appropriations to support the lease-purchase of a new tower ladder budgeted in 2023, versus only $100,000 of budgeted capital appropriations in 2024 for a new command vehicle.

The amount to be raised by taxation is $1,151,711, an increase of $70,281 (+6.5%) from 2023. The proposed tax rate of $.045 per hundred of assessed value is $.002 per hundred higher (+4.7%) than budgeted and realized in 2023. The primary causes of the increase in the amount to be raised by taxation is due to the hiring of a full-time Deputy Fire District Coordinator in November of 2023, an anticipated shared services agreement with the other two fire districts within South Brunswick Township in 2024 to provide firefighters for the daytime response to fires and emergencies within the township, and a weak rise in the ratable base of less than 2%.

Find out what's happening in South Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For a single-family residence in South Brunswick Township assessed at the average value of $196,460, a taxpayer in Fire District #2 would pay approximately $88.40 a year for fire protection. Residents can check their property tax bill from South Brunswick Township to see exactly how much they pay for fire protection.

The fire tax is used to fund fire protection to the residents and businesses of the fire district. This includes the operation and maintenance of the fire stations and fire apparatus, as well as the purchase of firefighting equipment, supplies and protective clothing for firefighters. Since 1924, fire protection has been provided by the Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department.

The use of a volunteer firefighting force results in a significant savings for taxpayers every year. In fact, the fire tax in Fire District #2 is the lowest in Middlesex County on an equalized basis, and amongst the lowest in the entire state of New Jersey.

For the 2024 election, there are two Commissioner’s positions that are up for election, each for a 3-year term. Incumbents Charles Spahr and Douglas Wolfe are running un-opposed on the ballot for re-election.

South Brunswick Township is divided into three separate fire districts, each with their own elected five-member Board of Fire Commissioners.

Said the members of Fire District #2:

"The Commissioners of South Brunswick Township Fire District #2 and the members of the Monmouth Junction Volunteer Fire Department thank the public for their support and encourages the registered voters to vote in favor of the 2024 fire district budget this Saturday."

Residents with questions regarding the fire district election or the proposed budget can visit the fire district’s website at www.sbfd2.com or call 732-329-0250.

Board of Fire CommissionersFire District #2Township of South BrunswickRegular Meeting P.O. Box 114Third Monday at 7:00 P.M. Monmouth Junction, N.J. 08852Monmouth Junction Fire House

Candidate Mukesh Bhatt talks about his platform and why he is seeking a seat on the Board of Education this November.

Patch Staff

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ – A resident of South Brunswick, Mukesh Bhatt is seeking a seat on the Board of Education this November. He wants to focus on fiscal responsibility, capital expenditure prioritization and parental involvement.

One of Bhatt’s top priorities is to look into transportation issues by conducting dialogue with the community, transportation experts, and relevant stakeholders.

This year’s election will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7. Early voting has already begun.

Name: Mukesh Bhatt

Age: 45

Find out what's happening in South Brunswickwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Town of residence: South Brunswick

Position sought: School Board Member

Family: Mukesh lives in South Brunswick community with his wife and two daughters who have been students in the South Brunswick School district for the last eight years.

Education: MBA

Occupation: Professional Services

Previous or current elected appointed office: No

Campaign website: http://mukeshboe.info/

Why are you seeking to run for a seat on the South Brunswick Board of Education?

I’m running for the South Brunswick School Board with the simple mandate to bring back quality decision-making since this governing body impacts every aspect of our school ecosystem.

What according to you is the biggest issue facing the school district right now?

I’m concerned with the budget cuts that are occurring within the school district. I believe that while fiscal responsibility is necessary, we can do a better job of prioritizing our spending on the essential services that impact thousands of families. We can offset this spending by optimizing our maintenance and capital expenditures. I realize that the budget battle will be challenging and will need to be waged both locally and in Trenton, but this battle can be won. There are always choices to be made, but we should never compromise the quality and richness of our children’s education. We also need to be mindful of the impacts these choices have on the parents.

SBSD is seeing regular cuts in state aid due to the funding formula. What plans do you have to ensure student services are not cut and there are no job losses for employees?

Addressing funding challenges in a school district requires a multifaceted approach.

Remember, the key is to involve all stakeholders – teachers, parents, staff, and community members – in the decision-making process. By fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility, creative solutions can often be found to address funding challenges while safeguarding student services and jobs.

How many budget meetings have you attended and have you put forth any solutions?

Five.

Transportation is a statewide issue. Do you feel transportation issues are being handled well by the district? If not, how do you propose improving it?

I believe the handling of the situation was flawed. The decision to cut buses for 250 families due to a lack of $400K seemed arbitrary, especially considering significant capital expenditure was made during the same period. A robust process, including a safety study and a comprehensive assessment of the impact on families, should have been followed. Although it might have been convenient to make the cut as the action is not legally binding. We have elected a board tasked with ensuring the administration follows proper procedures. This board should have led a rigorous process that would have informed the final decision. It's important for the district to engage in ongoing dialogue with the community, transportation experts, and relevant stakeholders to ensure that transportation services are meeting the needs of students and families effectively.

What other issues do you feel need to be tackled in the district?

During the last 4-5 years, I’ve noticed a notable decline in the school board's performance quality. This decrease has had a detrimental effect on the decision-making processes, impacting both students and their families adversely.

What sets you apart from other candidates?

I am a resident of the South Brunswick community, where I live with my wife and two daughters, both of whom have been attending South Brunswick School District for the past eight years. I bring substantial administrative and governance expertise gained from advising Fortune 500 private and public organizations on their operational methods, governance, and policy matters.

What else would you like to share about yourself or your campaign?

I took the initiative in South Brunswick by leading a petition to reinstate the courtesy bus service. I engaged with numerous government representatives, advocating for the restoration of the buses. The decision to cut the buses was arbitrary and unilateral, made without regard for the significant impact it had on young parents, who were disproportionately affected.