Saving Valley Road School: Princeton Can And Should Put a Question on the Ballot
To the Editor:
I want to thank the nearly 2,100 people who signed our petition regarding putting saving Valley Road School (VRS) on the ballot. The petition was carefully worded to pertain specifically to the actions of the Municipality of Princeton in its negotiations with the School Board with regards to the Valley Road School property. We continue to be advised that it is well within the purview of the Princeton Municipal Council to put such a question on the ballot under Section 19:37-1 of the State Code. After all, town officials have now indicated to the media that they hope to put a plan involving the VRS property in front of the School Board this fall.
The statute reads: “When the governing body of any municipality … desires to ascertain the sentiment of the legal voters of the municipality …. upon any question or policy pertaining to the government or internal affairs thereof, …. the governing body may adopt at any regular meeting … a resolution requesting the clerk of the county to print upon the official ballots to be used at the next ensuing general election a certain proposition to be formulated and expressed in the … resolution in concise form. Such request shall be filed with the clerk of the county ….”
There is still plenty of time for the Council to accede to the public’s request to get a question onto the ballot. The request must be sent as a resolution to the County Clerk by August 30th.
Kip Cherry,
President, Valley Road School Community Center, Inc.