October 1, 2014

Council Approves Appointment of Municipal Administrator

Princeton has a new municipal administrator. At a special meeting Monday night, the town’s Council unanimously approved the appointment of Marc D. Dashield, who replaces longtime staffer Bob Bruschi and will start work October 27.

Mr. Dashield, 48, comes to Princeton after serving since 2010 as township manager for Montclair. Prior to that, he was city administrator in Plainfield and served several positions in Franklin Township, including chief financial officer. He began his municipal career in Elizabeth 21 years ago, serving as chief of the Neighborhood Services Bureau.

“Princeton is a great community, actually very similar to Montclair, though of course each are unique,” Mr. Dashield said Monday in a telephone interview from his Montclair office. “The downtown, the university, the very progressive makeup of the town С I thought it would be a good fit for me. We do have a lot of the same issues, like overnight parking in the downtown.”

Not least of Mr. Dashield’s reasons to pursue the job was the fact that he lives with his family in Kendall Park. “The commute will be so much easier,” he said. “It makes a lot of sense.”

Mr. Dashield was one of three finalists for the job. Kathy Monzo, Princeton’s assistant administrator and director of finance, was considered a leading contender. There were 17 applications for the position, and seven were chosen as candidates. Three of them withdrew, and the remaining four were seriously considered with a full day of interaction with the Council, individual presentations, and interviews. Three of the four were called back for a subsequent round of interviews.

Born in Mt. Holly, Mr. Dashield grew up in Burlington Township and earned undergraduate and master’s degrees at Kean University. He served in the U.S. Army during Desert Storm, rising to the rank of captain.

While being considered for the position, Mr. Dashield said he watched a number of Princeton municipal meetings online. His new role will be somewhat different from his previous job.

“In Montclair, I’m the township manager. I’m the CEO versus being an administrator, so there is a lot more that I’m directly in charge of here,” he said. “I’ve been a city administrator before, and it’s a different role, which I will go back to. I will have to relearn some things. There are a lot of things I have the authority to do on my own here, but that won’t be the case in Princeton.”

Mayor Liz Lempert said of Mr. Dashield in a press release, “He was a very strong candidate among a strong field of applicants. We think his experience in Montclair and other communities will serve our needs very well.”

Mr. Bruschi, 61, is retiring after 15 years of service to Princeton. Mr. Dashield will have a starting salary of $170,000. According to the letter offering him the position, his performance will be reviewed by the mayor and Council after six months and again prior to the end of 2015. After that, performance reviews will take place annually.