To the Editor:

Princetonians attending the many School Board meetings on the proposed referendum this summer witnessed levels of division that rivaled our national political scene. The silver lining to emerge from that acrimonious process is that it propelled a truly exceptional candidate, Brian McDonald, to run for the School Board. 

In his previous statements, Brian correctly frames this issue as a struggle for our town to meet the twin goals of offering high quality schools for all of its citizens and maintaining affordability, particularly for those Princetonians on a limited or fixed income. Each of these is a difficult goal on its own, but it will take creativity and leadership for us to achieve both simultaneously. Brian brings these qualities to the table. In his professional life, he has started and grown successful businesses. Following that, he led the development team at Princeton University. Brian also has volunteered his time and expertise in public finance in many capacities around town. For seven years, he was a part of the Citizen Financial Advisory Committee and contributed to the development of policies pertaining to capital spending and debt management, changes to the budget process, the development of an annual newsletter, and other efforts to make the town’s finances more transparent and understandable. Everyone in town has already benefitted from this as the resulting transparency has ensured more cost-effective municipal services and lower tax growth. He also has served on the boards of many of our town’s cherished institutions, including 17 years at McCarter Theatre as well as Sustainable Princeton. 

Everyone who has worked with Brian in these capacities realizes right away that he brings a tremendous dedication and collegiality to the mission of the organization. We are so fortunate that he now wants to join the Board of Education at this critical time. Whether your focus on the current referendum debate is on guaranteeing schools with adequate capacity to serve our community or on minimizing the property tax impact, Brian is a candidate for your cause. His dedication is to find a creative solution and to build consensus around it within the community so that the referendum fight does not leave lasting rancor within our town. We are lucky to have him as a candidate at this time and we whole-heartedly endorse him.

Amy Craft, Kian Esteghamat

Poe Road