To the Editor:

As a fourth generation African American Princetonian, I’m supporting Michelle Pirone Lambros for Princeton Council. She’s the only candidate with a real grasp of the challenges faced by the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood (where her own mother grew up). Her campaign has been inclusive and sensitive to the needs of the African American community and the undocumented Latinx we call our neighbors. Michelle knows this part of town is underserved, and is campaigning on issues like mixed use zoning that encourages more small businesses, like a grocery store and a laundromat on this side of town. She sees the need for the urgent care clinic we were promised when the hospital left.

As she said in her opening remarks at the debate at the Witherspoon-Jackson Neighborhood Candidate Forum, every trend that affects Princeton has a concentrated impact on the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood: rising property taxes, a lack of support for small business owners, and zoning restrictions that make it hard for fixed-income seniors to age in place. Michelle has everyone’s interests in mind, and the fresh ideas to make a difference. She doesn’t pay lip-service to social and economic justice. She acts on it.

There’s been talk of the need for a dog park in Princeton. There’s even a candidate who says it’s one of her priorities.  But before Princeton’s dogs get their own playground, Michelle will make sure that Princeton’s most vulnerable residents get the services they need.

Joanne Parker
Leigh Avenue