Jewish Center of Princeton

Hour-Long Debate Gives Candidates Chance to Talk About Their Strengths

Residents of Princeton had two debates to watch last Thursday evening, and timing was all. Before tuning in to see the 9 p.m. vice presidential debate, many people headed over to the Jewish Center of Princeton at 7:30 p.m. to hear candidates Liz Lempert and Dick Woodbridge talk about what each of them believes they would bring to the office of mayor of the “new,” consolidated Princeton in 2013.

The level of discourse between the two candidates remained highly civil during the hour-long debate, and the moderator’s performance could not be faulted. Barbara Trout, a League of Women Voters representative from Burlington County, was poised and congenial as she gave the candidates their instructions and read questions that had been written earlier that evening on index cards distributed to members of the audience. Princeton Community TV videotaped the debate, which has been made available on their website (www.princetontv.org).

As they have on other occasions, Mr. Woodbridge used his answers to emphasize the breadth of his experience as a former Township mayor and Borough Council president, while Ms. Lempert focused on the more recent achievements of Township Committee, where she has served for four years as a member, and deputy mayor.

The candidates differed on a number of issues, including the significance of national elections on local politics; the disposition of the Valley Road School building; and how each of them proposed to keep taxes flat.

Mr. Woobridge suggested that it would be “a mistake” to allow national politics to interfere with local issues that tend toward the more mundane business of doing things like fixing potholes. Ms. Lempert, who coordinated the local campaign for President Obama in 2008, said that national platforms on issues like affordable housing and environmental concerns do “translate at the local level.”

In discussing the Valley Road Building, Ms. Lempert emphasized the fact that since they own it, its future is up to the school district. While she allowed that being directly across from Township Hall makes it a valuable piece of real estate that might work as a community center, she concluded by suggesting that “we need to figure out the finances.”

“Use it or lose it,” said Mr. Woodbridge in his more pointed response. Describing the building as looking “like a crack house,” he faulted the school district for its failure to maintain it and for the Board’s unwillingness to accept a “free offer” that would have turned the Valley Road Building into a community center.

“I can guarantee there will be no new taxes introduced in 2013,” said Ms. Lempert in answer to the question of maintaining flat taxes. “We’ve done it for the last two years,” she said, referring to Township Committee and citing the “invaluable” work of the Township’s Citizens Advisory Group.

Mr. Woodbridge proposed that municipal finances be treated “as a real business,” and noted recent conversations he has had with Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi and Township Acting Administrator and Chief Financial Officer Kathy Monzo. He said that he would look forward to creating budgets that were not based on preceding years, and to ask for other players, like Mercer County and the school district, to seek cost reductions.

In response to Mr. Woodbridge’s frequent references to his experiences with, and desire for non-partisanship in the next Princeton government, Ms. Lempert pointed out that “almost every” current “board and commission has Republican representation.” Both candidates acknowledged the importance of tourism in Princeton, and the need to find new ways to support it. Mr. Woodbridge suggested that town-gown relations have “deteriorated” in recent years. His own recent meeting with University Vice President Bob Durkee and Director of Community and Regional Affairs Kristen Appelget, said Mr. Woodbridge, should be a precedent for regular meetings in the future. In response, Ms. Lempert cited Township Committee’s recent success in negotiating a voluntary payment from the University in lieu of taxes.

While Mr. Woodbridge spoke of his three main credentials for being mayor as “experience, experience, and experience,” Ms. Lempert noted hers: “current experience.”

PCDO to Endorse Mayor, Council Candidates

With an unprecedented number of registered members now on its rolls, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) has moved its Sunday, March 25 endorsement meeting from the Suzanne Patterson Center to the larger Jewish Center of Princeton. PCDO president Dan Preston says that the organization is expecting a huge turnout at the meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. and feature debates between candidates seeking PCDO endorsements.

More than 570 people have signed on as PCDO members so far, up from the usual 300 to 400, according to Mr. Preston. Members must be registered to vote in Princeton, and be registered as Democrats. Unaffiliated voters who join must affiliate as Democrats before being permitted to vote on the endorsements of mayoral and council candidates.

Vying for the mayoral endorsement are Borough Council member Kevin Wilkes and Township Committee member/Deputy Mayor Liz Lempert. Those running for Council are current Borough Mayor Yina Moore, Council members Jo Butler, Jenny Crumiller, Roger Martindell and Heather Howard; Township Committee members Bernie Miller and Lance Liverman; and newcomers Tamera Matteo, Patrick Simon, and Scott Sillars, who is vice chairman of the Transition Task Force.

Mr. Martindell is also hosting a discussion and reception Saturday, March 25 from 4-6 p.m. at Dorothy’s Garden/House, 144 Patton Avenue, rain or shine. Mr. Martindell will lead a discussion about how people envision Princeton after consolidation takes effect on January 1, 2013. The public is invited, and other candidates are encouraged to join the presentation.

At the PCDO event, registration will begin at 6 p.m. with member check-in and ballot distribution. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. Mr. Wilkes and Ms. Lempert will debate from 6:45 to 7:15 p.m. The one-hour Council debate follows. Voting begins at 8:15 p.m. A presentation on the next steps after PCDO endorsement is at 8:30 p.m., during which time ballots will be counted. Endorsement results are estimated to be announced at 9 p.m.

A new rule adopted by the PCDO executive board mandates that ballots for the Council race must contain votes for a minimum of three candidates, up to a maximum of six, in order to be counted, or a vote of “no endorsement.”

In a letter to the editor of this issue of Town Topics, Princeton Township Mayor Chad Goerner urges the PCDO and Democrats to consider the three new faces on the ballot: Ms. Matteo, Mr. Sillars, and Mr. Simon. While those who have previously served on the governing bodies bring “important continuity and institutional knowledge” to the new council, the three newcomers “will not be encumbered in their decision-making by any past history of serving on one governing body or another,” he writes.