By Anne Levin

Adam Bierman

Adam Bierman has announced he will make another run for a seat on Princeton Council this year. Bierman, who made an unsuccessful bid for Council in the 2018 Democratic primary, joins Michelle Pirone Lambros, who announced her candidacy early this month. Both Bierman and Lambros are Democrats.

The terms of Council President Jenny Crumiller and Councilman Tim Quinn will conclude at the end of this year. While Quinn will run for re-election, Crumiller has said she will not.

In a press release, Bierman said, “I am running as a candidate for Princeton Council because I feel it is an opportunity and the time for me to step in and help with the progression of my hometown to intelligently move forward with the current challenges at hand. These include from an effective and efficient regional transportation system to infrastructure, debt reduction, and voluntary payments from the University. In short, my candidacy will endeavor to achieve the maximum amount of services for the minimum amount of dollars.”

A graduate of Princeton High School and Rutgers University, Bierman is producer and host of two shows on Princeton Community TV, where he hosted a public forum on immigration.

He said he is “an independent, progressive Democrat.” “I have challenged the status quo when I publicly opposed the $137 million school referendum, and advocated for nonpartisan Princeton Council elections like our School Board has. Party politics should not matter when issues are local. As I said before and continue to do so, a pothole or a broken parking meter is not Republican, Democrat, or Independent; they just need to be fixed.”

Michelle Pirone Lambros

A press release about Lambros, a Princeton native, said her candidacy is motivated by “a desire to preserve Princeton’s unique small town qualities through conscientious progress” and her “understanding of how its diverse residents and business community are essential to this process.”

A graduate of Seton Hall University and George Washington University, Lambros was among 19 women in New Jersey to be selected last year by Emerge America, the national organization that recruits, trains, and provides a network to Democratic women seeking to run for office, for their training program.

“Princeton is facing numerous challenges in the near term,” she said. “Balancing municipal project funding and property tax increases, meeting the affordable housing obligation, supporting the business community, resolving the parking meter situation, and stewardship of the residential landscape. These challenges call for collaboration, communication, and creativity. I stand ready to serve our community and help guide it through these important decisions.”

Bierman has served as treasurer for the Princeton Democratic Municipal Committee. He is active in promotion of the Neighborhood Buddy Initiative, which encourages neighbors to look out for each other during emergencies.

Lambros has served on the Princeton Zoning Board of Adjustment, and is an active member of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) as well as the Princeton Merchants Association, Greater Princeton Chamber of Commerce, and the Arts Council of Princeton. Her venture, Princeton Promotions, will launch the first Princeton Restaurant Week in March.

Bierman said he has been monitoring the ongoing parking meter roll out, and would like to see monies earned from new meters put into a fund for improvement of the town’s central business district and property tax relief. Among other issues he lists as priorities are parking meters that charge variable prices according to the time of day, monitoring the effectiveness of new zoning ordinances to deter more tear-downs, shared services, affordable housing solutions, and having Princeton University continue to fund the Witherspoon-Jackson trust.

Of his plan to run for re-election, Quinn said in an email, “It’s an honor to serve on Council and I’m very excited to be running for re-election. I’ve assembled a top-notch, diverse team and I am glad to see that others are interested in running. As a lifelong Democrat, I believe our party is stronger when all those who have a desire to serve on Council are given the opportunity to run in the primary. I am ready to run and would like the honor of another term to continue making progress on the issues I’ve been working on, issues that center on affordability and the quality of life for everyone in our community. I look forward to a respectful exchange of ideas around these issues in the primary.”

The PCDO will hold its endorsement meeting in March. The primary is June 4.