To the Editor:

This week, the Princeton Borough Council undertook an important reform that will promote greater public engagement in local government — we will move our meetings to an earlier time (7 p.m.) and hold our public meeting before our closed session.

Why the change? For many years, the Council has held closed session meetings before its open public meeting. As a result, the public meetings have often gone late into the night, frustrating the public and creating suboptimal conditions for good decision making. Switching the order will prioritize open government over deliberations behind closed doors, thereby promoting transparency and greater community participation. I want to thank my colleagues for supporting my motion to make this change, and hope the public will find that this new schedule makes our meetings more accessible.

Heather Howard
Aiken Avenue