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Vol. LXV, No. 31
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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Vol. LXV, No. 31
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Wednesday, August 3, 2011
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Fay Abelson
Spring Street
Katherine Miller
Hawthorne Avenue, Princeton
Alexander B. Magoun
Plainsboro
Kate Warren
Jefferson Road
Tobias D. Robison
Jefferson Road
Carol Auerbach
Bunn Drive
To the Editor
It is a matter of speculation as to how or why a large sedan crossed the sidewalk, traveled the depth of Hinds Plaza into the pedestrian walkway leading from Rouge to Spring Street, scraped one concrete post on the right, and crashed headlong into the garage’s brick wall.
From our 4th floor “balcony”on the Spring Street side of the 55 Witherspoon Street building we watched as Princeton's Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad workers did their jobs with coordination and efficiency. They deconstructed the vehicle piece by piece with the “Jaws of Life” and other heavy specialized equipment. Then, when windshield, roof and doors were removed and out of the way, teams of workers on either side carefully, carefully lifted the passenger up and onto a body board and, finally, again with meticulous care, strapped him onto the waiting gurney before rolling him to the ambulance waiting on Witherspoon.
A special “high five” should go to the small young woman in the EMS T-shirt who somehow managed to enter the car and curl up behind the passenger. A big drop cloth covered the two of them for protection while the dismantling of the car took place around and over them. After the car’s roof came off the drop cloth was removed and it was possible to see the pair of them, the pony-tailed young woman stabilizing his head in her hands.
After all was over the rescue workers promptly went to work again, packed up their gear and then, no doubt, headed back to their squad houses to file their reports and reorganize their rigs to be ready for the next call.
Another note: Fire department volunteers wore heavy protective clothing and helmets in all that late afternoon heat. As with the Rescue Squad volunteers it is evident that hours and hours of dedicated training and rehearsal go into preparing for events like yesterday. We, as a community, should be generous in our appreciation.
Fay Abelson
Spring Street
To the Editor:
Over the past months there has been no dearth of discussion of the pros and cons of consolidation. As with any debate it is always possible to find data, however slender, to support any point of view. I was, however, distressed by the argument put forth in the July 27 Mailbox (“Those Thinking Consolidation Means/Large Savings Should Think Again”).
The argument of Borough vs. Township/we vs. them/the good guys vs. the bad guys has been made before and seems to be based on fear and emotion rather than any hard evidence. I worked as a teacher in the Princeton Regional Schools (a successfully consolidated system for decades) and, over almost 20 years, encountered a wide range of ethnicities, religions, points of view, educational backgrounds and income levels. There was no magic line putting one “type” in the Borough and another in the Township. Instead, many kinds of families lived in many different neighborhoods.
Do I vote in my self interest? Usually. Do I always agree with my neighbor? No. Will I vote for the greater good? I hope so. And I imagine most other thoughtful voters, be they living in the Borough or the Township, vote this way too. It is time for us to stop propagating divisiveness. My vote goes for uniting our community, celebrating its diversity, and finding ways to solve our problems as just plain “Princeton”.
Katherine Miller
Hawthorne Avenue, Princeton
To the Editor:
As the executive director of the David Sarnoff Library from its revival in 2000 to its dissolution in 2009, I was pleased to see the coverage of the renewal of its museum at The College of New Jersey (Town Topics, July 20). Readers should know, however, that the decision to transfer the artifact collection to TCNJ was a decision made unanimously by the Library’s board of eleven directors, of which five were members of the Sarnoff family. We did indeed consider a variety of proposals from local and national institutions for Sarnoff’s telegraph key, the first TV camera and picture tubes, first computer memory, etc. These, however, invariably meant either storage with occasional exhibitions of Sarnoff and RCA Laboratories' stories, or disintegration of an extraordinary collection of electronic innovations. The College of New Jersey represented the best choice, based on its educational mission, its proximity to the former Labs, and the enthusiasm of its leadership for a collection that could affect education in all seven of the college's schools. That the state’s budget crisis has delayed the process of installing and operating a professional museum is unfortunate, but I trust that the other board members agree with me that it remains the best location for the Sarnoff museum.
Alexander B. Magoun
Plainsboro
To the Editor:
The vote by Princeton Borough Mayor and Council to place the question of consolidation on the November ballot comes at a time when many Borough residents are vacationing or busy enjoying summer activities paying little attention to a public question of such magnitude.
The urge to merge has never been initiated by Borough residents but rather from Princeton Township elected officials. On each occasion after months of feasibility studies, hundreds of volunteer hours and hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars the Borough answer has always been “thanks, but no thanks.” To date this Joint Commission has spent $77,000 of its $120,000 budget and there is no guarantee that the State will fund the requested $1.7M estimated transition costs, yet another unknown in the consolidation prognostications.
Here we are 15 years after the last effort and we hear the same cost savings projections echoed by yet another consultant, another commission, another DCA analysis. Angrisani and Blair, members of the 1996 Consolidation Study Commission stated the projected cost savings in the cost of municipal government “…would lead to a two and a half percent decrease in the property tax of residents in the combined municipality. Given the uncertainties of projections of future costs...this is not a number that forms a sound basis for changing a system that is working quite well at present.”
And 15 years later savings are projected to achieve a 2.2 percent reduction in the property tax of residents in the new municipality, again “not a number that forms a sound basis for changing a system that is working quite well…”
There is growing skepticism about the findings of this most recent marriage proposal when read in conjunction with the “Literature Review and Analysis Related to Municipal Government Consolidation” conducted by the Rutgers School of Public Affairs wherein it states “...there is a considerable body of literature that does not support consolidation.” It states further that “cost savings are not assured, implementation of consolidation is costly and time consuming, savings only result from reductions in resources [and] most consolidation attempts fail...”
As recently as January 2010, Mark Pfeiffer, Deputy Director of the Division of Local
Government Services of the N.J. Department of Community Affairs stated, “… there is not a lot of evidence that consolidation will achieve the goals being expressed by many commentators.”
Princeton Township Mayor Goerner has declared, “It’s time to get married.” One wonders why an eager bridegroom once again invites Borough residents to the altar when the bride prefers autonomy and is content with being a good neighbor.
Kate Warren
Jefferson Road
To the Editor:
I’m glad we don’t have to pay to park in the Princeton Shopping Center on Harrison Street, but I’m afraid that parking there costs us money. I’m referring, of course, to the whopping pothole that rocks and knocks our axles and shocks as we drive out the northern end of the center. Some responsible organization has patched this pothole many times, and all that I’ve learned from their efforts is that, just as there is a special kind of ink called Disappearing Ink, there must be a special kind of asphalt called Disappearing Asphalt. Wouldn’t it make sense to repair this hole properly, once and for all?
Tobias D. Robison
Jefferson Road
To the Editor:
Would those of you who value air quality please support the effort to remind drivers of diesel vehicles idling past the legal limit on Nassau Street to shut off their engines? The police are supposed to be enforcing no-idling laws. The rules allow three minutes of idling for buses and other vehicles, and unlimited idling for emergency and police vehicles. Laws are created to enforce the greater good, which is what keeps our town from developing toxic air pollution like that in New York City. Controlling this disease-causing pollution now will help prevent the contraction of respiratory diseases and disorders, and enable those who have respiratory conditions the right to clean air.
Neglecting the basics that help prevent extremes in both noise pollution (from buses) and toxic air pollution only contributes to the degradation of our downtown.
Carol Auerbach
Bunn Drive