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Vol. LXIV, No. 22
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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Vol. LXIV, No. 22
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Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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SUSAN W. HOSKINS
Executive Director
Princeton Senior Resource Center
Five letters follow
To the Editor:
On behalf of the older adults, family caregivers, and others who attend programs and receive assistance from the Princeton Senior Resource Center, I want to thank the Joint Municipal Finance Committee and elected officials for their continued support of PSRC. We rely on municipal funding for 25 percent of our budget; the remainder is raised through donations, events, grants, and fees.
The Princeton Senior Resource Center provides support and guidance for aging in place and navigating life transitions through case management, help with benefit enrollment, information and referral, caregiver support, volunteer visitors, and other services. We also offer programs to support active living through fitness, education, enrichment, volunteering, and social events. The newest program is Engaged Retirement and Encore Careers. Support from our municipal contract makes it possible to address the interests of people throughout this wonderfully diverse community.
I also want to thank the State of New Jersey for installing pedestrian crossings at the Nassau-Bayard-Stockton intersection so that people can safely walk to and from the Suzanne Patterson Building.
SUSAN W. HOSKINS
Executive Director
Princeton Senior Resource Center
To the Editor:
In his years of public service on Borough Council, Roger Martindell has tirelessly and effectively represented the interest of taxpayers in reviewing annual budgets, joint activities with the Township, and complicated projects like the downtown development on Spring Street. He has consistently worked to obtain increased contributions from Princeton’s tax-exempt education institutions for the municipal services they rely on but do not adequately support.
Roger has also raised the level of accountability in municipal services, particularly with regards to the police department personnel issues over the last few years. As the only attorney on the Council and among the candidates this year, Roger provides a legal perspective that is essential to the Council’s work of reviewing ordinances, regulations, and contracts, and in overseeing negotiations with employees unions. He has also worked hard for the rights and dignity of less fortunate residents in town.
All Borough taxpayers and residents will be well served by voters’ nominating Roger to run for another term on Council.
CLIFFORD W. ZINK
Aiken Avenue
To the Editor:
We write in support of Jo Butler’s candidacy for Borough Council. In extensive conversations we have found Jo’s thinking to be very clear, her answers very careful, and her approach to finding solutions practical and carefully structured.
That she is running with the full support of Township Committee augurs very well for the possibility of future discussions and actions with the Township.
We urge our fellow Borough residents to call Jo, to visit her website, and to consider what an on-going benefit it will be to have her at work on Borough Council — and by extension, within our whole community.
CLAIRE and DAVID JACOBUS
Cleveland Lane
To the Editor:
I hope Borough voters will vote for Democrat Anne Neumann in the primary election June 8. I have served with Anne on both the Princeton Environmental Commission (PEC) and the Site Plan Review Advisory Board. I believe she has the necessary experience to serve the community well as a member of Borough Council.
Anne and I were initial members of the PEC’s Sustainable Princeton subcommittee. Anne took charge of annual leadership awards in sustainability and single-handedly organized green home and garden tours for two years in a row, thereby winning a statewide award for the PEC.
Anne unequivocally supports senior housing in Princeton but was one of those who deplored the large and intrusive initial senior housing plan that was proposed to be built on the Princeton Ridge. When the initial developer withdrew, a new plan for age-restricted housing which was far more environmentally sensitive was presented. With additional pressure from the community, this plan was revised and improved even more. Anne recognized that the Princeton Ridge site in question would be developed, whatever local environmentalists might have preferred. She held out for an improved proposal and then helped persuade her PEC colleagues to accept it.
Anne’s previous experience of participation in local community government committees will be an asset to Borough Council. I urge voters to vote for her on June 8.
BARBARA TRELSTAD
Princeton Borough Council
To the Editor:
As a Princeton Borough Council member, I support Jo Butler as the candidate who is most likely to effect positive change on the Council.
Jo’s personal integrity, strong work ethic, lifelong democratic values, business acumen, and professional expertise are attributes that complement and enhance the qualities and skills of the current Council.
However, most significant of Jo’s qualifications is her careful and deliberative approach to decision-making. Rather than “shooting from the hip,” Jo does her homework and respectfully considers all sides of issues. In my view this gives her credibility that is of the utmost importance as the Council faces the challenges of consolidation, the repercussions of revaluation, and renewed negotiations with Princeton University.
Jo Butler will make our Borough government smarter and better. Residents of all backgrounds will benefit when we are more efficient, compassionate, and smart about how we use our resources.
I urge Borough voters to support Jo Butler on Election Day.
JENNY CRUMILLER
Library Place
To the Editor:
I am writing to explain why I will be voting for Anne Waldron Neumann and Jo Butler in the Princeton Borough Democratic Primary on June 8, and why I urge my fellow Princeton Borough Democrats to do the same.
I have known and worked with Anne Waldron Neumann for a number of years, and over that time I have been consistently impressed with her hard work, her thoughtful approach to issues, and the great passion she brings to everything she does. She has served the Borough selflessly on a number of volunteer boards, and particularly distinguished herself with her work on the citizens committee, which has led the way in the latest effort to achieve a greater contribution toward the municipal budget from Princeton University. More recently, she has spoken up on the revaluation in an effort to ensure that all property owners in our community are treated fairly. I know that as a Council Member, I am frequently guided by her strongly held, but always well-expressed, opinions.
Jo Butler, too, has already established herself as a well-informed and diligent contributor to our community. Her years of service to our public library are already well known and well respected. Like Anne, Jo provided many of our residents with useful information and guidance in the revaluation. But what distinguishes Jo is her financial expertise, which made her the natural leader of the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Task Force. This task force provided Borough Council with much needed guidance during the latest budget cycle, in which the Borough achieved for the second year in a row a zero-cent property tax increase, due in large measure to Jo’s involvement. Needless to say, Borough Council would benefit from expertise such as Jo’s from within its own ranks.
I have now served on Borough Council for almost six years. In that time, I have come to recognize that the qualities we most need from the people we elect to serve on our local governing bodies are good-hearted common sense, intelligence, and tirelessness, qualities that both Anne and Jo have in abundance. I think now is the time for Anne and Jo to continue their work on behalf of our community as elected members of Borough Council.
ANDREW KOONTZ
Spruce Street
Editor’s Note: The candidates’ recorded statements will be aired on local access Channel 30 on the following dates: Wednesday, June 2 at 10 p.m.; Thursday, June 3 at 6 a.m. and 9 p.m.; Friday, June 4 at 10 a.m.; Saturday, June 5 at 11:30 a.m.; Sunday, June 6 at 9 p.m.; and Monday, June 7 at 6:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 10 p.m. They may also be viewed online at www.princetontv.org.