Town Topics

Township Police and Mayor Exchange Appeals on Proposed Staff Cutbacks

Near-Fatal Accident Suggests Need For Campaign to Educate Bicyclists

JOHN FREDERICH
Chestnut Street

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

RANDI LUND
Public Relations/Events Coordinator
Arts Council of Princeton

Mercer County Food Bank Urges Support For Fund-Raising Effort at Grocery Stores

JANET TOWNSEND
MAUREEN DARROW
Mercer County Friends Food Bank

Borough Should Seek Reimbursement For Revenues Lost on University Land

JOHN J. TURI
Westcott Road

Township Police and Mayor Exchange Appeals on Proposed Staff Cutbacks

To the Editor:

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association Local 130, the union that represents the sworn members of the Princeton Township Police Department, is fearful that soon they will no longer be able to give the community the same level of service that taxpayers have come to expect. This fear is a direct result of management consultant Carroll Buracker s recommendations to have fewer police officers serve the Township.

While the members of PBA 130 remain open-minded about restructuring the department so that they may better serve the community, they are greatly disturbed by the half-truths, assumptions, and generalities on which Mr. Buracker bases his recommendations. His report recommends that the Township Police Department, currently comprising 35 sworn officers, be reduced to 30 and that two 911 operator positions be eliminated. If these recommendations are followed, it would bring the Township Police Department back to staffing levels of the 1980s. It is also imperative that the taxpayers are aware that reductions in sworn personnel, whether through retirements or layoffs, will likely not reduce the current tax rate. This would result in taxpayers continuing to pay current rates while receiving less service from the Police Department.

Under the purposed cutbacks the Township Police Department will not be able to offer the same educational services, or continue to be proactive in addressing such serious issues as gang and drug activity. The members of PBA 130 take great pride in Princeton Township having one of the lowest crime rates in our country for a community our size. We feel that this is a direct reflection on the work that our officers have done. Please enable us to safely protect this community by providing us with enough sworn personnel so that we can safely perform the duties you have grown to expect. If you feel that the service provided by the members of the Township Police force needs improvement, contact your elected officials with examples and let them know how you think we can do better. However, if you feel safe in your community and think the officers here have been doing their jobs effectively, please let those same officials know that too.

There are changes in the works that will directly affect how we do our jobs and our relationships with the public in the years to come.

BENJAMIN M. GERING
Princeton Township Police Department
President, PBA No. 130

Response from Township Mayor Phyllis L. Marchand, posted on the PBA 130 website:

To All Sworn Officers:

As you are aware, Princeton Township Committee in conjunction with the Police Department Command Officers and our Township Administrator, has been working on a plan to restructure our Police Department. As part of this restructuring, it has been determined that the Department will be reduced by four (4) officers.

In an effort to avoid a non-voluntary reduction in force, Township Committee is providing all sworn officers of the Township Police Department who are interested in pursuing career opportunities outside of the Department a one-time opportunity. As a separation payment, the Township is offering two weeks of pay at your current salary (with appropriate increases as specified in our union contract) for each year of completed service. For example, an officer with ten years of completed service will receive 20 weeks of pay at his/her current salary, and an officer with 15 years of completed service will receive 30 weeks of pay. The separation pay will be paid out by continuation of the Township payroll. Your benefits, including medical, will also be continued until you have exhausted your separation pay period. The offer is available to all sworn officers in the Township Police Department on a first-come, first-served basis.

This offer opens as of the date of this letter [November 4] and closes as of 5 p.m. on Monday, 14 November 2005.

If the personnel objectives of the restructuring are not achieved by this voluntary program, the Township may then proceed with a non-voluntary reduction in force in accordance with State law, or other available legal means.

Please contact Township Administrator Jim Pascale for more details.

Township Committee and I thank you for your consideration of this request.

PHYLLIS L. MARCHAND
Mayor, Princeton Township

Response from Mr. Gering:

Mayor Marchand:

I feel it is my duty to inform you that I have recently been elected by my colleagues as the President of PBA Local 130. Therefore it is my responsibility to voice the concerns of our officers in regard to the recent letter, dated November 4, 2005, that you distributed.

I would first like to address the decisions to reduce our Department's size by four officers. Members of PBA Local 130 are opposed to a reduction in sworn officers and communication officers. We have not refuted the Buracker report out of respect for our command officers and because of the positive relationship this Police Department has always had when negotiating with Township Committee. However, the PBA can no longer tolerate and allow decisions to be made based on a report that is inaccurate and has many discrepancies, without our input. Simply put, Mr. Buracker's report does not give an accurate depiction of our Police Department. These inaccuracies need to be brought to light so that you and the community can be supplied with accurate information on which to base your decisions. At the November 14 Committee meeting, I will be making a public request that we be added to the December 5 agenda so that we can give a presentation to the Township and the community. If afforded the opportunity to make this presentation in December's meeting, I will be prepared to list and give specific examples of the misrepresentations and inaccuracy of the Carroll Buracker report.

PBA Local 130 is not against restructuring and is more than willing to implement new ideas so that we are able to provide the Township with the same level of service in a more efficient manner. However, we are disheartened by the thought of a reduction in staff and sickened by the thought of layoffs. Even with all the discrepancies that the Buracker report contains, it does not mention anything about laying off officers or a "non-voluntary reduction in force." In fact his recommendations were to reduce the size of the Department through attrition, which allows the decision to reduce officers to be reevaluated as each retirement takes place. The PBA fails to understand how you can even consider laying off Officers, when two new officers were just hired this January, with your approval. In addition to layoffs, any demotions that may occur because of a reduction in staff would be detrimental to the morale of the Police Department. Our Department has already been downsized by members of the Department serving in Iraq, injured officers, and with the retirement package that was offered to Chief Gaylord.

I respectfully request that you reconsider your decision on the size of our Police Department and that you refrain from laying off officers. Furthermore, I hope you see fit to give the PBA the same opportunity that Mr. Buracker had and allow us to make a presentation to refute some of the key components in his report.

BENJAMIN M. GERING
Princeton Township Police Department
President, PBA No. 130

Near-Fatal Accident Suggests Need For Campaign to Educate Bicyclists

To The Editor:

This morning I came close to witnessing a fatal accident. A bike rode straight through a red light and almost collided with a car crossing Nassau Street correctly on his green signal.

The cyclist clearly had no idea he was on a vehicle bound to observe the rules of the road. Is it not time we had a campaign to educate bikers to observe vehicle rules, or do we wait until the death toll wakes us up?

Am I a voice crying in the wilderness, or are there others who agree that bikes (and cars) should observe the regulations?

JOHN FREDERICH
Chestnut Street

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

The Arts Council of Princeton would like to thank the many individuals and organizations who made possible its two splendid Halloween programs and its conTEMPORARY Art Center's Open House Celebration. The Annual Hometown Halloween Parade, as always, provided merriment for all. Thanks go to the Nassau Inn and Palmer Square Management for supplying treats and pumpkin painting following the parade, Princeton Borough Police for diverting traffic, Princeton Borough Fire Department for contributing its fire truck to bring up the rear of the parade, and Princeton University Band, without whom the parade would not have had anywhere near the same energy. The Arts Council also thanks Susan Zamtack for her convincing role as the Headless Horseman, Rip Pellaton for his part as Princeton's Town Crier, small world coffee for providing free hot chocolate to all the children who participated, and Design Within Reach and Magician Jeff for the enthralling post-parade magic show.

For the second year, our annual Spooky Saturday workshop, part of the Arts Council's Family Fun Day series, focused on gargoyles. We are grateful to Princeton University Art Museum for co-sponsoring the event, Carolyn Cassells for making arrangements for the program, Alex Barnett for coordinating the campus gargoyle tour, and docents Elizabeth Murray, Jeanne Mazzetti, and Paulo Barbosa for leading the tour. The gargoyles captivated the children and inspired them after the tour to create their own terrifying beasts out of clay. We are also indebted to all the dedicated volunteers who worked so hard to make each event a remarkable success.

Finally, thanks to all those who helped get our new conTEMPORARY Arts Center ready for the public and make its Open House Celebration such a joyous occasion. We are extremely grateful to Maximillian Hayden Architect, Lewis Barber Construction, Princeton Shopping Center, and the committed volunteers who helped to paint the walls of the new space. Thanks also to Stephen Allen, who performed and provided the PA system; singer-songwriter Kyle Van Dyke and jazz group Back Porch Swing, who played a spectacular set; Lisa Bottalico and her students for their stunning Flamenco dance performance; and Bon Appetit, McCaffrey's Markets, and small world coffee for providing delightful refreshments.

Thanks again to everyone for their part in ensuring these Halloween events remain cherished traditions in Princeton. Although we have temporarily changed locations, we will continue to provide arts and cultural programs in the Princeton community.

Mercer County Food Bank Urges Support For Fund-Raising Effort at Grocery Stores

We wish to alert readers in Princeton to the fact that there is an ongoing fund-raising program in the McCaffrey and Wegman supermarkets. At each check-out counter in these stores, coupons in $1, $3, and $5 denominations may be added to your grocery bills. The proceeds go directly to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank.

The Food Bank has been providing food to agencies and churches in Mercer County for more than 18 years. It has distributed an average of $1,300,000 annually to nearly 60 organizations. Hunger is a pressing problem in many parts of our country. The Mercer Street Friends Food Bank is supplying food to many people in Mercer County who would otherwise go hungry.

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

Borough Should Seek Reimbursement For Revenues Lost on University Land

Pam Hersh recently (Town Topics, October 19) offered an apologia for Princeton University's ducking of its financial responsibilities to the Borough. She claimed that University officials, in an act of "charity," voluntarily paid the municipality $3.05 million and another $1.03 million in sewer and water charges. What Ms. Hersh failed to say was that the University is hiding behind an archaic law in order to avoid paying its fair share of services that the Borough provides to it.

The University owns numerous residential homes, apartments and graduate housing which generates children who must be taught in our school system at a cost of approximately $12,000 per child. The University claims that since it is tax exempt, it is not legally bound to pay the school costs to educate those children. The University, however, in its "charity" mode, is willing to pay for some of those educational costs that bear so heavily on every local taxpayer.

Ms. Hersh claimed that the University is not legally bound to pay the Borough for the use of sewer and water services for its thousands of students and faculty. Again, the University, in another act of "charity," is willing to pay for the huge water and sewer costs that Borough taxpayers are saddled with. She also contended that the University is not legally obligated to pay for building permits and/or road repairs caused by its personnel and massive construction program.

Rather than concede that the University is morally bound to pay for these services, it fears any admission of an obligation to pay for municipal services will prevent them from forgoing such payment in the future. It is an affront to every taxpayer in the Borough that our elected officials must go hat in hand to the University each year for a handout.

Finally, Ms. Hersh claimed the University pays 17 percent of the Borough's revenue. Since the University owns approximately 40 percent of the land area of the Borough, it seems like a pretty good bargain. Is there a taxpayer in the Borough who would not like to pay the same ratio of taxes on their property?

There are laws in New Jersey calling for reimbursement of lost taxes on tax exempt land. NJSA 54:4A-4 and 5 calls for the County and State to reimburse a municipality for lost revenue due on any tax exempt land over 10 percent.

Furthermore, the University has a $9 billion endowment fund in which it annually receives dividends (profits) in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Reportedly the federal and state governments tax this income but the community that is most adversely affected cannot, at this time, receive its fair share of those profits.

Our elected officials should institute a federal and state suit demanding the same rights to tax the hundreds of millions of dollars in dividends that the University rakes in annually as well as reimbursement for lost revenue on tax exempt land.

Township Police and Mayor Exchange Appeals on Proposed Staff Cutbacks

Near-Fatal Accident Suggests Need For Campaign to Educate Bicyclists

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

Mercer County Food Bank Urges Support For Fund-Raising Effort at Grocery Stores

Borough Should Seek Reimbursement For Revenues Lost on University Land

Township Police and Mayor Exchange Appeals on Proposed Staff Cutbacks

Near-Fatal Accident Suggests Need For Campaign to Educate Bicyclists

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

Mercer County Food Bank Urges Support For Fund-Raising Effort at Grocery Stores

Arts Council Grateful for Successful Open House and Halloween Programs

Borough Should Seek Reimbursement For Revenues Lost on University Land

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