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Vol. LXIII, No. 45
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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Vol. LXIII, No. 45
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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LEWIS A. EDGE JR.
Cleveland Road West
LINDA SIPPRELLE
Nassau Street
CHAD GOERNER
Deputy Mayor
Princeton Township
LIZ LEMPERT
Meadowbrook Drive
To The Editor:
Here we go again. Anyone who has followed Bill Laznovsky’s many years of bitter and relentless public attacks against Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand over the Township’s deer population management program might have believed that he actually lived in Princeton Township and would be affected by it.
In his recent letter (Town Topics, October 21), he refers to “our elected officials” as if they were his, but Mr. Laznovsky not only does not live in Princeton Township, he doesn’t even live in Mercer County. Living in a neighboring county and township, he apparently believes that he knows more about what Princeton Township residents need than they do.
Before White Buffalo was hired in 2001 to reduce the deer population there were hundreds of life-threatening deer-vehicle collisions per year in Princeton Township. Killing deer with vehicles is considerably more expensive than the modest amount that Princeton Township has budgeted to continue having White Buffalo contain the deer herd size. Wildlife biologists estimate that there are now 25 million to 30 million deer in this country, up from only 500,000 a century ago. More and more suburban areas and small towns like Princeton Township, suffering from their considerable damage, are inviting sharpshooters to defeat marauding deer.
Apparently Mr. Laznovsky does not realize that immunocontraception has been a part of White Buffalo’s deer control program for at least the past five years. Unfortunately nobody can point to a single program where contraception alone has successfully controlled rampaging herds of voracious deer. The deer population on the East Coast has reached such crisis proportions that the animals’ appetite is now exceeding the public’s defense of doe-eyed innocents. No doubt that is why Mayor Marchand was reelected by wide margins until she retired. It is also why her successors will probably continue trying to keep the deer herds under control despite protests from out-of-town busybodies.
Princeton Township’s deer control program has resulted in fewer accidents, fewer Lyme disease carrying ticks, less destruction of ground-dwelling animal habitats, and the reduction of the millions of dollars worth of damage that rampaging deer were causing to homeowners’ shrubs and gardens each year. Most sensible people apparently want to protect their property and put human safety ahead of the deer.
LEWIS A. EDGE JR.
Cleveland Road West
To the Editor:
The election is over, but the singularity of Princeton politics remains. While the rest of New Jersey voted to oust an inept and bankrupt State administration, Princeton Borough gave 70 percent of its vote to a failed governor. The Borough has become the very embodiment of the party block vote which goes to the party’s preferred candidate regardless of merit. As a consequence, the margin of the vote for Governor Corzine in Princeton Borough exceeded even that produced by the oft-maligned Democrat political machines in Hudson and Essex Counties.
On the local level, the election perpetuates a Borough Council that before making decisions routinely wastes taxpayer money by hiring consultants instead of using common sense, avoids taking a position on consolidation (which has already been under consideration for half a century) by kicking a decision on the matter two years down the road, boasts of fiscal responsibility arrived at through budgetary gimmickry, and has abandoned oversight of our police department to such an extent that it verges on internal dysfunction.
With a Borough Democrat voter registration advantage of more than five to one, the fact that my opponents prevailed by a margin of only about two to one indicates there are many borough voters who cast their ballots on the basis of the issues confronting our community — namely high property taxes and the creative paralysis which benumbs local officialdom.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to the thoughtful voters across party lines who supported me. And to those who decided to stick with the status quo, I wish to express my hope that the officials they elected draw the correct conclusion from the statewide election results and put our Borough’s fiscal house in order and rationalize our local governance. If they do not and they continue to temporize, Governor-elect Christie will do the job for them.
LINDA SIPPRELLE
Nassau Street
To the Editor:
I just wanted to express my thanks for the community’s support in this past Tuesday’s election.
Since joining Township Committee in 2006, my colleagues and I have worked to increase transparency, gain greater public input into the budget process, and encourage more community involvement.
We have also broadened our relationship with Borough Council and I look forward to working with my colleagues in both municipalities as we begin to formally consider municipal consolidation or additional shared services. I hope that through this process we will seize upon an opportunity to move forward together in determining the most efficient and effective ways to deliver municipal government and services while preserving and enhancing the character of our truly “one town.”
Obviously, we also face many other issues over the next year. Whether it is the continued fight for funding for further implementation of the Route 206 Vision Plan, or establishing our capital budget priorities and keeping municipal taxes under control, your input and ideas are always welcome at cgoerner@princeton-township.nj.us. Thank you.
CHAD GOERNER
Deputy Mayor
Princeton Township
To the Editor:
Thanks to everyone who helped elect me to a one-year term on Township Committee.
This promises to be a busy year, and I will be working hard to help launch a Consolidation/Shared Services Study Commission with the Borough, preserve open space on the environmentally sensitive Princeton Ridge, and strengthen the Township’s flood and stormwater ordinance, among other projects.
This is an amazing town with extraordinary people, and I am honored and humbled to be a part of it. I always welcome your suggestions and ideas. You can email me at llempert@princeton-township.nj.us.
LIZ LEMPERT
Meadowbrook Drive