A Commuter Seeking a Second Term, Koontz Saves His Energy for Borough

Matthew Hersh

For someone who spends more daylight hours away from his hometown than any of his colleagues on Princeton Borough Council, Andrew Koontz is always surprisingly ready to step into his public servant shoes.

A CBS film editor by day, and a rail commuter half the morning and evening, Mr. Koontz takes particular pride in an ability to balance occupational duties and civic duties, even from a phone in a film studio nearly 50 miles away.

But at Carousel on Nassau Street on this weekday morning, still early in the local election season, Mr. Koontz laughs when considering whether or not he’s tired.

“It comes up at work sometimes because people will ask if I caught some TV show or a movie, and I’m always saying ‘no, I never even heard of it.’ I gave up movies to attend meetings instead.”

Mr. Koontz, 39, is a Democrat seeking a second full term on Princeton Borough’s governing body, and has said that he has no problem about missing the latest episode of CSI. “It’s really been fun, and I’ve learned a tremendous amount about how towns work, and I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in past years.”

Now riding his bike to the train everyday, Mr. Koontz came to Princeton in what can only be called the “geographical midpoint story.” Since he worked in Manhattan, and his wife-to-be, Laurie Harmon, worked in Philadelphia, they decided in 1992 that Princeton would be a good halfway point.

Mr. Koontz quickly joined the political process: first becoming involved with the Princeton Community Democratic Organization in 1993, and then teaming up with future Assemblyman Reed Gusciora, who, in 1994, had completed an unsuccessful campaign for Mercer County Freeholder and was in the process of waging what was to be a successful bid for 15th District Assemblyman. Mr. Koontz joined that campaign, and worked in Mr. Gusciora’s legislative office in 1996.

In 1997, at 29, Mr. Koontz was named to chair the Democratic Municipal Committee. “I enjoyed that — I really enjoyed that work. It was a nice job because there was a role to play on the county level.”

In 2001, he became president of the PCDO (“I really enjoyed the hell out of that”) and from there, while still commuting, was appointed to fill a vacancy on Borough Council, before being elected to a full term in 2004.

That role, it turned out, was an entirely different challenge. At the time of his election, Mr. Koontz was thrust into the often-contentious arena of Borough politics, confronting what was to be a long-delayed downtown redevelopment project, as well as issues related to development on Palmer Square, and the planned relocation of the University Medical Center at Princeton. “The job is to make the best decisions you can on behalf of the community, and while we all bring our own perspectives, the idea is to have a sampling of the residents of the community who can make decisions on their behalf,” he said.

For a while, he felt like the “odd man out.

“The other members of Council had been there, and even though I knew these people, I felt like I was showing up late to a very long, ongoing conversation, but I think everyone was helpful in making sure I was up to speed on the issues,” he said.

Indeed, Mr. Koontz, as of late, has been one of the more vocal members of Council regarding the status of the Borough’s stalled downtown development project, still awaiting a groundbreaking on the Tulane Street surface parking lot. In recent weeks, Mr. Koontz has worried about the status of negotiations with the developer in that project, calling for everyone to “give a little.

“I need to protect the interests of the residents of Princeton Borough. What’s happened for too long in this process is that we aren’t coming to a resolution in particular issues, and we can’t do that if there’s no endpoint in sight.

“I’m not confident that there’s an endpoint.”

Mr. Koontz, a supporter of the downtown development project, said “you need to make the judgment that you’ve done all that you can do.

“We spend too much time talking.”

Taking a signal from his days living in Brooklyn, Mr. Koontz, has, however, launched a successful effort to rehabilitate Borough parks. President of the Princeton Parks Alliance, he has said that walking the neighborhoods on his first campaign made him aware of the perceived disarray of some parks.

“What really struck me was how many of the parks had fallen into a neglected state,” he said, adding that while he had no direct experience with nonprofit organizations, his time working with government in parks rehabilitation, attending New York University as an undergrad and witnessing how the Central Parks Conservancy managed to revive Central Park, served as a worthy model for the much more modest Borough.

“They were making a difference and I thought we could do the same here,” he said. The Princeton Parks Alliance was launched in 2004, and has tackled Harrison Street Park, Pine Street Park, and, most, recently (and notably), the lighting of the Princeton Battle Monument, helping achieve the goal of the late Borough Mayor, Joe O’Neill. In a second term, Mr. Koontz said he would focus his efforts on the full rehabilitation of Harrison Street Park, as well as the completion of the mostly-funded proposed skateboard park at Hilltop Park in the Township.

Fund-raising is tricky, Mr. Koontz said (“no one is going to give you money if they don’t think you’re going to accomplish your goal”), but the Councilman points to his record as he seeks support in both parks rehabilitation and in re-election.

So is he tired?

“Everyone gets tired, but I tend to approach this work with a positive attitude and bring the energy I have to Princeton Borough’s community issues.”

Now it’s off to catch the train.

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