Democrats Say Princeton Stronghold Does Not Create Political Complacency

Matthew Hersh

Princeton and Mercer County Democrats have some words for detractors of the party that has dominated local politics for the better part of a decade: "Just because we're the same party, doesn't mean we always agree."

Those words, spoken by Borough Council President Mildred Trotman as she seeks her seventh term on Council set the theme for a Princeton Community Democratic Organization event Sunday at the Suzanne Patterson Center in Princeton Borough.

"I don't take Princeton's recent track record of voting Democratic for granted," Ms. Trotman said.

Area Democrats are fighting to keep that stronghold in this year's elections, as key seats on the Board of Chosen Freeholders, the County Clerk's office, Borough Council, and Township Committee, are up for grabs.

Incumbent Asw. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) offered a scathing indictment of the the Doug Forrester campaign as she sought her fifth term on the Assembly.

"If you want to be so negative about New Jersey, then we don't need you," she said, adding that "having Doug Forrester the governor of New Jersey is like having George Bush the president of the United States of America." Ms. Watson Coleman also feared what could be a low voter-turnout in the face of voter apathy.

Asm. Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton Borough), also an incumbent, said he supported gubernatorial candidate Sen. Jon Corzine's position on a constitutional convention aiming to reform the state's property tax-heavy system of subsidizing municipal functions: "Property taxes have gotten to such a point, such a pitch, that government has to have a focus," he said, adding that in the next two years, property taxes will serve as the centerpiece of the Legislature.

Mr. Gusciora also called for an increased crackdown on the "pay to play" practice in which municipalities give special consideration to campaign-donating contractors seeking municipal contracts.

The growing gang violence that has plagued Trenton and has begun to have an impact in Princeton Borough is "also a problem," Mr. Gusciora said. "We have to understand why there is gang violence. We need to invest in the young."

Township Committee candidate Vicky Bergman said that while she has not held elected office, she had served on virtually "every level" of government prior to her run for the seat being vacated by Committeeman Bill Enslin. Incumbent Bernie Miller, who was chosen as the Township's deputy mayor in January, also addressed the audience. First appointed to the Committee in July 2002 upon then-Committeeman Steve Frakt's resignation, Mr. Miller is now seeking a second full term.

Other candidates in attendance were incumbent County Sheriff Kevin Larken, incumbent County Freeholder Lucy Walter, and Lawrence attorney Paula Sollami Covello, who is trying to unseat Republican Catherine DiCostanzo.