Following Labor Day, on September 7th, phone banking on behalf of Rep. Rush Holt will resume with expanded hours and an bigger phone-banking team.

The campaign needs volunteers wiling to commit at least two hours a week making supporter-identification (and/or other calls) for Rush between September 7th and Election Day. The phone bank at Rush Holt campaign headquarters -14 Washington Road, Building 2, near the Princeton Junction train station - will be open for business every day, seven days a week, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. After a brief training session and a least two-hours of making calls at headquarters, experienced phone bankers who wish to do so may sign lists out and continue to make calls on their own phones from their own homes.

Please let Roy Winnick know if you would like to join the Rush Holt phone-banking team; whether you would prefer to work at Holt headquarters or from home (after training); what days/times you would like to phone-bank (if you prefer to work at headquarters); Volunteers are strongly encouraged to come in for training and first calling session between September 7th and September 12th. We hope to see many of you at Rush Holt headquarters next week.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of the PCDO's ad hoc committee on Local Issues and its successor non-partisan group, Princeton Citizens for Tax Fairness, the topic of Princeton University's contribution to our municipal finances has been in the news lately.

 

This was the lead editorial in Saturday's Star-Ledger. 

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/07/princeton_university_should_co.html

This was the coverage from Bloomberg News over the past few weeks:

Video feed:        http://feedroom.businessweek.com/?fr_story=c2b132bc383f23ef64ddb1567b1dbecd43843a87

Article:    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-29/princeton-as-hedge-fund-foils-residents-seeking-relative-share-of-taxes.html

Last April’s article from the Princeton Alumni Weekly:

http://paw.princeton.edu/issues/2010/05/12/pages/4849/ For those of you who haven't seen these articles, they are quite informative. Check them out!

I want to thank the PCDO for this opportunity to once again ask for your support in the Borough Council Primary on Tuesday, June 8.

 

As many of you know, I have been meeting constituents at campaign events and by going door to door. One question I am often asked is, “Why are you running?”   To answer that, I reflect on my family’s decision to move to Princeton nearly fifteen years ago.  We needed to move from Center City Philadelphia to somewhere in the greater New York area.  It was important to us to be in a diverse, multi-cultural community that valued education over bank balances, that had a vibrant downtown within walking distance, and that had sidewalks, running paths and cultural opportunities.  We felt then, and continue to feel now, that Princeton is truly a unique community.  I am running because I want to help Princeton remain an attractive, desirable and affordable community for other young families and all who want to live here.

 

Other questions often asked are, “How are you different than your opponents?” or “What will you bring to the position?”  Having earned an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business, I am the only candidate with a background in finance.  I currently work for Wickenden Associates, an educational consulting firm specializing in Head of School searches.  One of the most important tasks facing the next person elected to the Borough Council will be hiring a replacement for Bob Bruschi, the Borough Administrator who is slated to retire at the end of 2011, and I believe that my expertise in high-level searches and my background in finance will be valuable skills in that process.

 

Since my arrival in Princeton, I have been an active community volunteer.  In addition to volunteering extensively at my children’s schools, I served for ten years on the Friends of the Princeton Public Library (www.princetonlibrary.org).  When citizens were concerned about the revaluations of their homes, I worked quickly with colleagues at the Library to set up day, evening and weekend sessions to offer guidance and resources for homeowners to challenge their revaluations.  I also serve on the board of People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos (www.peopleandstories.org), a program in English and Spanish that creates public, grassroots access to literature.

 

Residents of all neighborhoods are concerned about property taxes and the impact of the revaluation.  Understandably, seniors on a fixed income are worried about their ability to remain in Princeton.  As Chair of the Citizens Finance Advisory Taskforce, I have been working hard to make our budget more transparent and bring the plight of Borough taxpayers to the attention of the Council.  This year the Council has proposed a budget that does not include a tax increase for the Borough portion of our tax obligation, and I believe that CFAT made a difference in the process.  In addition to more transparency, CFAT is advocating for the creation of five- to ten-year budget projections which we believe will help in the overall financial management of the Borough.

 

If elected, I will recommend the formation of a blue-ribbon panel of Princeton residents to study Princeton University’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes and make recommendations for a long-term meaningful solution.  The agreement currently in place, and approved by the Council, is based on a paper written by former Mayor Joe O’Neill (www.jobutler.com) .  We need to understand why that agreement no longer meets the changing needs of the town.  We also need to define what a fair share would be.  I would like to see the study of other comparable town/gown arrangements in order to determine what is fair.  I don’t believe that simply calling on the University to pay 100 percent of taxes they have no legal obligation to pay moves the conversation forward.  Once we have collected the relevant data, the panel will be in the position to make a recommendation that can serve as a starting point for meaningful negotiations with the University.

 

I support the study of consolidation of the Township and Borough.  I believe consolidation is important for reasons not simply limited to finances.  We need to plan together as one community on issues such as transportation, public health, and disaster preparedness.  Route 206 and SR 27 move through both Borough and Township. H1N1 and other public health threats can be dealt with most efficiently by cooperation between the Borough and Township.  The storm this past March did not discriminate between trees in the Borough and trees in the Township.  In these challenging times, we need to work together to set priorities for the larger community.  If the citizens agree that consolidation is critical, I believe that I have the ability to reach out to all stakeholders in both communities and work collaboratively with our colleagues in the Township to complete this very challenging task.

 

Finally, I will work to improve the use of technology to deliver services more efficiently to residents.  I would expand our voluntary email list and advocate more active use to notify residents about changes in trash pick-up, traffic patterns or emergency alerts.  I believe we can use our website to greater advantage.  I would like to see more Borough documents, including the budget, available on the website.  We have the ability to be much more transparent through technology, something I believe will increase citizen participation.  I would like to see us add video to the website.  Imagine, for example, Sustainable Princeton demonstrating creating a compost bin or the Arts Council showcasing a program.  The Borough announced recently that they will save $40,000 by changing the lighting in the Library garage.  Let’s get that posted on the website!  Homeowners can use that information in their own homes, and it lets residents know that their government is being responsive.  The only limit is our imagination.

 

I think it is time for a fresh perspective on the Borough Council.  With your support, I will work hard to be the sort of servant leader Princetonians deserve. 

 

I have two remaining campaign events this coming week.  One event is in the morning, and the other is in the evening, both in the eastern section of town.  If you would like to attend, please contact me through my website www.jobutler.comor by calling 468-0462.

 

Thank you for your consideration.  See you at the polls on June 8!

 

Sincerely,

Jo Butler

TWENTY PUBLIC POLICY PUZZLES FOR PRINCETONIANS

ANNE WALDRON NEUMANN

 

Answers at http://anneneumann.weebly.com

 

1. What is Euclidean zoning?  (Hint:  It doesn't mean dividing building lots into squares and triangles.)  How does form-based zoning differ, and which should we use in Princeton? 
2. What kind of stores on Main Street lower crime? 
3. According to a Danish study, you will leave hospital several days sooner and suffer fewer complications if you can see what from your window?
4. The Princeton Ridge is a terminal moraine.  True or false? 
5. How might you and your neighbors organize a friendly competition to lose 5,000 pounds each of ugly carbon emissions?  
6. You're going to plant some trees.  Do you know how to calculate their cost-saving benefits?  Then on what side of your house should you plant the maple?  The pine?  How far above the horizon is our noonday sun in summer?  What about in winter? 
7. What is a SID?  What is a PILOT?  What does COAH stand for?  What about BRT? Might any of these have something to do with Princeton University?  (For extra points, if you know what BRT is, then what's the difference between BRT, PRT, and PAT? How soon could we get one, and what would it cost? 
8. Should our joint Borough-Township tax assessor file yearly compliance plans? 
9. For every dollar of sales, how much do big-box stores contribute to the local economy?  What about independent stores? 
10. What's a watershed?  Oh, you know the answer?  Then what's a riparian buffer zone, and how does it help prevent eutrophication from nonpoint source leachate? 
11. Where could we put a business incubator, whatever THAT is? 
12. How do a major site plan and a minor site plan with variances differ? 
13. What is a Page 8 Formula, and how will it affect Princeton property taxes in 2010? 2011? 2012? 
14. Can we learn anything from Palm Beach about shopping downtown?  (Hint:  This isn't about replacing The Coach Store with Hermes.) 
15. What did an 1854 New Jersey Supreme Court decision say about Town/Gown relations? 
16. What slows traffic in a residential neighborhood—other than speed bumps, bump-outs, and potholes? 
17. What's a formula business?  Does Bristol, Rhode Island, have any?  Do we? 
18. How does New Jersey define an “Area in Need of Redevelopment,” and what can a town do if it has one?  (Personal note:  I would NEVER decide that residential neighborhoods need redevelopment.) 
19. What is LEED compliance—or LEED-like compliance?  Which is better, why is it important, and how can a town ensure it? 
20. How does Seattle make pedestrian crosswalks safer—with something you can buy at the dollar store? 
21. Bonus question:  How can we remove chewing gum stains from Nassau Street sidewalks?

Dear PCDO'ers:
 
My experience as a Democrat serving you on Borough Council has taught me how to develop conservative fiscal policies that save you tax money and liberal social policies that foster social and economic diversity in our community.
 
Along the way, I have challenged Conventional Wisdom.  By doing so, I have helped make government more responsive to you whom it serves.  I prefer to solve problems not by the conventional approach of throwing tax money at them but by operating smarter.
 
So that I may continue that work, I ask for your support for re-election in the June 8 Democratic Primary.
 
I suggest you click on the following link to see the three candidates for Borough Council each make their own case for election, as filmed last week by our own TV30.  You will see all three of us at work, both in style and substance.  The films are really very interesting!
 
Here's the link: http://www.princetontv.org/pctv/candidates.html
 
I do thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity that you have given me to serve as your Councilman.  I hope you will allow me the opportunity to continue to do so.
 
Roger Martindell

 

Starting May 15, Rush Holt's campaign office will be open and is looking for volunteers to help keep Democrats in the majority in Congress.

 

See the campaign website for more information.