Candidates for Borough Council and Township Committee take part in forum.
By: David Campbell and Jennifer Potash
Princeton Borough’s proposed parking garage and Princeton Township’s new municipal building as well as senior housing in both towns were among the prime topics at a forum for municipal candidates on Tuesday.
Held at The Jewish Center of Princeton, the forum was sponsored by the Princeton Area League of Women Voters. The candidates took questions from the league and the audience.
Michael Carnevale, the Republican candidate for Borough Council, said he does not support the garage plan, which includes residential and retail components, because it would be too great a financial risk to the borough.
"My vote is no," he said.
Roger Martindell, a Democrat who has served four terms on the council, said while the garage plan is not his preferred choice, it has the consensus of the council and the community.
"We must not go back to square one and revisit the process," Mr. Martindell said.
Joseph O’Neill, a Democrat appointed to the council in August, said he believes the garage is the way to solve the downtown parking problem.
Steven Abt, a Princeton University sophomore and independent candidate for the council, said he, too, supports the garage project.
Mr. Martindell and Mr. Carnevale offered different ideas to help senior citizens stay in the borough.
Mr. Martindell proposed senior housing sites closer to the downtown, so elderly people are nearer to shopping sites and needed services.
Mr. Carnevale said additional financial support from the borough’s largest tax-exempt institutions, such as Princeton University, could be used to offset property-tax burdens on individuals with fixed incomes.
The Green Party candidates for Township Committee, Jeff Gorman and Emily Cook, condemned the delayed municipal building project as the product of fiscal mismanagement and inadequate community outreach.
Construction of the building at Witherspoon Street and Valley Road is about 15 months behind schedule due to contractor problems and the recent discovery of a mold infestation.
Republican Township Committee candidate Robert Willis, a retired international banker and 35-year township resident, proposed hiring an independent engineer to monitor the project.
"There seems to be some lack of close oversight to the completion of the building," he said.
Democratic candidate Casey Hegener, co-founder of Peterson’s publishing company and a Princeton resident for 37 years, challenged the Greens’ assertions of fiscal mismanagement, drawing attention to the township’s AAA bond rating with Moody’s Investors Service, the highest ranking a township can have.
"I cannot find as much wrong as some of the opposition tend to do," she said. "There are no cost overruns to date to my knowledge."
Democratic Mayor Phyllis Marchand, who is running for re-election to the committee, said the new municipal building is the product of "bold action," and said, "This building will be a pride of our community."
Mayor Marchand called for a balance of open space and senior housing, and said a senior-housing overlay proposed by the committee would allow an interested developer to build much-needed units.
Ms. Hegener said she would support a "far more creative" approach that promoted smaller mixed communities rather than large senior developments.
Republican Township Committee candidate Michael Bonotto, a member of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad for 24 years, said he supports volunteerism that brings seniors and young people together.
Mr. Gorman, owner of Creative Computing on Witherspoon Street, called for a skate park for township youth.
Ms. Cook, a clinical social worker and 14-year Princeton resident, said she would work closely with the township Recreation Department to develop outreach programs for troubled youth.
Mayor Marchand said past attempts at youth centers failed for lack of interest, and she and Ms. Hegener said family rather than government should see to keeping children active.
Neither audience members nor the League posed a question on deer management Tuesday.

