Princeton Taxpayers Association shines its spotlight on all-Democratic Township Committee
By: Rachel Silverman
The Princeton Taxpayers Association which is seeking to curb local property taxes has become an increasingly sharp thorn in the side of Township Hall.
Since its formation last month, the group has held two meetings, initiated a mass-distribution e-mail list known as a "listserve" for roughly 40 members and elicited a community-township dialogue in the newspaper Town Topics.
On Monday night, township Administrator Jim Pascale was ambushed with budgetary concerns at an association gathering held in Township Hall. And Tuesday evening, an association-sponsored candidates’ forum at The Hun School of Princeton drew only the two Republican candidates for Township Committee though the two Democratic candidates also were invited.
Township Democrats the Township Committee is made entirely of Democrats have viewed these events, and the Taxpayers Association itself, with increasing skepticism.
"It’s a partisan group," Deputy Mayor Bill Enslin said. "Basically, it is a Republican-oriented group."
Township Committeeman Bernie Miller, who is up for re-election in November, agreed.
"It sounds a bit partisan to me," he said.
"If they’re a stalking horse for another organization, they ought to come out and say so," Mr. Miller continued. "If not, they ought to be nonpartisan."
The association looks like "a fringe group that’s running awry," Township Committeeman Lance Liverman said. "If they can give me verse and chapter of where we’re spending funds in the wrong direction, let me know. But just to rant and rave and jump up on the bandwagon and say, ‘My taxes are high’ well yeah, my taxes are high, too."
Though Mr. Pascale would not comment on the group’s intentions, he did describe its timing as rather unfortunate.
"It’s too bad that this group has formed during the election season," he said. "A political group might pander to the Taxpayers Association in search of their vote."
Association founder Jim McKinnon denied these accusations.
"Certainly, we don’t pretend not to have an agenda," he said. "But I don’t think it’s a partisan one.
"Municipal elections are not about large, national party issues," he continued. "It’s not partisan. It’s people in town who are upset in both parties."
Larry Glasberg, a former Republican mayor of Princeton Township, who also helped found the group, agreed. Mr. Glasberg said he is now a registered independent.
"I don’t see this as a political issue," he said. "It’s a matter of survival in our community.
"If I had a sensing this was a partisan association, I would not have joined it," Mr. Glasberg added.
Even so, political dissonance erupted Monday night in Township Hall, when Mr. Pascale was sent into the line of fire.
Mr. Pascale, who has been township administrator since 1983, tried to answer a number of questions posed by residents, including why the audit was not released on time, why the budget is so high and why employee salaries have increased substantially.
Standing before a sizable crowd, Mr. Pascale denied accusations of fiscal irresponsibility in the township.
"I would challenge everyone in this room to look at a list and say, ‘Where’s the gilding of the lily? Which of these projects is frivolous?’" he said.
Mr. Pascale also described budgetary woes as a cross-party issue.
"I would say that regardless of who’s on the governing body, they’re going to have their work cut out for them," he said. "There’s not a lot you can do."
Those in attendance seemed less than comforted by those words.
"My taxes went up almost 10 percent this year," township resident Sheldon Leitner said. "I just want to know where the money went." Mr. Leitner is a former Republican candidate for the state Assembly.
He added, "If the township ran their town the way people ran their household budget, I don’t think we’d be here tonight. The township has the feeling that property owners are a cash cow."
Borough resident and Princeton Regional Board of Education Finance Committee Chairman Alan Hegedus also expressed frustration over the current process.
"We’re still a glint in the eye of township officials," he said. "The financial planning, the financial competence simply isn’t there. We are paying the price, and it’s going to be around for awhile," said Mr. Hegedus, who ran unsuccessfully for Princeton Borough Council as a Republican.
The political discord continued Tuesday night, when Democratic candidates Vicky Bergman and Mr. Miller were notably absent from the association’s candidates’ forum. Both said they couldn’t attend due to long-standing prior commitments.
During the event, Republican hopefuls Tom Pyle and Gordon Bryant touched on a number of finance-based issues.
Among other things, Mr. Bryant championed a change in the political climate in Township Hall.
"There is a sense that the current committee is arrogant, they are distant, they are aloof," Mr. Bryant said. "We just need timely and adequate reports, and we’re not getting them."
He also called for economic prudence.
"I think generally, if you have to put us in boxes, folks under the ‘R’ label have a little bit more fiscal responsibility," he added.
Likewise, Mr. Pyle pledged to oppose excessive projects, look for revenue opportunities and accurately measure what is being used.
"I care about the township deeply," he said. "I’m also concerned that we can do better."
Mr. Pyle argued for new leadership.
"The Township Committee has been ruled for 12 years by one party," he said. "There has not been a full diversity of views on the Township Committee."