Duties would be shifted from Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance
By: Kara Fitzpatrick
If members of the Princeton Borough Council are on the same wavelength as those of the Princeton Township Committee, Corner House a borough and township joint agency that provides substance-abuse and crisis counseling will have its own advisory board in the near future.
The Township Committee on Monday unanimously introduced a measure that would shift Corner House advisory duties from the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance to a nine-member board with representation from the borough and the township. A public hearing on the ordinance is slated for July 17.
Because Corner House is a joint agency, the Borough Council must adopt a similar ordinance in order for the board to be assembled. Such an ordinance will be up for introduction July 5, Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi said.
Township Administrator James Pascale said there are a number of driving forces behind the creation of a Corner House board.
With 27 members, PADA "is much too large an organization to manage a municipal department," Mr. Pascale said.
Mr. Pascale said because Corner House has a sizable budget more than $1 million annually it should have an advisory board to manage its resources.
"The alliance has a different purpose," Mr. Pascale explained. "Their duties and responsibilities are large and distinct from that of Corner House."
PADA meets at noon nine times a year and "meetings are often cancelled because they lack a quorum given its large size," Mr. Pascale said. He said nine meetings per year "is an inadequate amount of time to spend on a million-dollar organization."
For such a significant agency, there should be a monthly meeting in the evening to provide for public participation, he said.
Corner House Director Gary DeBlasio said he was in support of such a board. "I think it’s absolutely great," Mr. DeBlasio said. "I’m totally in support of it."
Township Committeeman Lance Liverman, who is the liaison to PADA, was supportive, as well.
"PADA is a very passionate group of individuals," Mr. Liverman said, adding that the creation of a Corner House board would allow PADA to focus on what it does best community education and substance-abuse prevention. "This ordinance is something we need," Mr. Liverman said.
If the board is created, it will consist of one liaison each from the Borough Council and Township Committee, three appointees each from the borough and the township and one member of the Corner House Foundation, Mr. Pascale said. The Corner House Foundation member would sit in on meetings but would not have a vote, Mr. Pascale said.