By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
Just weeks after Princeton Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz announced he would seek a seat on the Mercer County Board of Freeholders, Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said this week that she will resign her council seat at the end of March — raising the possibility of two open seats on the council.
Meanwhile, council members Barbara Trelstad and David Goldfarb, whose terms expire in 2009, both said Thursday that they have every intention of seeking re-election.
Ms. Benchley, who is in the midst of a second full term that expires on Jan. 1, 2010, said she plans to vacate her position to pursue environmental advocacy, especially ocean conservation issues.
Though Ms. Benchley has not formally tendered her resignation, she said she plans to do so on March 24 — a date that will ensure that her seat appears on June’s primary ballot and that will allow the Princeton Community Democratic Organization to back a potential replacement at the organization’s primary endorsement vote scheduled for March 30.
”What she wanted to do is time her resignation in time so that candidates could present themselves to the PCDO prior to the Princeton Borough Democratic Committee meeting,” said Mr. Koontz, who is also the chairman of the Princeton Borough Municipal Democratic Committee.
He said the borough’s Democratic Committee will have 15 days after her resignation to nominate three individuals — no more, no less, as required by law — for the seat. The Borough Council will then have 15 days to pick among those three for its appointment.
The appointee is then only guaranteed a seat on council until November, when the general election will take place.
Whomever voters chose — including the temporary appointee, if he or she runs — will then serve out the term until it expires in 2010.
Things would get even more interesting, Mr. Koontz pointed out, if he were to be appointed by the Mercer County Democratic Committee to the open freeholder position during its vote on March 15.
”If I win, I will resign. So there could be two seats up,” he said. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
Meanwhile, PCDO President Jenny Crumiller said that the March 30 endorsement vote will follow the organization’s usual rules, which require 60 percent of the vote for an endorsement.
Mr. Koontz said the while the PCDO endorsement is for the primary, it “would also serve as a good guide for the Borough Democratic Committee” for which individuals to nominate.
”We have a pretty deep bench on the Democratic Party here in town,” he said.
Borough resident Kevin Wilkes, the development director for the Princeton Future organization, said Thursday that he is considering seeking the nomination, but said he will make a final decision next week.
Mr. Wilkes ran for Borough Council in 2005 but was disqualified because he hadn’t lived in the borough for a continuous year at that time.
”But now I have,” he said. “So my residency issue is cleared up.”
Ms. Benchley said she doesn’t plan to endorse a successor.
”I leave it to my colleagues to make the choice on who they want to fill my position,” she said.
Ms. Benchley will also resign her seat on the Regional Planning Board of Princeton, which will create the second recent open slot on the board — the other being left by the pending vacancy of Township Committeewoman Victoria Bergman, who announced recently that she will not seek re-election for the next term.
Noting that she feels “privileged to have worked for these years with the citizens of Princeton,” Ms. Benchley said she intends to stay in town and follow up on some of the issues she worked closely on, including the Albert E. Hinds Community Plaza as well as traffic and planning issues.
”I think I’ve been a voice on the Planning Board for a balanced approach to development, making sure that environmental issues are included in the evaluations,” she said.
For now, Ms. Benchley said she plans to pursue an advocacy position focusing on ocean and shark issues.
”I’ve been touch with organizations,” she said. “I’m sort of looking at where I want to delve in.”
