Differences abound in sole contested race for Borough Council

By Greg Forester, Staff Writer
   The only contested race for a seat on the Princeton Borough Council this year finds Democratic incumbent Kevin Wilkes and Republican challenger Dudley Sipprelle in disagreement on everything from taxes to the local political environment.
   Both are running for a one-year unexpired term on council resulting from the March resignation of Wendy Benchley .
   Mr. Wilkes, 51, was appointed to Borough Council in April to fill Ms. Benchley’s seat until the next election.
   He is an architect and founder of The Princeton Design Guild architecture firm, and has worked as a faculty member at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and as a Princeton Township building inspector.
   Mr. Sipprelle, 73, is a former foreign service officer, schoolteacher, and professor, and a frequent attendee of Borough Council meetings. He still works as a volunteer English literacy tutor. His name will appear on the November ballot due to a successful write-in campaign during the primary election.
   The No. 1 issue of concern for Mr. Sipprelle is high property taxes. In an interview last week he associated the problem with nearly intractable realities like the breakdown of land uses and the borough’s small taxpayer base.
   But Mr. Sipprelle laid blame for exacerbating those situations at the feet of the governing body.
   He has taken the position that current officials have a vested interest in keeping their positions by maintaining a system of duplicated services and preventing consolidation of the borough and township.
   ”And right now, we can’t afford our municipal government,” said Mr. Sipprelle.”
   He said the governing body has consistently raised property taxes “to the max,” and Borough Council members frequently run for office on platforms supporting reining in taxes and then fail to come through on their campaign promises.
   His opponent, Mr. Wilkes, had a somewhat different position on Princeton Borough’s property tax burden.
   Mr. Wilkes linked high borough tax rates with land uses in the 1.8-square mile borough and the presence of tax-exempt entities like Princeton University, but he noted that the tax levels were consistent with Princeton’s generally high cost of living.
   ”We live in an area of high expenses,” said Mr. Wilkes.
   Borough residents receive a high return on their taxes, according to Mr. Wilkes, who noted the borough government provided “a high level of services.”
   When informed of his opponent’s concentration on the tax issue, Mr. Wilkes said Mr. Sipprelle’s platform was too one-dimensional.
   ”I admire Mr. Sipprelle, but his answer is always taxes are too high,” he said.
   Citing his career as an architect, Mr. Wilkes said he would personally like to focus more on producing a district plan for downtown Princeton and Nassau Street, “from Harrison Street to Borough Hall.”
   It would result in improved zoning, improved trash collection, an improved environment for merchants, and improved signage, according to Mr. Wilkes.
   ”I have a lot to bring as a professional,” he said.
   A lack of a competitive Republican Party in Princeton Borough has been detrimental to area taxpayers, according to Mr. Sipprelle, who said the main issues a municipal government deals with — public safety, good streets, functioning sewers and trash collection — are nonpartisan issues deserving of nonpartisan treatment.
   ”I believe that we have a one-party government in Princeton, and I believe that local government should be nonpartisan,” said Mr. Sipprelle.
   Mr. Wilkes said there was nothing holding Mr. Sipprelle and the Republicans back, including borough Democrats.
   ”I certainly support and advocate for Mr. Sipprelle’s right to build his party into an effective political organization,” said Mr. Wilkes. “I welcome him to come and campaign at all levels.”
   The Democrats’ control of the borough government, he added, was due to the will of borough voters. “They make the decisions,” Mr. Wilkes said.
   Besides taxes and the nature of borough government, the two candidates also offered different positions on Mr. Sipprelle’s decision to run against Mr. Wilkes, instead of council members David Goldfarb or Barbara Trelstad, who have both previously won election and are running unopposed for three-year terms.
   Mr. Sipprelle said his decision was based on accountability. He said voters would have an opportunity to vote him out in one year’s time, should he not follow through on his campaign positions.
   But Mr. Wilkes attributed the decision to political calculations involving his relatively brief term on Borough Council.
   ”He thinks I am untested and unproven at the polls,” said Mr. Wilkes. “But I am ready for the balance of Wendy Benchley’s term.”