Princeton Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand announced today she would retire as mayor later this month. The following press release was issued on her behalf:
After 22 years of serving as a member of Princeton Township Committee and 13 of those as mayor of Princeton Township, Mayor Phyllis Marchand is retiring from committee effective Nov. 30, according to a statement issued on Nov. 11.
”It sounds clichéd but it is absolutely true that I have a genuine desire to explore other opportunities in my life, to take the invaluable lessons I have learned from my years in public office and apply them to other endeavors,” she said.
Retirement from township committee in no way means absence from serving the township, added the mayor who intends to continue to be active at the local and state level in open space, sustainability, education and planning initiatives. In particular, she plans to devote a significant amount of time to continue working with the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute, an organization that has been advising the township on its sustainability endeavors.
With eight grandchildren under the age of seven who reside on both coasts of the country, as well as a retired husband, the mayor has felt in the past few years real conflict about spending so much time away from family activities because of her 24/7 commitment to the job of carrying out her municipal responsibilities.
”My husband, who is a singer and a music aficionado, has been going to concerts by himself for years. It is time for me to resume sharing these activities with him. In addition, I would like to be able to go to Seattle (Washington) to visit three of my grandchildren at times that are meaningful for them – such as for dance recitals, sports games or birthday parties – without worrying that I will be missing an important meeting or function,” the mayor said.
Her epiphany about it being time to retire came at the University Medical Center at Princeton’s replacement hospital groundbreaking on Oct. 3.
”I had thought that my retirement from public office would make sense when the hospital’s plans got resolved. I knew that would feel a real sense of achievement from my participation in the deliberations about the hospital’s future. The groundbreaking was a culmination of the five-year process in which the hospital worked closely with the community and its leaders to figure out how to best serve our residents. I thought what a great way to end a career – on such a positive note of securing the hospital’s ability to provide excellent health care to our residents, as well as securing a rezoning of the hospital’s current Witherspoon Street site in a way that would be very beneficial to the community,” Mayor Marchand said.
Princeton HealthCare System President and CEO Barry Rabner noted that Mayor Marchand “played an invaluable role in helping the hospital administrators and trustees to evaluate how the hospital could continue to provide the best health care services to the region in the 21st century. She was thoughtful and thorough in her analysis and committed numerous hours participating in meetings, reading materials, touring our current facility, even the boiler room. It has been truly an honor working with someone so dedicated to her job and her constituents.”
Other major achievements during her decades of service include the construction of hundreds of affordable housing units for the community, the preservation of thousands of acres of land as open space, the implementation of a deer management program, as well as serving as president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities and the New Jersey Association for Elected Women Officials.
William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, noted that “Phyllis has been an exemplary municipal leader – an articulate, enormously energetic and smart liaison, bringing information from the towns to the state and vice versa.”
Wanting to clarify the “buzz” about her health, Mayor Marchand acknowledged that she was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma three years ago, but the disease is being successfully treated. “I have been managing my treatments and my job as mayor very well. After leaving office, I will be spending a portion of my time educating/supporting others about living with cancer.”
This includes her participation in a special education program for medical students enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She is one of a handful of patients who have been asked to mentor medical students about the day-to-day impact of cancer on the lives of its patients and their families.
An avid runner, Mayor Marchand has completed 18 marathons in New York, Boston and Philadelphia and in each race made sure she served as an ambassador from Princeton to the big cities.
Robert Durkee, vice president and secretary of Princeton University who has worked with Mayor Marchand since she first entered local government service, noted that the mayor has been admired and respected by the university.
”She has worked with the university on many issues over the years and has always been fair, thoughtful, well-informed and forward-looking in her dealings with the university, whether she agrees or disagrees with the university on a specific project or concept. Her goal has always been to serve the best long-term interests of the community, and she has done this exceedingly well. I hope she will continue to be an active participant in the life of the community, even as she also gets to enjoy more time with her husband, children and grandchildren.”

