Sandra Persichetti of Princeton
Over the years, and more so lately, the issue of consolidation of the Princetons is raised by various members of the governing bodies with the comment that it will take a “groundswell” from the community to put this on the agenda again. My conversations with friends and associates all indicate that there is significant interest in consolidation from both borough and township residents.
As a Princeton Township resident/taxpayer and a supporter of consolidation, I ask that members of the community consider the cost for the following. Does a community of 30,000 people need two mayors and governing bodies, two administrators, two clerks, two affordable housing coordinators and two affordable housing boards, two financial officers, two tax collectors, two construction officials, two engineers, two fire officials, two police captains, two superintendents of public works, two zoning officers and two zoning boards, two TV stations, and the support staffs that are part of each of these departments?
Then add the cost of maintaining two municipal buildings and a myriad of police, public works, and other vehicles and equipment.
Consider the shared departments: animal control, health, human services, library, planning, recreation, and tax assessor and the big one – schools. If children from both municipalities can learn under a regional school board, one wonders why their parents cannot enjoy the same regionalization/consolidation.
Consolidation does not mean massive layoffs. If a thoughtful consolidation plan were to be put in place now, the Princetons could take advantage of elimination of staff by attrition — retirement, resignation, etc. over a period of time and benefit from the incentives currently offered by the state.
Since residents of each municipality freely use the services offered by the other municipality, why wouldn’t we want to be inclusionary — maybe follow our president-elect — and begin to plan for consolidation. I, for one, believe this is a leadership issue, not a groundswell from the people issue. However, since members of both governing bodies are looking for a groundswell, if any of you are interested in pursuing consolidation, please e-mail me at [email protected] and identify your municipality. The Princetons “study” everything — why not study something that may save taxpayers some money?
Sandra Persichetti
Princeton
