PRINCETON: Candidate says Dinky issue is not part of consolidation

By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
   One Princeton Council candidate is objecting to a questionnaire the Save the Dinky group sent to prospective council and mayoral candidates this week.
   Scott Sillars declined to answer the questions because he states the group is “asking for responses to specific, tightly worded, pro-Dinky questions.”
   ”I have respectfully replied to them that I will not respond to the questionnaire because they have taken positions on the ‘Dinky’ issue and they have a desired outcome on the ‘Dinky’ issue,” he wrote in an email to local media. “This is not a stance on the validity of ‘Save the Dinky’s’ issues; I think Princeton University’s plans for the Dinky are poorly conceived. But I refuse to let step one of consolidation turn into a referendum on the Dinky. There are processes for debate and approval. This election is not part of that process.”
   Anita Garoniak, head of the Save the Dinky group, said sending questions to candidates is normal and her group did nothing out of the ordinary.
   ”Save the Dinky Inc. has not and is not planning to endorse particular candidates. The overarching goal of the organization is to preserve Princeton’s historic rail link to Princeton Junction through advocacy and education,” she said when asked about the email. “We will do our best to inform members on the various issues associated with preservation of the Dinky rail link. We cannot inform members of candidate viewpoints and approaches without asking the candidates. This is why we sent the questionnaire.”
   Save the Dinky, which originated as a Facebook group to oppose plans to replace the Dinky with a Bus Rapid Transit system, is now incorporated as a New Jersey nonprofit and is actively raising funds to support its lawsuit to clarify the meaning of the 1984 contract of sale between Princeton University and NJ Transit.