By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Princeton mayoral candidates Liz Lempert and Richard Woodbridge told a debate audience Thursday that they possessed the experience to lead the consolidated Princeton for the next four years.
Democrat Ms. Lempert and Republican Mr. Woodbridge, appearing side by side at a League of Women Voters forum, touched on taxes, traffic, relations with Princeton University and other issues facing the community. With less than a month to go before the election, Mr. Woodbridge is in the underdog role of trying to beat Ms. Lempert, whose party has an edge in registered voters.
The former township mayor waited until his closing remarks to say “experience, experience and experience” distinguished him from Ms. Lempert.
”People can talk in the abstract about what’s like to be mayor. I’ve been mayor,” said Mr. Woodbridge, also a past Borough Council president.
He said the community needed a leader who “can accomplish things and has a history of accomplishing things in a regional context, one who is best suited to take this town to the next level
”If you were having a heart valve replaced, wouldn’t you choose the surgeon who had done it many times before?” he asked the audience at the Jewish Center of Princeton.
Ms. Lempert, not to be outdone, said she had the “current experience” with “proven results” to guide the community. She said during her tenure on the Township Committee, officials tackled some of the more “seemingly intractable problems.” She said the township negotiated the first-ever voluntary $757,000 contribution from Princeton University.
She said municipal government and the Ivy League school needed to have a “productive relationship.”
”I think they appreciate a professional dialogue and one that’s based on mutual respect,” she said, adding there will be times when they agree and disagree.
Mr. Woodbridge, a Princeton alumnus, said the “town and gown” relationship has deteriorated. He called for meeting with university officials, either once every six months or at minimum once a year, to learn where the school plans to go.
Asked about the AvalonBay’s proposal to build 280 housing units at the former University Medical Center site on Witherspoon Street, Ms. Lempert said she was “severely disappointed” in the plan the developer submitted. Mr. Woodbridge took no official position, although he expressed concern as a former fireman about the four-story structure being made of wood.
”I don’t know how many of you’ve ever had had the pleasure of going into a burning wooden structure, but they are highly flammable,” he said.
On transportation, Ms. Lempert said the town could do more for biking and walking to get people out of their cars, although she did not elaborate. To handle the influx of two million tourists who come to Princeton a year, government can help with a better parking plan and traffic management, she said.
”The reason why there’s so much traffic here is because everybody’s coming into town to be at Princeton and in the larger Princeton community,” she said.
Mr. Woodbridge agreed better parking is needed and said the town ought to explore having a director of tourism and economic development. With traffic expected to grow even more in coming years, Mr. Woodbridge said officials need to make public transportation attractive.
Some of the first questions of the night dealt with issues favorable to Mr. Woodbridge, including one about the future of the Valley Road School. Mr. Woodbridge is part of an organization seeking to take the school over as a center for nonprofits, and he has criticized the district administration for not maintaining a building that looks like a “crack house” from the rear.
”It’s a mess. And you take a look at the area around it and it looks like a car bomb just went off,” he said.
Ms. Lempert said the school board would be “remiss to hand over a public asset to a group of private individuals, no matter how honorable their intentions.”
In response to a question, Mr. Woodbridge said political partisanship should not be playing a role in local government. “My concern is without nonpartisanship, you exclude a large part of the population who would be able to help,” he said.
Mr. Woodbridge and his running-mate Geoff Aton are waging a campaign that downplays their party affiliation.
As the two towns become one, Ms. Lempert said she is committed to seeing consolidation succeed.
”That means delivering on tax savings, enhanced services and a more responsive government,” she said. Looking to 2013, she guaranteed the audience that there would be no tax hike.

