PRINCETON COUNCIL CANDIDATE
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
For most of her adult life, Heather H. Howard has worked for some of the biggest names in Trenton and Washington, D. C.
Starting out as a receptionist for Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y.), she rose to join the cabinet of Gov. Jon Corzine as his commissioner of health and senior services.
But once her state government career ended after Mr. Corzine’s defeat to Gov. Chris Christie, she became involved in local politics to the point that she ran for and won a seat on Borough Council in 2011. Today, she finds herself as a candidate for the council of the consolidated Princeton, part of the Democratic ticket led by mayoral hopeful Liz Lempert.
”I think consolidation is really quite exciting. All eyes in the state are on us, because we’re the first to jump in,” she said Wednesday in an interview at the Princeton Public Library.
Property taxes are at the top of residents’ concerns. “People love living here and they appreciate the level of services, but property taxes are tough,” she said.
Yet municipal government controls only 25 percent of the tax pie bill, with schools and county government making up the rest. Ms. Howard makes clear that consolidation will not be the panacea for property tax woes.
”Consolidation is not the magic bullet, because of the fact that we only control only a quarter of the property taxes,” she said. “People are going to want to see the success of consolidation, and we’re going to have to explain that it’s not the magic bullet.”
Asked about the agenda she and the other council candidates have, she said, “It’s going to be all consolidation all the time.”
She said officials would need to harmonize all ordinances between the two towns. There is also the job of achieving the financial savings, a large chunk coming from public safety. The Consolidation Commission had recommended reducing the police department to 51 sworn officers over a span of three years. At the moment, officials are ahead of that pace, with 54 officers.
”We have to monitor and work with the police chief and make sure we’re providing adequate public safety services, but achieving the goals set forth by the commission,” Ms. Howard said.
Ms. Howard, 44, grew up in Westchester, New York, the admittedly unathletic member of a sports family that includes a younger — not to mention four inches taller — sister who was the point guard on the Duke University women’s basketball team. She said she has always been interested in “progressive” policies. Born in 1968, she was named after Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey, who was running for president the same year.
Ms. Howard earned her bachelor’s degree at Duke and her law degree at New York University. It was at law school where she met future New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram, the two women forming a friendship that brought them both to work for Mr. Corzine in his U.S. Senate office and then later in his cabinet during his one term in the governror’s office.
During her career, she has worked for former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton in addition to Ms. Lowey and Mr. Corzine, who convinced her to leave Washington and work for him in Trenton.
”I’ve had the good fortune to be involved in a lot of ways,” she said. “What I think what I’ve found is if you do what you love, you’ll do well.”
After Mr. Corzine’s defeat, she decided to get into borough politics, an opportunity “to get involved locally and really learning that there’s so much that you can do locally, whether it’s starting a composting program.” She is serving her first and only year on the Borough Council.
She and her husband, Hunter Labovitz, have a son, Nate Howard. She directs the State Health Reform Assistance Network to help states implement ObamaCare, and is a lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University.
When issues involving the university and the town come up, Ms. Howard said she would recuse herself when “appropriate” based on advice from the town attorney.
”I’m not beholden to the university,” Ms. Howard said. “Nobody at the university has ever talked to me about any matter before the council.”

