By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Lance Liverman has spent all 50 years of his life in Princeton, a local guy who says he knows what people are concerned about in his community.
”No matter what area you look at in regard to Princeton, low income, middle income, high income, taxes are always an issue,” said Mr. Liverman in an interview last week in which the Democrat discussed his race for the town council of the consolidated Princeton.
Mr. Liverman said he wants to prevent tax hikes, although he warned that might mean cutting back on municipal services. He did not specify which part of local government would be first on the chopping block.
”It’s like your home; you have to budget with what you have,” he said.
The merger of the two Princetons, which will take effect Jan.1, is supposed to reduce the cost of government. Recently released figures have shown savings are ahead of earlier projections. But a main component of future savings involves reducing the police department to 51 officers by year three of consolidation.
For his part, Mr. Liverman said he was “fine” with 51 officers so long as the department was able to keep crime at its current low levels. He left open the possibility of a needing a police force larger than what the Consolidation Commission recommended.
”We can provide savings in different areas if we have to,” Mr. Liverman said. “I’m at whatever (staffing) level we need to maintain safety.”
Mr. Liverman also wants to get community members, from all corners of Princeton, interested in serving on volunteer boards and commissions.
”I’m on boards, and they say that we don’t have a large Hispanic or Latino representation. I’d like to take some of those people from that area and put them on some of those boards,” he said.
He said the relationship between the municipality and Princeton University is important.
”What we do to the town will affect what happens with the university because we’re all joined at the hip, so we have to be partners,” he said.
He said he supports the local ballot question calling for an open space tax of 1.7 cents per $100 of assessed value. To Mr. Liverman, preserving land saves taxpayers money in the long run because it means fewer parcels that could be turned into housing developments that add children to the school system and require more investment in infrastructure.
First elected to the Township Committee in 2004, he has spent the past seven years in municipal government. He said he felt the renovation of the pool complex is one of the big accomplishments of his tenure.
Another success, he said, was working with others to start the Princeton Youth Project to help high-risk kids. He helped bring members of the community to discuss what could be done in response to youths getting mixed up in gangs.
”I think that program has been awesome,” he said. “We have youth that never thought they would go to college, never thought they would take up a trade, never thought they’d do well have actually gone through the program and come out model citizens.”
Mr. Liverman, 50, grew up in Princeton and attended the local public schools. He first attended college at Fairleigh Dickinson University, before eventually graduating from then-Trenton State College, now the College of New Jersey. He works as a real estate investor.
Active in the community, Mr. Liverman serves on the board of First Baptist Church.
Yet on Aug. 9, he was charged with driving under the influence and refusing to take a breathalyzer after being involved in an accident on I-95 north in Hopewell Township. He pleaded guilty in September and lost his driving privilege for seven months.
He has said that being unable to drive has not hindered his ability to serve in office.
