PRINCETON: Lempert and council to begin meeting

By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
   Princeton Mayor-elect Liz Lempert and the six-member council plan to start meeting as a group as soon as next week so they can hit the ground running when consolidation takes effect in less than two months.Ms. Lempert and the six council members, all elected earlier this month, don’t officially take office until their swearing in Jan.1, but are not waiting until then.
   They plan to meet to discuss goals for the coming year and appointments and committee assignments for themselves, said Borough Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller, who will serve in the new government.
   Ms. Lempert said Thursday that she is aiming to have three to four meetings before January, the first of which is scheduled for Monday at 5 p.m. in the Township Municipal building.
   She said officials cannot vote or take action, although they can come to what she called “consensus” on things. Municipal staff will be present at the meetings too, Ms. Lempert said.
   Princeton is wading into uncharted territory; the state consolidation law is silent about what happens when there is an elected but unsworn governing body.
   To err on the side of transparency, Township Attorney Edwin W. Schmierer said Thursday that Ms. Lempert and the six council members will be treated as subject to the state’s open public meetings act, also known as the sunshine law. That means all meetings would be noticed and open to the public, he said.
   But like members of any other governing body in New Jersey, he said Princeton officials would have the ability to go into closed session, when the public is excluded. Typically, municipal governments meet in closed or executive session to discuss legal, personnel and contractual issues.
   The governing body will have a full plate Jan.1, to get the government running. There will be staff appointments, including naming the police chief, expected to be current Borough Chief David J. Dudeck. They will also have to decide who will be the leader of the council.
   ”Good question,” said current Township Committeeman Bernard P. Miller when asked Thursday who that person will be.
   The council will have four members — Ms. Crumiller, Heather H. Howard, Patrick Simon and Jo S. Butler — from the borough and two from the township, Mr. Miller and Lance Liverman.
   Mr. Miller said leadership of council should not be based on whether someone came from the borough or township.
   Ms. Lempert and the six council members are all Democrats.