Event was hosted by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by PSEG
By Payal Marathe, Special to the Packet Media Group
Six mayors from Mercer County met for breakfast on Thursday morning at the Hyatt Regency Princeton to discuss regional issues with members of local business communities.
Mayor Paul Anzano, of Hopewell Borough, Mayor Vanessa Sandom, of Hopewell Township, Mayor Anthony Persichilli, of Pennington, Mayor Janice Mirnov, of East Windsor, Mayor Liz Lempert, of Princeton and Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, of West Windsor, participated in a roundtable discussion.
The event was hosted by the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce and sponsored by PSEG.
Frank Lucchesi, a PSEG manager who moderated the panel, said the company has organized similar events in the past. These discussions are always successful, he added, because they provide a good opportunity for mayors to talk about issues affecting all of their municipalities.
These issues include regional problems such as traffic and transportation, emergency preparedness, collaboration between municipalities and property taxes.
All six mayors agreed that property taxes are a primary concern.
”We are fully cognizant that property taxes are a burden on residents, and that they make housing particularly difficult for first-time homeowners and seniors, both regionally and in the borough,” Mayor Anzano said.
Mayor Hsueh said statewide property tax structure poses an obstacle to collaboration between towns. The New Jersey system dictates that many services have to be funded by taxpayers from the specific municipality, he explained.
But Mayor Anzano said residents should start to notice more regional thinking out of “necessity” as municipalities realize they cannot solve all problems independently.
While the state’s property tax system is “an inhibitor” to regional cooperation, there has been an increase in collaboration in the county, Mayor Mirnov said, adding she hopes this trend will continue as local governments discover more common interests.
Mayor Lempert drew attention to transportation as one such common issue inevitably linking the different towns.
Considering the area’s “fragile road network,” traffic in one town causes back-ups in nearby towns, she said. She added that bicycle paths linking towns could be improved so people have the option of using transportation other than cars.
”Traffic is a regional issue, so we need to work together,” Mayor Lempert said. “It’s not a problem we can solve if each town works alone.”
Another major topic discussed at Thursday’s roundtable was lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy.
Panelists said communication is an essential component of emergency preparedness packages.
Princeton’s reverse 911 system and website updates were important features of the response to Sandy, Mayor Lempert said, adding that places that did not lose power became “de facto town centers” where people could get food, charge cell phones and see friends.
Mayor Sandom said Hopewell Township is looking to establish a strong partnership with local businesses so residents can get to safe places during emergency situations.
”Communicating is really critical — it makes a big difference to people sitting in the dark for two weeks,” she said.
Mayor Sandom added that another function of emergency preparedness should be educating homeowners on their responsibilities, since local government cannot be expected to handle everything. Better communicating with residents prior to an emergency would allow families to store supplies and to plan ahead, she said.
Though the mayors of Mercer County already work together on some levels, Chamber President and CEO Peter Crowley said he is glad this event allowed the leaders to share their views on regional concerns with the public.
Economic development, transportation and emergency preparedness are just a few of the many current issues that could be considered region-wide, Mr. Crowley said, adding that the forum generated interesting discussion on these problems.
Events coordinator Vikki Hurley-Schubert said the chamber is organizing another roundtable with the remaining mayors of Mercer County municipalities. The second meeting in this series will take place in the fall, when it coincides with Trenton Small Business Week.
Mr. Crowley said the chamber hopes to make the roundtable an annual event, something the public, members of the local business community and the mayors would all look forward to.