Brad Middlekauff, Princeton
To the editor:
In an era when politicians of both parties crave the limelight, often at the expense of the public good (witness the Ted Cruz filibuster last month), how refreshing it is when a politician voluntarily moves away from center stage in the interest of what is best for the citizenry.
Such was the case with Mayor Liz Lempert’s decision last week to remove herself from discussions and decision-making on the PILOT negotiations between our town and Princeton University.
By voluntarily opting out of these town-gown negotiations, Mayor Lempert has diffused an issue that had the potential to embroil Princeton in litigation for years to come and potentially put at risk a solid financial relationship between the municipality and the university.
Given that Mayor Lempert’s husband is an employee of Princeton University, there was a bona fide question as to whether she had a conflict of interest with respect to the PILOT negotiations. Although the Princeton attorney had reached the conclusion, pursuant to the municipality’s conflict of interest policy, that Mayor Lempert did not have a conflict with respect to PILOT negotiations with Princeton University, there is also a defensible argument that the mayor’s situation does present a conflict of interest. One could imagine a thoughtful New Jersey court coming down on either side of the argument.
In the face of such uncertainty, a decision by Mayor Lempert to remain involved with the negotiations and decision-making could have exposed Princeton to expensive and distracting litigation and might even have led to a diminished contribution from Princeton University, as that institution waited to see how the matter was sorted out in the courts.
In the last mayoral election, Mayor Lempert ran on, among other things, her vision for improving town-gown relations and her ability to execute on her vision. It cannot have been easy to step away from the PILOT negotiations. But it was the right thing to do for the people of Princeton.
Brad Middlekauff
Princeton
