By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mayor Liz Lempert heard deep concerns Wednesday from Princeton University and other businesses in town about the town potentially requiring that private sector employers give their full and part-time employees paid sick leave.
People in attendance were tight-lipped about what was said at a meeting that Mayor Lempert called to get input on what she has acknowledged is a controversial proposal.
“We had a good meeting,” said Peter M. Crowley, the president and CEO of the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce. He declined to elaborate.
“It was contentious,” said Councilwoman Jenny Crumiller, who was in attendance.
Mayor Lempert did not return phone calls seeking comment.
The session was a who’s who of business leaders, including restaurateur Jack Morrison, John Marshall, president of the Princeton Merchants Association, Lori Rabon, general manager of the Nassau Inn, and Kristin S. Appelget, director of community and regional affairs at the university.
Councilwoman Jo S. Butler, whom Mayor Lempert invited to attend the session, said Wednesday that businesses raised a series of concerns. In particular, she said they cited the financial costs involved. For Princeton University, there would be impacts for students who work part-time at the school.
“We had a very open and candid discussion … about the earned sick time issue, and I felt that it was a good first discussion,” Ms. Appelget said. “At this point there is no University position because there does not appear to be a specific proposal or ordinance for Princeton.”
For her part, Ms. Butler said she wondered what was the magnitude of the problem of employees in Princeton not having sick leave. She said the issue had never come up before in town before.
She added that she does not have paid sick leave at her employer, Wickenden Associates.
For the meeting, Mayor Lempert brought two council members who are considered her political adversaries in the local Democratic Party. A source in attendance found it curious that Mayor Lempert had Ms. Crumiller, seen as a political lighting rod in town, with her as opposed to Councilwoman Heather H. Howard, an ally and supporter of the paid sick leave effort.
Mayor Lempert is due to have another meeting for businesses on Thursday, with Craig Garcia, the political coordinator of New Jersey Working Families Alliance, a liberal political advocacy organization pushing for sick leave, due to attend.
The organization wants Princeton to become the 10th municipality in the state with the mandate.
Mayor Lempert said Monday that the council would wait until after August to consider any such ordinance.
In speaking to reporters, she acknowledged that the idea is “controversial” but said it is one that she supports.
“I feel this is an important issue and it’s something that’s being talked about at all levels of government all over the country,” she said. “And I think it’s important that we talk about it here in Princeton, so that’s why we’re talking about it.”
In her comments, she said Princeton needed to be a “humane town” and pointed to other policies that officials have taken along those lines, including a measure to crack down on wage theft.
Mayor Lempert said that as a “general rule of thumb,” the council does not consider “controversial” legislation in August, typically a dead month in town when many residents go away.
“We want to make sure people have a chance to make their voices heard and to help us in crafting good legislation,” she said. “I don’t see us moving on this particular issue – because I know there’s a lot of people who have strong feelings about it – until the summer’s over.”
She would not predict how council would vote on the measure, although Ms. Crumiller has said it would pass.
Mayor Lempert said the paid sick time requirement is “not intended to be anti-business.” In the past, she has advocated for raising the minimum wage and supported putting a limit on the hours of operation for a business located next to a residential zone.
She said she fully appreciates paid sick time is a “controversial issue,” yet she said it is one of a host of issues that higher levels of government have not addressed.
“(D)oing it on the local level is not ideal,” she said. “But a lot of the things that we’re being asked to do at the municipal level are because action that should be taken at the state level and federal level is not being taken. So then your choice is either do nothing or try to do something that’s hopefully better than nothing at the local level.”
Earlier this year, President Barack Obama used his State of the Union speech to spotlight the issue of paid sick time. In the past, Mayor Lempert has traveled to meet with Obama administration officials, but she said Monday that the sick pay measure did not originate from those discussions.
