Charged with violating ‘Sunshine Law’
By: David Campbell
Two residents living near the University Medical Center at Princeton one from Princeton Township and the other from Princeton Borough claim a task force set up by the towns’ governing bodies to weigh zoning changes for the hospital site violates the state’s Open Public Meetings Act.
Heidi Fichtenbaum of Carnahan Place in the township and Hendricks S. Davis of John Street in the borough have sent a letter to the Borough Council and the Township Committee, as well as the Princetons’ two mayors, claiming the Princeton Health Care Task Force violates the state’s so-called "Sunshine Law."
Ms. Fichtenbaum said Monday that she and Mr. Davis, a former member of the Princeton Regional Planning Board, are simply seeking an open process, one where meeting proceedings are documented for the record.
"We also want to know if there are any potential partners that the task force has already spoken with and what they might have spoken to them about," she said. "The problem is there is no public record on the meetings they had."
Ms. Fichtenbaum has been an outspoken member of the public at the task force’s public forums on the future of the hospital site on Witherspoon Street. She said she and Mr. Davis are also concerned about some task force appointees serving on the planning and zoning boards the very boards, she said, that will be making the planning decisions.
She described the arrangement as a "closed loop," one she said is not healthy for the democratic process. What is wanted, Ms. Fichtenbaum continued, is an opportunity for members of the neighborhoods around the hospital that will be most affected by a use change at the site to have input in the decision making.
"We’re calling on the Borough Council and the Township Committee and the mayors to open this process up," she said.
Township Mayor Phyllis Marchand and borough Mayor Joseph O’Neill acknowledged Monday that the letter had been received and was forwarded to the attorneys for both municipalities for review.
Township Attorney Edwin Schmierer said the task force is an advisory body that is not defined as a public entity under the Open Public Meetings Act, and therefore is not in violation of the statute.
"It has no final decision-making power," Mr. Schmierer said. He said Monday that, to date, he knew of no legal action being taken by the complainants.
Borough Attorney Michael J. Herbert was unavailable for comment Monday. Also unavailable was the task force’s chairman, Marvin Reed, a former borough mayor.
The Princeton task force was appointed by the governing bodies to review plans and recommend possible zoning and Master Plan changes for the Witherspoon Street campus of the University Medical Center at Princeton.
The task force comprises the mayors of the two Princetons, and representatives from the Borough Council, the Township Committee, the borough and township zoning boards, the Planning Board and the Princeton Regional Health Commission.
Princeton HealthCare System is weighing whether to renovate and expand its current Witherspoon Street facilities or relocate to a larger campus in the Princeton area. The health-care system has concluded that the hospital facilities need to be replaced if it is to continue to provide optimal care and stay competitive in the years ahead. No decision has yet been announced.
The Princeton task force has held four public forums so far. At the most recent one held in December, the advisory group posed various alternative uses for the hospital site, including residential or senior housing, Princeton University housing, or mixed-used development.