By Victoria Hurley-Schubert, Staff Writer
Township Committee hopefuls mostly agree on the main issues in Princeton, but one issue consolidation has one candidate standing apart from the others.
Republican Mark Schiebner is the lone dissenter on the consolidation issue, saying the savings aren’t enough, even disagreeing with more shared services.
His running mate, Geoff Aton, is more in line with the Democrats’ thinking and can see the savings, benefits and what he calls unquantifiable effects of merging Princeton Township and Princeton Borough.
The four candidates made their viewpoints known at a debate on Sept. 26.
Incumbent Democrats Bernie Miller and Sue Nemeth and the Republican challengers were hosted at Princeton Community Television and moderated by the League of Women Voters of the Princeton area. Each candidate was given one minute to answer each question posed.
The topic of deepest discussion was consolidation.
Q: Proponents of consolidation believe that one municipality will provide more efficient and less costly police, fire and emergency services and public works departments. Opponents believe that any proposed savings are exaggerated. Where do you stand on this issue?
Aton: Believes that a consolidated Princeton would be more efficient and can sympathize with concerns. “I do believe that the $3.2 million (the Joint Shared Services Consolidation Commission, or JSSCC, has pointed out in its consolidation recommendations) will be the savings in quantifiable savings, I do believe there are unquantifiable savings that will be realized well into the future.”
Miller: Has been pro-consolidation since the 1970s and was a JSSCC member. He thinks consolidation will create a much more efficient government with a single police, public works and administration.
Nemeth: Wholeheartedly supports consolidation as the next step toward tax relief and the savings are meaningful.
Schiebner: Opposes consolidation and is against the borough form of government, which is the form of government chosen by the JSSCC and calls the consolidation of departments “cuts in services.”
Q: The JSSCC report is filled with recommendations. Which one do you think is important to pursue whether or not consolidation happens?
Nemeth: If consolidation fails, shared police services would generate an additional layer of government, so it would not be a viable option and a merger of the public works does not bring enough savings to warrant a merger and it would be complicated with two engineering departments.
Schiebner: Sharing police would require institutional differences to be addressed, but public works would be much easier to share. Many of the recommended savings of the JSSCC should be put into place, regardless of the consolidation vote.
Aton: Sharing services are in the foreground of the many reasons for consolidation and will lead to many unquantifiable savings that would be realized as a result of the process.
Miller: In addressing Mr. Schiebner’s concerns about a degradation of services, he said police services were examined with excruciating detail by the JSSCC, and a consolidated force would be smaller in size, but able to offer more services through achieved efficiencies.
[cki: After this question, the candidates were given 90 seconds to make any additional points about consolidation they wished.Schiebner: “I started out in favor of consolidation, but when I read the report I found several deep flaws.” The first of the flaws being a reduction of the police force, which would make the department “subpar” and then the borough form of government is a weak government with a systematically weak leadership that favors the prerogative of the politicians over the rights of the people and makes bad decisions. “If anybody has any questions, just take a look at some of the decisions reached by the borough in the last several years regarding revaluation, the university and hospital.”Aton: Respecting what Mr. Schiebner had to say, he believes the pros of consolidation outweigh the cons. With the economy falling into a double dip recession, he worries about the solvency of the state aid money that Princeton relies on and the $3.2 million in savings could help bridge the gap, should something happen to the state aid money.Miller: Defended the recent Borough mayors as strong mayors who provided leadership, and the borough form of government is a historical form that works. “The potential for savings is there and large enough to command my attention and if I was running a business that operated at a gross of $60 million a year, the combined budget of the two municipalities, and someone said came to me and said ‘I can show you how to save 5 percent off the top or $3 million off the top,’ I would welcome that as an opportunity to make my business more efficient.”Nemeth: Consolidation will deliver “meaningful” tax relief, streamlined services and improve the negotiating power with the university. “We have an opportunity to take tax relief in our own hands, we don’t have to wait for the state to come to our rescue.”Following this discourse, the regular format continued.Q. Getting in and out of Princeton in a car is often a nightmare, even when the roads aren’t flooded. How would you address this issue, given the hospital is moving out of town?
Miller: Access to the hospital is being improved; the state is widening Route 1 at Harrison Street. The main issue is when people try to cut across town, and part of the solution may be improving public transit within town and getting people out of their cars.
Nemeth: The hospital move should help alleviate traffic because it will be taking its traffic with it to the other side of Route 1. There are proposals to increase access to the Dinky, tie buses to the Dinky schedule, increase stops for the Free B, sharrows and more pedestrian paths have been installed.
Schiebner: Princeton will need assistance from the university, county and state to address circulation issues, especially a choke point at Route 206, Nassau Street and Alexander Road.
Aton: The ingress and egress of the town needs to be studied. He offered the suggestion of more households using one car.
Q: Thinking about Hurricane Irene, what suggestions would you give to improve direct communication with the community during times of emergency?
Nemeth: Township police used reverse 911 and Facebook to communicate, which seemed to work for township residents, but communication between the two towns was not what it should have been.
Schiebner: A unified emergency operations center that is manned by emergency personnel and public works would be a solution so all services can coordinate from a single point.
Aton: Elected officials, as civil servants, should have gone to the library to help get the word out and one mayor would have been better in such a situation.
Miller: If the communities consolidate, the emergency management would be consolidated.
Q: What is your opinion of the university’s proposal for making Alexander Road a gateway into Princeton?
Schiebner: Is not happy with it because of the traffic issues. He wants to form a dedicated committee to deal with the university in a more effective manner.
Aton: Wants to see the arts and transit neighborhood built, which would make an unattractive area of town into a “world-renown” beautiful arts facility that the community can utilize.
Miller: Traffic planning is done to carefully balance the traffic load between the three main arteries and the current use of the Alexander Road is less than optimum and this project is a way to bring that area of town up to par.
Nemeth: Supports the development of lower Alexander, saying the area needs redevelopment and the university plans are a gift in roadway improvements that are hard to turn away from.
After these questions, there was another 90 second period for rebuttal on any of the hurricane or traffic issues.
Aton: As a Dinky rider, he said the proposed move isn’t really that big of a deal and it would be a shame for the Dinky to be moved and the arts complex built somewhere else.
Miller: That part of town is in need of improvement and the university plans are a step in that direction, but people are afraid of change and moving the Dinky is difficult for people to accept.
Nemeth: Elected officials have the job of making sure the university lives up to its promises of improved transit in the area of the proposed train station, including improved access to the train.
Schiebner: What the communities are getting in return for the moving of the Dinky far outweigh the move itself.
Q: Do you see a need to increase the ratables in the township? If so, how would you go about doing it?
Nemeth: There is limited opportunity, but the town could make more thoughtful, comprehensive decisions as a consolidated community.
Schiebner: An economic development commission should be formed to examine the land that is available and the ratables that are available and the university should be a shareholder along with business interests to work together to develop ratables and jobs.
Aton: The township needs revenue and should be worried about ratables and existing ratables moving out of town, especially to follow the hospital.
Miller: The town is built-out and little space for development and opportunity lies in the repurposing of existing buildings or spaces.
