Deer control key issue in Township election

Three candidates from three different parties will lock horns in today's Township Committee election. Libertarian Thomas Abrams and Republican Jack Marrero are challenging the incumbent Democrat Leonard Godfrey for the one open spot on the five-person committee.

Godfrey highlighted the Millstone Bypass, deer population management and financial disparity between the Township and Borough as the key planks on his platform. The incumbent opposes the Millstone Bypass and advocates a controlled deer hunt on public lands by paid professionals to cope with the animal's booming population. After the initial hunt, Godfrey said the Township can control the herd with contraception.

Godfrey also wants to correct the disparity between the percentage paid by the Township and Borough for institutions such as the schools and the library.

President of the Princeton Board of Education for the past three years, Marrero also opposes the Millstone Bypass, wants to preserve open space and advocates a tax break for senior citizens. In terms of the deer population, he said there needs to be a more comprehensive regional approach to the problem.

The main plank on Abrams' platform is to cut taxes across the board. He said, if elected, he would work to decrease property and school taxes and repeal the Open Space Tax. By limiting open space, he said the Township could curb the increasing deer population and cure the demand for housing.

Both of the challengers say they hope to reform the committee. "There are a lot of problems we have in this town," said Marrero, a 15-year resident of the Township. "The committee is going wild. There's a big deficit and too much spending."

Abrams, who also wants to reform the committee, admitted that his chances of winning as a Libertarian candidate are "meager."

"Right now it's more important to get the Libertarian message out," he said.

Godfrey, a retired chemist who has lived in the Township for 38 years and served on the committee for three, has set himself apart from his challengers by focusing on the disparity in spending between the Township and Borough.

"The Township pays two-thirds of the bill for tax-free institutions in the Borough," Godfrey said, "but we don't have an equal voice."

Marrero, on the other hand, has emphasized discrimination against Hispanics in the Township as an important issue he will address if elected.

"The landlords are ripping them off in the John Street area," he said.