Green, Democrat face off for mayor

In this November's election, two candidates are vying to replace longtime Princeton Borough Mayor Marvin Reed, who is retiring at the end of the term.

Democratic Borough Councilman Joseph O'Neill and Green Party member Steven Syrek will face off in a contest that features no Republican candidate.

O'Neill has served two years on the Borough Council and previously sat on the Princeton Regional Planning Board. Before his retirement, O'Neill worked as a researcher for Educational Testing Service, the Princeton-based company behind the SAT.

O'Neill said one of his priorities as mayor would be meeting with administrators from the University Medical Center at Princeton — known as the Princeton Medical Center until this summer — which he said is considering moving its main campus out of the Borough.

He praised a recent agreement between the University and the Borough that will raise the University's voluntary annual contribution to the Borough to $400,000. However, he said if the University followed similar policies at Harvard University and M.I.T., the figure would be closer to $600,000.

Syrek's campaign will have four major themes, including stopping the "over-development" of downtown, breaking the Democratic monopoly on the Borough, protecting local independent businesses and bringing environmentally sound principles to local government.

Syrek, 25, is a graduate student and teaching assistant at Rutgers University. His first foray into politics came last year when he ran for Borough Council, winning a substantial 13 percent of the vote in a losing campaign.

Syrek said the all-Democratic elected Borough government "doesn't represent the diversity of perspectives that are going on in society."

"I try to come at all issues from two points of view: what's intelligent and what's ethical," he said.

Both O'Neill and Syrek said they are opposed to the so-called alcohol ordinance, consideration of which the Borough Council postponed indefinitely at a meeting last spring. The ordinance would allow Borough police to cite minors drinking on private property, such as in the eating clubs.

"We don't have any clear idea of how to solve this problem," O'Neill said. "I don't think it can be solved. It has to be managed."

O'Neill said this month has been "one of the worst in years" in terms of the number of students requiring medical attention for alcohol poisoning.

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"We will be revisiting this issue again," he said.

Syrek called the alcohol ordinance an "insane" violation of students' rights.

"The Borough government and the Borough Police should not be enforcing law on private property," Syrek said.

Instead, he called on the University to provide support for students with drinking problems.

With a little more than a month to go before the Nov. 4 general election, Syrak said he has been going door-to-door to drum up support.

On Oct. 9, the Princeton Justice Project, a student group, will hold a candidates' forum in the Frist Campus Center. Both Syrek and O'Neill said they are planning to attend.

O'Neill defeated State Assemblyman Reed Gusciora in the Democratic primary in June. The Borough is historically dominated by Democrats.

Princeton Borough includes most of the dormitories on campus except for parts of Forbes College, Butler College and Scully Hall, which are in Princeton Township.