Tuesday, Borough residents will decide the occupants of two of the six seats on the Borough Council — the body that can directly affect where we shop, where we park and what we do in eating clubs.
Democratic Councilmen Andrew Koontz and Roger Martindell are running again. But so is a University student, Republican Evan Baehr '05. And though he lacks experience, he can offer an important voice at Borough debates, injecting our views and interests where there is usually silence.
We support him for Council.
Many students pay little attention to the Borough Council during their Princeton experience. And representing just less than a fourth of the Borough's 14,000 residents, they haven't had enormous sway in Borough elections. The last student candidate was Steven Abt '04, who garnered just 248 votes, more than 1,100 votes short of winning a seat.
But that doesn't mean students ought not exercise their influence and right to vote in the Borough.
Not just any student would deserve a vote for Borough Council. But Baehr is no slouch. He has immersed himself in Borough issues, from the alcohol ordinance to parking meter issues. He is serious about understanding the full range of issues that face the Borough beyond the alcohol ordinance, the controversial yet stagnant proposal that would lower the threshold for police to enter private property to enforce alcohol laws.
Incumbents Koontz and Martindell have served well on the Council, at a difficult time in Borough history as it seeks to pay off the debt from downtown development and faces cuts in funding from the federal government.
At first glance, Baehr seems a strange fit for a heavily Democratic borough and campus. But local issues are seldom of the Democrat/Republican variety. National issues, such as abortion, preemptive war and stem-cell research, are not local issues. What the Borough needs is someone who can find solutions that work.
Year after year, one issue dominates Borough politics: the University's contributions to its budget. As an educational institution, the University does not have to pay taxes on much of its property.
But every year, the University makes a contribution to the budget. Like the other candidates, Baehr believes that the University can contribute more to support the community. He also wisely opposes Cottage Club's bid to become tax-exempt, citing the harmful effects on Borough finances if all clubs were to follow suit. These positions show he can balance the University's needs with the Borough's.
Baehr does have his disadvantages. At 21, he is far less experienced than either incumbent. And it is unfortunate that much of Baehr's campus strategy has been to focus on the alcohol ordinance. The ordinance has repeatedly failed to win support on the Council. To suggest that it would pass without a student on the Council is to exploit student fears. All three candidates oppose the alcohol ordinance, and it is extremely unlikely that such an ordinance would be passed.
What Baehr would bring to the Council is not so much a different stance on issues as a different way of viewing them. He brings a student's perspective — something the Council lacks and that all of us should want it to have.
After then-Councilman Joseph O'Neill, currently mayor, handily defeated Abt in 2001, he said he wanted to improve communication between the Borough and University students. We see no better way than to vote for Baehr.
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