Officials consider new emergency services czar

Princeton Borough and Township officials are considering establishing an emergency management coordinator to oversee local response to crises.

While the Township and Borough currently have separate coordinators, supporters of the plan believe that a single czar — who would manage both municipalities and University response — would be in a better position to handle a situation like a biological or chemical attack.

The impetus for the idea came when Theodore Cashel, emergency management coordinator for Princeton Township, left in April.

The University's efforts to discuss emergency preparedness with local agencies strengthened desires for a single official.

Phyllis Marchand, mayor of Princeton Township, said her support for the plan stems from a recognition of the close linkage of the Township, Borough and University. "We are so integrated together," she said, pointing out that different areas of the University fall in either the Borough or Township.

Marchand also stressed the benefits of having one person coordinate emergency management for the Princeton area. "This is a 'the buck stops here' kind of thing," she said.

Borough Mayor Joe O'Neill agreed, saying the plan would be best for all parties involved. "If we have sharing of resources, everybody's better off," he said.

He said legal as well as financial realities make the plan appealing because current regulations allow for the appointment of a single coordinator.

O'Neill emphasized, however, that the management czar would not work alone. "It would still be incumbent on the University to make sure students know where they should go [during an emergency]," he said. "And if something big were to happen, you'd have state and federal agencies coming in as well."

He added that the czar's main "day-today" responsibility would be ensuring that particularly vulnerable communities, such as nursing homes, have plans for emergencies.

University Director of Community and State Affairs Pam Hersh said she is open to the creation of an emergency management czar. Hersh, along with Director of Public Safety Steven Healy, met with representatives of the Borough and Township to discuss the proposal on Sept 7.

"We are looking into it . . . but nothing has been discussed since that initial meeting," Hersh said.

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University members will most likely meet internally to discuss the proposal some time next week, she said.

Daniel Silverman, director of University Health Services, said he too was also open to the proposal. Silverman and University Director of the Office of Environmental Health and Safety Garth Walters met with the Regional Health Commission on Sept. 19 to discuss plans to make Jadwin Gymnasium available for mass immunization and to consider medical emergency initiatives.

"We're being very proactive," Silverman said. "We found that there was nobody on a Mercer County level to coordinate that, [so we did]."

He said that members of the town councils were "delighted" with the University's efforts. "They had the same frustration [that we had]," he said. "There was no [single person] to talk to about these things."

Although Silverman said he is eager to continue to "reach out to local agencies to try to bring the right people together," he supports the idea of creating a new position to share the responsibility in initiating emergency efforts.

O'Neill and Marchand said the proposal, if implemented, should not have any immediate effect on the University community. "I think students should know that their safety is [already] being taken care of very well by the University," Marchand said. "I think this is just a way of enhancing safety in today's world."