Borough, Township to hold elections today

Local residents and University students registered to vote in Princeton will head to polls around the campus periphery today to elect local, county and state officials.

In Princeton Borough, incumbent Democratic Councilmen Andrew Koontz and Roger Martindell face challenges from Republicans Linda Sipprelle and Joseph Codega '09. Borough Mayor Mildred Trotman is running for reelection unopposed, having fended off Kim Pimley in the Democratic primary this summer.

In Princeton Township, Democratic Mayor Phyllis Marchand and Democratic Committeeman Lance Liverman will try to defend their Township Committee seats from Republicans Esther Mills and Cindy Randazzo.

Though there has been little publicity on campus, several candidates said they have made efforts to reach out to University students, who compose a quarter of the Borough's electorate.

Sipprelle said in an email that if elected, she "will promote the establishment of internships for PU students in our municipal government and [give them] a role on Borough advisory committees."

She added that she has "been dismayed by my opponents' aggressive big brother stance" on the tax-exemption of Cottage Club, which was upheld by the state Supreme Court despite opposition from the Borough Council. "I believe my opponents are using the Cottage Club as a scapegoat for their own mistakes as lack of foresight."

Martindell defended his position on Cottage's property tax battle. "I'm in support of the town requiring Cottage Club to pay its fair share of municipal taxes, like every other club," he said, "and in the event that the Cottage Club can find a way to weasel out of its moral obligation and its legal obligation, then the University should step in and pay it for them."

Though his stance on this issue might not be attractive to many student voters, Martindell did say that he thought that his fiscal conservatism would appeal to University students. "I think that everyone's interested in keeping costs down in the municipality, including the University, and that includes the students," he said.

He added that he objected to the level of Borough Police involvement on University grounds. "The allocation of police personnel to police University premises is, in my view, excessive ... perhaps it would be better for all concerned if we weren't so frequently there," he said.

Codega, the lone University student running in the race, did not respond to requests for comment. But a statement on the website of the Republican Association of Princeton said that he hoped his status as a University student would help him "foster a spirit of civic responsibility and inclusion among all members of the community."

Township Mayor Marchand said that she hoped that her efforts to preserve open space and maintain parkland would appeal to students. "I have run 18 marathons, and I'm very into open space," she said.

Marchand said that her administration has improved bicycle paths and safe walkways in many areas close to the University. "We would like to see more people walking or biking or jogging rather than taking cars for distances that could be easily gotten to," she said.

A Campus Divided

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The line dividing the Township and the Borough runs through the middle of campus, bisecting some dormitories and occasionally placing adjacent rooms on different sides of the municipal boundary.

According to information posted on the University website, students in Forbes rooms 220-239, 314-329, 404-412, the Annex and the Addition are in the Township; the rest of Forbes is in the Borough.

Most of Whitman college is in the Borough, but the border slices through South Baker and 1981 Halls, placing parts of them in the Township. Rooms 102, 202, 203, 205, 303, 305, 314D, 314E, 402, 403 and 405 in South Baker are in the Borough, as are rooms 101 and 103 in 1981. The rest of South Baker and 1981 are in the Township.

Bloomberg and Scully lie entirely in the Township. All other dorms are in the Borough.

Other Ballot Issues

Residents of both municipalities will also elect a state senator, two members of the New Jersey General Assembly, a Mercer County executive and two members of the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders. All of these positions are currently held by Democrats.

In the Senate race, Republican Bob Martin is facing Democratic incumbent Shirley Turner. Republicans Bobby Bryant and Norbert Donelly and Green Party candidate Nicholas Mellis are challenging Democratic incumbents Reed Gusciora and Bonnie Watson Coleman for their Assembly seats.

Republican Janice Mintz is vying for Democrat Bryan Hughes' position as County executive, and Democrats Anthony Carabelli and Keith Hamilton are trying to hang on to their seats on the Board of Freeholders.

Four questions will also be on the ballot. Voters will decide whether a portion of the New Jersey sales tax should be dedicated to property tax relief, whether state money should fund stem cell research and whether the state should allocate more money for open space preservation.

The fourth question asks whether language in the New Jersey constitution barring an "idiot or insane person" from voting should be revised to read "a person who has been adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to lack the capacity to understand the act of voting."