Township mayor to retire after 13 years in office

“It’s been wonderful, very hectic,” Marchand said, “and I think now is the time for me to slow down a bit, maybe audit some courses at Princeton University ... it’s time for a younger generation to take over.”

During her tenure as mayor, the Township saw significant building changes, including the building of a new hospital for the University Medical Center at Princeton and the construction of more affordable housing units.

Marchand also pointed to the new municipal building as a positive development. Equipped with “state of the art technology,” the building has allowed Township “constituents [to] get more engaged in the community” through publicized town meetings and a community room.

Marchand also focused on the Township’s greenery and on keeping a balance between open space and developed land.

“We have new parks and recreational fields, and I think that was very important,” Marchand said.

“When you think about the face of Princeton Township you think about her,” fellow committee member Lance Liverman told The Times of Trenton. “Phyllis Marchand has been one of the strongest political figures Princeton Township has ever seen.”

As mayor, Marchand played a central role in approving the construction of new buildings on campus as a member of the Princeton Regional Planning Board.

“It has been very exciting to see all the wonderful architecture that has gone up ... Whitman in a more traditional manner, and the Frank Gehry building in a different vein,” she said.

On the whole, the Township has benefited from the University’s presence and the resources it offers, she said, explaining that some of the individuals appointed to Township boards have been University faculty and administrators.

“It’s really wonderful to be able to tap into the University for that kind of expertise,” she said.

Marchand said her day-to-day contact with people — both the staff at Township Hall and Township residents — is one of the aspects of the job she’ll miss most.

“I’ll miss ... the challenges of the community — the challenges that come to me through our very articulate and informed electorate in the township,” she explained.

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For those who worked with her, the feeling is mutual.

“Phyllis is beloved by everyone — residents, her colleagues and staff alike. She will be sorely missed,” township administrator James Pascale told the Trenton Times.

Marchand said she is looking forward to relaxing and spending more time with her family.

“I now have a husband who is retired, I have eight grandchildren ... and I just have not had time to enjoy the wonderful family that I have,” she explained.

Though she will miss her work, she said it will be a relief to break from the hectic schedule and stress that often accompany the job. Because her home phone number is listed on her business card to make her more accessible to residents, Marchand has received calls at all times of day and night.

“I won’t miss phone calls on weekends about potholes or snow not being removed,” she noted. “I certainly won’t miss the sometimes exhausted feeling you have from time to time from going till 12 or 1 in the morning, and getting up to be somewhere at 8 or 8:30.”

But Marchand by no means plans to be inactive in her retirement. After being diagnosed three years ago with a rare form of chronic lymphoma, Marchand received medical treatment and has been successively coping with her illness, she said. She plans to take part in a program at Penn as “one of the patients ... working with incoming medical students to sensitize them to what it’s like to live with cancer: how it affects your professional life, your financial life — because drugs and treatments are extremely expensive — and how it affects your relationships with your family.”

She said she is looking forward to enjoying life in ways that her schedule has not allowed her for the past two decades. “I was a marathon runner,” Marchand said, adding that she has run 18 marathons. “I would like to get back to doing a lot more athletic activities.”

And sometimes, she will just take time to catch a movie or a show.

“I will be watching which movies will be nominated for Academy Awards, and I’ll go and see every one of them,” she said. Marchand, who used to “go at least two to three times a week” to events at McCarter Theatre, gave up the outings because of her work.

“I look forward to renewing my cultural activities with my husband,” she said. “Life is very short, and I think I’ve done more than my share of public service to a community I love, and now I would like to have a little time for my own enjoyment and activity.”

Marchand will relinquish her post on Nov. 30, and Deputy Mayor Bernard Miller will serve in the interim period before a new mayor is elected by the Township Committee on Jan. 1 to serve for the year.