Local organization chooses not to endorse Fisch '11

Correction appended

Mendy Fisch ’11 failed to get the endorsement of the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) on Sunday for the upcoming Princeton Borough Council elections. The group instead voted to officially endorse candidate Jenny Crumiller and give incumbent Kevin Wilkes ’83, the runner-up, the second spot on the party ballot. A second incumbent, Borough Council President Margaret Karcher, came in third, before Fisch. To win the endorsement, candidates must receive 50 percent of the total PCDO vote and 60 percent of the votes cast by Borough residents.

“I was very pleased … because I got more votes than I thought I would,” Fisch said, noting that his 22 votes exceeded his initial expectations. “I wasn’t expecting to get the endorsement because [Crumiller] and the other candidates have been involved with PCDO for a long time.” Fisch is also a senior writer for The Daily Princetonian.

The roughly 70 members of the PCDO at Sunday’s meeting were each permitted to cast up to two votes for registered candidates. Since the PCDO is a local political organization that reflects only the views of its members and not the Democratic Party or the community as a whole, Fisch explained that he plans to continue his campaign for the Borough Council seat. The more critical endorsement for his candidacy, he added, is that of the College Democrats, which will be decided at the group’s meeting on Wednesday.

While several PCDO members disagreed with parts of Fisch’s platform, others said they were in favor of student involvement in the local government.

Crumiller, the former head of the PCDO, said she would like to see more student representation on the Council.

“If [Fisch] doesn’t win, I would like the installment of a formal arrangement in which [Fisch] or another student can participate [in the Borough Council],” she said. “I agree with him. We should have students involved in our local government.”

One PCDO member who spoke on the condition of anonymity, however, said that Fisch’s platform focused too exclusively on student concerns. “I admire [Fisch’s] tenacity and his comments. However, I feel that students aren’t here for the entire year, and I wouldn’t vote for him strictly on the student drinking problem because it is a problem that needs to be addressed a different way,” he said.

PCDO member Sarah Ferguson noted, though, that University students tend to get more negative publicity for alcohol-related incidents than they do positive press for their contributions to the community.

“Students serve the community in so many ways such as [EMTs and] volunteers in the Fire Department,” she said.

“They organize and volunteer many events that serve the community, such as the Alice in Wonderland event at Dillon Gym that was so great,” she said. “The only things that get publicity are things like the number of students who were hospitalized after Bicker, but students do a lot for the community.”

Calling student representation on the Council “long overdue,” PCDO member Dora DeGeorge praised Fisch’s platform, especially his argument that the Borough Police should not question intoxicated students when they are brought to the hospital requiring medical attention.

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Fisch said he went into the meeting expecting to get two or three votes. “[The 22 votes are] an indication that my campaign has potential,” he said. “I just want to keep momentum with the students.”

Mercer County executive Brian Hughes said he hoped to see more involvement from students like Fisch in Borough politics.

“Students should be involved in town, country, state and even federal government,” he said. “I think there should be a [student] voice ... not only in elected office but in committees working for the Borough.”

PCDO member Lynn Scheffby, who voted for Fisch to win the endorsement, said he was “well-prepared” and noted that he brought up points in his platform of which she was not previously aware.

PCDO member Mary Ellen Marino said she thought it was “especially important” for the Borough Council to have student representation because “the University is so powerful and there has been no one who has been able to effectively stand up to them.”

Correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the PCDO endorsed both Crumiller and Wilkes. In fact, the organization officially endorsed only Crumiller.