Councilman Goldfarb announces mayoral run

Princeton Borough Councilman David Goldfarb announced his candidacy for Borough mayor this weekend after 20 years on the Council.

He will be running in a June primary for the Democratic nomination for the November ballot. If elected to succeed current mayor Mildred Trotman, Goldfarb will serve a four-year term as chair of the Council, a six-member legislative body.

Goldfarb said he did not yet know of other declared candidates.

“I’ve been on Borough Council for 20 years,” Goldfarb said, noting that, if elected, he would continue to value the prudence he has encouraged during his time on the Council.

“I think most people in town have a pretty good idea of my approach to Borough government,” he said. “First and foremost, I want to spend money carefully. That’s certainly what I’ve been most concerned about during my tenure.”

Goldfarb said he also values input from community members in the decision-making process. He referred to the Community Park pool project — the plans for which were finalized two weeks ago after a series of public meetings encouraging suggestions from residents — as a recent example of the benefit of community input.

“The key is that we’ve got very talented and committed people living in town, and we’d be foolish not to listen to what they have to say,” Goldfarb said. “In all aspects of government, if people are interested, we should give them an opportunity.”

Goldfarb also represents the Borough on the Borough-Township Joint Consolidation/Shared Services Study Commission that is evaluating consolidation options for the two municipalities. If the task force recommends that local officials go ahead with consolidation, the Township and Borough November ballots will include a referendum proposing that the Borough and Township consolidate. The referendum would have to be ratified by both municipalities to pass.

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Goldfarb, however, has expressed skepticism about consolidation, both during the currrent consolidation discussions and at previous discussions. Most recently, in 1996, the Township approved consolidation but the Borough rejected it.

“I was opposed to consolidation last time around,” Goldfarb said. “I remain skeptical about consolidation, but I will certainly wait and see what the recommendations are and the report before I make any judgments about where we should go from here.”

A consolidated municipality would require a single government, meaning that Goldfarb’s term as Borough mayor may be cut short if the Borough doesn’t retain its own mayor. The Commission has not yet indicated, however, what a consolidated government might look like.

“Frankly, your guess is as good as mine,” Goldfarb said of the potential municipal government. “It would be an entirely new governing body, and I have no idea how it would be comprised and what directions it might take ... No one knows who’s going to be serving on it.”

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Goldfarb has lived in the Princeton area since he was nine years old and has lived in the Borough since 1981. A few weeks ago, he was inducted into the New Jersey Elected Officials’ Hall of Fame, a society of members who have held local municipal office for 20 years or more.