The Borough Mayorship: Yina Moore '79

Democratic candidates David Goldfarb and Yina Moore ’79 will be competing for the party’s nomination for Borough mayor in June. The winner will run as the endorsed Democratic candidate in the November general election. Due to the split of votes in what was formerly a three-candidate race, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization could not endorse any candidate for the primary election at its endorsement meeting last month. Goldfarb fell short of the necessary number of votes for endorsement. He received more than 40 percent of the votes at the April meeting, so the PCDO granted him a recommendation. His name will appear on the ballot without the official PCDO endorsement or slogan. The candidates spoke to The Daily Princetonian about their platforms on issues of importance to the Borough, including its potential consolidation of the Township; tensions with the University over its proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood and payment in lieu of taxes negotiations; and increasing local diversity.

Yina Moore ’79, a member of the Princeton Regional Planning Board, said she has not made a final decision on consolidation and was unsure if the potential monetary savings would outweigh the risk of losing the Borough’s independence.

“I’ve always said if money is the only reason then that’s not enough for the marriage to sustain itself,” Moore said. “There doesn’t appear to be really a monetary gain for anyone, in terms of savings, as many citizens would assume. The criteria should be greater than that and should be established by some covenant that we operate on certain shared principles.”

Moore said she was concerned about how a consolidated Princeton would make decisions on the lifestyle issues on which the Borough and Township have traditionally differed, such as planning a community that requires or doesn’t require daily driving.

“What happens when these issues come up?” Moore said. “From what I’ve heard from many Borough people, they’re concerned about losing the type of community that they enjoy due to the balance of the population which would give the Township a stronger voting bloc.”

Moore added that she hasn’t yet formulated a final opinion on the University’s proposed Arts and Transit Neighborhood, though she said that she did not think the University’s decision to move the Dinky station farther south would be a benefit to the community.

“While they may have negotiated the right in that contract, they should think better of the community as a whole about any decision that comes out of that agreement,” Moore explained. “Just because you have the right to do something doesn’t mean that it is right.”

She added that she disagreed with the attitude that University officials have shown in negotiations over the zoning.

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“I have not liked the tone of threat, negativism and the broad insupportable assumptions that everything the University has suggested will have a positive impact,” Moore said. “The science does not support that.”

“There are very few projects where right-of-way is abandoned or shortened and that’s called a benefit,” Moore added. “It’s just not technically appropriate.”

Moore said she believes that her relationship to the University as an alumna gives her a better idea of the University’s point of view and would make her a more effective negotiator in issues like the Arts and Transit Neighborhood and payments in lieu of taxes than other candidates.

“It’s a time of urgency to sort of bring a perspective to leadership that isn’t only from one side of the street — one side of Nassau Street,” Moore said. “I understand the interests and framework of the University. I understand the potential, and I know that it can exert a certain moral authority beyond its service to the nation and to all nations.”

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Moore called the Borough’s past negotiations with the University “a very haphazard approach” that did not express the Borough’s interests as forcefully as she hoped.

“I’m not so sure the municipality has really been effective in really translating the community’s interest into agreement or action,” she said. “I think much more expertise is needed. These are not issues of feelings ... There’s too much trust in the opponent. You don’t go around using as your fact base what your opponent says.”

Moore said she would like an attorney to be present at all discussions who is an expert in the topics under discussion and is free from any conflicts of interests. The current Borough attorney also represents New Jersey Transit on some issues, she said.

“You have to go to experts in order to shape your concepts before we move forward in negotiations, and that really has not been done,” Moore said.

Moore said she feels that the University “can become much more a partner in the community” and help make Princeton a livable community for more people. “What their nonparticipation does is create a community where only the wealthy can live, and it puts an inordinate burden on the less fortunate,” she said.

Moore said she believes making Princeton a place more welcoming to people of diverse backgrounds should be a priority. She said she hopes “that this is not an elite town, that it should not considered be that, that it should certainly be highly regarded for its quality of life, but that it be a quality of life that all of us are deserving of, not a select few.”

Moore graduated from the University with a degree in architecture and a certificate in African American studies.

Correction

An earlier version of this story stated that Goldfarb received over 50 percent of the vote and that he had received the PCDO's unofficial endorsement. In fact, he received just over 40 percent of the vote and received the PCDO's recommendation.