On Sunday, the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) held candidate forums for the Princeton Council and Mercer County Board of County Commissioners elections. Nearly 200 people attended the forums at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Princeton.
After tabulating votes from eligible members, PCDO endorsed David Cohen for Princeton Council and Nakia White Barr for County Commissioner. The forums were moderated by state Senator Andrew Zwicker, who represents Princeton.
There are four Democratic candidates running for two seats on the Princeton Council. Incumbent David Cohen is running for a fourth term, alongside Jon Durbin, Leanna Jahnke, and Marina Rubina. Three-term councilwoman Leticia Fraga announced in January that she would not seek reelection.
In the first round of vote tabulation, no candidate reached the 60 percent threshold required for endorsement. Jahnke received the fewest votes, and those who voted for her had their third-choice candidates reallocated in the second round.
In the second round, Cohen received 115 votes out of 164 total, and thus PCDO’s endorsement. Rubina and Durbin received 94 and 82 votes respectively, crossing the 40 percent threshold necessary for general PCDO support, but not endorsement.
On Monday, the Princeton Democratic Municipal Committee (PDMC) voted in a closed meeting to recommend Cohen and Rubina for the party’s ballot slogan, which signals alignment with party values. The PDMC is the Municipality of Princeton’s official Democratic Party organization, consisting of 40 elected representatives. Which candidates receive the slogan, and what the slogan is, is ultimately the decision of the Mercer County Democratic Party Chairperson.
The candidates shared similar viewpoints on many issues, though they cited slightly different priorities.
When asked about what should be done to make Princeton “more affordable for working and middle class people,” Jahnke, who is the Executive Director of Princeton Nursery School, called for more affordable housing targeted towards the “missing middle,” including “our educators, our firemen, our police department.”
Rubina, a local architect and the co-owner of flexible co-working office space Tigerlabs, advocated for more inclusive zoning regulations. She pushed for housing options like “small apartment buildings” and “duplexes” to be allowed more frequently. The municipality is in the process of overhauling its zoning code.
Cohen said that the University could do “a lot more in terms of housing their staff.” Durbin, an editor and vice president at publisher W.W. Norton & Company, said he wants to “increase the number of for-sale affordable units,” rather than offering the units for rent.
The candidates also discussed what the Council should do to respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) actions.
Jahnke suggested distributing a one-pager to local businesses with information on “how to take next steps that ensure safety for everyone involved.”
Rubina said that because the municipality cannot control ICE actions, it should focus on developing strong relationships to bolster the community’s support network.
Cohen advocated for limiting municipal data collection “because, if you have the data, then the Feds can come in and take the data and use that to target the community.” Durbin suggested implementing a system that alerts interested community members of ICE’s presence somewhere, enabling them to go to the location of ICE activity.
“I think what’s been effective with ICE is to actually show up and have a presence when they are around and make them feel unwelcome,” he said.
In her closing statement, Rubina addressed the issue of potential conflicts of interest with her existing work if she is elected.
“If elected, all my projects in Princeton will need to be suspended, and all my professional work will have to be moved out of town,” she said.
Cohen, the only incumbent running, highlighted the benefits of “retaining institutional knowledge” in his bid for the endorsement.
There are two seats for county commissioner up for election. Nakia White Barr is challenging incumbents John Cimino and Lucylle Walter in the Democratic primary.
Barr is a former assistant vice president at Princeton University.
Out of 163 ballots cast, Barr received PCDO’s endorsement with 116 votes. Walter received 91 votes and Cimino received 67, both below the threshold for an endorsement.
When asked about how commissioners could increase transparency about what the county does, Barr said that commissioner meetings should be livestreamed and recorded. Cimino said he hopes to livestream the meetings in the future, but explained the building’s current technology would not allow it.
To address rising costs and affordability, Cimino argued for greater consolidation of school districts and municipalities, which would allow for “more shared services,” helping to cut costs. He pointed to the merging of Princeton Township and Princeton Borough in 2013 into the Municipality of Princeton as an example of consolidation saving resources.
Walter critiqued New Jersey’s property tax-based taxation model, and Barr suggested examining “personnel expenses” to help reduce costs at the county level.
Walter focused on NJ Transit’s “spoke system” when asked about improving transportation in the county.
“If I want to go from Princeton to Quaker Bridge Mall, I have to go to Trenton and then come out, and it’s a two and a half hour ride,” she said. “We need to provide interim transit so that people can go across the spoke.”
Cimino said he wants to “continue to get people off of the streets onto mass transit.” Barr said she hopes to “optimize routes” for transit options to better serve those who need it to “get to school, to work, to grocery shopping.”
Primary elections in New Jersey will take place on June 2.
Oliver Wu is an assistant News editor for the ‘Prince’ leading town coverage, focused on the Municipality of Princeton and beyond. He is from Stony Brook, N.Y. and can be reached at oliver.wu[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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