Democrats Patrick Simon and Jenny Crumiller won re-election to Princeton Council on Tuesday, defeating Republican challenger Fausta Rodriguez Wertz. Both will serve three-year terms.
Simon earned 4,190 votes and Crumiller received 3,971 votes. Rodriguez Wertz received 2,173 votes. Had she been elected, Rodriguez Wertz would have been the first Latina representative on Princeton Council.
Jenny Crumiller, 54, is a former member of Princeton Borough Council. She was elected to a one-year term on the new Princeton Council in 2013. Asked what the most pressing issues are facing Princeton Council today and how she would resolve those issues, Crumiller responded as follows:
Keeping the municipal portion of our property taxes in check while maintaining the level of services residents expect is always a challenge for elected officials. Given steadily rising employee costs, some of which are mandated, we need to concentrate on our police force. It is our largest personnel expense and offers the biggest savings from consolidation. I support the recommended “right-sizing” of the force to reduce its numbers over the next several years through retirement and attrition.
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Another issue is reconciling our general and land use ordinances as well as our Master Plan. I have been working with subcommittees to streamline this process while assuring public participation.
But perhaps the most pressing as well as challenging issue is Princeton’s escalating property values that drive up rents and prevent lower income and, increasingly, middle income people from moving here and staying here. There are no simple answers but what is clear is that our affordable housing programs are essential. I will continue to support those programs and their expansion when possible.
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Fiscal responsibility while delivering the municipal services expected by the community.
This year we have successfully implemented consolidation, and due to careful management of personnel and operating costs,we were able to implement a cut in the municipal property tax rate. In doing so we have continued the careful fiscal management of recent Democratic municipal governments from both former municipalities. The Borough had not raised municipal property tax rates for four years prior, and the Township had not raised the tax rate for two years prior. The municipal property tax in Princeton’s budget this year is about $1.3M less than the combined municipal property tax budgeted last year, and three quarters of a million dollars lower than the combined municipal property tax budgeted five years ago. We were able to do that while extending an important municipal service, residential garbage pickup, into the former township, and while expanding police services such as the safe neighborhood program and the traffic unit that had previously been cut back by both Princeton municipalities. The municipal property tax has shrunk as a proportion of the overall property tax in recent years as well, and in 2013, the municipal portion is only 22% of Princeton’s total property tax bill. The rest goes to the county and to the schools.
Emergency Planning and Management
This spring I chaired the Emergency Preparedness Task Force, and I serve now on the Local Emergency Management Committee. This fall we approved the first basic Emergency Operation Plan covering all of Princeton, and by the end of the year we expect to complete 15 plan annexes covering various aspects of emergency management in detail, including shelters and comfort centers, alerts and emergency communications, hazardous materials events, and emergency medical.
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