First Consolidation Task Force Meeting Scheduled for Jan. 31

The newly formed consolidation task force will hold its first meeting on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. at the township municipal building.

Both the Borough Council and the Township Committee have selected representatives for the task force. Monday night the Township governing body voted to approve a joint resolution creating the task force. The Borough’s governing body approved the same resolution last week.

The draft resolution approved by the borough called for the appointment of two chairs to the task force, one from each municipality. Committeewoman Liz Lempert questioned whether such a structure would be efficient and expressed her concerns about the issue Monday night.

“We had one chairperson for the consolidation and shared services commission, and that worked out well,” she said. “I hope the transition task force operates in the same way. I don’t think having co-chairs from each municipality serves the ideal for the new municipality and it could create structural problems.”

Mayor Chad Goerner said the consolidation commission had a char and a vice chair, and agreed a co-chair structure could be a detriment. He suggested the decision regarding co-chairs or a vice chair should be left up to the task force members. The Township Committee will recommend to the Borough Council that the language regarding task force leadership be changed.

In addition to regular task force meetings, the Borough and Township will also hold special joint sessions as consolidation progresses to review the progress of the task force.

The consolidation task force members are:

Princeton Borough

Residents:

Mark Freda, former Borough emergency services director, former borough councilman, volunteer with the fire department and rescue squad for more than three decades.

Hendricks Davis, consultant at AARP-NJ, former director of Habitat for Humanity Newark, former director at Princeton-Bliarston Center, former Princeton Theological  Seminary administrator.

Brad Middlekauff, lawyer, chief legal officer at Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, former senior vice president and general counsel at Medarex.

Jim Levine, director, comp. and benefits at Church & Dwight, former human resources manager at FMC Corporation (alternate member).

Elected Officials: Mayor Yina Moore, Councilwoman Jo Butler.

Princeton Township

Reisdents:

Dorothea Berkhout, executive director for administration at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

Linda Mather, president of Beacon Consulting Associates, League of Women Voters moderator.

Scott Sillars, president of Isles E4, chair of the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee for Princeton Township.

GaryPatterson, senior executive with Miller Investment Management (alternate member).

Elected Officials: Mayor Chad Goerner, Committeeman Bernie Miller (liaison between task force and consolidation commission).

One Comment

  1. thank you for keeping information about the task force available so vox pop can participate in the process.

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