Town Topics Newspaper, November 15, 2023. by Witherspoon Media Group

PSO Presents Choral/ Orchestral Classic . . . 18 PU Women’s Soccer Edges Michigan 1-0 in NCAA Opener . . . . . . 23 Agel’s Gritty Play Helps PHS Girls’ Volleyball Win Group 3 State Title . . 28

Thoughts on Now and Then and the Beatles . . 17 Art . . . . . . . . . . . .20, 21 Best of Fall. . . . . . . . . . 2 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 32

December 9

December 1-3

November 24-26

Performing Arts . . . . . 19 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 12 Real Estate. . . . . . . . . 32 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6

December 15-17

Two River Theater / Red Bank

McCarter Theatre / Princeton

Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 31

State Theatre New Jersey / New Brunswick with Orchestra and Choir

Holiday Preview . . . . . . 3

Continued on Page 11

American Repertory Ballet

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Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Voters, Candidates Reflect on Election Results In a closely contested Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) election, two challengers, Eleanor Hubbard and Adam Bierman, and an incumbent, Beth Behrend, have won the three available seats, defeating two-term incumbent Michele Tuck-Ponder and challenger Rene Obregon Jr. Provisional and late mail-in ballots are still being counted, and the outcome will not be official until November 22, when Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello intends to certify the results. Hubbard was the top vote-getter with 4,120 votes (24.98 percent), followed by Behrend at 3,369 (20.43 percent), Bierman at 3,276 (19.86 percent), Obregon 3,215 (19.49 percent), and Tuck-Ponder 2,514 (15.24 percent). Princeton voters also approved the PPS $13 million facilities bond proposal by a 70.6 percent to 29.4 percent margin. Election Day, November 7, was a

big day for Democrats locally, in the 16th district where they won senate and assembly seats, in several Mercer County races, and statewide, where they reinforced their longtime control of the New Jersey legislature, In a year where the Princeton school district faced a number of upheavals, from the sudden and controversial dismissal of the Princeton High School principal in March to the resignation of the superintendent last month, there were differing interpretations of the election results and what the Princeton voters were saying is open to debate. Obregon, who fell just short of winning the third place spot, read the election outcome as “a pretty clear message to the current BOE that their direction of travel, communication, transparency, and recent decisions is not aligned with the broader community.” In a November 11 email he went on to

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cite statistics (that have shifted slightly as the count continued over the past four days) to support his point. “One incumbent was overwhelmingly voted out with 28 percent loss from the last challenger (myself) who did not get elected,” he wrote. “Even the one incumbent who was reelected was only reelected by a small margin (4.3 percent over myself and only two percent over the No. 2 challenger Adam Bierman). The lead winner/ challenger (Eleanor Hubbard) beat the reelected incumbent by 23 percentage points and the other incumbent by 39 percentage points.” BOE member Jean Durbin, who did not run for another term and will step down at the end of the year, did not see the election results as a negative reflection on the incumbents. Speaking as an individual, not as a BOE member, Durbin noted, “It would be easy to think the results of this School Board election speak to a general Continued on Page 10

Kathie Foster Named Acting Superintendent For Princeton Public Schools

Ethan Stiefel, Artistic Director Julie Diana Hench, Executive Director

Events Underway at HomeFront for Hunger And Homelessness Awareness Week . . . . . 9

After hearing from more than 30 of the approximately 160 people who signed on to the November 9 public hearing held over Zoom about the proposed Master Plan, the Princeton Planning Board opted to continue the hearing to its next meeting on November 30 before making a decision on whether to vote in favor of the plan. In the meantime, the Master Plan is the focus of a meeting on Saturday, November 18 of the non-governmental community group Princeton Future, being held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Community Room of Princeton Public Library. The meeting, also available virtually at princetonlibrary.libnet.info/event/9547479, is billed as a conversation rather than an opportunity for comments limited to three minutes, as is the format at municipal meetings. The topics include the issues cited frequently at the November 9 meeting. The housing crisis — specifically affordable and missing middle housing — is key. Questions to be explored involve housing types, teardowns, maintaining the high caliber of Princeton schools, parking issues, and protecting green spaces. New Jersey’s Municipal Land Use Law requires the adoption of a Master Plan, and Princeton’s has not been updated since 1996. The draft of the new document was 18 months in the making and was formally shared with the public at the end of October. Comments from the public at the November 9 meeting of the Planning Board ranged from favorable to unfavorable, with some offering constructive criticism. Nearly all who spoke acknowledged the work that went into the plan, and thanked those involved for their efforts. But some serious concerns were aired. Hibben Road resident Jo Butler, a former member of Princeton Council who is active in the Princeton Coalition for Responsible Development, said the meeting was “something less than democratic. We can’t see who is in attendance, and we have no way of connecting with people. None of us have the ability to read the room, including the planners. I have heard from a number of speakers I wish I could have applauded. As the former liaison to the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC), I am appalled at the lack of their active participation

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Website Created by Lawrenceville School Student Helps Those with Parkinson’s . . . . . . . . . 7

Mailbox . . . . . . . . .14, 15

www.towntopics.com

Planning Board Extends Opportunity to Comment On Proposed Master Plan

Small World Coffee Celebrates 30th Anniversary . . . . . . . . 5

Patriots Theater at the War Memorial / Trenton

Volume LXXVII, Number 46

SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT: Princeton High boys’ soccer players, from left, Nick Matese, Jamie Reynolds, and Nicholas Holmelund, celebrate after PHS defeated Kearny 3-2 in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) Group 4 state final last Saturday at Franklin High. It was the program’s first state title since 2012 and fourth overall. For more details on the championship run, see page 27. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

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Kathie Foster has been appointed acting superintendent of the Princeton Public Schools beginning November 14, during the leave of absence of Superintendent Carol Kelley, whose resignation goes into effect August 31, 2024. Foster, who served as interim principal at Princeton High School (PHS) from March through September this year and as the district’s interim assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction from December 2021 through June 2022, was officially appointed acting superintendent by a 9-0 vote of the Board of Education at a special meeting lasting less than 10 minutes on Monday, November 13. She will be paid a per diem rate of $1,100. “We know Kathie to be a kind leader, a creative problem-solver, and an effective communicator,” the BOE wrote in a November 8 email to the PPS community. “We are confident that Kathie will keep the best interests of all students at the forefront, and that she will provide experienced and steady leadership to all administrators and staff.” Foster, who served as superintendent of schools in Robbinsville from 2016 until her retirement in 2020, stepped in as PHS interim principal in March just before spring break, following the sudden dismissal of Frank Chmiel. Continued on Page 12

Virtual Open House: Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 11:00 AM – Zoom Link on website In-person Open House: Saturday, November 18, 2023 at 1:00 PM – Gym, 100 Bunn Drive

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