The search for a replacement for municipal engineer Robert Kiser
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Municipal engineer Robert V. Kiser, a fixture in Princeton municipal government for the better part of four decades, said Monday that he plans to retire the middle part of this year.
“I love Princeton, I love my job,” said Mr. Kiser in calling it a “tough decision” to make.
He said he had been thinking about retiring for the past few months. He cited a series of factors, like his wife’s impending retirement from her job as a pre-school teacher later this year and his becoming a grandfather for the first time in December.
“I’m not getting any younger,” said Mr. Kiser, who turned 65 in October.
He said he is working with town administrator Marc D. Dashield about the exacting timing of his departure.
Through his long career, he had his hand in every major project, like AvalonBay’s redevelopment of the former University Medical Center, that happened in the community. In 1983, he went to work for the then-Township, having come from being the city engineer in Easton, Pennsylvania.
Despite opportunities to go elsewhere, he remained in the public sector. He said working in government allowed him to make a difference in the lives of people and improve their quality of life and their perception of local government.
In 2012, he helped with the transition of bringing the different township and borough agencies together as part of consolidation. Today, he leads a staff of 12 people in overseeing the engineering, building, planning, zoning and historic preservation departments. He offered laudatory words for his staff.
“I have a great group here,” he said.
His retirement is seen as a major loss for the municipality, with town officials needing to replace someone with his vast institutional knowledge. In terms of a successor, Councilwoman Jo S. Butler said last week that “no decision” had been made about his replacement.
