The Princeton Council is moving ahead with its plan to combine three long-standing advisory boards and committees into a new advisory committee, despite stiff opposition from board members and residents.
An ordinance to roll the Affordable Housing Board, the Human Services Commission and the Civil Rights Commission into a new super-committee was adopted unanimously at the Princeton Council’s Jan. 22 meeting.
More than 30 residents and members of the affected boards and committees called on the Princeton Council to postpone action on the ordinance during the public hearing on it at the meeting.
The newly-created Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing, Human Services and Racial, Social and Economic Equity will consist of nine members and two alternate members, who will be appointed by the Princeton Council.
“Consolidating the three advisory boards and committees is part of the town’s effort to streamline municipal processes,” the ordinance states. “The newly combined committee could more directly serve as an advisory group to the Princeton Council, as intended.”
It would also “enhance collaboration that is critical to providing the best possible services by replacing an outdated paradigm in which the boards and committees are ‘siloed’ by topic area.”
Combining the three boards and committees would help to move toward an integrated approach, the ordinance continues.
“It would also make it easier to recruit volunteers to serve on one committee rather than three separate committees.” The three committees have 29 volunteers.
Despite what the ordinance states, many residents and advisory board and commission members have voiced against the consolidation of the boards and committees.
Several advisory board and commission members lambasted the Princeton Council because they learned of the proposed ordinance two days before its introduction at the Princeton Council’s Jan. 8 meeting.
Former Princeton Councilman Lance Liverman, who also served on each of the three affected boards during his 15 years of public service, objected to the manner in which the change was rolled out.
Liverman suggested forming an ad hoc committee to study the three boards and committees and report back in 45 to 90 days to resolve any issues.
“You don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater,” Liverman said.
Civil Rights Commission Chairman Fern Spruill said the commission serves a purpose and has been active. She reeled off a list of accomplishments that ranged from changing the “Welcome to Princeton” signage to drop the phrase “Settled in 1683” on it, to initiating the celebration of Indigenous People’s Day and Juneteenth.
The Civil Rights Commission presented the Princeton Council with resolutions denouncing Islamophobia and declaring racism as a public health crisis, Spruill said. It is working on the issue of reparations for slavery, she said.
“If I don’t have a voice as the chairman of the Civil Rights Commission, then our underserved population won’t have a voice, either,” Spruill said. She urged the Princeton Council to table the ordinance.
Affordable Housing Board Vice Chairman Dosier Hammond said the fundamental flaw is that officials had not asked for input from the advisory boards and committees. Officials only began seeking input over the past two or three weeks, he said.
If there are issues with how the boards and committees function, “let’s go back” and address them, Hammond said, saying it was a mistake not to ask for input from the volunteers.
There were backers for the ordinance and the newly-formed committee.
Felicia Spitz, who chairs the Princeton Housing Authority’s Board of Commissioners, praised the Princeton Council for its courage and willingness to be a catalyst for change.
Spitz pointed to what she called “serious disconnects” between the advisory boards and commissions and the people who rely on them that became apparent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There was no infrastructure in place to help vulnerable residents and no mechanism in place to convene nonprofit groups to pool their resource and work together to serve them,” Spitz said.
“No one knew where the residents lived, the name of their landlord, and whether they had access to food and the internet or other devices.”
Spitz is the ex-president of the nonprofit Princeton Children’s Fund, which helped vulnerable residents during the pandemic.
“There is no infrastructure in place because the function and structure of the advisory boards and committees is outdated,” she said, adding they do not assess the end-users’ needs.
In response, Mayor Mark Freda and several Princeton Council members apologized for the way in which the changes were rolled out.
“We could have done it better,” Freda said.
Princeton Council members Mia Sacks, Leighton Newlin and Eve Niedergang said the system that is in place is not working.
“I don’t know what the right answer is, but I know what we have is not working. That I know, and we can all agree on that,” Sacks said.
“We all want the same thing. We need to move forward. This (ordinance) is a floor, at the minimum. We need a place to start,” she said.
Newlin said the Princeton Council is trying to do the right thing and make decisions that will move Princeton forward, while looking out for its underserved residents.
“We mean no one any harm. We do the best we can to bring about the change that we think is needed. We are not the enemy. We are asking you to believe in us, like we believe in you,” Newlin said.
Niedergang said the current structure has been in place for 50 years and it is not getting the job done. She agreed with Sacks that the ordinance is a floor and the first step in a new direction.
Niedergang suggested creating a survey that would be distributed to the people who have received services in order to assess “how we are doing” and what could be improved.
“For those of you who are not too angry to engage with us, we would like to engage. If you are angry with us, I understand that,” Niedergang said.
“I still think there are issues and problems that we need to work on together and I ask, if possible, we are able to work together,” she said.