VOL. 103, NO. 25
Friday, June 29, 2018
cranburypress.com
$1
Republican candidate quits Township Committee race By Philip Sean Curran Staff Writer
Republican challenger Nancy Witt has dropped out of the Cranbury Township Committee race in a move that leaves fellow Republican Wayne Wittman, a former township committeeman, to face two Democrats in November. Witt announced at the Township Committee meeting on June 25 that she was quitting the race, effective that day. During a public comment portion of the meeting, she mostly read verbatim from a
notarized statement which said Witt did not want to “split the ticket.” Witt’s announcement came less than a month after she and Wittman won an uncontested primary to challenge Democratic township committeemen Jay Taylor and Michael J. Ferrante in the general election. This was to have been Witt’s second attempt at public office, having lost the first time, in 2017, to Democratic Township Committeeman Matthew A. Scott. “I would sincerely thank the
voters who supported me last year and encouraged me to run this year,” she said, adding that she plans to support Wittman. After the meeting, Witt refused to explain why she had entered the race in the first place or to elaborate beyond her prepared remarks. “I’ve said what I’ve had to say,” said Witt, who is vice president of Sweetwater Construction Corp., a local construction company. “You know, this was totally her decision,” Wittman said after
the meeting. “I can’t add much more than what she said, other than she’s a great lady and she has the town’s interest at heart.” Cranbury GOP Chairwoman Phylissanne Stehn, who sat in the meeting room next to Witt, said there would not be a replacement candidate to fill the now empty slot. “She is withdrawing her candidacy, so we can focus on Wayne,” Stehn said. “We’re focusing on one. We don’t want to split it.” Asked why Witt ran in the primary if that was the strategy,
Stehn said Witt’s statement “explains it all.” “I think you’ll see between now and Election Day why we did it,” she said. For Democrats, Witt’s decision means they are assured of winning at least one of the seats up for grabs and keeping their majority on the governing body next year, regardless of the outcome in November. At the moment, Democrats hold a 4-1 edge. Ferrante and Taylor, reacting
See WITT, Page 5A
Mulligan: Forced municipal mergers fail to pass muster By Philip Sean Curran Staff Writer
A Cranbury official on June 25 waved a warning flag about an idea being floated in Trenton that would force towns with a population of less than 5,000 people to merge with a neighboring municipality. Township Committeeman Daniel P. Mulligan III, speaking at the Township Committee meeting, stressed the need to be “alert and vigilant” about a possibility he criticized. “So now state level politicians think the way to solve the state’s problems is to consolidate towns like Cranbury,” Mulligan said. “I’ll say now that consolidating local towns is the worst thing we can do to save taxes. If you look at it, when government is closest to the people, I truly believe the best decisions are made.” Cranbury is home to about 3,800 people, according to the latest population estimate by the federal government. As a result, the community would fall within the “crosshairs” of a forced consolidation “scheme,” in Mulligan’s words. He called on the township’s legislative delegation, state Sen. Linda R. Greenstein and assemblymen Daniel R. Benson and Wayne P. DeAngelo (D-Mercer and Middlesex), to “step up and protect us if it does becomes a reality that they want to push this agenda and this scheme at the state level.” DeAngelo said on June 26 that at this point he would not favor forcing towns to merge. “At this time, there is really no town in my district that I would … support a forced merger on at this point,” he said. In recent days, news reports have focused on the work of a committee state Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Salem, Gloucester and Cumberland) formed called the Economic and Fiscal Policy Working Group,
made up of lawmakers, and financial and public policy experts. The aim of the panel is to assess the impact of changes in federal tax law on New Jersey and to look at options. One suggestion getting the most attention is forced consolidation. “That was one idea that was mentioned by the independent tax policy study commission that is studying ways to allow government to find cost savings and efficiencies,” Richard McGrath, a spokesman for the New Jersey Senate Democrats, said in an email. “The commission, which is comprised of a broad and diverse group of accomplished members, is still in the midst of its work. “We expect them to develop a wide range of ideas and recommendations to address the state’s economic and fiscal challenges. We want to hear their ideas, but the committee is still working and has not reached the stage of actually making recommendations and we certainly haven’t made any decisions on which suggestions will be used for potential policy proposals,” he said. The New Jersey League of Municipalities said this week that it “adamantly” opposes forcing towns to merge “because it bypasses the will of the voters,” said Michael F. Cerra, assistant executive director and director of government affairs with the organization. “The will of voters has to be heard here,” he said on June 26. “That’s the problem with the concept of forced consolidation, because it doesn’t take into account See MERGERS, Page 5A
Photos by Scott Jacobs
Congratulations Class of 2018 Princeton High School’s graduating class, which includes students from Cranbury, celebrated the end of their high school careers during last Friday’s graduation ceremony.
Youths will create signs promoting public safety By Philip Sean Curran Staff Writer
As part of a public safety campaign, Cranbury is having a contest for children and teenagers to see who can create the best lawn sign to urge motorists to slow down. The “Slow Down in Our Town” campaign was announced at the Township Committee meeting on June 25. Committeeman Jay Taylor said there are 200 free blank lawn signs available at town hall, weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Officials said if the signs run out, more will be ordered. Taylor said families may pick up as many signs as they have children, although rules for the
contest limit one submission per child. He said the contest has four age groups, under 5, 6-10, 11-14 and 15 -18. Local businesses have donated prizes that will go to five winners in each age group, as selected by a panel of judges. Taylor said the signs should be placed on the front lawn of the children’s homes. Judging will take place in July and the winners will be recognized at a future Township Committee meeting. All participants will receive a certificate signed by Mayor Glenn R. Johnson and Police Chief Rickey Varga. Anyone with questions may call town hall at 609-395-0900.
Don’t miss our Healthy Living section in this week’s TimeOFF!
l Jerse
lthy
y
Livin
g
2018
Hands an
d Hand
s Home
Care, L LC Please Ms. Ca contact rleen C oates to sc an appo hedule intmen t at (609
) 638-14
49
Call us
Index Calendar........................2A Classified...................C/D/E Lifestyle.......................19B
Centra
Hea
Movie Times....................10B Campus Corner..................3A Obituaries........................7A
News: (609) 924-3244 Classified: (609) 924-3250 Advertising: (609) 924-3244 To subscribe: (732) 254-7004 Ext. 8451