Incumbent Princeton Councilman David Cohen and political newcomer Marina Rubina, both Democrats, will face Republican nominee Antonio Merolli for two open seats on the Princeton Council in the Nov. 3 general election.
Princeton Councilwoman Leticia Fraga is not seeking another term. Council members serve three-year terms.
Cohen is seeking his fourth term on the Princeton Council. He chairs the Code Review Committee and serves on the Finance, Traffic Safety and Affordable Housing, Planning and Redevelopment committees.
Cohen, an architect, has lived in Princeton since 1987. His professional experience includes community-based design and planning. He also serves on the Princeton Planning Board and as the council liaison to several municipal boards and committees.
Rubina moved to Princeton in 2006. An immigrant from the former Soviet Union who came to the United States as a teenager, she studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and later opened an architecture practice in Princeton. Her work has included residential projects and housing developments, including developments containing affordable housing.
Merolli is a physician and research professor at Rutgers University. He is affiliated with Rutgers’ Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and has conducted research involving biomaterials and other medical and scientific fields.
The Princeton Packet and the Princeton Echo asked the candidates about their views on issues, why they are seeking election to the Princeton Council and what they hope to accomplish if elected.
Why are you seeking election to the Princeton Council?
Cohen: My reason for running for reelection is very specifically to accomplish several concrete goals which are within reach, but will take more than just the remainder of this year.
Merolli: I was lucky to join the Westminster Community Orchestra in Princeton. I was the one who attended the Municipal Council when they discussed the acquisition of Westminster Choir College (campus) from Rider University, and I spoke to advocate the preservation of the musical activity in the unique environment of the WCC Princeton campus.
I waited more than two hours before I could speak at the Council meeting. I listened to what they were discussing. I started to familiarize myself with their methods.
Everything seemed to be decided in closed-door meetings. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent with external consultants, often selected without any bid. Conflicts of interest were declared. A budget was published that is impossible to audit, but has the mocking heading “user friendly budget.”
I was very upset and I started to follow the activity of the Council more closely. I wanted to contact the Councilmen from the opposition, but there was no opposition. The local Republican committee did not submit candidates in nearly 10 years.
Many times in my professional career, I criticized things that were not working and I got in response, “Then do it yourself.” So, I became a candidate at 64 years of age, with no special interest to protect.
Rubina: Princeton is one of America’s most extraordinary towns. For too many people, living and aging here has become frustrating and unaffordable.
I am running to bring practical solutions grounded in hands-on experience working with local families and small businesses. As costs rise, congestion grows and municipal projects like the development at Westminster Choir College are planned, we need leadership that understands how planning, green design and municipal processes fit together.
By practicing thoughtful stewardship of our land, listening to one another and leading with solutions, our town can be a place of financial sustainability, environmental resilience and togetherness for those of us lucky to be here today, and for our businesses, for our future neighbors and for our children.
If you are elected to the Princeton Council, what would you like to accomplish?
Cohen: My goals include successfully implementing a stormwater utility for Princeton, which will ensure that we have the resources to address major climate change-related challenges we face, while sharing the burden more equitably between all users in proportion to the load they place on our stormwater infrastructure.
I want to move us toward replacing our existing expensive and lightly used muni-shuttle system with a micro-transit-on-demand system, sort of a public Uber if you will, which can serve all residents at a fraction of the cost per ride, and do much more to mitigate traffic congestion and parking woes in the center of town.
Another goal is finally consolidating and harmonizing our zoning ordinances, which is a task that has been ongoing but languishing ever since municipal consolidation (in 2013). We have at last engaged an excellent consultant who is well on the way to recommending a comprehensive set of changes which will bring the codes of the former borough and township into one unified code and better reflect the vision for Princeton articulated in our recently updated Master Plan.
Also, helping guide two major capital projects – expansion of the firehouse and establishment of a permanent unified Public Works facility at River Road. These are both architectural projects which will benefit from my professional architectural experience during the planning process.
I want to help implement Council’s vision for a revitalized Westminster campus, incorporating much needed facilities for the Princeton Public Schools, arts and cultural institutions, and municipal functions – all while preserving the historic fabric of the campus and surrounding neighborhood.
Finally, continuing to realize our Vision Zero goals (to) eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries in Princeton over the coming years.
Merolli: I hope to convince my fellow Democrat Councilmen to do things right. However, I know that I may end as one (Council member) against five (Council members), so my plan is to be the eyes and ears of the Princeton citizens inside the seclusive Council environment.
I will let the people know everything about how the budget is structured, the consultants chosen and the priorities selected. The citizens will have a tool to make their independent judgment for every election year.
Maybe, more and more Councilmen will be elected that are minded like me until, one day, we will have a truly transparent and accountable Council.
Rubina: I have three goals that I am committed to getting done during a three-year term.
I want to revise our zoning code to reflect our values. Zoning manages our land, our most valuable and limited resource. Our current laws close doors to new ideas and make life a nightmare for small businesses and property owners.
Let’s instead make zoning a guide to our values – sustainability, walkability, community, shopping, working and playing locally, encouraging well-designed streets and shared public spaces.
I want to house our homeless population. It breaks my heart to see people sleeping on benches and in nooks downtown. I have no words to explain to my kids why we cannot find a way to help the fewer than a dozen people who call our streets home. This will be my absolute priority on Council.
Also, I want to bring municipal services online. In Princeton in 2026, a scientist has to go to the municipal offices three times to apply for, pay for and pick up a permit for a home condensing unit instead of inventing quantum computing or curing cancer.
Small business owners working long hours to support their families face unnecessary hurdles, too. It is no longer acceptable to kill trees printing paperwork just to keep it in files or to not accept credit card payments.
One more goal is aspirational. It is to create a car-free walk parallel to Nassau Street, winding through underused driveways, passages and forgotten spaces from Moore Street to Chambers Street.
Think of the Princeton Shopping Center courtyard, with businesses, concerts, trees and games. A linear version of that could be an incredible new public space downtown. We may not complete it in three years, but we can lay the groundwork, complete the legal work and get it under construction.
