To the Editor:
Arts Are Alive
In West Windsor
This letter is in response to Mr. Sam Greco’s letter from the June 12th edition of the WWP News, yet not only is this letter directed to him but to the West Windsor community at large.##M:[more]##
As a member of the board of trustees and president of the West Windsor Arts Council, I am pleased to share with Mr. Greco and our community that the arts are “alive” and “growing” in the West Windsor Community.
The West Windsor Arts Council when compared to other area arts organizations is a relatively new seedling — only six years old. What started as one event in 2002 has now grown to over 20 events in 2008.
In fact this year alone, our organization has been very busy; we have hosted two film events at the West Windsor Public Library, participated in an afternoon of percussion in partnership with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s BRAVO program, and joined in the Communiversity celebration by teaching origami to the crowds in downtown Princeton. Additionally, we kicked off our terrific partnership with the West Windsor Community Farmers Market in mid May by once again hosting our hands on arts activities — the first of 11 activities at the market.
On June 13 our summer music series, Celebrating Americana, began with an evening of R&B and jazz at Nassau Park Pavilion; we hope each and everyone of you join us for our event celebrating big band music on Saturday June 27, Monday Blues, a group of Princeton area big band musicians will swing the night away!
And this is just the start. Our organization has spent the past several years working with the township to develop plans to bring the empty Princeton Junction Firehouse building up to code and convert it into a community arts center. The memorandum of understanding with the Township from 2003 identifies our organization as the arts organization that will manage the center once the building is brought up to code. Wonderfully, a new round of drawings is prepared and will be sent out to bid very soon in an effort to get the process started.
The Arts Council has not been sitting back while the Township has been “doing all the work.” Our organization officially kicked off the “silent” portion of its Capital Campaign, Home is Where the Art Is, last November. Our goal of $300,”000 may seem modest, but in these economic times we feel that number is realistic. As of May 16, our organization achieved 47 percent of that goal by receiving a gift of $25,”000 from Tyco International. Additional contributors to our capital campaign include Mack Cali, the Dreher Group, Boston Properties, the Boyle Family Foundation, NRG Energy, Whole Foods, InterCap Holdings, Princeton University, and the West Windsor Township Community Foundation as well as our two successful fundraisers, Cabin Fever Cabaret 2008 and 2009.
Funding for the capital campaign is only one arm of the tree; planning and preparation are components needed to open up the West Windsor Arts Center in the former Princeton Junction Firehouse. Late last fall, our organization created four task forces to plan marketing, operations, programming, and the opening events for the Arts Center. These groups have been meeting since that time and are planning the future for the community arts center.
And the sky is the limit! The success of our organization comes from the dedication of its wonderful volunteers. What one sees today and will see tomorrow are the efforts and the hard work that these folks — community members like you and I — offer to their fellow community members.
Please stop by one of our upcoming events and join in the fun! We would love to see you and we would love to have you lend us a hand in creating a home for the Arts in West Windsor.
Ruth Potts
11 Penn Lyle Road
Plainsboro Concert
Earns a Bravo
I am writing to commend the Caritas Chamber Chorale (www.caritaschamberchorale.org) on their recent benefit concerts. The concerts of a cappella sacred song entitled “And Their Sorrows Shall Cease” were performed at three locations in New Jersey: June 5 at First Presbyterian Church, Plainsboro, June 7 at St. Joseph Church, Lodi and June 8 at St. Bernard Church, Bridgewater. The concerts raised almost $5,”000, with all proceeds going to the Adorno Fathers’ African Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The first half of the program began with the women of the Chorale honoring Mendelssohn’s anniversary with a beautiful rendition of “Lift Thine Eyes” from Elijah, and incorporated several chants (“Ave Maria” by Victoria, a contemporary setting of the “Ave Regina” chant by Robert W. Schaefer and a Paul French setting of “Verbum Caro”). This section of the program concluded with a premiere of “Peace Be With You” by composer-in-residence Wayne Dietterick, based on scriptural text from John 20, describing the disciples’ encounters with the risen Christ. The second half of the program incorporated settings of several Shaker hymns. Several spirituals were also presented, including “Poor Man Lazrus,” performed by the men of the group, and the rousing Moses Hogan arrangement of “My Soul Is Anchored In the Lord.”
The programming of concerts of Caritas Chamber Chorale is often cited as one of its many strong points. Short pieces of various styles are grouped conceptually to form an overall progression in the program. Additionally, many audience members commented on the group’s blend and dynamics. Caritas brings the spirit of their mission to their music, presenting moving performances.
Founded and directed by Barbara Sanderman, Caritas Chamber Chorale was established in 2005 to promote the art of sacred choral music and benefit those in need around the world. To date their concerts have raised over $26,”000 for charity. The Chorale is dedicated to promoting the art of sacred choral music as well as spreading the Christian message through its music.
Adrianne Petillo
Tell the Truth About Plainsboro’s Retail
Your recent article about the local Ace Hardware potentially closing due to a lack of business (June 12) is a marked contrast from your report one issue ago (May 29) that the Plainsboro Village Center was “bustling” (your story’s headline word!). The latest article’s sober message that low local patronage has hurt the town’s only hardware store contradicts your prior edition’s description of local Plainsboro business. The “bustling” article was fodder for many barbeque discussions. We know what stores have moved in and have closed over the past few years.
While business is not bustling nationally, the local phenomenon has little to do directly with the economic downturn. The problem for local businesses is deeper and of longer influence. It is a product of two things ignored by developers of the Plainsboro business plan. While many Plainsboro residents have high incomes and considerable assets, the major asset is an appreciated home and the incomes are over-taxed on the national, state and local levels. Like high-income families across the state, we do not live extravagantly around here.
Additionally, businesses have to properly assess the need of the market in advance. While it is convenient to have a short walk or ride to purchase clothing, hardware or ice cream (though I could take a gas station in town), all the above is available in abundance after a short ride on Route 1. Yes, we would love to avoid the Route 1 mess at times but price and a wider inventory does matter.
More important, the prior article’s description of “bustling” business in Village Center is an example of poor journalism. Its goal appears to have been to help out local businesses. While I wish all entrepreneurs (especially local ones) the best of luck, we are ill-served by reading such incredible reports. Just report the news and leave the marketing to the ad department.
Neal Phenes
6 Chandler Court, Plainsboro
Time to Cut the Fat
From Township Budget
With pain and deep concern I see our next tax increase has been approved.
Taxes have a double bit axe effect on your pocket book. Not only do they take money from your monthly cash flow that you could use for other purposes, but they also decrease the value of your home. People set how much they will pay for a home based on the total house payment they can afford. For each $100 tax increase, the value of your home decreases over $1,”700. So, for 2009 from a municipal tax increase alone perspective, your wallet is $20 lighter each month and you lost over $3,”000 in home value.
You may be asking yourself why couldn’t taxes have been decreased or at least stayed flat year over year. How have our neighboring communities addressed the current economy? Comparison as follows:
Municipal tax increases for 2009: Princeton, 0 percent; Montgomery, 0 percent; West Windsor, 5+ percent.
Over the last eight years our municipal taxes have increased over 100 percent and the mayor projects an 11 percent increase for next year. Have your wages gone up 109 percent in the last eight years? What can be done? How about some of these ideas?
Make a clear distinction between what we need and what we want. The way our taxes have increased, it feels like a teenager at the mall with your credit card.
Push hard for service regionalization. All services that can be regionalized should be regionalized. Clearly large scale service delivery is far cheaper to deliver than what multiple municipal fiefdoms can achieve. Merge our school district with Princeton and Montgomery, start a county wide 911 and police dispatching service, provide integrated fire department support.
Use zero based budgeting. We must stop the cycle of spending increases just because we paid for something last year. Every dollar spent must be justified each year.
Push more costs for township services to groups that use them. For example, animal control should be 100 percent funded by the people who have animals, housing inspections, etc should be 100 percent funded by the people who use that service.
Assure all spending helps a wide cross section of our town. If some spending item has a small number of people who want it, they should pay at least the bulk of it.
Put the brakes on the transit village. It is clear to anyone who has looked rationally at the financials of this project that it will increase our taxes by $1,”500 to $7,”000/year. There is zero chance this project will meet the mayor’s campaign promise of tax neutral or tax positive. Absolutely zero. And, in the end, we will bear the pain of the “Oops, I guess the ‘experts’ (AKA developers and real estate agents) projection was wrong”.
Provide line item detail of all proposed budget items for taxpayers to review. And this needs to include detail and rationale.
Something is clearly fundamentally broken with our township government’s out of control spending appetite. Its unfortunate there isn’t a Biggest Loser TV series that works to cut municipal spending fat and waste, because as it is now, we taxpayers are the biggest losers. Mike Baxter
Princeton Junction
For a different view of West Windsor’s budget and its tax consequences, see story, page 1.
Health Care Reform
It seems the nation’s broken health care system has finally reached the top of the domestic agenda and our lawmakers need to tackle the problem. Groups like AARP believe Congress should take these six steps to guarantee that all Americans have quality health care plans they can afford:
Guarantee affordable coverage for Americans ages 50-64, close the Medicare Part D “doughnut hole,” create access to generic versions of costly biologic drugs, prevent costly hospital re-admissions by creating a Medicare follow-up care benefit to help people transition home after a hospital stay, increase federal funding and eligibility for home and community-based services through Medicaid, and improve programs that help low-income Americans in Medicare afford the health care and prescription drugs they need.
Preventable re-admissions alone cost Medicare billions. The need for fair, bipartisan measures to repair the system has never been so urgent. Jane Magnus
Magnus is a retired teacher living with her daughter in Lawrenceville. Her letter was forwarded by AARP NJ, 101 Rockingham Row, Plainsboro (www.aarp.org).
