Tag Archives: mayor

Princeton Mayor Mark Freda Addresses ICE Raids, Public Discord, and the Fight for Trust

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By Jayden W.

Princeton Mayor Mark Freda has officiated weddings, shaken hands at hundreds of community events, and spent decades fighting fires for his hometown, but these past few months have proven some of the most difficult of his career. Not a blaze in a building, but a firestorm of public outcry.

The mayor, who joined Princeton’s volunteer fire department at just 15 years old, grew up in a Catholic household rooted in community service. That foundation shaped him into a leader who takes pride in public service, but the present political climate has tested even his strongest foundational principles.

At last week’s town council meeting, nearly 70 attendees packed the room, demanding answers after a disturbing encounter between community members and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

According to Freda, ICE agents stopped a van carrying 15 people to work. The organization was reportedly looking for one individual, but detained everyone onboard, regardless of legal status or criminal history.

“It seems to me that ICE is concentrating on anybody that appears to be Latino,” Freda told the Princeton Summer Journal. He said he was “90-some-percent” sure that at least one person arrested had work authorization. “None of them are criminals,” he said. 

Freda noted that many who attended the council meeting were not Princetonians, but outsiders who were not focused on useful outcomes. “They were more concerned with how they were going to look on those film clips,” Freda said.

At the heart of the debate is the New Jersey Immigrant Trust Act, a proposed law to protect undocumented residents from deportation by restricting cooperation between local law enforcement and ICE. The Princeton town council is considering a resolution to support the act.

“People are concerned that if we pass the resolution, ICE and others will pay more attention to Princeton,” Freda said. “I don’t know if that’s actually true.”

The New Jersey State Legislature has the final call. Despite this tension, Freda remains steadfast in his love for the community that raised him.

“I’ve been here forever,” Freda said. He went on to share that what he wants is for his critics to say: “That guy was okay. I didn’t agree with him all the time, but you know what? He was okay.”

For Freda, the goal isn’t perfection, it’s presence. In a town that often demands both, “okay” might just be the most human standard of all.

In Princeton, Soaring Prices Push Residents Out

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By Claire B.

One million dollars, $3.4 million, $5.75 million. When turning onto streets in Princeton’s neighborhoods, admiring the houses and the cozy community, it’s hard to imagine that this is what it can cost to live there. According to United States Census data, 53.7 percent of houses in Princeton cost over $1 million.

“The average price of a residential home in Princeton last year was $1.4 million, unbelievable,” Princeton Mayor Mark Freda said in a press conference with the Princeton Summer Journal.  

The median household income in Princeton is $184,113, nearly double the median household income of New Jersey. But 6.8 percent of Princeton’s population lives in poverty, making the need for affordable housing a priority for Freda.

“The list of people for affordable housing units is thousands and thousands of people,” he said.

Once they’ve entered an affordable housing unit, residents continue to work in the hopes that they can save enough money to afford the next level of housing, like renting an apartment or a small townhouse. 

“But that level of housing is almost gone from Princeton, so if people have no place to go, they’re trapped in the affordable housing unit that they’re in,” Freda said. 

People looking to move out of affordable housing tend to move out of Princeton. The historically Black Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood has lost a significant portion of its community as people leave in search of more affordable housing and a lower cost of living. 

Not only is Princeton struggling to provide more affordable housing, but it’s starting to lose its socioeconomic diversity as the lower middle class moves out of town. 

“We are trying to find a way to address that, but it’s really hard,” said Freda of the challenge of funding affordable housing. “The market works against us, there’s definitely no federal money, not for a few years at least, and there’s not a lot of state money right now either,” Freda said.

It’s not only people below the poverty line who can’t afford houses in Princeton. Even the town’s mayor would have trouble finding a house.

“If I were to buy a house here now, I couldn’t afford to buy a house,” Freda said. “So I’m the mayor, … [and] if I were to buy a house today, I’m guess[ing] I have to rent a place or go somewhere else.”

Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert discusses “chilling effect” of Trump’s presidency on town

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By Annie Dong
New York City, NY

Last year, as President Trump campaigned on an anti-immigration platform, Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert was knocking on doors in one of Princeton’s immigrant communities as she campaigned for her second term. She approached a Muslim couple to ask for their support. The woman, wearing a headscarf, lingered in the doorway.

“They were terrified,” Lempert said in an interview.

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Profile: Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert shares hopes for town’s future

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By Elyse Luecke
St. Louis, MO

Walking into Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert’s office is like walking into a living room: homemade cards, family photos, and various resource books sit on the shelves behind her semi-circle desk, alongside a prominently featured greeting card from the Obama family. A small, light green cactus in a flower pot decorates her work space. The olive green walls are bare.

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