Town Topics
19 April, 1989

Wadsworth Enters Race For Seat on Council

Myrna  K. Bearse

Borough merchant Ray Wadsworth has entered the race for Borough Council. His move sets the stage for a Democratic primary battle on Arne 6, as Democrats Jane Terpstra, Roger Martindell and Mr. Wadsworth vie for two places on the November ballot.

Mr. Wadsworth’s filing came, unexpectedly, a week after his return from a trip to France with the Princeton High School Choir.

“When I came back, I saw what was happening uptown,” he said, “on Wiggins and Nassau, and a pipe down Mercer. You can’t do 20 years of back work all at once.”

Mr. Wadsworth, 55, added there Was no reason to let Elizabethtown Water Company clean its mains [on Nassau and Mercer] at this time. “We  could have waited another year.”

He said  he did not receive an answer from the Broughs as to why these three projects were going on at the same time, and that this was a factor in his decision to run.

Mr. Wadsworth also returned to discover that Councilman John Huntoon had announced he would resign from Council on May 31, and that attorney Roger Martindell had been picked to run for Mr. Huntoon seat in November.

Mayor and Council will select a person to fill Mr. Huntoon seat after he resigns. The person will be picked from a list of three names provided by the Princeton Community Democratic Organization.

I wanted to be one of the three,” said Mr.Wadsworth. “But [Council President] Marvin Reed said it might not be done until after the primary, and that helped me decide to run.”

Mr. Wadsworth’s was one of three names submitted to Mayor and Council in late 1987, when Irv Urken left council. Jane Terpstra, however, got the nod to replace Mr. Urken.

Mr. Wadsworth, a Spruce Street resident, is a longtime volunteer firefighter. Retired from Elizabethtown Water Company, he is the owner of The Flower Market and Wadsworth’s Gourmet Bakery.

The two winning Democrats will face one Republican challenger in the November election. He is David Jackson, who ran for Council unsuccessfully last year.

Over in the Township, Republican Michael Tomalin has filed for Township Committee. The only Republican to enter the race, he will face Democratic incumbents Mayor Phyllis Marchand and Janet Mitchell in November.

Mr. Tomalin, a resident of Clover Lane, served for nine years on the Princeton Regional School Board. A vice president at Chemical Bank of New Jersey, he lost a Township Committee race to Leonard Godfrey last November.