Thursday, July 26, 2012

The Issues As I See them

I see as four key issues for the next Princeton Town Council, and they are all important to the long-term health of the community. In my view, in order of urgency, they are;
  1. Hospital and medical issues (to expand on the medical metaphor, we need to "stabilize the patient (permanently solve the ER closure issue), and then move on to treating the symptoms (lack of services), offering followup therapy (redeveloping capacities) and finally to exploring preventive measures for the future (research a new provision model)
  2. Stopping (and then reversing) the "Gray Drain". If we can keep the seniors already here we could stop the population decline. If we could attract a new cohort of seniors to some of the 450 properties on offer in the area, we could reverse it.
  3. Revitalizing the area by revisiting Princeton's Economic Development plans, rebooting our Recreational Master Plan and fully exploiting the Tourism potential of the area.
  4. "Hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst". I've asked at Town Hall to see Princeton's Disaster Preparedness plan. I was pleased to find that we have one, but not surprised to find that it is sketchy on some scenarios (regional or mass disaster, terrorism), and out of date in important areas (contact people, changing event expectations, etc)
I plan a comprehensive post on each of these issues before next Tuesday's all-candidates forum. Look for the first one later today...

With Regards to the People of Princeton
Rob Rubis, Candidate for Council