New Brunswick ward question too close to call

AND TOM HAYDON

A hotly debated initiative in New Brunswick to carve the city into wards and expand the number of council members was too close to call last night, with 2,368 against and 2,255 in favor, according to unofficial election results.

Just 113 votes separate the "yes" votes from the "no" ones, and the total does not include 185 provisional ballots plus an undetermined number of military ballots that will be counted today, city and county officials said.

Additionally, the results do not include vote totals from one district -- Ward One, District 2, home to 694 registered voters, said Daniel Torrisi, city clerk. The district sent an electronic copy of results that can be counted today but no hard copy for preliminary tallies, Torrisi said.

Currently, the city council has five at-large members. If the ward question wins, the council would be expanded to nine members, with six elected by ward and three at-large.

It's been a heated campaign season and one of the biggest political battles the city has seen in two decades. The city has spent more than $80,000 in lawsuits to fight Empower Our Neighborhoods, a group started two years ago by Rutgers University students and recent graduates to change city government.

Those in favor of wards argued the city's elected officials live mostly in the city's most affluent area and neglect the rest of the city. The underrepresented, they say, include Rutgers students, who make up a quarter of the city's population, and minority groups such as the city's large Spanish-speaking community.

Critics of the ward system said they think the city is doing a good job and pointed to crime reduction over the decades. They said they think students shouldn't get as much of a say in city affairs since they're transient residents without much of a past or future in the city.

Yesterday afternoon at a polling station at Lord Stirling Community School, young campaign members handing out fliers for both sides of the ward question explained their views.

Mike Mishkovsky, 22, a Rutgers graduate, said "people in the community have told me they feel paralyzed in their ability to get through to the city council."

In contrast, city resident Jesse Martinez, 19, said he feels safer walking on city streets compared with his childhood years. "I've seen a big decrease in violence," he said.

The last time New Brunswick voters were asked whether to change to a ward system was in 1986, and the initiative failed, 3,765 to 2,510.

If the "yes" vote prevails, a committee of four county election board members and the county clerk will draw up the districts.

Karen Keller may be reached at kkeller@starledger.com or (732) 293-4925. Tom Haydon may be reached at thaydon@starledger.com or (732) 293-4928.