Photo courtesy Perkins Will
Princeton Finance Director Sophie Packard has compiled information for a forensic audit of city accounts and will present a request for qualifications to next month’s City Council meeting. Members could decide at that time whether to commission an audit.
Mayor Eugene Escobar Jr. had called for an audit and was backed up by Councilmembers Terrance Johnson and Cristina Todd, who said they were aware of potential irregularities involving previous repairs to the Community Center.
Back-and-forth bickering on social media overflowed into the Monday, Feb. 10, council meeting, where 19 residents came forward to speak. Eleven of the comments involved the audit and four speakers detailed drainage problems that were impacting their homes, an issue Todd had put on the agenda.
Former Mayor Brianna Chacon was the first speaker and said she was reading a statement from somebody who wished to remain anonymous.
Chacon accused Escobar of fear mongering and trying to blindside the council.
“Your process of working in a silo with only new council members and in the shadows to weaponize specific citizens in this community shows your extreme lack of leadership skills, ethics and ability to unite a group of professionals,” she said. “You see transparency is only transparent when the entire story is told. Information withheld is just as important as information shared.”
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