Troutman elected in Princeville

By NICK VLAHOS
For The Weekly Post

PRINCEVILLE – The race for Princeville village president was unusual, according to both candidates. But the result wasn’t unusual at all.

For the third consecutive time, Princeville voters chose Jeff Troutman to lead their village government for four years. Unofficial results from the election April 1 had Troutman receiving 118 votes (56%) and challenger Rick Pope, a village trustee, receiving 93 votes (44%).

During and after the campaign, Pope and Troutman said they weren’t going to let it affect their years-long friendship. Pope suggested one of his main motivations to run was to give Princeville residents a choice after Troutman had been in office eight years.

“Evidently, people are happy with Jeff,” Pope said a day after results were announced. “It kind of is what it is. Jeff hasn’t done a bad job. We had a real nice campaign, a clean one.”
Troutman concurred.

“We pretty much made it clear upfront that we weren’t going to be a normal race,” Troutman said. ‘“This is what I stand for, this is what he stands for, and let the public decide. We’re not going to go out and badmouth each other. We’re going to stay friends, no matter how it winds up.’
“That’s basically what we did.”

Filling the seat Pope vacated to run for president will be Spencer Wilson, one of three people elected last week to four-year terms as trustees. Wilson received 126 votes. He finished third, behind incumbents Steven Potter (174 votes) and Teresa Gilroy (139). Challenger Branden Curtis received 83 votes.
Wilson is a former village clerk who was a trustee from 2020-21.

“Spencer is a wealth of knowledge,” Troutman said. “He was great when he served as village clerk, and when he went to trustee, he was very good. He’s thorough.”

Incumbent Village Clerk Sarah Cordis ran unopposed.

There were 221 ballots cast among 1,140 registered voters in Princeville, a 19% turnout. In 2021, with uncontested races for president and Village Board, turnout was 7%.

“It was very nice this time to have two of our three races contested,” Troutman said. “It shows that there’s other people who have an interest in the village.”

According to Pope, his advocacy for the closure of the Princeville Aquatic Center in 2023 might have hindered his presidential public appeal. No trustee voted to keep open the pool, which village officials said was draining municipal finances. A local not-for-profit group is attempting to reopen it.

“I was one of them very adamant about closing it,” Pope said. “That might have upset the wrong people. Small-town word of mouth can lead to things. But I stood my ground on it.”

Troutman said his third-term agenda includes attracting more businesses to Princeville, including a restaurant. He cited the expansion of the West Jersey Express trucking-and-logistics firm into the old Alcoa Building Products facility at the north end of town.

Helping to shepherd a $6.2 million sewer-improvement project, as well as determining rate increases to help pay for it, also is on Troutman’s to-do list.

“I’m very fortunate to have a board of trustees that are going to be a great group of people. There’s a lot of knowledge there,” Troutman said.

That group won’t include Pope, at least for now. He didn’t rule out a return to village government someday.
“I think I had a good four-year run,” Pope said. “I got some things accomplished and made a few enemies along the way, but that’s part of the job.”