Ken Seligman — Princeton City Council Public Appearances

Two-year record: August 2024 – August 2026

This summary compiles every confirmed instance in the last two years where Ken Seligman addressed the Princeton City Council during Public Appearance (or a related public hearing), based on a meeting-by-meeting review of official city video transcripts. Fourteen dates are confirmed below with topic summaries. A smaller set of appearances before other city bodies (Planning & Zoning, the Home Rule Charter Review Committee) are also noted, along with the full list of meetings checked with no appearance found.

Confirmed City Council Speaking Dates 

July 8, 2024  —  Special City Council

• Criticized lack of transparency around the council planning retreat — held far from town and not recorded, despite being billed as open to the public

• Questioned the circumstances behind the resignations of the EDC and CDC board chairs and asked the city to explain what would be done with those boards

October 28, 2024  —  City Council

• Raised transparency concerns about agenda timing and access to documents (e.g., development agreements not being readily available to residents)

• Criticized the city's development moratorium as effectively favoring developers over residents

• Opposed a build-to-rent zoning item, arguing rental housing does not build long-term community investment

• Raised safety and incident-reporting questions on a proposed commercial drone delivery zoning ordinance

December 9, 2024  —  City Council

• Criticized a proposed professional services contract with an outside consultant as excessive in pay (calculated an annualized rate around $464,000)

• Objected to contract terms giving the consultant ownership of city work product

• Argued the consultant should be required to operate under a master services agreement (MSA) rather than ad hoc insurance certificates

January 13, 2025  —  City Council

• Praised the police department for exceeding state standards and highlighted a local "smart policing" news feature

• Questioned the Canary contract for water and sewer line replacement listed on the consent agenda

February 10, 2025  —  City Council

• During a public hearing, alleged the city had entered into a development agreement before holding a legally required public hearing, calling the sequence "an illegal contract"

• Raised concerns about a possible open records act violation from a prior meeting

• Questioned the timing and legitimacy of a development moratorium relative to a specific project

February 24, 2025  —  City Council

• Raised concerns about a failing retaining wall behind a sewer lift station near the Timineri Estates development

• Praised Councilwoman Todd as the only council member who had shown real concern for city spending, citing a prior $262,000 Christmas lighting expenditure

April 14, 2025  —  City Council

• Spoke on the proposed Home Rule Charter review/amendment process and citizen-led charter reform efforts

• Criticized the council for not respecting or supporting newly elected members since the prior November election

• Argued that a citizen-led petition process was necessary because the council could not be relied on to vote in line with resident wishes

April 28, 2025  —  City Council

• Spoke in support of resident Kevin Hiss regarding drainage engineering concerns

• Argued the city should establish its own in-house engineering department given the volume and cost of outside engineering services

• Criticized the council for moving an item into executive session that he felt should have been discussed publicly

• Alleged a final plat was approved before required public infrastructure was completed, in violation of city ordinance

• Referenced Councilwoman Todd's 2021 complaints about flooding on her property as evidence the city had known about drainage issues for years

July 14, 2025  —  City Council

• Alleged the city's roughly $1 million wastewater billing overcharge (tied to a failure to implement winter quarter averaging) was concealed from the council rather than disclosed

• Criticized the then-city manager's handling and framing of the refund process, including a sample of 28 accounts he characterized as skewed

• Argued a municipal water utility should not be run to generate a 30% profit margin

• Credited his wife, Teresa McGuinness, and Safeguard Princeton with surfacing the overcharge issue

October 14, 2025  —  City Council

• Criticized the lack of transparency in the Multi-Gen Center planning process, noting design exhibits were not attached to the public agenda before the vote

• Suggested the aquatic center be designed so it could later be enclosed for year-round use

• Raised an unused grant opportunity for community-policing partnerships with school gymnasiums

• Addressed the pending recall election effort and said residents felt their concerns and emails routinely went unanswered

March 9, 2026  —  City Council

• Urged the council to act on findings from the Multi-Gen Center financial audit rather than set it aside

• Cited roughly $750,000 spent redesigning the Multi-Gen Center due to a missed scoping estimate

• Criticized the drainage study contract for being awarded without competitive bids

• Cited the Roller Room and a local pediatric office as examples of the city mishandling small local entrepreneurs compared to large developers

August 10, 2026  —  City Council

• Spoke against the proposed FY27 tax rate increase, urging the council to limit any increase to what's needed for maintenance and operations and delay new debt issuance

• Disputed the CFO's projection that debt issuance would remain flat, calling it unrealistic

• Raised the unresolved Winter Quarter Averaging (WQA) refund issue, saying it still owed money to residents and had not been properly addressed in the budget

August 24, 2026  —  City Council

• Criticized the transparency of the prior week's tax rate ballot decision, describing council's handling of the vote and executive session as evasive

• Voiced strong opposition to approving additional Public Improvement Districts (PIDs), citing the city's existing infrastructure and debt burden

• Questioned Arcadia Farms park maintenance cost figures presented by city staff, offering his own cost breakdown

June 4, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Explained (with his wife Teresa) the rationale behind their citizen-led charter petition effort, saying it grew out of Safeguard Princeton's work and a belief that council had rarely acted on resident complaints; noted the signature threshold was especially high that year.
July 1, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Presented written recommendations (prepared with Teresa) on mayoral veto power, a city manager residency requirement, city manager salary benchmarking against similarly sized cities (citing Anna and Melissa), limits on council members giving direction to staff, city council investigative/subpoena powers, and creation of an independent ethics commission.
July 9 & July 23, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Spoke on council-manager authority, city ethics rules and enforcement, and communication between council 

June 4, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Explained (with his wife Teresa) the rationale behind their citizen-led charter petition effort, saying it grew out of Safeguard Princeton's work and a belief that council had rarely acted on resident complaints; noted the signature threshold was especially high that year.
July 1, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Presented written recommendations (prepared with Teresa) on mayoral veto power, a city manager residency requirement, city manager salary benchmarking against similarly sized cities (citing Anna and Melissa), limits on council members giving direction to staff, city council investigative/subpoena powers, and creation of an independent ethics commission.
July 9 & July 23, 2025  —  Home Rule Charter Review Committee
Spoke on council-manager authority, city ethics rules and enforcement, and communication between council