Julia Fahl is trying to unseat Lambertville’s longtime mayor in the June primary election. She’s got a shot.

Julia Fahl is taking on Lambertville Mayor Dave Del Vecchio in the June 5 Democratic primary election, and with no strong Republican contender in sight, a victory there would virtually guarantee her ascension to office.

Born in Red Bank, N.J., raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and schooled at Bryn Mawr College, Fahl, 27, has spent the last few years raising funds for Democratic candidates around the country, including N.J. Governor Phil Murphy.

A visit with her this week at her Lambertville home revealed an insightful, savvy contender who is charismatic and intellectual, while disarmingly down to earth. In other words, a political force to be reckoned with.

We asked her why she decided to take on Lambertville’s longtime mayor, Dave Del Vecchio.

“The way the town is operating is not particularly professional, and it’s not particularly fair,” Fahl replied. “I think there’s a lot of people in town who would like to give back, and volunteer for this community. I think Lambertville engenders this passion for the town, but I don’t think those opportunities are available to people unless they’re connected to the mayor. I think Dave has done a really good job — 27 years as mayor in Lambertville — he oversaw a huge wave of volunteerism that shaped the town for the better. That being said, I think we need a new mayor because we need a new vision for what leadership in this town looks like.”

Fahl says she wants to open up the entire governing process in Lambertville, including the various boards and commissions that account for much of the city’s political workings.

“Board appointments happen at the reorganization in January, so in the lead up to that — September, October, November, and December — you should have a monthly board fair, where members of the board have to sit for two hours in a public space, and answer questions from people who might want to be involved. And then there should be an open application process. Right now, you don’t send in an application for a board, you ask Dave to be on a board.”

Fahl also believes there’s much that can be done to make city government work better for residents on a day-to-day basis.

“There’s a lot of small tweaks we can make right away that would make Lambertville operate just a little bit better,” she explained. “Most people in this town have two working members of their household, so it doesn’t make sense that city hall runs on soft banker’s hours. When we moved into this house, we needed a permit, and I had to stay home from work that day to get a permit — it doesn’t make sense.” 

“Why don’t we host mobile hours for federal and state reps?” continued Fahl. “There’s lots of people in this town who don’t drive because they’re older, or because they don’t have driver’s licenses, or any other number of reasons they’re in ‘in town.’ We should make their local representatives come to them — it’s free to the town —  you just ask the state rep to send a constituent service person down to sit for an hour to answer questions about social security, taxes, to lodge a complaint against the pipeline…and city government should facilitate those conversations.”

Communication is a consistent theme in Fahl’s approach. The candidate believes better communication can contribute to an improved quality of life in many ways, small and large.

“We have an opt-in emergency text system, but if you don’t know that this exists, or know somebody at city hall, you are not a part of the system,” Fahl observed. “We should have an opt-in city text message system through a service that can micro-target by block, so if you’re on Elm Street, and Elm Street has road work, you get a text two days in advance saying, ‘There’s going to be road work on your block. It starts at 7 a.m. If you have questions, call this number.’ That’s easy, and it’s not expensive.”

While campaigning around Lambertville, Fahl says that folks have shown a readiness for change, even changing their mayor. They also aren’t shy about speaking out about their personal peeves.

“I’ve been knocking on doors since I announced my candidacy two weeks ago, and about one out of three people have said they’re upset about the taste or smell of the water,” said Fahl. “The mayor really can’t do really anything about the taste or smell of your water. But what the mayor can do is call a member of the DEP, call an expert from Suez, and sit down for a town hall where people can ask questions for an hour.”

Fahl says that the changes she’s advocating don’t necessarily cost a lot, but they can mean a lot to residents. More importantly, she believes that change is essential to successfully position Lambertville for the future.

“If we want to continue to modernize and stay ahead, Lambertville is going to have to start getting with the times,” she said. “The Lambertville group on Facebook is very active, but the City of Lambertville’s Facebook page is not very active, and so that is sort of a problem. Residents are trying to find information online, on Facebook, and you know that’s where they are, so talk to them there. The City of Lambertville [page] has fewer followers than the firehouse does. That is a problem. And the website — you can’t register your pets online, you can’t pay your sewer bill online — it doesn’t make any sense.”

For Fahl, not all change involves a technological solution. Much of what she’s advocating is about creating a shared vision of the future.

“Dave has run the town well, it’s functioning, we’re not in a crisis…but we are stagnating,” she said. “And I think that’s why we need fresh blood in council, because we’re not questioning what we can do better. I think the town is starting to fray around the edges, and I think there’s a lot of work that we can do to make the town better — so we should do it.”

“We have to start focusing on investing in beautifying the town,” continued Fahl. “We have a Shade Tree Commission, but no dedicated shade tree fund. We need to start making commitments to the aesthetics of our town because our small businesses rely on having a cute town that people can walk through. And we should be trying to figure out what the next level of development looks like in Lambertville. New businesses are dumping millions of dollars into development right now over the bridge [in New Hope]. Where’s ours? We need to figure out what our next phase of development is. There has to be a way that the city functions well for its residents, and also helps drive dollars in/dollars out. We’re a small business town.”

Aside from economic development, Fahl thinks the city should invest in more “non-tourist programming,” i.e. community activities.

“They’re inexpensive, they’re fun, people talk about them, and they increase quality of life,” she observed. “An outdoor movie night, turning the green space by the Canal Studios into an afternoon beer hall, bringing in some local businesses for a farmer’s market — these aren’t tough things to do, they just require a little bit of seed money, and somebody’s time. There are people who would actively like to take these projects on, so give them the resources and let them do it!”

While a few observers have suggested that a contested Democratic primary election for mayor detracts from a united front against Republicans come November, Fahl points out that there’s really no viable Republican candidate on the horizon at this point in time. Besides, she says, a little competition can be a good thing for the city.

“I think that regardless of the general election, the June 5 primary election is where I’m focused right now,” Fahl said. “Win, lose or draw, it’s good for the town to ask themselves, ‘What do I want from my mayor?'”

That said, challenging a popular, longstanding leader like Dave Del Vecchio seems like an almost insurmountable task. Why take it on?

“Lambertville is a really special place,” explained Fahl. “I made probably the biggest investment decision of my life in buying a home here. I got married here. I love this town, and this is a public service for me. I want to help Lambertville, and work for the town. I want to be people’s mayor, whether they moved in 30 days ago, or 30 years ago.”

Can this relatively young candidate, who has spent her career thus far in the shadow of other political figures, successfully compete against a powerful incumbent? Fahl seems confident and determined to win.

“I’m going to run a really professional race,” she said. “I’m going to knock on every door in Lambertville.”