This is precisely what opponents of the controversial project have been demanding ever since the Borough Council approved construction of the parking garage, mixed-used building and plaza on the site of the former Park & Shop Lot next to the new Princeton Public Library. All three Democrats on the ballot — Councilwomen Wendy Benchley and Peggy Karcher, who are seeking re-election, and Councilman Joseph O'Neill, who is running for mayor — voted for the project. And all three of their opponents — Princeton Party council candidates Alan Hegedus and Mark Alexandridis, and Green Party mayoral candidate Steven Syrek — steadfastly oppose it.

   The Packet has supported the initiative to improve both the appearance and the economic vitality of downtown Princeton with the construction of the garage and related development on what was once an unsightly surface parking lot. And we have applauded the courage and commitment of the Borough Council members who stood up to the intense opposition this project engendered.

   We therefore recommend a vote for Mr. O'Neill for mayor, and for Ms. Benchley and Ms. Karcher for Borough Council.

   We do so with full recognition that their opponents bring many admirable qualities to this campaign — and, against lesser opposition, might well merit our support.

   Mr. Syrek, a graduate student at Rutgers, is a thoughtful young man who ran a quixotic race for Borough Council last year and gained a lot from the experience. He speaks more knowledgeably now about a broad range of borough issues. In Mr. O'Neill, however, he is facing a civic leader of the highest caliber — a retired educator who puts principle ahead of politics, prizes data more than rhetoric and churns out comprehensive position papers on complex policy issues about as regularly as other elected officials issue wordy but vacuous proclamations.

   Mr. Hegedus, who came across as condescending and smug when he ran as a Republican for a Borough Council seat in 1999, shows a mellower side these days — a product, perhaps, of his service since 2001 on the nonpartisan Princeton Regional Board of Education. The retired business executive is still quick to criticize the Borough Council, especially in areas related to fiscal management. If elected on the fledgling Princeton Party ticket (an apparent concession that the Republican Party is all but extinct in the borough), he would surely shake things up on a governing body that has been made up entirely of Democrats for nearly a decade.

   Mr. Alexandridis, an investment banker, is making his first run at public office. He has an engaging personality, a quick mind and an understandable grudge about the treatment he and other opponents of the downtown redevelopment project received at the hands of certain Borough Council members. In Ms. Benchley and Ms. Karcher, however, he is aiming at the wrong target. The two councilwomen have exhibited no disrespect at all toward those who have disagreed with them, on the redevelopment project or on any other issue. In fact, both Ms. Benchley and Ms. Karcher have established reputations for being especially good listeners, taking all points of view into consideration and seeking reasonable compromise wherever and whenever possible.

   Ultimately, however, all three incumbent Democrats had to take a stand on the downtown redevelopment project. In the judgment of Mr. Syrek, Mr. Hegedus, Mr. Alexandridis and many other Princetonians, they took the wrong one. In our view — which, we believe, is shared by a majority of Princetonians — they took the right one.

   On Nov. 4, we'll find out.