Acting Housing and Economic Development Director pick has poor track record.

Carmen Natal Melendez was recently elevated from the position of aide to Mayor Tony Mack to acting Director of Housing and Economic Development.

What, you might wonder, are Ms. Melendez’s qualifications to hold such a pivotal position in the Mack administration?

• She was amongst a handful of Latinos who came out in support of Mayor Mack during the 2010 campaign. (Juan Martinez and his brother, Robert Menendez, were two others).
• Her husband, Cesar Melendez, made two contributions to the Mack campaign in May of 2010: $600 on May 7 and $2600 on May 12.  (That totals $3200 which is over the personal limit of $2600…but maybe it was intended to be split between Carmen and Cesar, thus not breaching the limit).

So Carmen has a personal relationship with the Mayor. What else has she got?

• Well, she does have a real estate license.  She apparently didn’t have one for awhile, but was re-licensed in September of 2010 and is listed as working for Paladino Realty and Auction of Lambertville, NJ.
• Her partnership with fellow realtor Albin Garcia is defunct. The firm’s real estate license was deemed inactive in April of 2004, more than a year before it expired. (For comparison, Garcia has maintained a broker of record license since 2006)
• Striking out on her own, Carmen created Melendez Realty Services LLC in March 2004. Her last annual report was filed in January 2005 and the state REVOKED its corporate standing in October of 2008 for failure to file annual reports for two consecutive years (2006 and 2007).
• In the meantime, she created Melendez Realty LLC. The original filing was done in November of 2007 but was REVOKED in June 2010 for not filing annual report for two consecutive years (2008 and 2009).
• She’s obviously had trouble keeping up with the requirements of operating a business.  But there is more.
• An online search reveals some $57,596.25 in outstanding liens and judgments against her. Some date back to 1996.

So we ask you, dear readers, is this woman qualified to lead the all important housing and economic development arm of city government?

We think not.