Thursday, September 20, 2012

A taste

On Monday, July 2, 2012, the City of Trenton hosted a celebration of Giuseppe Garibaldi birthday celebration.

The refreshments for the reception after the ceremony were provided by Amici Milano in Chambersburg.  The city paid $2,550 for a hot buffet for 150 people. See the invoice and purchase order here.

The purchase of the food was paid for out of the Economic Development "Profession Services" budget line.

The event was announced in this June 18 Press Release.

While we have nothing against the celebration of the many ethnic groups that have made Trenton what it is, we have to question this expenditure.

Why did the city, after over 100 years of presence of Italians and Italian-Americans, decide, in one of the worst fiscal years ever, decide to foot the bill for this extravagance?

Is the following sentence from the press release a clue?
Letters of friendship will be signed by Mayor Mack and the Italian delegation, establishing a bond between Trenton and Sicily.
Sicily? With all of the connections Trenton has with Naples, Casandrino, San Fele, etc. why all of a sudden are we "establishing a bond between Trenton and Sicily?"

Could it be because Tony Mack confidant, supporter and, now, co-defendant, JoJo Giorgianni is of Sicilian ancestry?

And why Amici's? Not that we have anything against Jimmy and his restaurant, but wasn't Amici's the place that put on the evening reception after the January folderol regarding the Mayor's Commission Committee on International Business Affairs? The one that supposedly sent a letter to the city stating the cost of the reception was donated only the city could never produce said letter?

It doesn't really matter.

What does matter is that a broke and broken city can't afford this kind of frivolous luxury.

Why did we spend $2,550 of tax payer dollars on this? And did anyone take a head count? Did we actually provide food for 150 people?

While we have learned to expect and revile this type of foolishness from Mayor Mack, didn't we expect that BA Sam Hutchinson and the DCA would put a brake on this kind of spending?

The only economic development to come out of this event was the money that went into Jimmy Kamies' pocket.

Good for Jimmy. Bad for the city taxpayers?

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