Just another nightmare...

Once upon a time there was a city run by ego maniacal joker in expensive suits. He hand picked all the representatives to the various boards and commissions in that city, including the trustees for the library system.

The library system was the first in the state, founded by a local leader some 250 years ago with money that came out of his own pocket. It was such an enlightened and selfless gesture that a branch of that very library system was named in that individual's honor.

Now the well-dressed joker had allowed an old family friend to run the board of trustees of the library for way too long. She ran off some very competent professional library directors as well as concerned and dedicated members of the board of trustees.

Finally, with the library system on the brink of collapse, the woman retired from the board.

A few months later it was announced that there would be a grand celebration thanking this woman for her years of dedicated service to the libraries; the very same libraries that came to be in total disarray under her tenure. And to further honor her, the very branch of the library named for the founder of the system would be changed to the name of the woman who nearly destroyed them.

Now it comes to pass that invitations to the party were sent to a specific list of people by one of the board members, who happens to be the sister of the sharply attired ego (aka "the Mayor"). The date of the party listed on the invitation was different than the one originally touted in the press reports. And the invitation stated that there was a $40, cash only fee to attend the party. (Better than having the cash-strapped library and/or city pay for the fete, we suppose).

More importantly, the phone number listed for the RSVP was incorrect. It was a non-working number.

After trying the phone number unsuccessfully several times, a potential attendee called the library to get a correct phone number. The ever diligent library staff put the caller through a background and credentials check worthy of the deepest recesses of the Pentagon before passing the call along to someone "who could help."

It was at this point that the caller learned that the event had been postponed until a future, as yet undetermined date.

Could it be there was too little interest in "honoring" the retired board chair?

Was there too much grumbling and grousing from the public about celebrating this failure of the system?

Only in Trenton, my friends. Only in Trenton.

What a revolting development!

Library board disses founder in favor of failed former leader.

Wednesday’s Trentonian reported that the Board of Trustees was going to consider naming a branch of the Trenton Free Public Library system after Adrienne Hayling. Hayling resigned this past summer as President of the Library Board after serving on that body for 30 plus years.

Thursday’s edition of the publication confirms that the Board has agreed to honor Mrs. Hayling for her long years of service by renaming the Cadwalader Branch of the library system after her.


As the long time chair of the board charged with overseeing the operation of the library system, Hayling is responsible…along with the various members of the body who couldn’t or wouldn’t override her iron-clad rule…for a fiscal mess that has yet to be unraveled.

In the final decade of her reign, Hayling drove away at least a half dozen different library directors; stifled the once vibrant “Friends of the Library” group; and presided over staff reductions and severe cutbacks in operation hours in order to keep the main library and four branches open at all. Additionally, the Hayling lead board failed to obtain proper financial audits for several years running…a situation that is still in the process of being rectified.

Hayling offered nothing but indifference and interference to a group that came together to form a non-profit foundation with the sole intention of raising money to help the library system develop a long term funding plan above and beyond the annual appropriation from the city. Only after stringing the fledgling foundation along for over half a year was it announced that Hayling would step down from the board.

It is a shame that the very branch named in honor of the gentleman who funded and founded the Trenton Library Company in 1750 will soon be named after the woman who presided over the decline and near collapse of the venerable institution.

The actions of the board in recognizing Mrs. Hayling's questionable contribution to the library system would better be directed at the East Trenton Branch of the Library. It is the only one of the four branches not named after someone.

As noted the Cadwalader branch recognizes Dr. Cadwalader who organized and funded the first public library in New Jersey. The Briggs Branch recognizes the leadership of Mayor Frank Briggs, during whose term in office the modern library system was established. The Skelton branch is named for local educator and philanthropist Dr. Skelton who left an endowment for the library system as part of his estate.

All of these individuals made significant contributions to the development of Trenton’s historic library system. It is criminal to even consider swapping any one of their names for Mrs. Hayling’s.

This leaves only the “unnamed” East Trenton Branch as a possibility for bearing the Hayling moniker. And, if one thinks about it just a little bit harder, it may be an appropriate choice.

Recalling the flap created a year ago about the lack of restroom facilities readily accessible to the public at this branch, what could be more fitting than to rename the North Clinton Avenue facility after the woman who left the library without the proverbial “pot to piss in?”

Library Branches Saved...For Now

Palmer plan appears to block citizen efforts on library's behalf.

In a press conference at City Hall this afternoon a plan was announced that would keep the main Trenton library and the four branches open, but with reduced hours for the remainder of this fiscal year and the next one. An exception was granted from the state that would allow the reduction in hours.

Whle this is good news in the short term, there is a disturbing side story.

In announcing various steps to be undertaken to shore up the library's precarious finanical condition, Palmer stated that the Board of the Library is to "create a foundation that will work with and report to the Executive Director and Board to raise signifcant funds for multi-year capital projects as part of the long-term strategic plan." {view the full release here}

Oh no he didn't!

There is already a foundation in the works that has been successfully raising money in no small part because it is independent of the current Board of Trustees.

And the long dormant Friends of the Library group has revived itself and is working to be another, autonomous support agency for the Library.

Both of these groups exist in their current state simply because it has become apparent that the Library board cannot and/or will not carry on it's mandated function in a reliable, transparent and responsible manner.

For Doug Palmer to suggest that the very parties responsible for the mess the library system is in could and should oversee an entity charged with raising substantial funds is dangerously wrong.

At the very least, it is a slap in the face to those who've stepped up, on their own and in spite of the current leadership to support the libraries.

In the worst case scenario, it is yet another attempted power grab by the control hungry Palmer as well as a complete denial of the utter failure of the current library board. A board, don't forget, that includes his sister; is headed by a long-time family friend, and of which every member is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of Despot Doug.

When will Palmer learn to play nice, and fairly, with others so that the city he claims to love can truly progress?

It's now or never

Grab the tiller, Doug. Or jump overboard and swim for shore.

Well it's been quite a week in the fiefdom of Douglas H. Palmer, a locale also known as the City of Trenton.

Palmer's pet police director marked his official departure by throwing up the "white flag" and surrendering to the court ordered vacation of the position. Of course, in true "Palmerago" (you know, like "Brangelina")fashion of having to have the last word, the former police director tendered his "resignation." This was tantamount to Santiago saying, "OK. You win. But I'm going because I want to, not because you made me."

Whatever.

And, after a "curtain call" on Wednesday, he was gone.

A career Trenton police officer, Fred Reister, has been made the acting director now that the former director is officially gone. A respected administrator who came up through the ranks, Reister is expected to heal the wounds within the department while getting a real handle on the crime situation in the capital city.

That is, if Palmer lets him do his job.

In an article in the Times from Thursday, September 25, Kevin Shea wrote:

Meanwhile, Mayor Douglas H. Palmer firmly said yesterday Santiago's replacement, Capt. Fred Reister, is an interim role and he does not want a lot of changes, and the department needs to stay on the course Santiago set.

Palmer said Reister's appointment is "purely transitional," and said, "I am going to tell him that I don't want to see a whole lot of changes."

Uh, Doug, you had 75 days from the appellate court decision to work on transition. You chose not to. Now you are going to dictate to the guy you appointed, while he was supposed to be on vacation, that you want no changes?

Why, Doug? Just because the acting director made a personnel move involving a police captain who supported one of your opponents in the last election? When are you going to grow up?


On Tuesday, the city council heard held an information session with Library Director Kimberly Bray, representatives of the Library's accounting firm and the Library Board of Trustees. The Trenton Free Public Library, in case you've been too preoccupied with Santiago's departure, is about to collapse from a huge funding deficit. The current plan on the table is to shutter the four branches, layoff personnel, and consolidate operations and remaining staff in the main library on Academy Street.

Many around the city find this solution unacceptable for many reasons. Several members of council have also indicated their opposition to this.

While the current library director was grilled about the situation and the accountants were also given their time in the hot seat, little to nothing was said about or addressed directly to the Board of Trustees of the Trenton Free Public Library who have been on watch over the erosion of the institution's financial stability.

Let's be clear here: as outlined in state law, the Mayor appoints the library board. There is a seat at the table for the Mayor (or his designated alternate), the superintendent of schools, and some community members. The President of the Trustees who has presided over this fiscal meltdown is Mrs. Adrienne Hayling, a long-time Palmer family friend sometimes referred to as Doug's "second mother." And keeping it in the family is the Mayor's sister, Karen Richardson.

Palmer can claim all the surprise at the news of the library's insolvency that he wants, but no one is going to believe him. His administration knew; council had an inkling after the revelations of the previous library director, Scott Hughes, made known his issues with the Trustees, the Board President and the weak financial condition.

For too many years, Doug Palmer has preached "accountability" while demonstrating anything but.

He "settled" on a police director (Santiago) who was anything but accountable; who's spending sprees went unchecked; who's every tantrum resulted in actions detrimental to the overall safety and security of the citizens; and who's constant mantra of "crime is down" was seldom, if ever, backed up with any real hard data other than suspiciously under-reported crime numbers. When that police director finally left or faced defying court orders that allowed for a 75 day transition period, he claimed he scrambled to fill a so-called "surprise vacancy."

With the library system in constant turmoil due to a revolving door in the director's office over the past five years or so; a once robust "Friends of the Trenton Library" group that went dormant in the same period; and no real reporting or communication between the Trustees and the governing body (city council) of the funding municipality, Palmer claims shock and surprise that things have gotten to this point.

It is plain as day that Doug Palmer has lost interest in running this city in an effective and efficient manner. The man who talks all about accountability has none.
His only goal is to find a new job, up front, on a larger stage. (Yeah, good luck with that one, Doug).

It's way past time for Doug Palmer to take some definitive action. This does not mean micro-managing the police department through it's director (acting or otherwise). After all, Doug Palmer is not a law enforcement professional, nor does he have any real public administration experience since he's been little more than a figurehead these past 18 years. It's the various Chiefs of Staff and Business Administrators who have done the real administrative work (and not always well).

Taking action also doesn't mean spouting off simple solutions of consolidating the system into one mega-library with a shuttle service to get people to and from. As Councilman Coston pointed out the other night, there are no cost estimates for upgrading or adding onto the existing main library building; no cost estimates for this proposed shuttle service. It doesn't address the real problem of a library board locked in the iron grip of a presiding officer who is unable and/or unwilling to face the fact that her "way" has lead to the ruin of this vital public institution.

As we see it there are only two courses of action left to Mr. Palmer.

One, he comes back to the job he so proudly boasts of having been elected to; establishes a clear vision for the city with benchmarks for the next month, three months, six months and end of FY2010; and let's the professionals in city government work their hardest to meet those goals (or else); cuts the serious fat from the city's budget, including and especially in the upper levels of the administration and redistribute the money at hand to save institutions like the library; and he should take the sale of the outlying water distribution system off of the table and concentrate on operating the water utility as a sound infrastructure investment and stop living off of its surplus but within the means of the real budget.

The second alternative is admittedly more simple and straightforward. It may leave some with a very bitter taste, but it must be considered.

If Doug Palmer is not man enough to stop the self-deception and buckle down to the task of turning around the city as outlined in above, than he must immediately and irrevocably pack it in and walk away. He's not doing the city or himself any good by continuing on in the current fashion.

It's one or the other, Doug. You're move.

Trenton Reads...Not!

As the city reels from the announcement that the Library Board plans to close the four branches sometime in the next coming months, the Palmer PR machine (aka L.A. Parker) is in full spin.

In a piece appearing on the Trentonian website this morning, Mayor Palmer spreads the blame on everything from the economy to Governor Corzine. (There goes your shot at the Lt. Governor gig, Doug)

Nice.

The false outrage and posturing by Palmer just doesn't wash.

First of all, the library funds are managed (mismanaged?) by the board of the Trenton Public Library (TPL). The members of the board are appointed by...all together now...the Mayor.

The board is headed by long-time Palmer family friend, Adrienne Hayling.

The board has failed the TPL by not being able to capitalize on the abundant funding the city has given it over the years.

The board has failed the TPL by not hiring, heeding and retaining top notch professional staff such as former Director, Scott Hughes.

Parker writes:

Palmer placed a portion of the blame on library officials whom he said are responsible for their operating budget.

The board needs to be replaced...to a person. (We've said this before)

As for Mr. Palmer's assertions that it is "the economy" and/or the fault of the State, let's get real.

True, the economy is in the tank and we are all suffering. But the administration of the city has carried on as if nothing was wrong. The flagrant waste of money on lawsuits defending the former Police Director; the liberal take home car policy; the rampant police overtime spending; part-time assistants to the Mayor making five figure salaries...the list goes on. Each and every item adds up yet the administration refuses to openly detail their plans to live within its financial means.

And in typical Doug Palmer fashion, he suggests that

library officials could correct its financial difficulties via a fundraiser.

"The City would be more than willing to help with such an effort. I think city residents would support such an initiative," Palmer said.

He's kidding, right?

First he says it's partly the board's fault for the financial situation (the board he and only he appoints). Then he suggests they hold a fundraiser and the residents would get behind it and bring the TPL back to some sort of financial stability.

Nope. Not one voluntary dime until the board is restocked with people who understand their fiduciary responsibilities as trustees of the TPL.

And, Doug, if funding is the issue...why not forget about courting PSE&G, Verizon, Bank of America, etc. to fund your worthless "Jazz Festival" and the tired Heritage Days and ask them to direct their grants to the TPL (after you name a new board).

Like so many of the drastic problems facing Trenton today, this could have been avoided. But the quality of leadership from City Hall is so lacking that New Jersey's Capital City contiues its rapid decline to third world status.

Trenton is not just financially broke, it is ethically bankrupt.

If you want to know the real culprit in this Mr. Palmer, look in the mirror.

Read all about it

TPL Board Should Be Tossed

The Times ran a story this morning about the need for Trenton Library Director Kimberly Bray to take a civil service exam and score in the top three in order to keep her provisional appointment.

Bray's tenuous status was revealed in the wake of stories regarding her potential legal problems back in Utah.

This is just the latest tempest to swirl around the hallowed doors of the Trenton Public Library.

Ms. Bray recently presented various scenarios for dealing with severe budget cuts in this fiscal year that included closing or severely curtailing hours at branches throughout the city.

The provisional director is the latest of six appointees to hold the post over the last eight years.

Hiring practices at the Library were called into question last year with the discovery of an convicted felon who worked in the children's section while wearing an electronic monitoring device. This issue came up again with the revelations of the pending civil suit against Ms. Bray and questions about why it wasn't uncovered in during the background check.

The management and oversight of Library operations have been questioned since Scott Hughes left after less than a year in the director's chair. At the time of his departure, Mr. Hughes communicated his concerns and suggestions to Trenton City Council in a letter.

Questions abound about the dwindling down of a multi-million dollar endowment to approximately $300,000 in less than a decade. Proper Library board meetings and minutes seem to be unheard of.

Much of this can be laid at the feet of Board President, Adrienne Hayling. Ms Hayling has been at the helm of the Trenton Free Public Library Board while it has run aground. (It must be noted for the record that Ms. Hayling is a close and longtime family friend of Doug Palmer. Some have described Ms. Hayling as his "second mother.")

In a blog entry last month, South Ward Councilman straight out says it is time for Ms. Hayling to go. We couldn't agree more.

In fact, it is our considered opinion that the entire current board needs to be scrapped if for no other reason than the six other members have let themselves be bullied by the Board President into doing things her way.

On a similar tack, Dan Dodson has offered up a thought provoking essay on what to do with the Trenton Library System on his blog, Re-inventing Trenton. Mr. Dodson suggest a complete and dramatic change to a different model of what a public library could be.

Old model or new, Trenton needs and deserves a functioning library system.

The current Board is incapable of managing and must be dissolved immediately. A new board should be appointed and a forensic audit undertaken to determine just where the monies have evaporated to.