Sound familiar?

The trials and tribulations Trenton has been through for the past several years often make us feel like we are the only city to experience so many severe problems. 

Although extreme, many of the city’s financial problems and the actions of Trenton officials fit two patterns seen in many small and very poor local governments. First, events in Trenton demonstrate a perfect storm of structural insolvency, low internal capacity, poor political leadership, and bad financial choices that often occur in such governments. The city’s structural insolvency, which is extreme by any standards, developed over many years of decline in its economic base. This trend is difficult for any city government to change as its causes and solutions are often beyond the direct control of its officials, and maintaining financial condition in this situation through fiscal policies and practices implemented by that government alone can be close to impossible. However, the story of Trenton clearly demonstrates how officials’ policies and practices can exacerbate current structural deficits and lead to more serious financial trouble.

To some extent, the city’s bad financial choices and poor leadership can be attributed to their

governance system, which is more inherently political than many other types of systems found in

suburban governments. Its history of machine-style politics based on an aldermanic structure with separate wards promotes a very political approach to policy making that is most often associated with older and larger central cities.

Sometimes, though, we can take comfort in knowing "we are not alone." Yesterday, we wrote about the HBO series "The Wire" and its relevance to not only Baltimore, Maryland, where the show was set and filmed, but to Trenton and other post-industrial cities.

Another, not flattering, comparison that comes to mind is with the hard-luck city of East St. Louis, Illinois. East St. Louis has been experiencing severe financial distress and drastic population loss for decades. It is just now about to emerge from under a quarter of a century of oversight from the State of Illinois. But, truth be told, East St. Louis' fiscal issues can be traced back over more than a century.

In 2008, Rebecca Hendrick wrote a five page paper on "The Story of the City of East St. Louis." She quickly and succinctly sums up the fiscal follies and failures of the city.

She ends the piece this way:

“Although extreme, many of the city’s financial problems and the actions of East St. Louis officials fit two patterns seen in many small and very poor local governments. First, events in East St. Louis demonstrate a perfect storm of structural insolvency, low internal capacity, poor political leadership, and bad financial choices that often occur in such governments. The city’s structural insolvency, which is extreme by any standards, developed over many years of decline in its economic base. This trend is difficult for any city government to change as its causes and solutions are often beyond the direct control of its officials, and maintaining financial condition in this situation through fiscal policies and practices implemented by that government alone can be close to impossible. However, the story of East St. Louis clearly demonstrates how officials’ policies and practices can exacerbate current structural deficits and lead to more serious financial trouble.”

 

“To some extent, the city’s bad financial choices and poor leadership can be attributed to their

governance system, which is more inherently political than many other types of systems found in

suburban governments. Although the city has a council-manager form statutorily, its history of machine-style politics based on an aldermanic structure with separate wards promotes a very political approach to policy making that most often associated with older and larger central cities (Theising, 2003).”

Sound familiar?

It should.

The italicized paragraphs above are the same passage with "Trenton" substituted for "East St. Louis." In addition, the opening clause "Although the city has a council-manager form statutorily" was removed from the "Trenton" version because it was not correct.

Everything else that Ms. Hendrick wrote about East St. Louis could just as accurately describe Trenton.

We're not the only city that is in trouble. Let's look around and see what we can learn from our mistakes as well as those of other towns and cities.

What we have been doing has not been working too well, maybe we need to start thinking about making some changes.

A reading by Pastor Coston

David Simon’s “The Wire” is regarded as one of the best TV dramas ever produced. The series, which ran for five seasons on HBO from 2002 through 2008, realistically depicted urban life in Baltimore.  Its examination of government, the drug trade, broken education systems and the media had universal application to post-industrial cities along the eastern seaboard and beyond.

During and since its run, many people have drawn comparisons between Simon’s Baltimore and contemporary Trenton.  This matchup was brought to mind again in a recent note received from former City Councilman and Baptist Minister Jim Coston.

Coston had dropped a quick line to inform us of a recently published book: Corners in the City of God: Theology, Philosophy and the Wire. This collection of essays edited by Jonathan Tran and Myles Wentz compares and contrasts real life experiences of the various writers with the storylines and settings depicted in the TV series. Coston contributed the opening chapter of the book. {And per the good Reverend, he is not receiving anything more than a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for his submission} 

In “The Church in the Wire”, the writer reveals that he was a late convert to the show who became hooked after repeated urgings from friends to watch it.  His essay talks about the absence of the Church in Simon’s Baltimore and by extension, the absence of the Church as a positive force in America’s cities. Coston’s own experiences as an activist and pastor of a local church contrast sharply with the norm in Trenton and the norm as depicted in the show.

Coston references the political presence of the urban churches and their spiritual absence. In a footnote he explains the Leewood Village debacle that would have displaced hundreds of South Ward families for the benefit of a private developer and the politically connected pastors and their economic development corporation.

It’s a good piece. Good enough to have us reading more essays in the collection. And good enough to give us more to think about as the city faces its next silly season as the municipal election cycle comes around next spring.

Too bad Jim Coston isn't in Trenton anymore. This would have been a great book for his Urban Studies group to work through.