Deja Vu All Over Again

Trenton mayor Eric Jackson made it official yesterday. He will not run for a second term.

We weren't even going to post about this somewhat anticlimactic announcement from the failed first term mayor. His tenure in office has been marked by failures and missteps on a regular basis. After being literally missing in action for at least a month and not having filed his paperwork to run in May's municipal election three weeks into January the announcement came as no surprise to Trenton city hall watchers.

If you are really interested, you read Jackson's statement as posted on the city website here. 

The key parts of Jackson's statement are that he's done what he set out to do in office and that he making this decision was personal, not political.

And so today, after four years of hard work, four years of renewed energy and vibrancy, four years of reform, four years of growth and four years of positive transformation, I am here to announce that my work as mayor is complete and that I will not seek a second term as mayor.

As with my decision to run for mayor, I made this decision after great consideration. And I must stress that this is very much a personal, not political, decision. I still believe I have much to contribute to Trenton’s rebirth, but I now believe that my contributions will be greater outside of City Hall than from the Mayor’s Office. I am grateful to every resident for entrusting me with the responsibility of leading our city and very proud of all we’ve accomplished together. Now that the City has been restored to fiscal stability and put on a path to economic prosperity and greater public safety for all residents, I will look forward to continuing that work.

Jackson was often labeled "Palmer 2.0" or "Palmer Lite" by detractors. A reference to the 20 year mayor under whom Jackson served as Director of Public Works. The image of a clone administration was enhanced somewhat by Jackson's choice to fill his cabinet with other former-Palmer administration stalwarts.

Even in announcing his decision to not run again, Jackson echoed what Doug had said just over 8 years ago. On December 9, 2009, we posted this in response to Doug's announcement that he wouldn't run again:

Citing a decision made in concert with family and a desire to leave on his own terms (not get voted out), Palmer stated he was comfortable with the accomplishments of his 19+ years in office.

Palmer vowed to continue working hard during the last seven months of his term and hand his successor a Trenton in better shape than what it was in 1990. He clicked off some of his notable achievements: lowered crime rate, increased housing/home ownership opportunities, economic development.

 There is one other similarity between the two.

Their decision to not run again made a lot of people happy.

Just vote NO!

Tonight, Thursday, December 21, 2017, the Trenton City Council will meet. On the docket is the second reading and public hearing of Ordinance 17-80. If passed, this ordinance authorizes Mayor Eric Jackson to enter into an agreement with Woodrose Properties Golden Swan Urban Renewal LLC for a long term (10 years) tax abatement.

Woodrose Properties Golden Swan Urban Renewal LLC is one of several property holding companies owned by former Senator Robert Torricelli. We've covered this before (most recently here) but we feel it is important to recap the matter once again before tonight's vote.

The property in question is located at the corner of Front and S. Warren Streets in downtown Trenton. Formerly known as "the Caola properties", the city acquired it in 2001 through condemnation for $164,000. Woodrose then acquired it from the city for $1 in 2005. 

Interestingly, in a Trentonian newspaper report from January 2005, then Mayor Doug Palmer told reporter Charles Webster that...

"Torricelli told us he's not looking at state leases, AND HE DOESN'T WANT ANY CITY MONEY OR TAX ABATEMENTS." {emphasis mine}

That very same article reports that the city of Trenton "will replace the roof and provide other upgrades." Additionally, it was stated that "a back portion of the building was removed" to stabilize the structure.

By March of 2005, the city was in negotiations with Torricelli about a possible tax abatement. In a March 4, 2005 article in the Times, Eva Loayza wrote:

"[City Assistant Business Administrator Dennis] Gonzalez said the city is still negotiating whether to give Woodrose a short-term tax abatement or start tax payments right away."

As it turns out, the city did grant the developer a five year tax abatement where it would only pay 15 percent of gross revenues rather than the full taxes. (We estimate that the tax abatement ran for five years from as early as October of 2007 until the end of 2012).

The city also awarded $202,425 in Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) funds to cover "cost overruns". Both were reported in a December 8, 2007 article in the Times.  (The city also granted $89,000 UEZ funds to another Torricelli project around the corner on W. State Street that same year).

Now, Torricelli wants to convert the office space in the building to more residential and he wants to make improvements to the HVAC system. The total project cost is estimated at about $230,500 and should take about four months.

Other than the short-term construction jobs, there will be no increase in employment associated with this project. The developer claims there is a demand for residential space downtown but the information provided with the proposed ordinance shows nothing to back that up.

And the council, so far, has not asked any probing questions about the application. In fact, when it was discussed at the council conference session on Tuesday, December 5, 2017, only Councilman Bethea asked about it. He wanted to know how long the abatement would be for (10 years) and how much the city would get.

Director of Housing and Economic Development Diana Rogers gave bare bones answers, merely explaining that the taxes paid would be based on a formula. The exchange between the two of them took an entire two and half minutes.(about 21:33 in the audio linked above) Two and one half minutes to discuss a 10 year tax abatement! (Compare that to the 15 minutes or so spent talking about an proposed BUT TABLED ordinance that would revise how the city towing contracts are handled!).

The formula, per the developer's application would be a 10 year tax abatement based on 10% of the annual revenue of the finished project minus a deduction for a vacancy rate. As proposed, the annual net income of the project would be $13,404.80 and if the abatement is granted, the city would receive $14,340 per year in taxes for the life of the abatement. If income on the project doesn't meet that projection, the taxes paid to the city would be less; if the income is higher, the taxes paid would be more.

If we were sitting on council, our vote would be an emphatic "NO".  The developer has utilized the generosity of the taxpayers in the city of Trenton for over a decade. In fact, in his little address to the council on December 5, Mr. Torricelli touted how he hopes there will be more tax credits coming so he can do other development projects in the city (specifically his now surface parking lot across from the Transit Center).

Mr. Torricelli knows very well how to play the system. He'd adept at using other people's money to meet his ends. It's time for him to pay his own way.

Recycling redux

Just when you thought you had heard the last of Tony Mack, Charlie Hall, and others, they pop up again in this latest story of unpaid debts incurred due to poor management.

For years there have been rumors of an expensive piece of equipment purchased by the city of Trenton for its long defunct recycling program that sits somewhere. It was, so the stories went, ordered and paid for but never installed or used. No one seemed to be able to say where the equipment went or cared to find out.

Through some online searches and requests for public records, here’s what we have come to find out.

The City of Trenton ran its own recycling program and from 1992 until 2004, Tony Mack was the head of the recycling bureau.

The recycling bureau was disbanded when the city joined the county wide program run by the Mercer County Improve Authority in 2004.

Tony Mack was dismissed from his position with the city at that time.

That dismissal became the subject of legal action as Mack claimed his dismissal was politically motivated because he was going to challenge then Mayor Douglas H. Palmer in the May 2006 election.  A copy of the Appeals Court decision in the matter of Tony Mack vs. the City of Trenton can be found here.

In that document the following passage can be found:

Eric Jackson, the Director of Public Works, testified that in mid-2001, Mack recommended the purchase of a new sorting machine for recyclables. Mack claimed that the sale of unsorted recyclables would generate $40 a ton, while the sale of sorted recyclables could bring $200-250 per ton. He asserted that the new system "would have reduced [Trenton's] solid waste landfill budget by another million or $2 million. This was the overall objective of the conveyor system, to reduce the amount of money we pay for landfill costs." The sorting machine, which Trenton purchased for over $200,000, was never put into operation and remained with the manufacturer for resale.

The sorting machine, which Trenton purchased for over $200,000, was never put into operation.

Further along in the document there is mention of a December 19, 2002 email from Budget Officer Elana Chan to Eric Jackson that reads in part:

In the last five months, the Recycling division has charged 3 big items against this old Trust:

(1) Recycler Box Truck $59,900

(2) 10% deposit with Mayfran Sorting System $21,810

(3) 40% deposit with Mayfran Sorting System $87,239

Items (2) and (3) represent a 50% payment towards a $218,098 system, meaning you still owe the company another $149,049. Let me ask you, how do you plan to pay for it? Upon full payment of this system, there won't be much money left in FY 2004 to absorb part of the salary cost towards city positions (estimated to be $80,000 annually), then what do you plan with the staff situation in Recycling?

So, the city appeared to have ordered a $218,098 piece of equipment and by December of 2002, half of the purchase price had been paid. That much of the rumor was true.

Was it ever delivered? Did the city pay the balance? What happened to the machine after the city got out of the recycling business?

In response to an Open Public Records request submitted to the city we found out that, indeed, Trenton’s City Council had approved the contract for purchase of the sorting machine on June 20, 2002.

We also have a letter from Dan Odenwelder of BE Equipment to the City of Trenton dated November 21,2002.  In that letter, Mr. Odenwelder details change orders and delays that are increasing the costs of the project. He asks for help in moving things along.

With the information obtained from the OPRA request, we were able to contact the equipment vendor, BE Equipment of Quakertown, PA. We received a brief letter from Mr. Scott Davis, the company president.

Mr. Davis reiterated the timeline that we were already aware of: contract approved in June, 2002, letter re: change orders and such, November, 2002 (unsigned copy provided).

Mr. Davis also provided an unsigned copy of an August, 2004 letter sent to the City of Trenton. In that letter, he summarizes a phone conversation he had with the Public Works Director. Apparently, the City had asked to cancel the contract but the manufacturer would not accept that because the equipment had been custom made to fit the city’s building in which it was to be installed. The letter notes that the city agreed to pay the balance due on the purchase price plus the amount of two change orders.

The letter was apparently obtained from a computer file and the invoice mentioned was not included in what was sent to us.

We followed up with an email asking Mr. Davis what the amount that was owed was. In response, he asked that we call him.

Over the course of a 35 minute phone call, Mr. Davis graciously and calmly recounted the history of this equipment contract and his dealings with the city since. He spoke warmly of his dealings with Tony Mack and just about everyone he ever dealt with at the city. Without complaining, he mentioned that his company had paid the manufacturer of the equipment, in full, ten years ago.

Mr. Davis recalled being contacted at least twice since the August 2004 letter by someone from the city asking about the equipment. Each time all contact fell off once the whole story was laid out for them. 

He related a story of being contacted by Charles Hall about the possible reboot of the city recycling program and doing work on repairing the baler only to have problems getting paid by the city. Only after a protracted and persistent effort did he get the city to pay for the work Hall had authorized. 

Those invoices and payments were included in the response to our OPRA request that also yielded the November 21, 2002 letter from Mr. Odenwelder. It did not include a copy of the August 2004 letter provided by Mr. Davis. 

Davis remains genuinely sorry that the professional relationship he and company had with the city has fallen apart over this situation.

During the conversation, Mr. Davis stated that he honestly did not know exactly how much the city owes BE Equipment. He figured the storage costs alone could run between $30,000 and $36,000 for the 10 years he has been holding the equipment ($250 to $300 per month). He would have to pull out the files to find out what the balance owed on the original equipment purchase. We know from the court records that could be as much as $149,049 (half of the original $218,098 cost). And there are the costs of the change orders.

So, it is true. The city purchased equipment a decade ago that sits, unused and unpaid for, in storage. The Palmer administration felt they could just waltz out of town without paying what was due. The Mack administration was only interested in the equipment for the short time it considered restarting the city recycling program.

This is how our elected leaders honor their commitments? How much longer is the city going to let this situation continue?

{Mr. Davis contacted us to clarify a point. Components of the system are in storage at his facility as the manufacturing process was stopped when Trenton cancelled the order. However, BE Equipment did pay the manufacturer IN FULL for the system and the city has yet to fulfill their spoken obligation to pay for the full order plus the change orders.} 

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.

Take a longer view

On January 11, the city administration announced it was ready to make a deal with Thomas Edison State College for the Glen Cairn Arms site.

That announcement took many by surprise.

The swiftness with which the proposal was dropped on the public and the city council, which must approve the deal, raised eyebrows. Specifically, the proposed one time fee of $300,000 in lieu of any property taxes going forward has generated some pretty stiff resistance.

There has been lots of discussion, most of it online, over the merits of this proposal. Some of it has been enlightening; some has been sarcastic and/or snarky.

Some of us feel that the TESC proposal may not be the highest and best use of the parcel at 301 West State Street. It would be more palatable if there were some sort of structured annual payment in lieu of property taxes built into the package. This just seems to be common sense in a city that is drowning in a sea of tax-exempt properties.

Those who favor the proposal as is, say we should not let the minimal, one-time payment stand in the way of what will be a highly visible project.

"Get something done," is their mantra, "and other development projects will follow."

The implication is that by treating the TESC project as a "loss leader" it will drive other developers to the city looking to do deals.  The supporters of the project also tout the secondary benefits of spin off jobs and revenues for existing local businesses.

It is an old argument. It has been tried. It has not been successful.

Getting into the game

We can readily point to the Baseball Park and Arena as examples of big-ticket projects that involved public money and have yet to generate any significant economic development.

Yes, people attend events at both venues. However, the self-contained nature of both facilities makes it unnecessary and unusual for patrons to visit other businesses before or after attending games and concerts. People may come into Trenton to participate in these events, but they do not, as a rule, spend money at other businesses in the city.

This is not just the reality here, studies from around the nation have shown little proof that these public facilities stimulate the local economy. Ken Belson wrote about this in an article published in the New York Times on September 7, 2010.

James Joyner wrote about the faux benefits of publicly financed private sports stadiums in his "Outside the Beltway" blog last May.

The Taxpayers League of Minnesota sums up the fallacy in eight points in this document.

There may be some jobs created that are filled by Trenton residents but most are part-time and or seasonal.

Similarly, those that provide supplies and services to either facility are not necessarily or predominately Trenton-based.

It is a pretty safe bet that no one moved to the city because of the ballpark or arena. Government funded sports venues simply do not spur economic development.

Checking in

The city owned Marriott Hotel on Lafayette Street is another example. We were "assured" by the Palmer administration that a top-notch hotel located just steps from the seat of state government would be just the thing to spark an explosion of economic opportunity downtown.

The hotel has yet to turn a profit. Not only is the city (read: taxpayers) on the hook for the bond debt used to finance the construction of the building, it is also required to make up any operational deficits.

Last year, we footed the bill for a $500,000 cash infusion to keep the doors open and lights on. This year, we may very likely be asked for another round of funding to cover operating expenses.

Many of us told then Mayor Palmer this would happen when he proposed it, but he did not want to hear it. He forced his way on the city and we are paying the price, litereally, for his arrogance.

One way out of this is to just sell the hotel outright. For whatever price. It would, at the very least, free up the taxpayers from having to fund anymore operating deficits and put the property on the tax rolls. Even with likely abatements, the city might actually see some revenue from the property at last.

If a private owner cannot make the hotel work, that would be sad, but at least the city will only be dealing with the "fixed" cost of the bond debt (principal and interest). The city (and state) put out the money to build this and there have been no real returns on that investment. It certainly has not generated any real development downtown or increased ratables in the city.

Around the corner and up the block

To go along with the construction and opening of the hotel, the city looked for ways to jump start development in the immediate vicinity. As early as 2000, with the planning for the hotel under way, the city looked around and decided they needed to purchase the long vacant "Caola property" at S. Warren and W. Front streets. The city paid $162,863.69 for the property and began to market it. (Bear in mind, at the same time the city had taken possession of the Glen Cairn Arms four years earlier but was by then embroiled in a dispute over the final value of the property).

In 2002, not quite a year after the city settled on the Caola property, they had a well known and respected developer, Enterprise Real Estate Services, interested in doing a project there. Enterprise, an arm of the highly successful Rouse Company, planned to spend $4,000,000 on the project. Despite the fact that Enterprise was not looking for any tax breaks for the project, the deal never went through.

At the time, there were murmurings that Enterprise requested the city kick in some money to help with the asbestos and lead paint situations on the site, as well as partial demolition. The city said "No." Enterprise walked.

Then along came former Senator Robert Torricelli and his Woodrose Properties. They made a proposal to the city and were designated the developer. Woodrose got the property for $1 and a tax abatement. The city did the demo work, removed the asbestos and stabilized the building. Trenton threw some Urban Enterprise Zone money at the project as well.

Was it worth it?

The "restaurant" that was envisioned for the site is a Subway sandwich shop (and not a new business...just one that relocated from around the corner on State Street).

One of the retail spaces just recently became a yoga studio. Another retail space appears to remain vacant.

Has it helped revitalize the downtown? Not really.

We will leave the discussion of how much favoritism might have been shown this particular developer, and why, for another time. (Read here and here for previous posts on this).

Enter the Matrix

Just a block from the Woodrose property is another development project that was hailed as a turning point for the city. That would be the office building at 32 East Front Street that currently houses the regional offices of Wells Fargo (nee, Wachovia) bank.

Originally undertaken by the Economic Development Corporation for Trenton, the project encompassed taking a former two level parking lot and building a parking garage and office building on the site. The garage would be turned over to the Trenton Parking Authority to operate as a replacement for the surface lot. The office building was to house the offices of the Hill Wallack law firm along with other commercial/retail space.

The EDCT was another initiative of the Palmer administration. For sizable contributions, local institutions received seats on the non-profit development corporation's board. In simple terms, the idea was the seed money would fund the development of the buildings. The monies realized from the successful completion of the initial project would be rolled back into the EDCT's fund so it could do other projects.

The short version of a long story is that the EDCT failed to complete the project. It was taken over by an experienced, professional developer and finished. The original anchor tenant, Hill Wallack, opted out of the deal. Finally, Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) moved their offices from Ewing to the building.

The building was never fully rented out. When the current lease is up sometime later this year, Wells Fargo will apparently be vacating the space downtown for quarters in West Windsor.

If the past is an indication

The point of all this is to give the proponents of TESC project some perspective.

Economic development in Trenton is not easy. It is complicated by the politics one has to play. Good deals (like the Enterprise Real Estate proposal for the Caola building) are shunted aside for less desirable ones (Woodrose's version) that end up costing the city more and have marginal effect (like the hotel).

In the end, we, the taxpayers, lose.

Development has been and continues to be more about the political connections and the well-being of the principals and government officials. Your run of the mill, tax paying resident is the ultimate pawn in these deals because, when the promised benefits fail to materialize, we pick up the slack. And the tab.

There has never been a long view of what was best for the city. Our leaders have never looked much past the current or next election cycle when it comes to making development deals.

Former Mayor Doug Palmer said it himself. In an article by Tom Hester, Jr. published in the Times, March 21, 2000, Palmer explains just how long his vision is.

''I don't look at the city today,'' Palmer said. ''I look three, four, five years down the road and what we are doing and what possibly can be.''

Our economic development plans need to look further down the road than the current administration or the next election. We need a policy and process in place that guides our decisions past what is best at the moment and toward that goal of sustainable revenue growth.

It is long past time for this city to move beyond the "loss leader" mentality and favored nations deals and work towards the creation of a comprehensive development strategy that is fair to all proposals. Moreover, fair to the taxpayers as well.

The TESC proposal, as it stands at this writing, simply does not help us towards a financially secure future.

Failed

The first eight months of Mayor Tony Mack’s administration have been a tragic-comic opera. It is a plot overloaded with bad decisions, missteps, and colorful characters. It has given us the crowd favorite tag line: “Happy Pearl Harbor Day!”
Daily the action unfolds in front of an audience split into two camps: those who still support the Mayor and those who are ready to “give him the hook.”

Those who defend and support the Mayor suggest that the others are being unfair. “He’s only had eight months to undo all of the mess left by the previous Mayor,” they say.

Or they might offer up this, “Where were all these critics while {Doug} Palmer was running this city into the ground?”

Some have even gone so far as to suggest that Mayor Mack’s missteps are the result of him being “dumb, not criminal.”

Loyalty is a good trait…to a point. But when it becomes blind, if not delusional, it is a bad thing.

Past Palmer

Those who think there was no criticism of the previous administration and council either were not paying attention or are in complete denial. From 2003 onward, there was increasing criticism of Palmer’s actions and much was made of his “rubber stamp” council.

True, there was not the same amount of media coverage then as there has been of Mayor Mack. Yet there were people speaking out then who continue to speak up now. (This blog, started in 2006, is but one example).

It was the action and criticism on the part of the public that stopped the ill-conceived Leewood development plan for South Trenton; it was the citizens that passed the city’s Pay-to-Play ordinance that the current Mayor is now running afoul of; it was legal action brought by the citizens that removed Joe Santiago from the police director position for not following the residency law; it was legal action by citizens that got the proposed split and sale of the Trenton Water Works onto the ballot and defeated.

There is no argument and no doubt, that Palmer left a mess in his wake. It is actually amazing that anyone, let alone 10 individuals, would want to run to succeed him, knowing how bad things were. Some might think that Mr. Palmer had “outgrown” the job of Mayor of Trenton. We think he was trying to outrun the collapse of the house of cards he had built here.

Regardless…Palmer is gone; what he did (or did not do) is in the past and it cannot be changed. Certainly, more people voicing publicly what many would only say privately might have helped slow if not avoid the city’s decline. Again, it is in the past and cannot be changed. The point is some noise was made; some criticisms levied, some change occurred.

First steps faulty

Only July 1, 2010, Mayor Mack took the reins of city government and almost immediately displayed a failure to grasp the situation he found himself in.
At a time when the city was facing a huge budget deficit and impending layoffs, Mack dismissed all of Palmer’s cabinet members…and the experience and knowledge that went along with them. Note…we are not suggesting some of them did not need to go, but the wholesale dismissal seemed a little shortsighted, pun not intended.

Knowing there was going to have to be a staff reduction of some sort in the coming months, Mayor Mack padded the payroll with unnecessary hires, filling out the full compliment of aides afforded him under the Faulkner act, paying top dollar to his new appointees, putting on “interns” and paying them through CDBG money that might better have been applied to the real needs of the city. Just a few months later, demotions and layoffs reduced the workforce and the pool of knowledge and experience the Mayor could have drawn upon as he struggled to keep the city afloat.

The nomination of a felon as a department head, the questions surrounding the appointee to the municipal bench, and the game of musical chairs regarding who sits in the Business Administrator seat are all indications of the Mayor’s lack of comprehension as to what his responsibilities are to the city.

It did not take much to figure out why the highly respected and experienced Bill Guhl stepped away from city hall after only a month of volunteering to help Mack get a handle on things. Tony continues to not accept good counsel and helping hands when offered.

Instead, he prefers to hide behind a screen of sycophants and hangers-on while he fiddles and the city burns.

Many people have offered advice and assistance to help the Mayor steer the city forward, but he seems to prefer to consult with the expensive suits from Atlantic City and the company of his lackeys to anybody who really has the best interest of Trenton at heart.

The list of bad choices and inappropriate actions is lengthy. The one consistency of the Mayor’s tenure so far has been his inability to do the right thing.

And there are exceptions to that rule…his appointment of Dan Dodson and Michael McGrath to the board of the Lafayette Yard Development Corporation. This entity actually “owns” the Marriott Hotel and oversees its operation for the taxpayers of the city. From its inception, it functioned in secret with little information flowing to the public “share holders.” That has started to change with Dodson and McGrath on board.

Unfortunately, that is not enough to make up for the rest of the eight months of foolishness coming out of city hall.

Is it the money?

Is it the Mayor’s personal money situation that has made him such easy prey for outside interests? It certainly would not be the first time that a desire for financial security has lead to poor decision making.

And to those who want to excuse Mack’s shortcomings as a function of his mental capacity, well…that just doesn’t wash. If eight months of mistakes are because he is intellectually deficient or mentally incompetent than he is not qualified to serve in the position of Mayor. We all have limitations and Tony’s may preclude him from holding his current job.

This is not to pick on him, put him down, or make fun of him. If he doesn’t have the sense to make the right decisions or won’t compensate by listening to those who do have the ability to determine what the right decision is and accept their suggestions, than he must go.

The taxpayers of the city of Trenton cannot afford to subsidize such ignorance. And anyone who thinks otherwise must also have diminished mental capacity.

Tony Mack has failed in his short time as Mayor of the City of Trenton. There is no way to argue or refute that fact. The citizens who continue to stand by him are failing as well.

Accept that Mr. Mack will probably not finish out his term and let’s start thinking about finding a competent, ethical, intelligent replacement.

The F does not stand for Finesse

Tired of having the failings and foibles of his administration splayed across the front page of the Trentonian, Mayor Tony F. Mack has apparently declared the city tabloid as “paper non grata” in city hall. One of the mayor’s minions halted Tuesday’s delivery of the Trentonian and an email has surfaced that suggests the administration is seeking to cancel its subscription to the paper.

Former Mayor Doug Palmer’s thin skin and sensitivity to criticism, while well known, never quite reached the level of Mayor Mack’s apparent discomfort. Of course Palmer may not have made quite as many missteps in so short a time as Tony Mack has, either. Still, Palmer understood the need to keep “friends close and enemies closer” and never turned his back on either of Trenton’s dailies that we can recall. He may have challenged their assertions and reporting but he didn’t cut off their access to city hall.

Mayor Mack’s overreaction is another story; a front page story.

Strange and heavy handed move for a man who promised a transparent government that was accountable to the public.

What he said

Today’s Trentonian contains a piece by long-time city editor Paul Mickle on recommended steps for dealing with Trenton’s budget crisis.


His points are sensible and actually echo some of the campaign rhetoric we heard from most of the candidates during this past spring’s campaign season. They should be acted upon immediately with no further debate, discussion or deal making.

We need a trimmer, slimmer, more efficient city government. There is no way you can achieve that and continue to support 67 operating divisions.

Without a doubt, the outside consultants must go. Moreover, this was something that Mayor Mack spoke about often during his campaign.

Speaking of the Mayor…it is very disappointing to see that he started himself off at the same salary as his predecessor ended with. After all, didn’t a judge rule that the last raise Doug Palmer gave himself and his department heads was illegal? In addition, wasn’t part of that illegal raise based upon so-called “longevity pay?” (A highly questionable and suspect practice for an elected official and his appointees. Seems like a reward for winning re-election.) Mr. Mack should start at a lower salary because he is a) new to the job and b) costs need to be cut.

We’d like to add that Mr. Mack needs to cut out his driver/security detail and return those police detectives to the police department to do much needed police work. Again, Palmer was regularly criticized for keeping this detail while cuts were made elsewhere. Mayor Mack needs to demonstrate to the taxpayers that he is ready, willing and able to cut back on the “frills” of office at least until we get our fiscal house in order.

This leads us to another of Paul Mickle’s points: new hires and appointees should not be starting at the top of the salary range. It is not good practice from a human resources point of view nor is it reasonable when the city is broke! And for those of you who want to argue about paying top dollar for the best let us remind you that this isn’t the private sector. When you go to work for the public sector there is (or should be) a tacit understanding and acceptance that you are doing it as much to be of service as to make a living wage. If you want to maximize your earning potential, the public sector is not where you should be.

The proposed county take over of the libraries and parks…Cadwalader Park specifically… may not be such an easy remedy.

Merging the Trenton library into the county system would most likely still mean the end of the four branches. It would also mean the end of the line for the Trenton Free Public Library and it’s highly ineffective board. And that is all “if” the Mercer County Library was amenable to taking over the Trenton system. Our understanding of the history behind earlier attempts to merge the library systems is that the board of trustees on the Trenton side didn’t want to give up control of the system and thus rejected the offer from the county.

Similarly, we recall earlier debates of putting Cadwalader Park in the hands of the Mercer County Park Commission. There was uneasiness on the part of some Trentonians to turning over Olmstead’s jewel to the “golf and softball” crowd over at the county. And what would become of Ellarslie…the city owned historic mansion, which houses the collection of the Trenton Museum Society that comprises the bulk of what, is known as the “Trenton City Museum?”

It’s a complicated proposal that requires a thorough vetting.

Without a doubt, the city vehicle fleet needs to be pared down. Again, this suggestion has been bantered about for a couple of years now. The SUV’s driven by department heads should be the first to go. The Police Mobile Command center is probably also expendable. In fact, aren’t there two? The first was a custom truck ordered by former Police Director Jim Golden and the second, the “bus” retrofitted by former Director Joe Santiago. If this is still the case, let’s keep whichever one is more efficient and effective to operate and get rid of the other one.

Certainly, the cost cutting must apply equally to the top-heavy school administration. And while the discussion about at least a partially elected school board simmers in the background, the recent revelations about waste and abuse in the in-home schooling program plainly demonstrate the school system needs a complete overhaul. This means vehicle fleet reductions, streamlining of the organization to eliminate expensive assistant and deputy superintendent positions, and realistic pay scales. All the things that apply to city hall apply here as well.

Lastly, the damned police horses. We have heard that there are no more police horses and that there are still two being boarded in Hopewell at Trenton taxpayers’ expense. Mr. Mickle states that latter to be the case. If he is correct…and we have no reason to doubt that he is despite the previous administration’s statements to the contrary…then it is time to end this ill-advised, costly waste of taxpayer money. The remaining horses must be sold or given away and the tack, uniforms, and horse trailers sold. Trenton needs to be out of the mounted police business immediately.

Mayor Mack, please heed Mr. Mickle’s words. It is time to make the politically painful but common sense moves he prescribes.

They're all wet

General Superintendent for Water and Sewer Joe McIntyre was featured in an ad this morning paid for by Trenton Yes. The ad, the latest in a series aimed at convincing voters to approve the sale of the outlaying water system to New Jersey American Water (NJAW) shows, McIntyre posing at what we presume to be one of the water works facilities.

If you don’t already know it, Trenton YES is completely funded and managed by NJAW. And the photo was quite probably taken during a recent visit to Water Utility facilities by NJAW staff as outlined in this article from the Trentonian.

The headline of the ad is intended to look like a quote from Mr. McIntyre.

“People think we’re selling Trenton Water Works. That is simply not true. Everything in the city stays the same.”

Really? Reducing the utility’s customer base by over 60% is equivalent to staying “the same?” How many businesses do you know that can lose more than half of their customers and stay solvent without raising rates for the remaining clientele?

The ad continues with another quote.

“We’re just selling township assets. We’re selling a bunch of old pipe. We’re selling some water towers…and two small booster stations. That’s it.”

Since the Trenton YES people like to play semantics police, what would be sold if the plan is approved is not “township assets.” It is, in fact, assets belonging to the people of Trenton that are located in the neighboring townships that would be sold. So Trenton assets, not township assets, would be sold. Mr. McIntyre…if he actually made these statements, should know better.

“We’re selling a bunch of old pipe” is not exactly accurate either. The suburban infrastructure is newer than the system that serves the city of Trenton. We are keeping the “old pipe” and selling off the newer stuff.


And about those water towers…engineering studies have indicated that without those towers, water pressure in certain areas of the city could experience dangerously low water pressures in times of emergency.

To be sure there is a lot to consider when looking at this proposed water deal. But it really comes down to a a couple of basic facts:

The outside water system is a major part of the value of the entire Trenton Water Utility. Without that (growing) customer base the utility will have a hard time remaining solvent based solely on servicing the Trenton customers…even after water rate increases.

IF the deal is so good for Trenton, why has NJAW spent more than $178,000 from May 4 to May 17 (and a whole lot more since judging from the mailings and ads we’ve seen) to convince the voters approve the sale?

IF the deal is so good for Trenton, why did NJAW spend an estimated $175,000 (based upon the legal fees paid by the City of Trenton in the same fight) to prevent the voters from having a say on the sale?
We can not accept or believe anything NJAW/Trenton Yes has to say to us about this deal.

Nor can we accept or believe anything that Mr. McIntyre purports to say in these advertisements. After all, it was Mr. McIntyre who had yet to complete a cost savings analysis on the sell off of the suburban system on January 22, 2009. That was the very day that Mayor Palmer addressed council and told them he had been working on this for nearly a decade. The very day that Mayor Palmer stated that the city had “held out” for the $80 million sale price.*

Neither one of these gentlemen appear to know what they are talking about.

Just vote NO!
*Public records indicate that NJAW was willing to pay $100 million for the outside system but the NJ Board of Public Utilities actually reduced the sale price to $75 million + $5 million for "consultative services" to be provided by Mr. McIntyre and his staff.

The blame game

"It's not my fault. I didn't cause it." --- the late George Carlin, comedian

Trenton’s lame duck city council took a double-barreled blast in the Trentonian yesterday.

In his Thursday column, Trentonian scribe L.A. Parker claimed that the five members of council who voted against the city budget demonstrated a lack of “accountability.” Parker did give the South Ward Councilman, George Muschal, a pass for only having come on board after November’s special election. He chided the other four “No” votes (Bethea, Lartigue, Melone and Segura) for passing the responsibility determining the city’s tax increase to the state Division of Local Services. Parker claims the four did not own up to their part in helping “put Trenton in this position” of begging the State for money.

It comes as no surprise that Parker did not mention at all the irresponsible and spendthrift ways of the Doug Palmer administration that for the past two years has waited until the fiscal year was more than half over before submitting a budget to city council.

Instead, Parker wrote a companion piece in which Palmer “blasts” city council’s alleged irresponsibility in the matter.

“I introduced a budget to City Council and then it was up to them to schedule meetings or hold budget workshops. The ball was in their court. I don’t want to hear anything about my Plan B,” Palmer said earlier today.

“But now we have five city council members who are attempting to point the finger at me. I made my decisions. People elected me to be a leader and that’s what I have done. Being a leader is not for the weak of heart.”

Palmer praised President Paul Pintella and at large Councilwoman Cordelia Staton for “having the guts to take responsibility for the budget.

Both Parker and Palmer seem to ignore the fact that Council cannot act on the budget until it is submitted by the administration. And Palmer should have submitted a “worst case” budget months ago and not relied upon the Supreme Court to bail him out by allowing the TWW water sale to go through without the chance of a referendum, which it didn't do.

It is just too bad Parker doesn’t decry Palmer for not accepting his share of accountability in the matter.

Fear and Yawning Campaign 2010

(Apologies to the late Dr. Hunter S. Thompson)

With just under one month until Trenton’s municipal elections, things have been relatively quiet on most fronts.


Last Friday, the Times ran an article about some verbal sparring between former Palmer slate-mates turned Mayoral competitors Paul Pintella and Manny Segura.

More than the rhetorical jabbing from the candidates, we liked the subliminal message sent by whoever at the Times was responsible for choosing the photos. A second look at the pictured labeled “Paul Pintella” reveals that it is actually an older photo of Doug Palmer.

Is that what had people walking around singing softly to themselves, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss”?















And speaking of the reign of King Douglas, did you catch this little love note in this morning’s Trentonian?

In case the image isn’t clear enough, the text of the Letter to the Editor reads as follows:

Four more years
To the editor:Dear Mayor Palmer:
     You are doing a beautiful job with our city. You put up a lot of new homes and buildings, and you’re doing a great job fighting crime
     You did a great job helping senior citizens.
     I went to the peace rally, and you did a beautiful job with that.
     We need you on our team so Trenton can win.
     There are a lot of residents in the city who would like you to reconsider and run for mayor again.
     Please stay the mayor until Obama is out of office, and then you can be the next president.
     God bless you and your family, and keep up the good work.
                                                 Sharon Wilson
                                                                          Trenton

Um, thank you, Ms. Wilson.  You may stop by city hall and pick up your Target gift card at any time now.

The latest Mayoral candidates’ forum was Sunday at the James Kerney Campus of Mercer County Community College and was covered by PolitickerNJ.com. The biggest revelations that occurred seemed to be the absence of Tony Mack who was honoring his previous commitment to coach a baseball game.

Some of the folks over on the Trenton Speaks forum discussed the pros and cons of giving Mr. Mack an excused absence for the event.

We’d like to talk a little about the At-Large Council race but there has been little to report on. The candidates seem to be keeping to themselves.

The one standout to date has been Algernon Ward, Jr. who was one of the petitioners fighting to have a public referendum on the proposed split and sale of the Trenton Water Works. Ward had an op-ed in today’s Times regarding the recent Supreme Court decision upholding the right to have a referendum on the matter.

The other candidates have been largely quiet. We have seen Juan Martinez signs around town…but they are mixed in with ones leftover from last fall’s failed attempt to win the South Ward council seat.

Typical Juan…doesn’t know which office he is seeking or let alone what he stands for.

And the various ward races are just about as quiet. There’s little coming out from most of the candidates. South Ward Councilman George Muschal is continuing the hands on street work that got him the win in November’s special election.

The North Ward campaign has been quiet with the exception of annoying notifications about fundraisers from Marge Caldwell-Wilson. Nothing of substance on policy or positions from any of the contenders to date.

In the West Ward, signs are starting to pop up on lawns along with the crabgrass and dandelions. Early entry Zach Chester has been playing the role of the quiet candidate, as has former school board member Joyce Kersey. Kevin Moriarty has been working the streets as well as the internet with regular blog postings. There are two West Ward candidate forums coming up that should prove to be enlightening for the voters. The first is tonight at the Lighthouse Community Center on Bellevue Ave and next Monday at Covenant Presbyterian Church, Parkside and Parkway.

The East Ward has been equally quiet. We don’t really know anything about the candidates other than Dion Clark has attended a lot of council meetings and spoken frequently about the need for cleaning up the trash (human and other) found along Walnut Avenue and such.

Chambersburg resident Joe Harrison can claim a similar attendance record at city council meetings and has been one of the few candidates in any of the races to utilize video on the internet to make his case to the voters.

If it seems like it has been an underwhelming campaign season...it has been. Whether due to the majority of uninspiring candidates, lack of real press coverage or both, who can say.

Regardless, it will be up to the voter to exercise some real critical thinking when they step into the voting booth on May 11.

Pop quizz

Are you really paying attention?

Let us leave aside those who want to hold a Rally or March; let’s ignore, for the moment, those candidates hosting “clean-ups” and cook-outs to promote their candidacy (did they do this before they got on the ballot?); let’s go back to the days before the NJ Supreme Court upheld the citizen’s right to hold a referendum on the ill-advised sale of part of the Trenton Water Works.


Let’s turn back the clock a week or so. You remember, back to when Mr. Palmer and others were wringing their hands and rending their garments and wailing at the Capitol building because the Governor had announced he was cutting all funding to Trenton.

(You do remember that “crisis,” right?)

The Palmer plot line is and has always been that the city loses a lot of money because it hosts the seat of state government. He regularly cites the amount of land the “state controls” as 1/3 of the city’s landmass and repeatedly claims Trenton does not get its fair share of property taxes from all the state buildings.

Some folks agree.

Some don’t.

Here’s an online quiz you can take to test your knowledge of ownership of office buildings in the city of Trenton. This appeared this morning on the Trenton Speaks forum. Like the individual who posted it, I think most will be surprised.

State of New Jersey or Private Developer » Create A Quiz

More dollars, less sense.

"For Trenton, because of shoestring budgets that have always reflected little money, reduced money, or no money – we are accustomed to the idea of doing more with less."

                                                                                                    --- Doug Palmer, March 30, 2010


Yet he can haphazardly mail invitations to his speech…in several instances mailing two invites to the same person and address at nearly half again the required postal rate.  Maybe he meant to say "doing less but costing more."

We recognize that we’re talking pennies here: 61 cents vs. 44 cents; even when multiplied by the hundreds of letters that were mailed out.

This is indicative of the Palmer administration’s careless and wasteful ways. At least he didn’t have the invitation letters FedEx-ed to the mailing list.

Thanks for an excellent demonstration of your style of fiscal management, Doug. Your credibility shrinks with each and every passing day.

It is the state's fault

{Yawn!}

Well, we weren’t too far off in our estimation of Doug Palmer’s speech regarding the governor’s proposed elimination of all aid to the city of Trenton. (Surprisingly, there were no shout outs to departing Acting Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez and no blame laid at the feet of the opponents to the Trenton Water Works split and sale).

In a rather tired and repetitive speech before a packed city council chamber, Palmer pointed the finger squarely at the Capitol and the state’s alleged refusal to pay a fair share. He railed against the states refusal to allow development on the surface parking lots that surround some of the state buildings downtown.

In short, last night was an attempt at a Tent Revival-type meeting aimed at firing up the public’s passionate indignation at the Governor putting his foot down and refusing to fund the city’s spendthrift ways.

By and large, the attempt failed.

Palmer was unable to stir much emotion from the assembled crowd as he read through his prepared remarks.

We’ve heard it all before and I think all but the most die-hard Palmer supporters are tired of the twisted logic and half-truths.

Let’s remember that the parking lots around the Hughes Justice Complex are actually owned by the Trenton Parking Authority (TPA). The state has a 40 year lease with the TPA for those spots that brought nearly $1.3 million in revenue last year.

And then there is Palmer’s estimate that the state would owe $155 million in taxes if they paid the same assessment as other property owners.

Dan Dodson, who has formed a citizen’s group to look at AND FIX the city’s budget has come up with the following counter argument:

Mayor Palmer claims that the State should be paying us $155M if they were taxed at our rate (~let’s say 3% effective). That would equate to a valuation of state property of roughly $4.5B.
However, DCA estimates all public property in Trenton which includes State, City and Federal buildings (but doesn’t include schools and the arenas) at $1.4B. Based on this number and some analysis by Trenton Downtown Associationi and my own guesstimate, I’d say the State valuation is more like $1.2B. With that valuation in mind, the State would owe more like $36M/year in PILOT.
Trenton’s actual ratable value is $2.1B (the number our property taxes are based on).
A disagreement about this basic fact would lead to two radically different positions:

• 
  

  
  
  

  If the Mayor is right, then the State is a deadbeat like he said.

  
  
  
  
  

  If my calculations are right, then we’ve been receiving aid for a long time because the State currently funds us to the tune of $340M ($250M for schools and $90 for municipal aid).

  
  
  
  

In the coming days there will no doubt be more revelations on the topic of state funding. What we do know is that Doug Palmer failed in his effort to incite the crowd at last night’s meeting. It was, by most accounts, a waste of time.

Let’s hope that the Fix Trenton’s Budget group can provide some clearheaded thinking that can be brought to the table during negotiations with the state.

Trenton Faces the Governor’s Fiscal 2011 Budget

The following is the text of Doug Palmer's prepared remarks for the special meeting he called for 5:30 pm this evening.

Good evening, and thank you for coming tonight for this information session.

I am sure that most of you have heard or read about Governor Christie’s proposed budget.

Certainly, we all recognize that the State of New Jersey is among the worst-hit states from the recession and that the Governor is trying to balance a State budget with a $10.7 billion hole in it. To do that, he has proposed cuts of $445 million in municipal aid, to be replaced with $159 million. The cities are then expected to compete for those remaining crumbs on the table.

I am sure you have heard or read that many in our community and in others all around us are in a state of  shock about Governor Christie’s plan.

What I don’t know, and must be sure of, is that you understand the SEVERE IMPACT that Governor Christie’s proposed budget would have – ESPECIALLY on those of us who are residents of the Capital City. For Trenton, because of shoestring budgets that have always reflected little money, reduced money, or no money – we are accustomed to the idea of doing more with less. We are used to being told “this grant isn’t being funded” or “that aid has been reduced.” So the notion that the State would be up to its same old tactics of slighting its own capital city is neither a surprise nor a foreign concept to us.

But to say to the state’s ONLY capital city…the ONLY city in the great state of New Jersey to host the Capital Dome and all that comes with it ... to say to this capital city … “I know that we bring an additional 30,000 people a day into your city to ride on your streets, to be protected by your fire department, to be serviced by your police and other emergency personnel” … to say to this capital city, “regardless of how we lean on, depend on, and otherwise EXPECT the City to shoulder and support State government, despite the burden of that reality, I am going to cut every dime of the dollars that have helped bear the load as Capital City Aid. Times are tight and at the end of the day you are no different than any other municipality in New
Jersey.”

Just two weeks ago today, that was clearly the overwhelming tone of the Governor’s proposed cuts to Trenton.
Now, if we start by looking at what is true for the city of Trenton, here’s what we find…Trenton is roughly seven and a half square miles.

The State of New Jersey takes up about two-and-a-half square miles of Trenton … mostly in prime locations where developers would jump to get the chance to build.

That means the State sits on one-third of our property…on 213 properties to be exact.

IF they provided State aid based on our proposed tax rate for this year, that is, the same tax rate you and I have to pay, the City of Trenton would receive more than $155 million this budget year from the State of New Jersey. Instead, this year we received $87.6 million, which included a reduction.

Now, the Governor proposes to deliver real devastation for next year, with a proposal that ELIMINATES more than $42 million. That would include loss of EVERY DIME of our Capital City Aid … and other municipal aid as well.

So what’s the impact of a loss of $42 million; what is the impact on the City’s budget if that happens?

Some are speculating about layoffs. The reality is that a $42 million cut would be far worse than layoffs. A cut of this magnitude would likely threaten our ability to govern and manage ourselves as a City. To give you
some sense of this, there are entire Departments that run on less than $3 million, because of streamlining measures that we’ve already taken.

So that gives you a sense of how much cutting we would have to do to balance the budget with any cut as massive as $42 million.

And these are just the proposed cuts to the City’s budget. We haven’t even talked about the other draconian measures that would cut funding AND close the doors of unique and important institutions like Thomas Edison State College.

We haven’t discussed the fact that we don’t know what would happen to the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation, the ONLY state agency working toward the dedicated purpose of helping to bring development to Trenton.

The $42.3 million in cuts that the City faces doesn’t include ANY of the MANY agencies and institutions that are the very lifeblood of this city.

The reason our focus tonight is on the Governor’s proposed cuts to Trenton is because IF we suffer ANY loss of our ALREADY REDUCED and ALREADY INADEQUATE State aid, then our ability to continue to govern ourselves is at SERIOUS question.

This is the matter that the people of Trenton AND the Legislature MUST understand at this critical hour.

As I have discussed this issue, I have come to one conclusion: Either the Governor and the Legislature don’t know what these additional cuts to Trenton’s aid would mean for their capital city or they DON’T CARE what it means … or perhaps, they don’t even care to know. I cannot help but to believe that one of these thoughts is in play.

Well, tonight, we must be sure that we send the sound and the signal that NEITHER of these conclusions is acceptable to us.

By now, you should be saying to yourselves, This is really bad. Because it is. You should also be saying, There’s got to be something we can do.

And there is.

First of all, you can be certain that, as your Mayor, I have had many conversations with members of OUR delegation. Let me be clear: This group gets it. They have understood from the beginning. That’s why the voices and leadership of Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson-Coleman, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora and Senator Shirley Turner were the first and ONLY voices we have heard publicly from the Legislature. They have sent a loud message to the Governor – and they have been hard at work with their fellow legislators to gain their support and understanding for the Capital City’s cause. Senator Turner has sponsored a bill requiring the State to pay its FULL share of municipal taxes to Trenton, and she has received support from our City Council and others.

What we need to do now is to add the strength of our numbers and voices to our legislative delegation’s efforts. We need to call, email and write key members and let them know: WE WANT TRENTON’S FUNDING RESTORED!

Information will be available to you on our website for you to be able to contact our legislators and tell them: We cannot afford to take up even more of the State’s slack. We cannot afford to pay the rent that the
Governor wants to sidestep.

Next month, I will testify before the Assembly in an effort to ensure that everyone understands the devastating impact the Governor’s budget proposal will have on the Capital City region – as well as the State Capital itself – if the Governor is allowed to cut Trenton’s ALREADY INADEQUATE, ALREADY REDUCED State aid.

Of course we are aware that The State of New Jersey is in fiscal shambles.

With an $11 billion deficit, I think we can safely say that’s a fact. I agree with many proposals from the Governor to address this issue – but he needs to know that when he criticizes municipalities for lack of discipline … our City just conducted layoffs and slashed $21 million from our current budget. We are disciplined here.

The State’s public workers’ wages and benefits must undergo reform. Most people recognize that.

The bottom line is that public wages and benefits have outgrown our ability to pay them. That’s clear when we see that the State is billions of dollars behind in funding its pension plans. So, most of us see the reality of the situation. And nobody should fault this governor or the previous one for attempting to reign in the cost of government and to reform its methods of providing services to achieve efficiency. That part, we get.

That part, the people of Trenton understand.

But it gets confusing when the Governor decides that in the name of a balanced budget, he should not pay the rent where he lives. Ladies and gentlemen, the home of the State of New Jersey is TRENTON. I don’t know where the governor thinks he lives … but I can tell you that since 1790 the home address of the State of New Jersey has been TRENTON, New Jersey. That, to me, means OUR city is where he lives….THIS city is his home. And if you are a taxpayer here…that makes YOU his landlord.

Now, I have one question for you….does his proposal to cut more than $42 million, including every dime of the City’s special Capital City Aid, sound like he intends to pay his rent?

If he has proposed to wipe that line item completely out of his budget, does it sound to you like he intends to be a good tenant?

Over the years, I have heard several people say – with pride – that Trenton ought to get off its knees and stop “begging” the state for what we ought to do for ourselves. You know, the old bootstrap theory … you’ve heard it before.

For those of you who have found yourself agreeing with that notion, let me ask you something: If you don’t pay your rent, can you get away with telling the landlord to get out of your face and stop “begging” for what you want?

Or, is it true that whether or not you HAVE the money to pay your rent, you indeed still owe it? Is it suddenly true that if you don’t want to pay … or can’t pay … that the landlord should just go away, or just accept whatever you can give him and stop bothering you?

Ladies and gentlemen, the point is this: The City isn’t begging the State for a single thing.

For years, the City has simply been trying to get the State to do the same thing that you and I must do as property owners or renters in our City … and that is to pay our fair share.

Whether you use the streets in our city or not, as a property owner, you must pay your fair share of the burden of having those streets provided to you.

Whether you utilize the schools or not, as a property owner, you must pay in taxes to help provide them. Whether you ever have to call upon the Trenton Fire Department … you still must pay your fair share for the
protection and comfort of their presence … just in case that fateful day does occur.

What I am suggesting to you tonight is that if the people of Trenton have to pay to help provide the services in our City, is there any reason why anyone should think that the State of New Jersey … the entity that takes up one-third of ALL of our property … the entity that sits on the most desirable tracts of land for development in our City … the entity that sponsors 30,000 people and vehicles into and out of our city on a daily basis … is there any reason why ANYONE should think that the State should have a reduced obligation to provide special, separate and distinct annual funding to help defray the cost that otherwise must be put on the backs of the people who live here?

Earlier, I told you the facts … the things that are true.

Now, let’s consider what is right.

It is nothing more than right for the State Legislature to insist that the Governor put back every dime of Trenton’s Capital City Aid. It is nothing more than right for the people of Trenton to expect that if the State will not pay its fair share it will at least leave intact the amount that we currently receive.

It is equally important that you know that the City has not sat idly by all of these years without trying to encourage and partner with the State to move off of several specific areas near our downtown where private developers have shown a keen interest.

My administration has worked diligently with the McGreevey and Corzine administrations to get them to move off of the parking lot surrounding the Justice Complex and to vacate both the lot and the building from the Health and Agriculture site. We have legitimate development opportunities that have been ready to go for years. But the State has never honestly committed to working with us to do that.

In my time here as your Mayor, from one State House administration to the next, Trenton has been given three answers:

No, the State won’t pay its full taxes.

No, the State won’t vacate prime property so that the City can develop it for full taxes. And now, from Governor Christie, the nightmare of all no’s…

No, we won’t continue to pay even the small fraction of what we had been paying.

Ladies and Gentlemen, there comes a time when people need to understand what is happening to them so that they can take a stand, before it’s already a done deal.

That time is now. The time is now for us to understand that no leader of our city, neither now nor in the future, has the ability to fix our structural deficit as long as the State won’t pay its fair share. No wild-eyed promise from a candidate can help as long as we have no home rule – no ability to create new taxes like Philadelphia and many other cities have done, to deal with their budget issues. Our ability to raise our own revenues is grossly hampered by State law.

The fact is that the State is trying to have it both ways, by not paying its fair share – and by refusing to vacate our prime property so that others who would pay can develop here.

Our position is that the State must pay, or the State must go so others will pay.

Otherwise, we are stuck in the mud of our structural deficit, which means that we have a “built-in” problem that we have NO ability to make go away.

And that “built-in” problem is the tax exempt presence of the State of New Jersey.

My friends, our time is now to understand what is poised to happen to us and to act before it’s too late.

We must make our voices known before it’s too late. Call our legislators. Write them. Let them know the City must have its funding restored –because the ball is in the Legislators’ court. They have the power to make changes to the Governor’s proposal.

Let us act in unity now.

Thank you.

Waiting

In a less than an hour, Doug Palmer will kick off his special meeting to deal with the city of Trenton’s budget crisis.


He’s no doubt spent the past day or two seriously preparing for this meeting.

Kent Ashworth, Palmer’s Public Relations flack, will have shaped a presentation out of familiar themes:

• The state has not paid its fair share; the city needs to redevelop the parking lots around the state buildings
• The people trying to stop the sale of the suburban part of the Trenton Water Works have helped bring us to the brink of fiscal ruin.
• Along the way Palmer will no doubt pause to give praise to his departing (but not soon enough) acting Business Administrator, Dennis Gonzalez.

 After running through this litany of cause and effect (none of which will reflect badly on his administration’s obvious failures over the past two decades), Palmer will point the verbal finger towards the State House and demand that Governor Christie give back all the funds he’s said he will cut and more.

Doug Palmer will do his best to level criticism and attach blame to anyone and everyone else but himself. He will not admit that he has driven the city’s fiscal ship up onto the rocks and that the sea of red ink is flooding us beyond repair.

 

He hopes that by doing this, he can stir up the emotions of city residents enough to lead them on a march from East to West State Street in a display of public outrage over the Governor’s heavy handed budget cuts.

 

But what good is there such a protest? Walking five blocks west on State Street will not restore the state’s charity funding for our foundering city.

 

 

 

***

While the clock ticks down on the Palmer “Reign of Error,” the wannabe successors have been largely quiet about their plans to deal with the city’s impending bankruptcy. Considering that three of the Mayoral candidates (Lartigue, Pintella, and Segura) have sat on city council for at least the past eight years, their respective silence is not surprising. They can and must take partial blame for the city’s current financial crisis because they consistently yielded their power and responsibility for the budget matters to Palmer and his staff.

 

Similarly, Public Works Director Eric Jackson has been a part of the current administration’s fiscal fumbling. Whether by design or directive, it doesn’t matter. He’s been a part of the Palmer team and must shoulder some of the responsibility for our broken budget.

 

Alex Brown, a member of the seriously flawed and mayor-appointed school board, has not proven his worth as a steward of the school system. Why would we trust him with running the city?

 

Of the other Mayoral candidates, none have yet come forward with solid plans for dealing with the looming deficits even though members of the voting public have strongly suggested they do so.

 

We’d expect Frank Weeden or John Harmon to demonstrate their business background and offer some concrete ideas for dealing with the city’s finances. So far, nothing has come forward from their respective camps.

 

Emmanuel Shahid Watson ben Avraham has demonstrated a knack for scamming the state for money, but it is not likely he can revamp the con game he ran on the state department of corrections into a program that will get funding for the city of Trenton.

 

Tony Mack has some business administration credentials of his own, but he’s not yet put out a definitive plan for dealing with the city’s finances going forward.

 

Keith Hamilton has proven to be the “quiet man” amongst the candidates, saying little other than pointing to holding the line on taxes in Mercer County during his tenure as a Freeholder. And this point, valid or not, he must share with Mack who sat on the Freeholder board for much of the same time frame as Hamilton.

 

We’ll see how many of these candidates stand up to be counted at today’s session in City Hall.

 

Hamilton Mayor gets it right

Hamilton Township Mayor John Bencivengo has taken his name off the list of people slated to get a salary increase if a proposed ordinance is passed tonight.  And that's good.

Mayor Bencivengo also proposed the raise for himself and his department directors and other township employees in a specific and very public ordinance.  That is also good.

The proposed salary increases have generated a lot of anger and backlash from the taxpayers. 

Sound familiar?

At least Mayor Bencivengo has been open and above board with the way he has gone about proposing the salary increase.  Mayor Bencivengo has also realized that by taking his raise off the table he shows he understands the feelings of the taxpayers.

Let's point out right now that Mayor Bencivengo oversees the operation of a municipality more than five times the size of the city of Trenton.  Hamilton's population is at least 10% greater than Trenton's and growing while Trenton's is shrinking.  Hamilton's bond rating was recently improved due to it's sound financial management.

And one last point, Mayor Bencivengo (and Mayor Gilmore before him as the salary hasn't increased in a decade) earns about 78% of what Doug Palmer takes home for ruining running the city of Trenton.

Are you paying attention, Doug?  Or is it all the state's fault?

Snow storm or snow job

It’s been all over the news for the past couple of days: Monster storm set to descend upon us! Prepare for the worst.

Every year, the same thing: big storm coming!

Truth is, this winter has been an exceptionally “harsh” one with multiple, large storms. But in the end, its winter and we live in Trenton, NJ not some tropical paradise.

Most people recognize that the weather is colder, there is a chance of snow (and snow storms) and we adjust our activities and plans accordingly.

We don’t plan picnics or a lot of outdoor activities for the winter months. We dress warmly; wear gloves and hats to prevent the dire consequences of frostbite. In short, we take the steps necessary to not freeze to death.

We manage.

What we don’t do is stand out in the street or park or ball field in Bermuda shorts and t-shirts yelling up at the sky to stop the snow and begging for higher temperatures.

That would not be normal, right?

Then is it normal for Doug Palmer to spend money the city doesn’t have a hope of getting from State coffers and then complain loudly when it doesn’t come?

He does this every opportunity he gets, year in and year out. He knows there is a structural deficit in the city’s budget…a blizzard of red ink if you will, yet he consistently acts as if there isn’t. He complains when the state won’t. Palmer budgets for a lavish banquet knowing that he’s only going to be dining at the soup kitchen.

And then he stands in the middle of State Street yelling for more money.

Insane.

Is there something in the water?

If we weren't so busy running around fighting the rest of the population of the eastern seabord for our fair share of bread and milk we would have posted this yesterday.

What in the hell was Mr. Irwin Stoolmacher thinking when he included the following line in his op ed about Trenton's Mayoral race that appeared in the Friday's Times:

"Trenton politics is not seen by its citizens as corrupt."

Any Trenton citizen who hasn't questioned the accountability, ethics and/or transparency of the current administration just hasn't been paying attention.

Why else would citizens have had to sue to get the administration to enforce its own residency ordinance?

Who else but a corrupt administration would hide their own salary increases in a resolution accepting a contract with one of the city employee unions, again forcing the citizens to take legal action?

Wouldn't a corrupt administration be likely to play favorites amongst developers and contractors, especially those who make sizable campaign contributions (pre-Pay to Play ordinance---which, by the way, the administration fought against)?

What's worse than Mr. Stoolmacher's assertion that this administration is not "seen by its citizen's as corrupt" is the comparison of Mr. Palmer's way of doing business with that of the late Art Holland.

We're not suggesting that Mayor Holland was pefect during his tenure as the city's CEO.  But no one can question his integrity.  The man was "open and fair" long before that became a catch phrase.

Mr. Palmer's tenure, on the other hand, has been marked by repeated examples of administrative sleights of hand that raise many questions about ethics and legalities.

We suggest that Mr. Stoolmacher revisit his thinking on the issue of a corrupt Trenton political seen.  Or at least revisit his physician to have his medications adjusted.