Don't drink the water

In the September round of layoffs, the city of Trenton was to release three technicians from the water department for reasons of “economy and efficiency.”  These are individuals who are licensed Water System Distribution Technicians…professionals who through the application of their experience and knowledge help maintain and safeguard the delivery of potable water to thousands of paying customers in Trenton and the surrounding suburbs.  (Need I remind the reader of the water distribution fiasco of October 2010 apparently caused by inexperienced individuals failing to follow proper procedure in opening and closing valves in the water system?)

First and foremost…laying off any employee of the Trenton Water Works does not save money!  Let me repeat that.  Laying off water works employees does not save money.

How is this so?  Well as you should know by now, the Trenton Water Works operates on its own budget separate and distinct from the city of Trenton budget.  The water utility revenue comes from the rate payers who buy and consume the water it produces. They may or may not be city of Trenton taxpayers. It doesn’t matter.  The money that flows into the waterworks comes from the distribution and sale of the water it produces. Period. 

Cutting the number of employees in the water utility does not save the city money or lower the property tax rate for Trentonians.

In fact, the argument can be made that reducing personnel costs at the water works actually hurts the city and can contribute to tax increases for city property owners.

How?  

Because the city of Trenton owns and operates the water utility it is allowed by law to take a portion of the operating surplus (profit, if you will) and move it over to the city’s general budget.  That portion is equal to a percentage of the utility’s operating expense.  The more money the utility spends on operating costs…like paying licensed Water System Distribution Technicians, the more money can be moved over to the city’s budget. 

Got it?  Good.

Now back to those technicians…why, you might ask yourself, would we lay anyone off from the water works, especially licensed professionals if it isn’t saving us money and thus lowering taxes? 

 
Good and fair question.  The answer lies in the fact that even though it operates on its own budget, the Trenton Water Works currently resides organizationally within the city Department of Public Works.  Civil service laws require that if a layoff impacts a department it must impact every division within that department. You can’t lay off people from solid waste but leave the water works employees alone.

If you recall, late last winter the city announced a plan to essentially shut down operations each Friday for 13 or 14 weeks as a cost saving measure. This would have been an across the board shutdown…including licensed water utility staff. This plan was eventually shelved at least in part because the city could not show how it could conduct these layoffs and still staff the water utility with the properly credentialed individuals.

In a letter dated February 15, 2011, John Plonski, the Assistant Commissioner for Water Resource Management at NJDEP, sent a letter to Mayor Mack raising the concern of proper staffing of the treatment facility during these weekly furloughs. The letter reminds the mayor that the water system is required to have licensed staff on duty at all times.

Makes sense, right? There needs to be proper, professional operators of the water system that so many depend on for potable water.

When the September layoffs are approved and notices sent out, Mr. Plonski sent a second letter, this time to then Business Administrator Eric Berry. This letter, dated August 5, 2011 (scroll down past thesecond page of the first letter) is more forceful and direct. Mr. Plonski states the case quite plainly:

“The NJDEP has identified the lack of qualified personnel as a key problem adversely affecting TWW’s ability to effectively operate its water system.”

A thinking person might reconsider the wisdom of laying off technicians in a utility already short handed.  Alas, our mayor does not think.  Or does he.

You see, the two licensed individuals targeted for layoff just happen to have testified before the grand jury last year about the misdeeds of Stanley Davis, the mayor’s half brother. This is a case of retaliation pure and simple. 

The mayor is not laying them off for matters of “economy and efficiency”. They are being singled out because they did the right thing and told what they knew about Mr. Davis.

Not convinced? 

How about this: last winter and again this summer, city council tried to pass an ordinance rearranging the organizational structure to create a standalone water and sewer authority department that could be isolated from the layoff plans. The first attempt was shelved because the less than astute members of council couldn’t grasp why it was needed. Then the city withdrew the “Friday furlough” plan and the issue didn’t come again until the September layoffs loomed.  That time, council passed the ordinance 4 – 3 but the mayor refused to sign it or discuss it and council couldn’t raise the fifth vote needed to override Mr. Mack.

It’s pretty common knowledge that when layoffs are planned, the most recent hires (the ones with least seniority) go first.  How is it that the long term employees…the licensed technicians were slated for layoff when two laborers and three water meter readers hired shortly after Mayor Mack took office were not?

Certainly the two laborers, Rodney Washington and Terrance Bailey should have been on the layoff list. Both are known Mack supporters with legal and other problems in their pasts. They are also the ones named in a harassment complaint brought by Kevin Moriarty for their verbal abuse while he tried to collect signatures for the recall petition.

The meter readers, too, by common sense would be the first to go in a layoff.  One, Charles Hall, is the nephew of Mack crony Harold Hall and although being paid by the water utility, is now assigned to oversee landscaping and design work in city parks.  Work that young Mr. Hall is absolutely not qualified to do.   Another is one time caterer and former owner of the now-closed Maxine’s restaurant, Henry Page. Page, another Mack “friend” reportedly cannot or will not complete his daily meter reading assignments, leaving them for others to do.

A week before the September 16 layoffs, Civil service stepped in and told the Mack administration to “bump” the technicians down to water meter readers and, presumably, layoff the two of the most recently hired readers.

That didn’t happen.  Instead, the Mack administration tried to move the technicians into laborer positions.  The techs balked; the administration moved to dismiss them entirely; a lawsuit was filed. A temporary restraining order halting the dismissal of the employees was also filed but ultimately, Judge Pereksta reversed it.  “While I agree that the DEP is recommending that (the utility) be more fully staffed, it’s too thin (an argument) to say that there is going to be this major effect on the safety of the citizenry of Trenton if your clients are moved to other positions,” Pereksta ruled. 

Assistant Commissioner Plonski states in his August 5 letter:  “Recent service disruptions due to operational deficiencies, which have not yet been resolved, indicate that TWW should not decrease the number of experienced and educated individuals who hold the licenses necessary to effectively operate the water treatment plant and distribution system. Targeting those licensed personnel serving TWW for layoff at a time when significant operational issues still exist is inappropriate and threatens the ability of TWW to provide a safe, dependable water supply to the City of Trenton and its surrounding communities.”

Judge Pereksta feels that is “too thin to say that there is going to be a major effect on the safety”. 

George Dougherty, attorney for the technicians has this to say: “The evidence is overwhelming that the reduction of the technician staff from an already low six to three is truly a dangerous thing to do.” .

So, we guess Judge Peksta is ok with putting the water supply at risk for the sake of Mayor Mack's spite against the people who he doesn't like. And we guess that Mayor Mack must not like customers of the city owned water utility.

Pass the bottled water.

Who's at the helm?

After burning up the keyboard and the logging some serious verbiage last weekend, we sat back this week to quietly observe things from our vantage point on the stoop.

The picture isn’t all that good.

Revelations about Mr. Colicelli’s continued use of city resources and appearances at City Hall despite not having a binding contract, coupled with the fact that he’s been paid for “work done” last month and not authorized under any contract irritated certain council members. Meanwhile the Times, unconvincingly took those council members to task for an alleged hasty vote that didn’t allow for a proper transition as the consultant, who according to his submitted invoices did little more than attend meetings, exited.

Trentonian columnist L.A. Parker wrote about the questioned need for a $130,280 Chief of Staff position and a $55,457, part time aide. Citing an anonymous source, Parker reported that “Palmer antagonists” may be setting their sights on eliminating these two positions.

Interestingly, these (and other) positions need to be reviewed with respect to their effectiveness in the overall operation of the city and the relative cost to the tax payers. During the Palmer years, the city hall hierarchy has grown. The Chief of Staff position, a police driver, and various aides to the Mayor: these have all been added, but do the results justify the costs?

Or is the Mayor:

a) covering for his own managerial inadequacies
b) taking care of friends and associates
c) paying others to do things he’s not interested in doing.

Perhaps all of the above.

Councilman Coston made a point in the aftermath of the Colicelli decision that maybe the Palmer should “take the reins.” And that is the simple truth.

The hallmark of the Palmer administration is that the man himself is remote and detached from the day to day job he was elected to do. In fact, he is increasingly absent from the city itself. In his stead we have had a succession of Chiefs of Staff: Bill Watson, Gwendolyn Long-Harris, and Renee Haynes. And then there are aides, like Mr. Jerome Harris…who, if we are not mistaken, is the husband of the former Chief of Staff.

It was also announced this week that there will be some half dozen different attorneys working on the Santiago residency case. And they will all be funded by city tax dollars. All because Doug Palmer is determined to have his way, or punish those who oppose him by dragging things out in the courts. And if he won’t capitulate and rescind his unlawful waiver, city council should step up and terminate Santiago’s employment with the city. The law is the law (and take heed all you other not-quite-bona-fide-city-resident Directors who’ve been sticking closer to your Trenton cribs—you could be next). Drawing this matter out in the courts is unnecessary and costly.

Similarly, it was revealed in today’s paper that the city is filing for the return of settlement payments made to Trenton Fire Captain Ron Kosztyu. Kosztyu had alleged the city passed him over for promotion due to his union activities and anti-administration stance. The State Department of Personnel Merit Board agreed, but the city appealed. Just prior to the case going before the judge, a settlement was reached.

Now the city is challenging that Kosztyu and his attorney, George Dougherty (who is also representing the citizens who are challenging the Santiago residency waiver), improperly spoke to the press regarding the settlement and disparaged the city. On these grounds, the city is seeking to have the settlement declared void and the payments returned.

Anyone notice a pattern here?

It’s been said elsewhere but the comparison to Nero fiddling while Rome burns keeps coming to mind.

Palmer is only fooling himself if he thinks the people of Trenton can’t see through his charade of leadership. This Captain is not on the ship, let alone in the pilot house. He’s left it to an ever increasing cadre of loyalists with questionable competencies (the names Haynes, Gonzalez, Santiago, Colicelli come immediately to mind) to run the city.

And folks, we’re in danger of running aground.

Perhaps its time for our other elected officials, city council, to grab the oars and turn this boat around. Before it’s too late.