And what have we learned?

The Skelton "Learning Center" on S. Broad Street.

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

 Rear fence pushed in. Why? For access to...

 

 

 

 

...the yard to scavenge copper from the two A/C units.

 

Can't empty the mailbox....

 

...but we can tape up a poster for Heritage Days (I think they called it "marketing the festival.")

Way to go, Mayor Mack! Way to manage the city's resources.

PS: As of this posting, the A/C at Ellarslie mansion is still not fixed and most likely won't be this week.

OOPS! They did it again!

The indicted mayor of Trenton takes great pride in the creation of his "Mayor's Learning Centers." So much pride, he outfitted each of the former library branch buildings with 50", flat screen TV's.

Why the so-called "Learning Centers" require large screen TV's is beyond us. They are barely open. When they are open, they are staffed by untrained, possibly un-vetted, volunteers.

We can only figure it is another example of the IO's penchant for appearance over substance. The bells and whistles are what counts, not their appropriateness, functionality or suitability.

During Hurricane Sandy, someone broke into the East Trenton Learning Center at 701 N. Clinton Ave. and liberated the two large screen TV's that had been installed there. There was no alarm...presumably due to the wide spread power outages caused by the storm.

Of course, no serial numbers were on file for the stolen items so further investigation would go nowhere, even IF we had the manpower on our severely depleted police force to conduct one.

In most instances, crime victims will try to gain some insight from the unpleasant experience and take steps to make themselves less likely to become targets again. They may increase security around their premises. They may do a better job of keeping records of their possessions.

Apparently, that is not the way things work here in Trenton.

The Mayor's Learning Center on Greenwood Avenue recently had its large, flat screen TV stolen.

According to the police report, a Ms. Tanisha Dyton was "doing a walk through at 1115 Greenwood Ave" on Thursday, January 10, when she noticed the TV was missing. The police report mentions that there was no sign of forced entry.

Granted, the report was taken over the phone by a police aide so no onsite investigation was carried out by a trained officer but forced entry would be fairly obvious to anyone discovering the crime.

The report also notes that the TV serial number is unknown.

The report does not state is whether or not the building is alarmed and, if so, did the alarm go off.

We have to wonder why, after the theft of the TV's from the East Trenton Learning Center, building alarms were not checked to make sure they were operable. We also wonder why the serial numbers of the remaining TV's were not recorded and kept somewhere, just in case of another theft. Moreover, after the previous incident, were the remaining TV’s secured with cable locks or other devices to help prevent their easy removal?

Apparently, the Mayor's Learning Centers are not teaching us anything useful.

Tell the truth, Mayor Mack

Mayor prevaricates at opening of second learning center.

According to Carlos Avila's report in this morning's Trentonian, Mayor Tony Mack continues to blame the board of trustees of the Trenton Free Public Library for the branch closings two years ago.

“I have been working diligently to reopen all four of these buildings since the Trenton Free Public Library Board decided to close them in August of 2010,” he said.

That is his side of the story. And it is just plain wrong.

In a letter dated September 13, 2010, TFPL Trustee Virginia Dietrich writes:

"The over $1M reduction to this year's budget has had a devastating effect on our ability to provide neighborhood services. Your generous offer of an additional $350,000 funding would be a welcome addition to the $2.1M allocation the City has already committed for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. Unfortunately, it is not enough to cover the cost of your proposed plan for a 3-7 pm 5 day per week schedule at all four Branch locations. As we detailed in the budget sent to your office on August 20, 2010, the Library would need an additional $845,952 for a total allocation of $2,945,962 to implement your plan."

There it is, ladies and gentlemen, in plain English.

"Unfortunately, it is not enough to cover the cost of your proposed plan for a 3-7 pm 5 day per week schedule at all four Branch locations."

The question that needs to be asked by citizens, taxpayers, the governing body and the mayor's own administration is simply this:

If you cannot afford to fund the TFPL to provide the hours and services you want, how can you find the money (according to this report in the Times, now up to $75,000 per "learning center" per year from the $30,000 stated on April 30) to operate this parallel system of ersatz libraries?

Tell the truth, Mayor Mack.

What does the Trenton Water Works have to do with the Mayor’s Learning Center Libraries?

That’s what we wondered after noticing Paul Harris at Monday’s ribbon cutting at the former Skelton Branch Library building.

Mr. Harris, if you recall, was hired as an “intern” by the Mack administration on August 9, 2010. His rate of pay was $15 an hour. On October 15, 2010, Mr. Harris received a 33% pay raise to $20 an hour, just a few weeks before the city’s first wave of layoffs and demotions of regular employees was put into effect.

Ostensibly assigned to the city’s department of Health and Human Services, no one was ever really sure Harris’ described job duties were. It was pretty evident that Mr. Harris was to serve basically as yet another assistant to the mayor. He seemed to spend all of his time taking photographs and videos of the mayor in action (or would that be “the mayor’s inaction?”); working on the city website; trolling Facebook and other online sites for any negative comments about the Mack administration.

In a memo dated February 14, 2011, Joseph Rubino, then the director of HHS, informs Harris that three days a week he is to report to Gwen Carter to assist with the Health Clinic.  The other two days a week Harris would be assigned to “ancillary projects” working with other units under HHS.

In an accompanying description of his duties, Mr. Harris appears to be assigned to marketing and other activities relating to the city’s senior centers. It is interesting to note that this “intern” is also charged with helping to “supervise” certain employees stationed at the centers.
(NOTE: we really hope to delve further into the Mack administration’s use and abuse of the term “intern” in a future post)

But all of the above almost seems sensible when compared to what has recently transpired.

Sometime this year, Mr. Harris was “transferred” to the Trenton Water Works. His payroll information from March 1 forward clearly shows him being paid out of the TWW administration account.

Yet there he was at 3 pm on a Monday afternoon, recording the mayor's ribbon cutting for posterity but being paid on the water customer's dime. 

Hence our question: what does the TWW have to do with the Mayor’s Learning Center Libraries?