Dude, where’s my car?

Mayor loses wheels while courting civic group

Mayor Tony Mack pulled a surprise visit to the Old Mill Hill Society monthly meeting last night at the Mill Hill Saloon.  But the OMHS had a surprise of its own.  The group didn’t have a quorum so there was no official meeting. 

Instead, the Mayor reiterated the points made in a letter tothe neighborhood delivered after the re-dedication of the newly refurbished Ike Williams Center in Clay Street Park.  The hoopla celebrated the completion of work begun stewarded by collaboration between the city recreation department under former Mayor Doug Palmer and various neighborhood residents.  Some of those residents, rightfully, took umbrage at the initial press release that left the impression the project was entirely the doing of the Mack administration.   

The fact is that most of the work being in done in parks around the city has been on the drawing boards for some time and funding set aside for it.  Those funds were about to expire if work wasn’t at least started this spring and the Mack administration wasn’t shy about touting all the projects from the earliest days of the Mayor’s term.

Public safety also came up at the meeting, giving the Mayor the opportunity to trot out another of his favorite ideas: taking police officers out from behind desks and putting them on the street.  Nobody has ever been able to answer the question: who will be left to investigate crimes and manage the department if you return all of the detectives and desk jockeys to the streets?

At some point during the meeting, the Mayor was notified that his car was being towed.

Apparently, Mayor Mack drove himself to the meeting…presumably in his personal vehicle. (And if that is truly the case, we give him props).  Seeing an open spot across Market Street from the Mill Hill Saloon, the mayor parked and ran in to court the OMHS members. 

Guess he didn’t see this sign. 

Or this one.

And his car was removed from the premises for being illegally parked.

Now, this might be funny and kind of charming.  Except for what came next.

The Mayor, apparently trying to figure out which of the two towing companies made off with his wheels, approached one of the Mill Hill residents who was standing at the bar and accused her of calling to have his car towed.

No rhyme or reason to it.  He just walked up and in more than a serious tone asked her point blank “Which number” she had called to have his car towed.

He asked the question three times as the woman and those around her stood in total disbelief. He never offered an explanation or an apology (obviously not Mayor Mack’s strong suit) to those who had witnessed this bizarre turn of events.  He just walked away.

Uh, Mr. Mayor. You forgot something.  Your manners.

It starts here

Yesterday the residents of the Cadwalader Heights neighborhood held a very successful house tour. Although they have held house tours before, this one was extra special as it marked the 100 years since the fist home was built there.

Through hard work, cooperation and solid promotion they attracted nearly 1000 people to their homes and neighborhood. Similar events have been held in the Berkeley Square and Mill Hill neighborhoods. And the Contemporary Club's popular "Four Views of Trenton" tours have been drawing people to town for over twenty years.

The majority of attendees for these events come from outside of Trenton. Proof that people will indeed visit Trenton for well organized and promoted events and will pay to do so.

But that's not the only good thing about these events.

Writing in an op ed piece in the Times last Wednesday, long time Cadwalader Heights resident Carol Nicholson offered the following "simple recipe:"

...if you want to live in a neighborhood that lasts for 100 years -- take control of your community, don't leave it to politicians, bureaucrats or violent gangs. Know your neighbors, help each other and organize. Even the most informal grouping is a legitimate voice....

Civic pride starts at one's doorstep, continues through our respective neighborhoods and finds its way right up to the steps of City Hall. The neighborhoods that are the most stable are the neighborhoods that have developed into effective communities working together for the benefit of all. Similarly, municipalities around the country, of all sizes, only succeed when the residents work together for the common good.

It is indeed a "simple recipe" and yet so many of Trenton's neighborhoods seem to be lacking in this regard. While there are many civic organizations on the books some are poorly organized and/or suffer from low participation. Even the Trenton Council of Civic Associations (TCCA), which should serve as an umbrella organization for all the neighborhood groups, is not immune to the malaise.

At any given meeting, you can count on seeing the same few neighborhoods represented with a smattering of drop-ins from other groups around town. It has even been reported that some public officials advise against participating in TCCA activities because "it is only people from North and West Wards" who attend or that the organization has become "political."

Well, "duh!"

First of all, the meetings are open to and attended by representatives from civic groups city wide. If people from specific neighborhoods or wards don't attend, it is not by design or intent. It is because of self-exclusion.

Secondly, the TCCA is no more or less "political" than any other organization concerned with improving the quality of life in our city.

While some may point to various projects and proposals as indications of a Trenton revival, they are but window dressing. No more effective at depicting a halt in Trenton's decline than the infamous "kitties and curtains" plywood panels that were applied to the many vacant properties around town a few years back.

The City's successes have been and will continue to be measured neighborhood by neighborhood. It starts with a statement of boundaries: "I am concerned with my house; my block; my neighborhood."

It continues with a commitment to take the necessary steps that will result in incremental improvements each and every day.

This is how it was done in Mill Hill, Berkeley Square, Cadwalader Heights and other neighborhoods.

"Take control of your community," states Doctor Nicholson. "Don't leave it to politicians, bureaucrats or violent gangs."

Take control of your city.