It is really quite simple

A lot has been said on the subject of the ongoing effort to recall Trenton Mayor Tony Mack; both pro and con.

After 16 months in office, the city of Trenton is worse off than before Mack was sworn in.

There is no plan with measurable goals for moving the city forward. Instead, we have a bunch of items ticked off on a “to do” list: street paving, park renovations, etc.

These are the things that a normal city does when the money is available. There was no magic here; no making order out of chaos.  Streets have been being repaved according to a prioritized list for several years now. Mack’s predecessor did it; Mack is doing it.  Park renovations have been in the works for years. To his credit, Mack pulled the trigger on spending the money…money that was earmarked for that use and that the city would have lost if it wasn’t spent.  Not a plan; barely an accomplishment; just doing the job.

The mayor often touts the fact that he has maintained the twice a week trash collection schedule.  Has it made the city any cleaner or tidier? No.

The mayor talks about getting vacant properties back on the tax roles, but he has decimated the inspections department so that all construction is slowed by delays in approvals.  Is this the way to revitalize our city and encouragement good development? No.

In the past couple of months there has been a lot of press about the police layoffs…as well there should be. Minimal staffing levels for patrols have been, well, minimized. And even then we have trouble making the number.  When officers are out on vacation or because they are injured or sick, our restrictions on overtime make it hard sometimes to meet the minimum staffing level.  The detectives are working hard to keep up with the case load, but OT restrictions hamper them as well.

And what of those who are charged with offenses…trash, building code, or other?

Our municipal court system is a mess.  We’ve been short a full-time judge since the debacle of the appointment last year of Renee Lamar Sumners.  On top of that, the mayor wants to replace the two, experienced, competent judges of is own choosing.  What will that do to the already strained efficiency of the court?

With a short-handed court and reduced personnel to cite violations and then appear in court, enforcement is suffering; people are denied a timely hearing of their case; and the city loses revenue. (Municipal court revenues were increasing 2006-2010).

The city is, plain and simple, messed up.

We haven’t even touched on the well documented personnel missteps of the Mack administration.

Ladies and gentlemen of Trenton…no matter what your personal relationship with Mayor Mack; no matter what you think of the state of the city when he took office, you have to admit we are no better off now than we were 16 months ago.

Not only are we no better off, there is no plan to improve things.  Our mayor, nice guy though he may be, is plainly not competent to govern the city. He has ignored or shunned any advice offered by those outside of a trusted circle of friends.  And that circle of friends is made up of people less competent and less trustworthy than the mayor himself.

There are those who say “give Tony a chance.”   We say, “How many chances does he get?”

You can wait until 2014 and simply vote someone else into office, but what will be left of Trenton then?

Sign the recall petition.  Go to the headquarters at 830 Lalor Street. Go to Artifacts Gallery, 1025 South Broad Street.  Email trentonrecall2011@gmail.com or call 609-614-0668 to arrange to get a petition and sign it.

It is that simple.

What others are saying

The following are letters to the editor published this week in the Times.


No confidence in Trenton mayor

I was very pleased to read The Times’ article “Four on council express ‘no confidence’ in Mack” (Oct. 4). Until this past Tuesday, I thought that I had awakened to find that we were living in a foreign country under a dictator. How can our mayor keep repeating mistake after mistake?

How can he play around with our $27.1 million aid package? These monies are not his; the funds are for the citizens of Trenton. Would Mayor Mack want to lay off more police, etc.? Maybe he would like to install more of his friends to run the city and enforce the peace; after all, isn’t that what dictators do?

I’d like to know how Mayor Mack can say council has not acted professionally, when it’s obvious that he himself does not act professionally. Additionally, how can the committee “Stand By Tony” make comments such as “Mack has submitted qualified department director candidates”? Maybe council should approve embezzlers and wanton criminals. The citizens of Trenton voted in council, just as they, unfortunately, voted in the mayor. And from where I sit, council has acted more professionally and has looked out for the city’s interests many times over compared to Mayor Mack.

I happily signed the petition for the mayor’s recall. Please — I could do a better job as mayor. My qualifications: integrity, honesty and intelligence, three qualities the mayor does not seem to have.

-- Walter R. Dietrich,
Trenton

Printed in the Times, Friday, October 07, 2011

Trenton mayoral recall is an act of good faith

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack continues to march to his own drummer, despite the music the rest of the band is playing.

Besides not practicing basic management processes, he continues to violate the terms he agreed to in the Memo of Understanding he signed with the state.

There is every indication that the state will refuse to release the additional $24.4 million of transitional aid Trenton needs because of the mayor’s arrogant ignorance of the MOU requirements, as well as ignorance of sound administrative management.

It has been estimated that the loss of the transitional aid will cause a devastating blow to the city’s budget. The current proposed 2012 budget increases our tax rate from $3.63 to $3.74 per $100 of assessed value. That is a 3 percent increase in rate, and $220 on a home of $200,000.

If taxpayers have to make up for the lost aid, we would need a 37 percent tax rate increase — from $3.63 to $4.98 per $100. The total property tax would then be $9,960 on a $200,000 home. Suffice it to say that kind of increase on top of the large increases over the last two years would stress the financial resources of many Trenton residents.

We need to show the state that we are not like our arrogant mayor, but that we really are good people who deserve the transitional aid. What better way to show the state this than to sign the petition to recall Mayor Mack so that we can elect an effective replacement as soon as possible?

Isn’t this what we all want?

-- Don Wallar,
Trenton

Printed in the Times, Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Is Nate Jones a fraud?

While we eagerly await Judge Feinberg's decision on the validity of Nathaniel M. Jones, Jr's appointment as Municipal Court Director for the city of Trenton, you might want to review the following material.

First up, Mr. Jones' resume as furnished upon request by the city of Trenton.

On that resume, Mr. Jones lists both bachelor and juris doctorate degrees from Howard University in Washington, DC.

A search done via the National Student Clearinghouse online service revealed the following fact about Mr. Jones:

Name On School's Records:		NATHANIEL M JONES
Date Awarded:		N/A
Degree Title:		No Degree -- Enrollment Only
Official Name of School:		HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Major Course(s) of Study:		POLITICAL SCIENCE
Dates of Attendance:		08/21/1978 to 05/08/1981

Assuming this information is correct...it indicates that Mr. Jones incorporated some untruths on his resume.

Also on the resume, Mr. Jones states that he was admitted to the Bar in Pennsylvania. 

This was apparently true.  But he doesn't mention that in 1995, his name appeared on the list of attorneys tranasferred to inactive status by order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and its Disciplinary Committee. (see page 11 of the listing).

While nothing in the NJ Civil Service title description of Court Director specifies that a law degree be required, it certainly appears as though Mr. Jones might have fudged the point of his qualifications.

The fact that the Mack administration doesn't seem bothered about this lapse in truthfulness on the part of an appointee is somewhat indicative if the Mayor's lax approach to ethics.

Jones should be removed and made to repay all the salary he has collected since his appointment.

Mack should be recalled.

On demand

On Wednesday, August 31, Mayor Tony Mack issued the following press release:

Mayor Tony Mack Urges Trenton City Council to Approve Critical Resolutions

TRENTON-Mayor Tony Mack issued the following statement urging council not to block moving Trenton forward:
“As Mayor of Trenton, I represent the Executive Branch of Government. The City Council is the Legislative Branch. At all levels of government, there is a separation of powers, and that is why I do not consistently attend Council meetings.
Unfortunately, while I have attempted to move the City forward, some members of Council actually stated they do not mind bringing the City’s operation to a screeching halt unless I appear before Council. In furtherance of this stance, at the last Council meeting Council refused to take any action because I was not present.
In order to move the City forward and recognizing public safety as my number one concern, I will attend the council meeting and make the following demands:
1. I demand that Council approve the following resolutions (11-504 Body Armor – State, 11-507 Body Armor – Federal and 11-509 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance grant) most of which involve grants for the police department for body armor, laptops for the police vehicles, etc., equipment our law enforcement officers need to effectively and efficiently carry out their sworn duty. Failure of Council to do so will restrict this City moving forward with the budget process and will leave our police officers without necessary equipment and public safety at risk.
2. I demand Council approve the two municipal court judges I recommended. They are highly qualified and their qualifications were approved by the State. Failure of Council to approve these judges will hurt the City’s budget by limiting the court’s ability to collect fines and will affect public safety by limiting the court’s ability to prosecute criminals. If the Council fails to approve these appointments, then I will take all legal action necessary to have these vacancies filled, if only on an interim basis.
3. Lastly, I am proposing a plan to cut the layoff of law enforcement officers by two-thirds through a Federal, State, City and Police Union cooperative effort. First, I am demanding Council approve a Federal grant that would provide the City with 36 police officers for three years with two conditions. The first condition is the Federal Government waives the requirement the City pick up the officers’ salaries the year after the grant ends. The second condition is the State provides the $750,000.00 necessary for the City to accept this grant. After all, the City provides police protection for thousands of State workers, the legislators and the Governor.
The other 36 officers would be saved from layoff through a combined commitment of the City and the police force. The City would commit $750,000.00 to retain these officers. The rank and file police officers will need to agree to an 18 month salary freeze retroactive to January 1, 2011 and the entire police force will need to agree to a payroll deduction retroactive to July 1, 2011 through June 30, 2012 of only $100 per month. We all have to make sacrifices in these times for the benefit of the City and its citizens, and I am sure the police force will agree to these concessions in order to keep their brothers in blue working and to help keep the City safe.
To date, there is no other plan presented anywhere in the United States requesting a cooperative effort between the Federal Government, State Government, Municipal Government and the Police Unions to avoid the significant layoff of law enforcement officers.
Thank you for your time, join me tomorrow night, and urge Council to move Trenton forward,” stated Mayor Tony F. Mack.

#####

________________________________
Lauren J. Ira
Director of Policy and Communications
Mayor’s Office-City of Trenton
319 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
Tel: 609-989-3052
Cell: 609-741-7322
Email: lira@trentonnj.org

The reaction to this screed was, expectably, more amusement at his audacity than anger with his arrogance.

The simple fact of the matter is this: the Mayor cannot demand a single thing of City Council other than they follow the law.

His “demand” that they approve certain resolutions was asinine. They never had any intention of slighting our police department. The reason they didn’t act on these and dozens of other matters at the August 18 meeting was TO MAKE A POINT! Fed up with the indifference and lack of timely responses to their inquiries, and ticked off at the Mayor’s purposeful snubbing by not attending that meeting, Council simply chose…as is their prerogative…not to act on a stack of resolutions. They knew what they were doing…, which is more than we can say for Mayor Mack.

Council 1, Mack 0

The second item on the Mayor’s list, the appointment of his two nominees to the Municipal Court is another example of Mr. Mack’s total ignorance regarding the law. As was pointed out at the time that Council chose NOT to further entertain the Mayor’s nominees, if judges need to be appointed on an interim basis it is up to the presiding judge of the vicinage (in the case of Mercer County, Judge Feinberg) NOT the Mayor. These lame threats of “legal action” are just further evidence that Mayor Mack hasn’t a clue what he is talking about.

Council 2, Mack 0

The last point in the press release is the most absurd of the three. The Mayor sketches a plan to save some of the about to be laid off Trenton police that encompasses union give backs, waivers on Federal grant stipulations and contributions from the State. Not only was this “announcement” the first anyone had heard of the plan, it is in and of itself unworkable.

The Mayor cannot “negotiate” contracts and concessions in the media. (Witness the fact that the Unions have now filed a grievance against the city for this bone head move).

The Feds are not likely to waive grant requirements just because Tony Mack of Trenton, NJ says they should.

Similarly, the State of NJ is not about to kick in any extra money outside of the already established “Transitional Aid” just because Mayor Mack somehow feels they must. In fact, if he keeps on like this, we will be surprised if the state gives Trenton any money at all considering how it has been wasted to date.

Therefore, the Mayor’s “demands” are as empty and meaningless as his usual rhetoric.

In addition, Mr. Mack needs to quickly learn one simple fact of life: the mayor is in no position to demand anything of city council or anyone else.

The mayor was elected to serve, not to demand.

The mayor is one person. The council is seven and known in the statutes as the governing body.

And behind the council are the voters of the city of Trenton. If anyone is in any position to “demand” anything, it is the roughly 37,000 voters in Trenton who are the ultimate power behind the presumed throne.

As one of those voters, I have a demand for Mayor Mack. STEP DOWN!

If he won’t (and he most likely won’t), then the only option left is to recall him.

Sign. The. Petition. Now.

Class Act, Trenton-style

It's been three weeks since the ugly incident on Parkside Avenue where supporters of Mayor Tony Mack verbally assaulted and tried to intimidate people collecting signatures on recall petitions.  The details of the incident have been reported first hand by Kevin Moriarty, the target of most of the vitriol spouted by city employees Rodney Washington and Terrance Bailey.
Well, for those who are embarrassed or upset that these men ever put on the uniform of a City of Trenton employee, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Seems our friend Mr. Washington has a little problem. Or two.  Maybe three.

You see, Rodney Washington was arrested in Ewing Township back on April 10, 2011.  According to the report, Mr. Washington was unable to pass any one of the three field sobriety tests administered by the arresting officer. At the Ewing Township Police headquarters an inventory of Mr.Washington's personal property what appeared to be a half smoked marijuana cigarette was also found.

Mr. Washington was issued a second summons for refusing to submit to the breathalyzer test. 

The arrest report also shows that it was discovered that Mr. Washington was the subject of a warrant.

So there you have it, folks.  A personal friend of the mayor, hired for a city job days after Mayor Mack took office. Outstanding warrant, DUI, possession. 

Oh yeah, and he's a "video star" too.  Remember this little piece of thug art? 


Makes you proud to be a Trentonian, doesn't it?

Sign the petition already.