Accomplishments?

Mayor Mack tallies his toils for the first 100 days (give or take a few days)

On Wednesday, October 27, Mayor Tony Mack held a press conference to enumerate the things he's done since taking office on July 1.  In an accompanying and poorly constructed press release titled

Mayor Tony Mack Announces Highlights of First One Hundred Days:

Hope. Dream. Do. How Trenton Makes a Breakthrough

the Mack Administration enumerates a lot of...well...nothing.

For six pages, the Mack flacks assembled a rambling, mismatched cut and paste listing of daily functions and activities that any elected official/administration would go through.  There is no substance; no breakthrough. 

It doesn't take much scrutinizing to realize that the list was assembled out of snippets lifted from various supervisors' reports.

For example, on page four of the document is this tidbit:

• 1719 William Trent House Museum hosted may events for the public such as Getting the House Ready for Summer, Colonial Ice Cream Making, Herbs in the Trent House Garden, Trent’s Enslaved Workers-Theme Tours Garden Theme Tours.

And right below it:

• Fred Miller concert, Art Exhibit Opening, Art/Theatre Camp, Art Exhibit Opening, Battle Against Hunger Event, Garden State Watercolor Exhibit Opening, Gallery Talk, Trenton High School Exhibit Opening

The former was obviously taken from a report on activities held at the Trent House.  It lists a number of the full schedule of activities held there.  These are nothing new.  The non-profit support group the Trent House Association has been programming activities at the city owned facility for years.  It is not an accomplishment of the Mack Administration's first 100 days.  It is a continuation of something already in place.

In the case of the latter the reader is left guessing as to exactly where and what and how the activities were held.  Those in the know would realize that this was a listing of events held at the Trenton City Museum.  The museum is currently housed in Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park.  Both the building and the surrounding lands are city owned.  The collection, exhibits and programming of the museum are the responsibility of the Trenton Museum Society, another non-profit.  These accomplishments that the Mayor lists as his own are actually due to the Museum Society...solely or in partnership with other groups.

In both of the above cases the Mayor is actually claiming as an "accomplishment" items from ongoing series of events that pre-date his term in office.  We call "FOUL!"

Others have taken note in blogs and comments elsewhere on the Internet of the liberal use of "we" and the poor grammar; mismatched writing styles, etc contained within the press release. It is such a blatant patchwork of poor writing it begs to be printed in a ransom note type font (you know, as seen on TV and in movies, where the kidnapper cuts words from magazines and newspapers and glues them onto a sheet of paper and sends them to the police or whomever).  This begs the question of why the city is paying over $83,000 a year for someone who is supposed to be overseeing "policy and communications" for the mayor.

So with that point, let us leave you with a real list of Mayor Tony Mack's "accomplishments" since taking office on July 1, 2010:

1. One of Mayor Mack's first appointments, Carleton Badger, was a convicted felon.  Mr. Badger "withdrew" from consideration after the press published his criminal history.
2. Mayor Mack pads the city payroll with friends, relatives and the daughter of a city council woman while layoffs loom for nearly 400 city employees (including over 100 police and fire personnel).
3. Mayor Mack's promises to keep the city's four library branches open even on a limited basis failed after he was unable to deliver adequate funding through an outside donor that never materialized (some would argue that never existed).
4. Mayor Mack lied to the city council about his nominee for the lead Municipal Judge seat having completed a full background so they would vote in favor of the appointment.
5. Mayor Mack fumbled the removal of deputy city clerk and former councilwoman Cordelia Staton from her job. He then lied on the record at a city council meeting and tried to implicate the Trentonian in a conspiracy surrounding the police being called to escort Staton from City Hall.
6. Mayor Mack's team failed to communicate openly and in a timely manner when the city's water filtration plant was shut down in early October. We're still waiting for an explanation of what really happened.  And why.
7. Mayor Mack continually submitted and re-submitted resolutions to city council until he got professional services contracts awarded to law firms connected to his transition team and inaugural ball committee. 
8. Mayor Mack's Municipal Judge pick Renee Lammare Sumners (see # 4) is revealed to have a history of passing bad checks to pay for her license to practice law and an unpaid credit card bill of over $2200.00 that resulted in a bench warrant for her arrest to be issued in September.
9. Mayor Mack's total mishandling of the city's affairs (and yes, we all agree he inherited a mess, but what has he done to mitigate that?  NOTHING!) may weigh heavily in the Governor's final decision on how much "transitional aid" the city gets from the state.

Do I need to go on?

For those who keep talking recall, you had better start the search for a viable replacement or we are going to be in worse shape one year from now.

An open letter to Mayor Mack

Dear Mayor Mack,

The problems facing the city of Trenton are numerous and the result of years of bad decisions, irresponsible spending and total mismanagement by the previous administration and city councils.

You inherited a mess, but you knew this going into the campaign and you knew it when you took the oath of office.

Certainly, we all have to re-think our personal financial situations and make adjustments in order to survive in these tough economic times.

Your finances have obviously been on shaky ground for awhile. You knew this while you were campaigning and it didn’t change when you were sworn in as Mayor.

Since you took office you have done nothing to help your situation or the city’s. What are you thinking?

When you are facing such difficult situations as the pending foreclosure on your personal residence, back rent and utilities owed on your now closed business, etc. how can you find $20,000 to lend to your campaign? Of course people are going to ask questions and make accusations.

You need to be open and up front about it with the public you have sworn to serve. You should not deny or deflect what is common public knowledge. It does nothing but harm your credibility and hamper your effectiveness as the city’s Chief Executive.

When you have inherited a fiscal sinkhole as large as the city’s deficit, you start cutting costs to the bone whenever and wherever you can. This means eliminating or reducing some services in order to preserve those that are essential to the well being of the residents.

You should not pad the city payroll with friends and supporters while faced with having to lay off almost 200 public safety employees and an equivalent amount of civil service employees.

The people you do hire need to be the best qualified for their positions. And if you must create new positions, such as “grant writers,” you should seek out individuals already employed by the city who would benefit by being moved over to the new position rather than being laid off from their old one.

The people you appoint to high ranking positions must also be of the highest caliber. Their backgrounds should be spotless, their qualifications impeccable. Trying to foist convicted felons onto the public and public payroll is simply not acceptable. Most of us believe in second chances and so forth, but repeat offenders as cabinet level appointees is not an example of good judgment.

Mayor Mack, you campaigned on the promise of providing an accountable and transparent government. The short time you have been in office has exemplified just the opposite.

When you, or your designated spokesperson, communicate with the press and the public, it should be done as accurately, and informatively as is humanly possible. We don’t want half-baked notions, over the top spin pieces, or dismissive “Next Question” comments. Your “30 days of Accomplishments” press release was void of any basis in reality or substance.

Your administration mishandled the dismissal of the acting deputy city clerk and inappropriately called in the police to have her removed from the premises. Then you have the audacity to lie to the city council and the public by suggesting the whole matter of the police presence was part of a set-up assisted by members of the local press.

Mayor Mack, you have failed to provide for your family and you are failing to provide for the residents and tax payers of the city of Trenton.

Many people want you to succeed, and everyone wants the city to succeed. As we close in on the first 60 days of your administration you have failed to operate fairly, openly and transparently.

There is still time to correct your mistakes, Mr. Mayor.

You can start by dismissing everyone one of your aides. You need to let go of the security detail (drivers) and return them to policing duty. Any other new hire of this administration must be evaluated against existing employees as to qualifications and experience for the job and the current employee should be given preference over any new hire when filling a position.

You need to forget about improving baseball fields in the west ward and stop giving lip service to keeping the library branches open. All non-essential Health and Human Services programs…especially those duplicated by other agencies…must be terminated.

There is still time, Mr. Mayor, for you to correct your path and the city’s. There are a lot of people standing by, waiting to provide good counsel and a helping hand. But you have to want it. Your recently announced schedule of Town Hall meetings can be the start of the reformation of your administration.

We urge you to let go of the hangers-on, the sycophants and the wannabes. Accept the fact that you need help, not friends and flunkies. Embrace those in the community with the experience, good sense and wisdom to lead Trenton to a shining tomorrow.

There is still time, but you must act now.