Stand by me

An article in this morning's Trentonian bearing the headline "Palmer's last speech?" contains the following quote attributed to the Mayor:

I will stand with anyone who wants to move this city forward, but I have no time for people who are going to stand on the sideline and root against Trenton.

Seems like an interesting choice of words coming from a man known for his vindictive approach to anyone who dares criticize or disagree with his decisions.

Need proof?

Let's look at residency. Although city teachers, fire and police personnel are excluded by state law, it is a requirement that city employees reside in the city. Over the years there have been a number of incidents where employees have circumvented the law by setting up "in town" addresses when they really resided elsewhere. This was tacitly approved by the Palmer administration...unless or until you somehow stepped on the Mayor's toes. Then all of sudden you could find yourself suspended if not fired for non-residency.

Former Director's of the City Library, City Museum at Ellarslie and managers within the City's vast Public Works Departments are just some of the people who took a hit for not living in town.

On the other hand, various and sundry Palmer appointees have been allowed to maintain false residences here or given dispensation to live elsewhere over the years.

Allan Mallach took an apartment here, but never really left his home in Roosevelt when he was Housing and Economic Development Director.

Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum, has a home on Mercer Street in Mill Hill that she visits so rarely the neighbors frequently turn her front porch into their own personal social club. Her backyard gets cut about once a season...only after the weeds get at least knee high. And the building itself is showing signs of neglect and disrepair.

Assistant Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez lived in the city, then moved out when he left his job at City Hall to work for the Trenton Economic Development Corporation (TEDC--remember them? That was the agency that bungled the construction of the office building at Front and Broad Streets preventing the move of the Hill Wallack Law Firm into Trenton from West Windsor). Once the TEDC unravelled and Dennis sought shelter back at Palmer HQ at 319 E. State Street, he resided outside of the city long enough for the leadership of the Trenton Council of Civic Associations and others to start asking questions residency. To his credit, Mr. Gonzalez did purchase another house in the city shortly thereafter.

Police Director Joe Santiago is a real interesting case. When he first took the position in 2003, Mr. Santiago said he was anxious to move his family to Trenton and various neighborhoods were cited as possible locations. In the interim, Mr. Santiago took up weekday residence at the Trenton Marriott (did we ever find out who paid for that?). After awhile, the Director allegedly took an apartment in South Trenton at the Grand Court Villas (Cigar Factory). Still later, he listed his address as the residence of his assistant, Abe Hemsey in North Trenton. Then came the revelation that Mayor Palmer was granting Director Santiago special permission to commute to and from his home in Sterling, NJ (at the City Taxpayer's expense) due to medical and family reasons.

Yup. The Mayor "stands with anyone" who will go along with him and do his bidding. But he sure doesn't stand too close to those who have a differing opinion.

And it doesn't just extend to city employees.

But what about the local architect, preservationist and developer who had to sit out a round after not being reappointed to the City Landmark's Commission for Historic Preservation. This just happened to occur after the individual actively campaigned for one of Doug's opponents? You don't find many bigger Trenton boosters than this fellow, but he was given a "time out" by the Mayor.

How about local business owners who have struggled and hung in there, waiting for the tide to turn and things to get better in town only to have the Mayor's wife suddenly stop using their services. Could it be because the shop owners openly criticize what they see as wrong about the city? Or support candidates other than the Mayor's chosen few?

The examples go on. Anyone who is the slightest bit engaged, even the "johnnie-come-latelies" as Council President Pintella calls them, in the local scene can provide a story or two of their own. And they all point to the same sad fact.

Mayor Palmer's words, "I will stand with anyone who wants to move this city forward" are as devoid of veracity as his suits are empty.

A matter of dollars and sense

Two interesting items from this past week's news:

The City Administration has agreed to spend yet another $78,000+ to upgrade the seldom working neon sign that sprawls across the facade of the Fire Headquarters building on Perry Street.

If you're not up to speed on this subject, here's a brief synopsis.

The sign was conceived to be a companion to the famous "Trenton Makes" sign on the lower free bridge across the Delaware River that would serve as a landmark and help attract people to the Fire Museum (which itself didn't reopen until a couple of years ago). Originally estimated to cost $75,000 to build and install on the Fire Headquarters building in 2002, the balky sign has seldom worked right for any measurable length of time.

The latest contract granted to update and upgrade the sign brings the total spent on this boondoggle has reportedly cost the city $500,000 over the last five years.


The second item was an article in Saturday's Times about the serious deterioration of physical plant at Trenton Central High School's main (Chambers Street) campus.

In the article TCHS Principal James Earle and other district employees decried the crumbling plaster, leaky roof, and overall decrepit condition of the once grand and glorious 75 year old edifice.



The story is bound to rekindle the passionate debate over saving the building or trashing it (and along with it, a significant icon on the city's once proud image. And it will highlight, yet again, the sorry state of Trenton's educational system.

We can all name socio-economic reasons why not every student is thriving in our schools. What has never been made clear as how and why we have let the school buildings deteriorate to the point that they can't hope to function for their intended purpose.

We can't find or won't allocate the funds to quite literally keep a roof over the heads of our school children, but we can fritter away a half-million dollars on a stupid neon sign that has never worked properly and can hardly be seen from anywhere except in front of the building it is on.

It just doesn't make sense.

A different take

South Trenton resident and Community Activist Juan Martinez sounded off in a recent Trentonian article about the tightening of the laws requiring New Jersey residents to legally register their vehicles within 60 days of moving here.

According to Mr. Martinez, enforcement of the auto registration laws is some sort of veiled, anti-Latino movement supported by certain racist/elitist factions within the community.

Thursday night's City Council meeting was well attended by a group speaking out against this law, (a state law by the way, not a city law) that they claim is unfairly aimed at Latino immigrants.

Before we choose sides and start pointing fingers, let's look at this situation realistically.

The effect of this "new" law is to close some technical loopholes in the prior law. It was already mandated that individuals who establish their principle residence in New Jersey must register their vehicles in this state within a given time frame. There was also somewhat vague language that granted what amounted to an unlimited grace period for people not residing here full-time.

Apparently, the old law was for all intents and purposes unenforceable. And since New Jersey has if not the single highest, one of the highest, automobile insurance rates in the country, many people took advantage of the legal loophole to register their car elsewhere to skirt the rules and save money.

So we got a new law.

The purpose of the old law was to guarantee that automobiles based and principally operated in New Jersey...the most densely populated state of the union, were properly registered, insured and inspected in an effort to increase the safety for all the residents of New Jersey.

Now we have a new law. I don't see that its purpose is any different plus it cleans up some messy language of the prior law.

Another fact: Trenton is a city that grew and was laid out well before the post-world war two advent of the automobile. Houses sit close together on narrow streets that don't provide anywhere near enough parking for the increasing number of cars in each household. It's a problem.

So when a resident comes home late and can't find a parking place convenient to his or her front stoop, he or she gets upset. And when the cars parked nearest his or her front door is registered out of state, he or she gets more upset.

(Convenient in this case would be a generalization referencing those one or two parking spots that are closest to one's own front door. The definition varies...especially for those who live on streets where there is no on-street parking allowed!)

Folks...we live in a city. Parking is at a premium. If you want convenient, plentiful, semi-private parking just footsteps from your front door, maybe an urban neighborhood is not for you.

(We, the people, created this mess. We moved our homes, schools, jobs, stores and amusements ever further into what used to be the state's farmland only to increase our dependency on automobiles to go to work or play. But that's a topic for another time.)

Compounding this issue is the decades of Regional Contribution Agreements (RCA's) that have allowed the suburbs to buy their way out of providing affordable housing within their borders. Jobs move out of the cities but the housing affordable to our lowest wage earners is concentrated more and more in these same cities. So how do these folks get to work?

Cars. Lots of cars.

So, aside from election year "stunting" by incumbents looking to prove they deserve yet another term in the State Legislature, some of the impetus for this tightening of the automobile registration law may have come from those who feel that there are too many vehicles belonging to transients and recent arrivals clogging up our streets.

But this "remedy" is not to be applied exclusively to immigrants. We can probably all count among our acquaintances people who drive out-of-state registered vehicles while their principal domicile is here in the Garden State.

Now let's not make any mistakes here. Anyone who thinks cracking down on the "illegally" registered cars with Pennsy tags is going to free up unlimited amounts of parking for fully compliant residents is delusional.

The majority of those vehicles will ultimately be registered "legally" in New Jersey and the parking shortage will remain.

What we may gain is an increase in compliance with all auto registration laws...including proper insurance and inspection of the vehicles that ply our roads.

Mr. Martinez and his friends fear that the new laws will ultimately rob working people of their mode of transportation to get to and from work.

He may be right in some cases. But instead of railing against the enforcement of the original intent of the auto registration laws, he might do better arguing for an end to the economic segregation caused by the RCA's that concentrate affordable housing in the old urban centers while the jobs flee to the suburbs. Then some of these cars might not be needed in the first place.

It is a tough issue. There are many who feel that these hard-working immigrants should be given what amounts to special treatment when it comes to following the laws of the land they have come to live and work in. What so many seem to fail to grasp is that by ignoring or waiving the “rules” we cheapen our quality of life and standard of living.

If this is truly a land of opportunity where hard working people, whether their immigration status is legal or not, can provide a better life for themselves, why would we want to diminish it by selecting what laws are acceptable to follow and which aren’t? Aren’t the laws of the land the rules we follow to keep the machinery of our society in working order?

Unfortunately there no doubt are some who do see this “new” law (which, again, is no different than the intent of the old law) as an opportunity to force people of a different ethnic or cultural background out of the area.

For many more, it is just a way to bring parity and fairness back to the table.

“Why do I have to register my car here, get it inspected, and pay high insurance premiums when my neighbor doesn’t?”

Critics of the “new” law speak of fairness but they are asking for favoritism and to be exempted from the law. Is that fair?

Generations of people from all over the world have come to this country and the vast majority of them have taken the time and made the effort to play by the established rules. Why is it now “unfair” to ask others to do the same?

With freedom and opportunity comes a responsibility to follow the rules. And as long as the rules are applied equally to all then there really is no reason to complain.

Imagine

The Jersey Journal, newspaper of record for Jersey City, is running a series of articles about crime in the city. (available on line at NJ.com)

The series is based upon the compilation and charting, via computers, of violent crime statistics for the 19 months from January 2006 through July of this year as obtained by the Newark Star Ledger and Jersey Journal staff through Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests.

So far, there have been no great revelations in the information presented...especially to those who have been paying attention to crime discussions and statistics for awhile now.

There are very strong similarities between the description of problems (youth congregating on street corners; limited police resources; broken families; poor education systems; etc.)in Jersey City and what we hear, read and say about Trenton.

One thing that has struck this reader, so far there has been little evidence of the hyperbole so present in Trenton's "crime fighting" strategies.

For instance, in this morning's article, there is a very matter-of-fact statement by Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey regarding how his department maintains a list of the most serious repeat and violent juvenile offenders in order to help the Prosecutor's office deal with their cases.

There was no hype about this being a ground-breaking approach. We don't know from the article, but one gets the sense there was no highly-paid consultant credited with this common sense approach to law enforcement data analysis. It was held up as the next great wave in crime-fighting.

Let's hope more Trentonians read this series and can take away some good information that can be applied here.

And let's hope our Public Officials read the series and realize that reducing crime is a serious issue and not just a public relations opportunity.

Reporters, Councilpersons, or the Public shouldn't have to resort to OPRA requests for information on crime in the city.

It's time to stop playing to the cameras and the press and talk about our crime problem, real or perceived, in a very real and open way.

And we're all the poorer for it.

Rutgers Economists James Hughes and Joseph Seneca have reported that people are leaving New Jersey faster than ever before. Studying the Census and IRS data from 2002 through 2006, Hughes and Seneca determined that the gap between the number of people leaving the state and the number of people moving in has more than tripled.

New Jersey could actually see an overall decrease in population as early as 2008.

William Dressel, Executive Director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, is concerned of the overall impact this can have on our cash-strapped state. Not only does fewer people translate into less taxes collected, a significant population drop could cost us a Congressional seat and reduce the population-based Federal Aid received.

But there are other losses to be considered as the population flees the high property-taxes, poor infrastructure, over-developed suburbs and decaying urban centers.

The people who are leaving are those who can. Those who have the ways and means to pack up and move...whether it is across the river or across the country. Certainly, our economy will miss their spending.

But these are also most likely to be people who are involved in making their communities better. They are the activists, board members, volunteers, patrons, etc. that breath life and vitality into our arts, education, and civic non-profits. These are the people who, to the best of their ability, give back to keep our towns and cities livable.

As they flee, our efforts to move forward, especially in places like Trenton, are impaired...if not hamstrung.

This last week marked a significant loss for the Greater Trenton Community as two very committed and involved people completed the transition of divesting from Trenton and setting up shop in the middle of the country.

For the last decade or so, if you looked at any one's list of "movers and shakers" in Trenton, you would have seen the names of Beth and Garry Feltus. Business people, civic leaders, former school board member, patrons of the arts, they were in many ways ideal citizens.

In time honored fashion, they have packed up and headed west in search of a better life. No doubt they will miss Trenton and the people they've shared so much with.

And to be sure, Trenton will miss them.

How many more Beth and Garry's will pull up stakes and leave this week? This month? This year?

How will the State of New Jersey fare when all that's left are those who aren't able to go anywhere else?

Well what do you know?

So at least five of Trenton's City Council members showed good sense last night and voted to not renew the liquor license for the troubled Club XL.

If you don't remember, Club XL operated at the site of the old City Gardens up by where Calhoun Street runs into MLK Blvd. The operation was fraught with problems: fights, robberies, underage drinking and alleged live sex acts, nudity and prostitution. It has been closed since 2004 while the various charges have been debated and argued and heard.

Although the body had voted previously to not renew the license, the owners are appealing the decision. In the meantime, they came back to Council with the proposal to renew the license so it could be sold and transferred to another location.
Even though Special Counsel Joseph Alaqua suggested the proposal be accepted, Councilpersons Bethea, Lartigue, Melone, Segura and Staton voted against it. Councilman Coston was absent due to family business and Council President Pintella abstained.

Interestingly, a similar offer to renew the license upon condition of it's sale was put before the Club XL owners early on in the process and they turned it down; preferring to take their chances in winning a favorable decision after the charges against them were heard.

Now that the "evidence is in" and the City Council, sitting as the local ABC Board, has denied the license renewal the owners are singing a different tune.

Too bad.

And "Yeah" for those City Council members who stuck to their guns and denied the renewal of this license again.

Thank you.

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.

Did I Miss Something?

Was I away when obeying the law was made optional? Especially if it was personally convenient or expedient to do otherwise.

For years, decades, I've been under the impression that when a traffic signal is red, it means stop. Stop and wait until the light goes to green before proceeding.

Apparently, this has changed.

While walking through the neighborhood the other morning, I observed the following:

A vehicle west bound on Market Street approached the intersection with Jackson Street. The light was red for the traffic on Market Street. The operator stopped the vehicle...momentarily...and then proceeded through the intersection and on his or her way.

"Interesting approach to a red light," I thought.

And then I observed two more cars do the exact same thing in what I can only presume was a case of "monkey see, monkey do."

I guess the law just doesn't apply to these individuals.

Now Mill Hill residents have been on a crusade to slow traffic down on Market Street and decrease the frequent running of red-lights. It could be argued that this new "stop and go" approach is an improvement. But it still violates the law every bit as much as just blowing through a light.

Another example of ignoring the law for personal convenience: barking dogs.

This is not a reference to dogs who bark occasionally. This is what dogs do.

It becomes a problem when a dog is left to bark, non-stop at all hours of the day and/or night until it becomes a distraction and annoyance to everyone within earshot (except, apparently the owners). And it can't be good for the dog.

For the past several weeks a residents of the northern end of Mill Hill have been treated to this annoyance at all hours of the night. Three in the morning, 6 in the morning, 8 at night, it doesn't seem to matter to the dog's owners. They banish the pooch to the porch and the rest of the neighborhood have to deal with the noise.

How do people get to point where they can ignore not only the well-being of the dog, but the restrictions on noise in the city ordinances and common courtesy as well? Do they not understand that "following the rules" is not optional behavior, but optimal behavior if we are to live, work and play in successful community?

Or was I absent the day they changed that fact?

***

Tangential to the subject of following the law, New Jersey Governor Corzine signed into law this week a bill aimed at closing a loophole that prevented law enforcement agencies from effectively cracking down on residents with automobiles registered out of state.

The bill was sponsored by Senator Shirley Turner in an effort to increase compliance with the existing, if faulty, statute.

One has to wonder though, is enacting a new law to enforce an existing law really going to be effective? If people are prone to ignore one law, aren't they going to be equally inclined to ignore others aimed at changing the same behavior?

There Oughta Be A Law

While the great minds around town debate the merits of an ordinance designed to combat the "fashion statement" of exposed buttocks and baggy jeans, a more insidious situation goes on and on.

Not a week goes by that some cafe, restaurant or sandwich shop papers the neighborhood with menu fliers advertising and promoting the goods they purvey. Now I'm not against a business promoting itself, but these menus just about all end up blowing around the streets of Trenton adding to the way to plentiful litter and trash. I'd like to propose that the City make the offending establishments take responsibility for their marketing pieces that go astray.

While the intent is honest and forthright enough, the end result of these "lit drops" is that fliers do just that, fly, around the neighborhood on the slightest of breezes.

How about a "tax" on all businesses that decide they want to advertise by flier? The extra revenue could be applied to the extra personnel required to work overtime to clean our city. Violators would be fined as well as receive a proscribed stint of community service cleaning up the streets.

Or sewing new trousers that fit for the offenders of the "no butt crack" law.

Head Scratching

We took our morning coffee out to the stoop the other day to enjoy the bright and balmy day. An obviously agitated neighbor wandered by.

Noting our friend's distress, we inquired as to why the scowl and this was the response:

I am tired of the crap that is allowed to take place in this city. NO ONE pays attention to red lights, crossing at the right place, parking regulations, speeding, noise violations, GARBAGE AND TRASH ACCUMULATION. When will it begin? If the police would ticket the sweeper violations, parking in the wrong direction, illegal parking around the post office, speeding, red lights and noise violations the courts may have a bit more work ( hello?!?!?!THAT'S WHAT THE DAMN FINE IS FOR!!!) but WE WOULD GENERATE MORE MONEY AND , this is the good part, people would begin to obey the law!

Warming to the topic, our friend continued:

As long as I am on the subject...what about how clean this city is...NOT? Drive anywhere outside the city of Trenton and turn around and come back. You can tell when you get to the city limits because of the trash on the side of the road around homes and disgusting street conditions. NO ONE F*****G CARES. At least when we HAD the bike race that route was cleaned....CLEAN AND SAFE. Dude, when you have company over to the house, if the place is trashed, your guests will not care either. If you have a nice home and company visits, they will use coasters and not trash the homestead. THE SAME IS TRUE FOR A CITY. CLEAN HOUSE; CLEAN CITY. It just upsets me.

"Friend" makes a good point. Tackling the basic "quality of life" issues sends a message and sets a tone. Enforcing the laws, collecting the fines and/or demanding community service from offenders are proven deterrents to not only these seemingly "minor" annoyances, but can actually help decrease more serious crime.

One other note, if we want consistent and effective enforcement of the laws, we have to be ready to suffer the consequences if/when we ourselves are cited for a lapse of adherence to the rules.

***

This morning's Times has an interesting article by Kevin Shea that catalogues the shortcomings of the City's oft-touted but obviously defective network of video surveillance cameras.

This is the same system that former TPD Officer Butch Osterman was suspended for criticizing publicly on his Trenton Facts website. After a prolonged suspension, Butch was "allowed" to make a plea, and transfer from TPD to the Mercer County Sheriff's department. Fortunately, Butch landed on his feet...or at least on his Segueway Scooter.

After reading Kevin Shea's article, am I the only person who thinks the Administration and Director Santiago in particular owe Mr. Osterman a very large and public formal apology?

Or are they going to seek retribution against Mr. Shea for speaking the same truth?
***

One of the canine residents of the neighborhood, Baron von Bark-Bark, and his human dodged yesterday's rain showers to take a walk along the dike in Morrisville. The Baron and friend got to thinking about how nice it is to be able to stroll from the Calhoun Street Bridge to the Lower (Trenton Makes) bridge along the red stone path atop the dike.

The walk affords great views of the Trenton skyline (where keen eyes can spot buildings built in the 18th through 21st centuries), not to mention easy observation of the river itself. There are almost always people out sitting and contemplating the water's flow; watching the various fowl that frequent the area; or just getting some exercise by walking or cycling along the path.

And there have been a steady stream of improvements to the area to make it more user friendly. Most recently noted is the installation of mini-pads of pavers that one assumes will be the location for a string of new benches along the dike.

Little Morrisville obviously understands that it's river frontage is an asset and is working to enhance it.

When will Trenton ever get to that point?

Baseball Rules

At least today.

This afternoon the Trenton Historical Society hosted the Flemington Neshanock as they played the Elkton (MD) Eclipse in an old-time baseball game at Cadwalader Park.

If you've never watched one of these games, think reenactors playing baseball as it was played 120 years or so ago. No gloves; three balls is a walk; etc.

Great fun and as good an excuse as any to spend a few hours outdoors.

If that wasn't fun enough, the Trenton Thunder won their first ever league championship in the team's 14 season history by defeating the Akron Aeros, 10-5.

Congratulations to both groups for their historical efforts on behalf of all Trentonians.

Freedom's Just Another Word For Nothing Left To Lose

But freedom of speech seems to be another matter. At least on the NJ.com/Trenton forum.

Yes, this is the site that has been vilified by Trenton Police Director Santiago as a place where malcontents go to whine and cry about how unfair life is.

Yes, this is the site that has lead to a more than a couple of stories in the Times of Trenton and elsewhere.

Now, posting on the forum has not been high on the list of things to do. Reading it regularly is another thing.

Agree, disagree or just plain get turned off by a post, it was an generally interesting and often informative niche on the web.

The fact that NJ.com and it's partners the Star Ledger and Times of Trenton seem to be willing to exercise their expressed right to control the content of the forum against any semblance of free speech is upsetting. If these media outlets are willing to stifle discourse, how will they react (or have they reacted in the past) to efforts of others to control what they print?

I'm not only disheartened by this apparent lack of appreciation for freedom of speech. And, if has been suggested, it is merely to keep the lid on anything controversial as Trenton prepares for a visit by the US Conference of Mayors (you know, that lobbying group from Washington DC that has erroneously anointed Doug Palmer their leader), then it's really wrong.

No one is saying that everything printed on "the forum" was right, truthful or pertinent. But we're adults here and if you don't like what you are reading...don't go to the website! If the Star Ledger, Times and NJ.com are yielding to pressure from the Palmer administration or anyone else to censor the forum in this manner, they should be deeply embarrassed.

In the meantime, free speech has moved to Trenton Speaks. Check it out and catch up with those that have been unceremoniously booted from the forum.

Now Why Can't We Be Like That?

One of the nice things about sitting on one's front stoop is the casual interactions you have with folks: friends, neighbors or just those passing by. Conversation, ideas and news are exchanged in a casual way.

For example, this tidbit that came my way about someone's recent experience at Freehold's outrageously successful "Cruise Night" event:

Recently we went to Freehold to get some great pizza at Federicci's.

We went on the last Thursday of the month, billed as cruise night.

The normal ride into town is about 2 minutes from Route 33; straight down Main Street to South Street, the center of town. This time it took 25 minutes.

Driving past Throckmorton Street both sides were closed off. There must have been at least 1,000, maybe 1,300 motorcycles lined up in a row with hundreds of men, women, and children checking them out! As we looked toward the old bus station, we noticed the rock band and the additional 500+ bikes extending all the way back to Broad Street. That really impressed us...until we got to the center of town. There both sides of the street, were lined with antique cars.

Wow, can you imagine downtown Trenton lined up with cars?

{NOTE: The Trenton Downtown Association's monthly 'Trenton 2Nite' event features a classic car night once a year with maybe two dozen vehicles on display}

In the center of town, at the head of South Street, there was a 50's band performing in front of the Hall of Records (Freehold is the County Seat of Monmouth County). Vendors were selling everything from hot dogs to bottled water. With only one of each type of vendor, everyone was busy selling.
Approaching the parking lot it too, was jammed with cars, a Doo Wop group, vendors, and people, lots and lots of people. Oh yes, in Freehold vacant lots created when the city has razed a building are turned into FREE parking lots. Lots that are well swept and maintained. So there is ample FREE parking to help PROMOTE business... Can you imagine a free parking lot?

We parked and walked across the street, at a crosswalk, to the pizza place. With 15 tables outside, 35 inside, there was a 35-minute wait. We waited and watched in total amazement. There were at least 20 police officers patrolling the area. NO ONE crossed the street except at a crosswalk. The one person who did cross in the middle of the block got a ticket for jaywalking. Can you imagine an officer in Trenton giving out a jaywalking ticket, or even a ticket for parking the wrong way on a street, or running red lights, or illegal parking, or speeding, or littering?

There were, by my partner's accounting, over 400 cars, twenty-seven restaurants and eatery's along main street and the surrounding side streets, three bands, and between 15 and 20 thousand people spending --what?-- $20 to $30 dollars each!
What would $500,000 injection of cash once a month do for Trenton???

Can you imagine???

Yes we can, but that is all we are allowed to do...imagine. Meanwhile we wait for over 20 years while hoping someone in city government will "get it."

In the meantime, we have to go somewhere else where the town leaders do get it. A place where citizens working in tandem with city government can pull such an event off. Incredible!

Maybe Freehold's Mayor should head up the US Conference of Mayors.

Yeah Team!

The Trenton Thunder baseball team continues to set franchise records. For the 13th consecutive season, the team collected over 400,000 admissions to games. And for the first time ever, the AA affiliate of the New York Yankees have advanced to the Eastern League Championship series.

Kudos to the ownership and management of the Thunder for another outstanding season.

But the good news doesn't stop there.

Yesterday was the opening reception for a new exhibit at Mercer County Community College's Gallery. Entitled "Dangerous Women Two" it was curated by Trish Fagan and pairs works of 70 regional women artists with brief biographies of "dangerous" women activists/artists/adventurers of the past century. Trenton resident Lisa Fuellemann is one of the featured artists. The exhibit runs through October 4.

And that just foreshadows three openings occurring this coming weekend in Trenton.

The next exhibit at Gallery 125 (downtown, 125 S. Warren Street) is "Shoot-The Photography Show" and features works by 30 regional photographers. Opening reception is Friday, Sept. 14, from 5 - 9 pm.

At the same time, "How We See What We See" opens at Artworks, 19 Everett's Alley. Eight regional artists are displaying their work in a show curated by Sculptor Kate Graves. A DJ and refreshments will add to the excitement of the opening.

Saturday night, The Garden State Watercolor Society will debut a show at Ellarslie in Cadwalader Park. The reception runs from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. And while you're there, check out the exhibit about the Maddock/Lamberton/Scammell potteries on the second floor.

It's looking like a winning season all the way around.

Another 'New Year'

There is a hazy recollection of late night conversation in a college dorm room about how one "visualizes" the calendar: straight line; circle; spiral? And what was the starting point of one's personal, visual timeline: January 1; Spring; Birthday; Post Labor Day/Back to School; or something more traditional as in the Jewish Calendar?

The theory of a "new year/fresh start" has great appeal to the American psyche and one could suggest that after 12-16 or more school years that begin in September that we "turn the page" on a new year then. The laid back summer daze draw to an end. Schedules adjust to back to business, books and such. Shorts only appear on weekends, long pants are the dress of the day.

We get "serious" about our work/studies. We buckle down for 10 or 12 weeks of work before the year end holidays set in and we once again become grateful hedonists.

Of course, the revelation that Trenton Central High School students have returned to the books with no class schedules to greet them indicates that some people may have been a little too laid back this summer. Reportedly, an administrator who formerly oversaw the scheduling process was not rehired for this year. The company retained to straighten out the district's computer system and work on student scheduling spent too much time on the former and the latter was overlooked.

And so the students' "new year" starts off in the hole. Nothing new here.

As the business at hand beckons, the posts on this blog may come with a little less frequency. There may be a little less railing at the inadequacies and excesses of our local government. Hopefully because our leaders will also "buckle down" to tackle the tasks before them effectively. But that's not a given.

Hopefully, too, there will be more positives things to chat about. The Thunder have won the first in their "Best of Five" Conference Championship series against Portland. Maybe this is the year that we'll make it past the first round of playoffs. The local hockey team has a new moniker (Trenton Devils) honoring their shared ownership with the NHL's New Jersey Devils.

The arts scene in Trenton is readying a harvest of events: watercolors at Ellarslie; Photography at Gallery 125; "Dangerous Woman" at the Mercer County College Gallery in West Windsor; and more.

Let's hope the scheduling snafu (and you do remember the derivation of that term as an old armed forces acronym for Situation Normal: All F****d Up)gets corrected before the Christmas decorations appear in the stores and the turkeys are displaying their oven roasted tans on our dining room tables.

Happy New Year!

A Little Bit of This; A Little Bit of That

So the long weekend started a little slow, inspiration wise.

"Sir Guy By The Canal" rightfully pointed out that there are things out there to write about and they're not all doom and gloom, "look how the regime is messing with the peasants" topics.

A stroll through town on such a beautiful afternoon brought us to West State Street and the restored "Roebling Mansion," now home to the New Jersey League of Municipalities. Although not the most elaborate or elegant of the proud collective of manses which once huddled along that stretch of road, it's good to see this link to Trenton's past saved and put to use. Nice to know the efforts of the Historical Society and other concerned citizens were able to prevent the building's demolition.



Walking by the Roebling Mansion reminds one of the deep, two way connection between John A. Roebling and Sons and the Trenton community. What was good for one, was good for the other.

But Roebling is gone now. Swallowed up and then, ultimately, shut down by a larger, national corporation. The same story can be told of our once booming rubber industry and our world class porcelain manufacturers.

Now we're seeing a second wave of closures and relocations. As noted previously, landmark food based businesses are shutting down and/or moving out (Michelle Lorie's, Marsilios, Sal De Forte's, Tattoni's, etc.) There is a license transfer for Cesare's Cafe on this week's City Council docket. But it's not just restaurants and such that we're losing.

While running errands the other day, it was noted that Broad Street Hardware is on the market. No doubt the location of three Home Depot's and two Lowe's in suburban Mercer County have cut into sales at locally owned Hardware Stores such as this. But the loss is another sign of the City's declining economic health.

Saving our local businesses is just as important as saving our historic buildings. They are an integral part of the fabric of the City. They contribute not only to the local economy but to that all important sense of place.

When these small businesses close or move, employment opportunities and ratables leave town with them. So think twice before you spend that dollar out of town. The job you save might ultimately help save this city.

Not What I Had Expected

The original purpose of this blog was to post musings on life in and around Trenton. The idea was to be a digital representation of what one might be thinking about while observing the world. Hopefully there would be some discussion (via comments), but mostly just an expression of those rambling ideas and fleeting inspirations that come from everyday experience.

The blog was never intended to be as political as it has gotten. And it wasn't meant to dwell on the ample negatives and sometimes preposterous situations that seem to arise every few minutes.

So it isn't really surprising that there was an unsettling sense of disappointment sitting on my shoulders after reading this morning's newspapers. No murders overnight (thankfully!); no additional Newark Police Department refugee retirees landing lucrative gigs here in T-town (so far); and no new revelations about underhanded doings in the school system or city hall. Even our city council members seem to be at peace with each other for the moment.

There were also no ads of public apology from outspoken citizens to thin-skinned public officials in either of the local dailies (but there is a very clever advertisement for placing one in the September Downtowner). We're all waiting with baited breath for that next development.

There was a dog-baiting incident in Mill Hill Park last evening that left one animal seriously wounded (and reportedly it had to be euthanized) and could probably be expounded upon in this space. Certainly that is fodder for thought and commentary, but we don't want to rile up one of Trenton's "most decorated scribes" and get another sermon on how Trenton (especially here in "toney" Mill Hill) don't care about the right things or the right people.

Maybe inspiration can be found elsewhere this morning.

Are You A High Roller?

Here's an interesting item found on NJ.com:

Six AC councilmen petition for mayor's recall
by South Jersey News Online

Thursday August 30, 2007, 7:01 AM

ATLANTIC CITY -- Six of this city's nine city council members have signed a petition seeking the recall of Mayor Bob Levy, according to The Press of Atlantic City.

Displeasure with Levy's administration drove creation of the "Atlantic City Committee to Recall Bob Levy," When asked why he signed, Councilman Gene Robinson cited his frustration with Levy's strong support of city Business Administrator Domenic Cappella. Robinson said Levy has turned over city administration to Cappella, "who is letting evil rule his life."

Can you imagine a City Council so fed up with a heavy handed administration that two thirds of it's members opt to form a recall committee for the Mayor?

Talk to anyone in the know at Trenton's City Hall and ultimately a couple of names will be mentioned as the primary source of "evil" within those hallowed walls. These individuals are appointees of the Mayor and he has seemed to abdicate much of his authority to them.

Do you think five of our seven Council members would sign on to a Mayoral Recall movement? Odds are against it since three of the seven explicitly owe their seats to the Mayor's support.

Better odds on winning the MegaMillions. Then if you're still around next election cycle (2010), you can buy your way into City Hall.

Fabulous Matching Luggage

In the beginning, there was Joe Santiago: A former Police Director in Newark where he'd risen through the ranks while currying favor with longtime Mayor, State Senator and erstwhile political heavyweight Sharpe James. Despite steady rumblings of questionable associates and less than exemplary behavior, Mr. Santiago was placed in charge of the NJ State Police. Alas, his tenure at the helm of that respected body was marked with accusations of rule bending and more inappropriate behaviors that eventually lead to his dismissal. Like a multi-lived feline, Mr. Santiago resurfaced in February 2003 as the Police Director in Trenton. None less than the esteemed (and since indicted) Mayor James came to the City Council advice and consent hearing to speak on behalf of Mr. Santiago.

A couple of years later, Retired Newark Police Captain Barry Colicelli was given a contract as a special consultant to Trenton Mayor Palmer. The contract appears to be very lucrative: a city police car at Mr. Colicelli's disposal; an office in City Hall with his name on the door; equipment and staff. Mr. Colicelli reportedly does other consulting work as well and may or may not use the City of Trenton supplied and paid for vehicle and gas to get to and from those jobs as well. Mr. Colicelli's credentials as an expert on Gangs have been questioned by skeptics and his financial difficulties have been documented.

Neither Mr. Santiago nor Mr. Colicelli, by the way, live in the City of Trenton. Certainly, the Police Director is supposed to, but all pretense at having a Trenton residence has been dropped by Mr. Santiago. Regardless of where they live, they seem to have been able to relieve themselves of the burden and drop their baggage at the door to City Hall

Now, in the latest round of accepting Newark Police Department cast-offs, the City of Trenton has announced that the new director of the Communications Division (aka "the radio room") will be one Irving Bradley. Mr. Bradley was the Newark Police Chief for two years after being appointed to the position by former Mayor Sharpe James. Bradley retired last year just before current Mayor, Cory Booker, took office.

As with Mr. Santiago and Mr. Colicelli, it seems as though Mr. Bradley comes well equipped with his own load of baggage. Seems as though Mr. Bradley had a little trouble back in 1998 when Rahway Police found him behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. Mr. Bradley tried to elude capture by the Police and assaulted an officer when ultimately caught and subdued.

Oh, and it should be mentioned that Mr. Bradley worked in the Newark Police Professional Standards office at the time of this incident. Move over Capt. Messina, you've got competition.

One has to wonder just how the City of Trenton seeks and screens candidates for these leadership positions. Are court records and allegations a requirement? Does a police record help?

Are there no other candidates out there other than retired Newark Police Officers?

Or maybe the Mayor is just trying to collect a complete set of matching luggage from all the baggage his appointees bring with them. I guess he needs it for all his clothes and his out sized ego.

But What About the Cap?

In yet another example economic silliness, much is being made about the dispute between Mayor "Dapper Doug" Palmer and Broad Street Bank developer Richard Libbey over the amount of rental units available to lower income renters.

The Mayor wants to hold the line at 20% of the units being less than market rate.

The Developer says the market won't support that ratio and wants 40% of the units made available at the lower rental rate.

The Mayor argues that a larger percentage of people who can afford the higher rents will benefit downtown Trenton with their disposable income spent in local restaurants and businesses.

Mr. Libbey counters that the businesses currently downtown will not attract the disposable dollars of the higher income tenants.

What is not being addressed in this standoff is the question of the income cap for renting apartments in the Broad Street Bank building.

That's right...if you were so inclined to rent and move into one of the apartments with those spectacular views of Mill Hill Park, Downtown Trenton and beyond, you had better not make too much money. The funding provided by the State of New Jersey (specifically the NJ Housing Mortgage and Finance Authority) comes with a restriction that applies even to the "unrestricted" apartments.

Tenants cannot earn more than seven times their rent. That is to say, for a top of the line $1500.00 per month apartment in the Broad Street Bank building, must earn less than $126,000 per year.

So, if we want residents to move into the city who can not only afford to live here but have money to spend supporting local businesses, services and restaurants what is the sense in arguing about how many or how few units are "affordable" on the low end of the rent scale in the Broad Street Bank?

As it stands right now we could have a line of millionaires that stretches from Hopewell to Princeton Junction who all want to live in the Broad Street Bank building (I can dream can't I?) but the rules of the NJHMFA would prohibit them from leasing an apartment there.

Now that makes real sense, doesn't it?!?!?

Golden Swan Lays Golden Egg for Developer

Once upon a time there was an early 19th Century building of historical significance located in downtown Trenton. After having served at various times as a tavern, newspaper office, appliance store, locksmith’s shop, etc. it sat vacant for over a decade.

Along came former NJ Senator Robert Torricelli and his real estate development company, Woodrose Properties, to step in to save the long vacant “Golden Swan” (aka “Caola Building”) at W. Front and S. Warren Streets.

Please hold your “huzzahs.”

Yes, it is a positive step forward in preserving a landmark downtown building. But at what cost?

Before Woodrose/Torricelli came along another developer had gotten the rights to the historic property. Enterprise Real Estate Services, Inc., an affiliate of the well-known and highly successful Rouse Company, was very interested in preserving, renovating and revitalizing that down-at-the-heels site in 2002.

Everyone was excited to have such a respected company come to town and do their magic. Best of all, Enterprise representatives said they were not intending to seek tax abatements on the project.

The banners were unfurled, the trumpets blared and the drums were beaten. Signs were hung from the building’s facade. It was the perfect follow-up to the then soon to open Marriott and just what was needed to turn the corner for that part of downtown and Trenton touted it as only Trenton can.

As the story goes, the developer went back to the city and asked for some help with the demolition of a 20th Century addition at the rear of the building, plus some other remediation/stabilization work. Specifically, the City declined to fund some/all of the needed work to the tune of about $500,000.00

Now remember, the developer was going to buy the building and wasn’t going to ask for tax abatements.

The City Father’s balked. The Developer walked.

In March of 2005 Woodrose comes in and gets the property for $1 (the city paid $164,000 for it a few years earlier) plus a five year tax abatement equaling 15% of annual gross revenues once a Certificate of Occupancy is issued. And the demo and remediation work were done at the City’s expense.

At about the same time, Woodrose/Torricelli purchased some property on West State Street, not too far from the Golden Swan. Plans were announced to redevelop those buildings for office space.

Work started and the Golden Swan started looking good. Progress was noted on the West State Street properties. The Mayor was happy. The Once and Future Acting Housing and Economic Development Director, Dennis Gonzalez, was happy. The Developer was happy. Signs went up, trumpets blared, yadda-yadda.

On August 17, 2006 Trenton’s City Council approved the granting of $89,000.00 in Urban Enterprise Zone funds to Woodrose Properties (a for-profit, private developer) for the installation of an elevator in the West State Street project. The vote was 6 to 1 in favor of the appropriation. The lone “No” vote belongs to West Ward Councilwoman Annette Lartigue.

The argument made by the Administration in favor of the funding: “The as yet uncompleted project is fully leased.” As of the last time we checked that building was still vacant.


What wasn’t said, but should have been made clear to the Council and the general public was the fact that this Private, For-Profit Developer has as one of the principals former Senator Robert Torricelli. The same Robert Torricelli who was caught up in a fund-raising scandal that cost him his Senate seat.

Interestingly, in the year immediately preceding the May 9 Municipal Elections, the Torricelli for US Senate, Inc. contributed $6,000.00 to the Mayor’s re-election campaign. Additionally, in April of 2006 the former Senator’s ex-wife contributed $2,500.00 to the Mayor’s campaign and another $2,5000.00 to the Joint Committee to re-elect the Palmer slate of At-Large candidates. In total, $11,000.00 was contributed to re-election campaigns.

Is it coincidental that $89,000.00 in Urban Enterprise Zone funds that could have been spread around to help many more businesses was contributed by the city to Woodrose? And is it equally coincidental that an estimated half a million dollars worth of demolition and remediation work was financed by the city plus a five year tax abatement granted to Woodrose’s “Golden Swan” project? A project, by the way that will probably also qualify for Historic Preservation Tax Credits.

All of this City financed largesse was given to a Private, For-Profit Developer and a principal in that developer is former Senator Robert Torricelli.

It’s no fairy tale.

Now isn't that interesting.

The Times had the following story on their webiste tonight (Thursday) and promised a print version in Friday's paper.

City condo development awaits council nod
Posted by The Times of Trenton August 23, 2007 9:57PM
Categories: Development, News
TRENTON -- Builder K. Hovnanian is just a vote away from receiving a tax exemption that would enable it to pay the city a fixed amount of taxes on the former Champale brewery site and other properties, where a condo development is planned, rather than full taxes for 10 years.
The city council recently introduced an ordinance that would grant Hovnanian a 10-year PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) for the Villages at Delaware Run, an 84-unit project bordered by Lamberton, Cliff, Lalor and Centre streets.
Under the PILOT, Hovnanian would pay the city 2 percent of the total project cost annually for 10 years instead of full property taxes. That translates into 2 percent of the sale price of an individual unit and 2 percent of the value of the development's common area. The payments would start when a certificate of occupancy is issued.
The project is expected to cost a little more than $20 million.
Dennis Gonzalez, city assistant business administrator, said he expects the city to received an estimated $400,000 a year in payment in lieu of taxes. That is 20 times the amount the city now receives in taxes for the properties acquired by the city through eminent domain, and the properties acquired privately by Hovnanian, Gonzalez said.
See Friday's Times for more on this story.
Contributed by Eva Loayza

Now a couple of things come to mind:

First, is Dennis Gonzalez being the spokesman for the city on this? As reported in the article, Dennis' current title is Assistant Business Administrator. My question is, why is an "assistant" speaking on behalf of the administration regarding this tax abatement? Why not the Business Administrator or the Director of Housing and Economic Development?

Second, why is the tax abatement or Payment In Lieu Of Taxes (PILOT) being proposed.

It is understood that these PILOT's are offered to developers to sweeten the deal and make it attractive to do their work in the city. Similarly, homeowners who make substantial improvements to their properties are entitled (and encouraged) to apply for a five year tax abatement.

What is interesting about the K. Hovnanian proposal is the sentence in the article that reads:
"The payments would start when a certificate of occupancy is issued."

So if a Certificate of Occupancy (CO) is not issued, does that mean that no taxes or PILOTS are due? And if that is the case, what about the Nexus Development in Mill Hill where we live? My understanding is that, after two years, the City has not issued CO's to at least some of the owners of the property. So is Nexus or the Sussman family that controls the company making the appropriate tax or PILOT payments?

I'd like a direct and swift response to that question.

How's That Again?

A man received a gunshot wound in a scuffle that was the result of an armed robbery just after midnight, Tuesday morning (August 21). Crime Stoppers of Greater Trenton is offering a reward for any information leading to the arrest of the individuals responsible for the crime (reportedly four youths).

A quick review of the Crime Stoppers website provided an eye opener even for this jaded soul.

The organization has listed over 50 crimes that it is offering cash rewards for. Those 50 crimes only go back five months to late March of this year! That's 10 crimes a month that are serious enough to warrant a special cash incentive to bring forward information that can help solve them.

That's an average of one violent and/or serious crime every three days!

And that's just from one source of information...the Crime Stoppers website.

Odds are there is even a greater number of serious crimes that have occurred that haven't made it onto the Crime Stoppers list. Or that haven't been reported to the Police. Or have been reported but have been classified in a less serious manner.

But let's just stick with the 50 crimes on the website. Fifty crimes in 150 days. One every three days.

If crime is down, what was the old average number of serious crimes committed in the City of Trenton?

Who'll Stop the Rain

Well we need it. We've been a little shy on rainfall this summer (but not for the year to date) and the extreme heat of the past couple of weeks didn't help. So we really can't complain about a couple of days of grey, wet weather. It's good for the ducks and the mushrooms.

Speaking of mushrooms...you know the old joking way of referring to people left out of the loop on decision making as mushrooms because they are "kept in the dark and fed a diet of manure." Well, sometimes I feel like Trenton is being run like a big mushroom farm.

The leadership of this city is deeply mired in the habit of tightly controlling what it wants people to know and when. And this might not be all bad in theory, but in practice, so far, it pretty much sucks.

Councilman Coston has reported on his blog that directives have been sent out stating that City Council people are not to address concerns with City Department Heads directly and, conversely, Department Heads are not to respond to City Council people directly. All communication, we're told, is to go through the Mayor's Office of Citizen Concerns.

Does that seem odd to you? If City Council people have to take Citizen Concerns through the Mayor's Office, doesn't it sort of defeat the point of electing City Council people? Readers of Mr. Coston's blog know how he feels about this, but we haven't heard anything from the rest of Council. They should be outraged at being neutralized by the Administration, yet we hear nary a peep (except from the representative of the South Ward).

And then there is the most recent round of transfers and reassignments in the Trenton Police Department. Now its always a slippery slope if management decisions are made by public consensus, but some decisions are just plain wrong and should be reconsidered. What possible reason can warrant informing someone while on vacation that he has been reassigned from a job that he thought (and a majority of people seem to agree) he was performing well, if not excelling at?

Further, if the whole operational premise is one of "community oriented policing" where the various officers are assigned to specific areas and meet with the people from those areas regularly, then shouldn't the people be informed of the changes directly and at the same time as the officers are?

Doesn't it make sense to inform the community that they are going to have new "partners" and provide their names and contact information so there is no lapse in communication?

Apparently not in Trenton under the current police leadership. No, the Police Director appears to practice "management at will" (or is it "management by whim?") and he seems to believe there is little to no reason to inform the public of his decisions.

And then there is the situation where Zac Chester was threatened with legal action for doing nothing more than asking for some information about development and redevelopment projects in Trenton. In what is assumed to be an attempt to silence anyone who dares question members of the City Administration, a high ranking official is suggesting he'd rather sue than answer to a city resident and taxpayer.

The underlying theme in all of this is a very strong desire to not let the public know, for fear they might scrutinize and then criticize, what the Administration is doing. The leadership is apparently fearful that the public might not react well to how it's going about the City's business.

"What they don't know can't hurt us," seems to be the mantra emanating from City Hall.

Keep them in the dark and feed them manure.

Well, its' time that the citizens of Trenton stop acting like mushrooms. We need to stand together and demand the accountability of our appointed and elected officials alike.

We need to stop this deluge of indifference to the public's right to know and shed some light on just what is really going on in Trenton.

We need to demand proper, complete and timely answers to our questions.

Let My Fingers Do The Talking

Let's just recap all the events of the past week in Trenton that have left my hands exhausted from typing:

The week started with the discovery of a video produced in the manner of a movie trailer for an action film that touted the accomplishments and credentials of our own Mayor Douglas H. Palmer. The video was made by the US Conference of Mayors, a lobby group that Mayor Palmer currently presides over. It was filled with in-jokes and padded with TV and film clips. A DVD with the video plus a longer, more serious one was sent to select individuals in the area.

From this viewer's perspective, the video was in poor taste considering the state of our city. We'll comment on that at a later date.

Following on the heels of the release of the video, the September issue of Esquire hit newsstands. Inside was a pictorial shot at the Conference of Mayors Convention in LA in June. And there was "Dapper Doug" with a full page photo modeling a very expensive suit, shirt and tie.

More inflated that the cost of the clothes were the self-serving quotes that accompanied the image.

In a newspaper article reporting on the Mayor's Publicity Blitz, Mr. Palmer feigned humility and embarrassment at all the attention. A few days later the editors of the same publication called him on it by suggesting he could simply say "No" to these TV appearances, magazine layouts, etc.

On Thursday came the revelation that Dennis Gonzalez, a self-described "loyal employee of Mayor Palmer" sent a letter to a private citizen threatening to sue for libel and slander unless that citizen offered up a spoken apology at that night's City Council meeting followed by publishing newspaper ads with the same apology. And all the Citizen had done was ask for an status update on the various and sundry development projects that had been proposed since Mr. Gonzalez had become a city employee.

Imagine being sued for asking questions of your local government!

And to cap off the week, a dedicated and effective Police Detective was notified (while on vacation no less) that he was being reassigned to patrol in a seemingly deliberate attempt to weaken the Police/Community relationship in the City's South Police District.

Yup, folks. There is plenty of fodder for conversation in the events of last week.

Meet me out on the stoop and we'll talk about 'em.

A Tale of Two Citizens

Well it appears as though Doug Palmer's "go to guy" has crossed a line.

Dennis Gonzales, the person who's held more titles in City Hall than the Yankees have won penants, may have just lost his favored status.

Back on May 15, a respected, thoughtful young Citizen by the name of Zachary Chester sent a letter to City Council requesting information on all the development projects that Mr. Gonzalez had been involved with during his multi-tenures as Housing and Development Director (acting or otherwise). The letter opens:

Dear President Pintella:

I am very disappointed by what I read in The Times newspaper on Sunday, May 13, 2007. I would like for this council to look into every redevelopment and development project that Mr. Dennis Gonzalez, Assistant Business Administrator and Acting Housing and Economic Development Director has worked on since his employment with the City of Trenton. I would like to know the outcome of each and every project he has been involved in.

Mr. President, I would like to have this information in writing within the next sixty (60) days.

Mr. Chester then goes on to ask for some specifics on the Trenton Town Center project.

As noted in the letter, the requests were made in response to a lengthy article published two days prior in a local paper which pointed to Mr. Gonzalez as being at least partly responsible for delays in the Trenton Town Center project. Mr. Gonzalez's reported responses were fairly typical: arrogant.

So Mr. Chester asks City Council (with copies to the Mayor, the Business Administrator and the Chief of Staff) do some looking into the situation and report back.

Of course no one from City Hall responds.

On August 15, Mr. Chester received a letter from Mr. Gonzalez. The letter is not sent on City of Trenton letterhead. The letter is sent from Citizen Gonzalez's home address which is just one block away from Citizen Chester's home. And the envelope was post-marked August 14...two weeks after the date on the letter.

The letter from "Citizen" Gonzalez reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Chester:

The purpose of this correspondence is to place you on notice that you are to cease and desist in making defamatory oral and written statements which express or imply that I have personally and/or in my various capacities as an appointed official of the City of Trenton engaged in unethical and/or criminal conduct. I consider your oral statements at Trenton City Council meetings in May, June and July of this calendar year demanding that the City Council investigate me as well as all projects with which I have been associated to constitute slander. In addition, our letter of May 15, 2007 addressed to City Council President Paul M. Pintella constitutes libel for the same reason set forth here as to your oral statements.

Any express or implicit accusations of wrongdoing on my part are absolutely 100% without merit. The deliberate and unsupported perpetuation of falsehoods by you has, and will, damage my reputation , and adversely affect my ability to make a living. I will hold you personally responsible for any and all damages including pecuniary.

You can avoid a lawsuit by making a direct and clear public apology before the City Council on August 16th stating in no uncertain terms that you are aware of no instance or facts which support any allegation of ethical and/or criminal conduct on my part. In addition, I demand that you place advertisements of no less than 1/2 page each in The Times of Trenton and The Trentonian with the same public apology to be published not later than August 31, 2007.

I will not compromise the demands set forth herein. I am able by virtue of my education to proceed with litigation before the Superior Court of the State of Jersey [sic] and, ultimately, before a Mercer County jury.

Most Sincerely,

Dennis Gonzalez

It is clear from this letter that Mr. Gonzalez has already acted as attorney, judge and jury when it comes to the imagined allegations and assertions by Mr. Chester. For all of his education and experience, Mr. Gonzalez seems to have overlooked a couple of basic facts.

Mr. Chester's letter of May 15 never alleges anything. He merely asks for information about any and all development and/or redevelopment project that Mr. Gonzalez has been involved int since he became a City employee.

While I may not have the benefit of Mr. Gonzalez's education, I don't think that Mr. Chester's letter constitutes libel.

Further, Mr. Gonzalez is a politically appointed public official. As such, he certainly must expect if not accept, a certain amount of criticism from the public.

The fact that Mr. Gonzalez has not presided over any sort of economic boom during his various stints in City Hall or at the ill-fated Trenton Economic Development Corporation does raise questions about his competency. If there are any lawsuits to be filed, it should be by the citizens of Trenton against Mr. Gonzalez for failing at his various high-level, well paid jobs.

And if Mr. Gonzalez really wants to go to war, will he be prepared to answer questions about the amount of time he was a City Employee and yet didn't live in the City?

For his part, Mr. Chester is sticking by his guns and has not apologized for the alleged slights.

Mr. Gonzalez should face the fact that it is past time for him to go. He needs to pack his carpetbag and move on.

And leave the good people of this city, like Citizen Chester, alone.

Bad Call, Blue.

Community leaders in Trenton's South District have just been informed via South Ward Councilman Jim Coston that Detective Luis Reyes is being reassigned from Community Affairs to Patrol.

The Councilman, who emailed the news while away on vacation, reports that Patrol Captain Paul Messina has made the determination that Det. Reyes will be better utilized on Patrol.

Now, we don't purport to know why or how this decision was made. But even from this distance, it appears to be a bad one.

Det. Reyes has worked very, very hard at building a solid relationship with the members of the community throughout the South Policing District. From the beginning, with Lt. Gonzalez and continuing through with Lt. Maldonado, Det. Reyes has shown a real passion for building and maintaining that all important bridge between the community and the police.

The fact that he has worked within the community for so long, coupled with his dedication and the fact that he is bi-lingual makes him a perfect fit for his current assignment.

Detective Reyes, along with his colleagues in the other three police districts, has just been recognized by the Trenton Council of Civic Associations as Public Employees of the Year. This must be an indication of the kind of job he and the other Community Concerns Detectives are doing.

Whatever rationale Captain Messina might have for this reassignment needs to be checked.

This is a poor management decision.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Mayor Palmer's sartorial pictorial in the September Esquire just hit the newsstands. Check out page 220.

Since the copy is a little hard to read, I will transcribe it here for you:

Doug Palmer, 55 Fifth Term

TRENTON Pop. 85, 403

Greatest triumph: Changing the police department through a referendum. You take on the police - and I got rid of the fire chief, too - and they're bonded to kick your butt.

Best part: You know how they say you walk down the street and everybody stops to talk to you? Yeah, well, when they stop doing that is when you've got a problem.

Two-button wool suit ($1,995) by Dolce and Gabbana; cotton shirt ($490) by Domenico Vacca; silk tie ($125) by Dunhill.

AFTER MY THIRD TERM, I GOT EIGHTY SEVEN PERCENT OF THE VOTE, AND I REALIZED THAT THEY WEREN'T SAYING THAT THEY LOVED ME; THEY WERE SAYING, WE WANT TO GIVE YOU A MANDATE.

Now we know why he doesn't wear hats.

Seems that our beloved Mayor, "Dapper Doug," just can't get enough of himself.

While perusing You Tube for anything related to good old Trenton, we found this interesting clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adjDU2TxnsU

Now we're not sure what the purpose or intent was. We think it was meant as a "joke."

But it's not funny.

As an aside, we sure hope that whoever produced this got copyright clearances for the TV and movie clips incorporated into the piece. There could be some interesting fallout for misappropriating someone else's creative work.

Coming as it does on the heels of the Esquire fashion layout story, one has to think there was really only one purpose to this video: to feed Doug's hyper-developed ego. Too bad his achievements while in office can't match his inflated sense of self-worth. (In fact, his sole achievement may be that he has stayed in office so long).

As the Mayor's head continues to swell it becomes obvious we won't see him modeling hats anytime soon.

What Ever Happened To...

...the Internal Affairs investigation into allegations that TPD Captain Paull Messina was sleeping during his overnight shift back in June?

Oh, I remember.

The Captain copped a mea culpa and took a five day suspension;with his City issued Police vehicle for at least part of the week. I guess he needed it to get to Police HQ the day he is alleged to have been there during his suspension, wandering about the building unescorted in violation of policy (if not actual law).

Well, just in case you missed it, here's the link to a page on the Captain Sleepy website that shows a copy of the initial report to Internal Affairs requesting an investigation. The names of other officers have been redacted.

Now, what were we saying about preferential treatment for certain individuals?

What are they thinking?

The continued management follies in the Trenton Police Department are reaching new heights. Long ago having ceased being amusing or entertaining, the absurd way the department is being run is worrisome. Of course, it isn't just the TPD, but other City Departments as well.

First case:

There continues to be a problem with parking enforcement in permit parking areas. The main issue here is the failure of the City of Trenton to provide for the periodic updates and reissuing of parking permits and visitor passes that would enable the police to then more effectively enforce the permit parking regulations.

While residents wait for the Public Works staffers to implement the "new" permits, they cry for help in the way of stepped up enforcement of the parking regulations...all parking regulations. Since it is technically illegal to selectively enforce parking ordinances those cops who are "by the book" are doing just that: enforcing all parking regulations.

At the same time, City Hall's representatives have stated that "expired stickers will not be ticketed." And this means tickets get issued to individuals who are trying to comply with the law, even when it's not possible.

Further compounding the situation is the detailing of K9 officers to areas such as Mill Hill for a part of their shift each evening with the order to cite all parking violations. While no one would realistically argue against any police presence at any time, we have to ask if this is the best use of our K9 units?

In light of rumored intent by Police Director Santiago to do away with K9's altogether could it be that the police dogs have to make a quota of parking tickets each month or risk termination.

***

Second case:

Another example of bad management is the recent acquisition of Police Department All Terrain Vehicles (ATVs) and their questionable deployment on the streets.

ATVs are not street legal in NJ. It's that simple. And it is hard to believe that Police Departments are exempt from the law.

While the ATVs were ostensibly acquired for patrolling the parks, canal tow path, etc., they have been seen "on the street."

Accounts in the newspapers and online forums have indicated that not only were directives given for the ATVs to be used on the streets, inadequate protective helmets and training were given to those assigned that duty.

If the TPD had to use funds from other City Departments to meet the mushrooming overtime costs, where did they find money for the ATVs? How much did they cost? What about other accessories: trailers, helmets, the fuel to run them, the etc.?

Is there no end to the reckless expenditure of the City's scant resources?

For your consideration

Best line of the day (so far)
Commenting on the story in this morning's Times about Mayor Palmer participating in an Esquire fashion pictorial featuring members of the Conference of Mayors a poster to the NJ.com Trenton forum said "It's a shame he takes more time picking out quality clothes than School Board members." ---Eddie353

Dressed for Excess
On that story, does it surprise anyone that Mayor Palmer would volunteer to take part in this pictorial that will just happen to hit the newsstands one month before the Conference of Mayors holds meetings in Trenton? He says in the article it's all about Trenton, but we suspect it's really all about Doug.

School Board Approves New Positions; Changes Governance Style
News reports stated that Trenton's School Board voted to create three new positions and to do away with the four year old process that held the Board more to an advisory position than hands-on management. As someone who sat through the presentations explaining the process, I thought it made sense and held promise for our failing school system. As an outsider it is hard to say for sure, but one wonders if the process failed because it was inherently flawed or if it wasn't followed. That is, was it too difficult for members of the School Board to keep their hands off and did their meddling get in the way of education professionals doing better?

Good Sense
Mill Hill resident Dan Dodson has posted some thoughts about the recent vandalism and crime in general in Trenton.

He's absolutely correct that these kids and/or their parents or whatever adult is responsible for them should be held accountable for their misdeeds. Monetary restitution (a lot of City resources went into the cleanup effort not to mention the police work in identifying and capturing the suspects), community service, and a face-to-face apology to those whose property was damaged are in order.

The kids should have the opportunity to learn that there are consequences to their actions and that when they act responsibly they will be treated fairly and given second chances.

More Blue
Trenton's Police Academy will graduate 24 officers this month. Among them will be the son of a current TPD Detective. If the son is half as good a cop as his father, we will all benefit.

Assuming all 24 graduates stay with Trenton, it should help ease the manpower crunch and hopefully ease the mandatory overtime that has been exhausting and demoralizing patrols. Of course, the new officers will need seasoning (we often overlook the significance of losing years of experience when our officers retire or transfer to other departments) but the feet on the ground will help.

Further word, mainly through Councilman Coston's blog, is that the new class starting in November will have 50 members. We may be on our way to having a full compliment of officers in the TPD once again.

Kudos to all the individuals and groups who spoke up and contacted the administration and elected representatives about the Police manpower issue. It would appear your voices were heard.

Anybody Home?
Well it is August and there still doesn't seem to be anyone living in the Broad Street Bank building.

What's the holdup now?

National Night Out

Ok, so there were eight crimes (assaults and robberies) reported in the local papers as having occurred last weekend. Crime is down.

But we're not going to dwell on that right now.

Tonight is the 24th annual "National Night Out" sponsored and promoted by the National Association of Town Watch.

This is Trenton's 7th or 8th year of participation.

While there will be block parties throughout the city this evening, there is one common theme.

This is the night when the community and those charged with law enforcement for the community come together and revisit, reestablish and restore the bond between them.

Neither side can function well without the cooperation of the other.

Tonight, Trenton and municipalities around the country will demonstrate the power of the Community/Police partnership.

There is no excuse for not participating. Even if your neighborhood isn't holding a big celebration, turn on your porch light and sit out front of your house for a couple of hours.

Demonstrate to those who would take from us our safety and security that you will not let them.

Demonstrate to your neighbors that you are part of the solution and not the problem.

Demonstrate to yourself that you can and will do something positive this evening to take back our city from those who think they "control" it.

Let it start tonight. But don't let it end tonight.

And the hits just keep on coming

http://www.captsleepy.com/ is a website that contains facts and commentary on some of the more questionable aspects of the leadership in Trenton's Police Department.



For some, it is a rallying point that illustrates the double standards and apparent hypocrisy of the department's leadership under Director Joseph Santiago. By extension, since the Director is a Mayoral appointee, the website also illuminates similar issues with Doug Palmer's leadership of Trenton.



To others, the website is inflammatory and does nothing to help overcome the very problems it highlights. This was especially true in the case of the site's namesake, Captain Sleepy, aka Capt. Paul Messina who received the sobriquet for being digitally captured sleeping on duty. The Captain was being, according to some, unfairly singled out just because he's stepped on the toes of some of his fellow officers.



This writer has weighed in on the "sleeping policeman" policeman issue previously.



What brings this website back to mind is the recent posting of information regarding

a) the apparently excessive use of Police vehicles for personal business by certain officers (and the preferential treatment of those officers that is implicit in such an arrangement)

b) the fact that such use directly conflicts with statements made on the record by Director Santiago about ending the abuse of city resources (cars) for personal use.



Once again "Accountability," the favorite watch word of Mayor Palmer and his followers, is being ignored.



There are those who may claim this is all just another example of the poor Administration/Police relationship and shouldn't be given too much credence.



But if the obvious favoritism and lack of accountability are rampant in the Police Department, can it be that much different in other areas of City Government.



Maybe if we had a few more websites like http://www.captsleepy.com/ the public would wake up to the realities of the situation at hand. More people making the effort and taking the time to learn about what is really going on behind the "Crime is down," "Trenton is moving forward" mantras, could stop this nonsense and get the City back on track.



Or maybe everyone is just "sleeping on duty."

What Are the Odds?

A quick trip around Trenton's 7.5 square miles on any given day will reveal a lot.

• Boarded up properties.
• Inhabited properites that should be boarded up.
• People living in (probably illegally) converted storefronts.
• Trash and litter.
• Street lights out.
• Overgrown lots and trash strewn alleys.
• Tree pits and planters that need attention.

The list goes on.

While not everyone of these issues are the direct responsibility of the City of Trenton, the enforcement of the laws governing these situations is.

Whether it is because of lack of resources (staff) or ineffective work habits (staff training) the City is not doing enough.

Of course, with the U.S. Conference of Mayors scheduled to come to town in a few weeks, watch for some quick "make overs" so that Trenton puts on its best face for the world.

As if a broom applied here, a touch of paint there will show what a progressive leader our Mayor is. Hey, there may even be some directive to sweep the street corners of 'loiterers' and roust the sleeping homeless from our parks.

If it's really effective, maybe this new found way of working will carry through past the weekend visit of the other Mayors.

What are the odds.

Foot Locker a step, but in what direction?

Downtown Trenton welcomed the new Foot Locker store yesterday.

Predictably, there was a lot of hype about it being a good thing; a signal of the capital city's progress; a harbinger of things to come.

And the hype may have some truth to it.

Certainly it is a good thing when a recognizable, brand name chain store chooses to locate in any business district. The bean counters at corporate do a lot of analysis of a location's demographics before granting their blessing to a new store. Foot traffic and disposable income have to be there in enough quantity to make the shop a success or a lease won't get signed.

Let's not forget the incentives (facade improvements, etc.) that can help swing the deal one way or another.

So the numbers worked in Trenton's favor. This is good...but no surprise. Any thinking person can see the business potential downtown (at least on weekdays). And anyone who can remember Trenton 40 years or more years ago knows what it was like when the storefronts were all occupied and the sidewalks were filled with people shopping, dining out, going to the movies, etc.

If the potential is so great, why are there still so many vacant buildings? What drives people to shop "elsewhere" rather than spend their money downtown where they work or in the city in which they live?

The Internet for one. But on-line sales have cut into every business.

How about the environment? What is different about shopping at a large retail center or mall versus downtown?

In our car driven culture, parking is important. But people who live and/or work in Trenton are already here during the day, why run to "the mall" to shop on your lunch break or in the evening/on weekends?

When was the last time you were confronted with panhandlers at the mall? Or had to thread your way through a group of individuals who's 'conversation' was liberally dosed with the "f-bomb" or "N" word? (Note: this author is not a linguistic prude and has been known to use colorful language, but not everywhere, any/all the time).

What about the trash on the sidewalks and in the streets? The Trenton Downtown Association (TDA) crew does a yeoman's job trying to keep up with the seemingly spontaneous re-generation of trash and litter and some days it appears as if they are losing the battle. You don't see the same struggle in the malls and strip centers. For whatever reason, the public seems to take a larger role in helping to "keep things nice" in other shopping districts.

You're not intimidated about braving the "urban wilds" to do a little shopping. Trash, bad language and bums don't bother you. You make it to the front door of the store. Now what?

Is the establishment clean and well kept? Is the staff courteous, helpful, is their speech intelligible? (OK---this one might be a tie. I've had some pretty bad experiences shopping in mall stores for these very reasons).

Are displays thought out and tasteful? Or does it look like a flea market stall?

Does the "background music" greet you from a half a block away?

And we can't forget the issue of Crime. Interesting thing, crime. There are facts and there are perceptions. And there is crime everywhere...even at "the mall."

We've all heard that car thieves love to do their shopping at the suburban retail centers. Those acres of parking lots are like a candy store.

I've personally witnessed fights at Quaker Bridge Mall and know of people who've had purses stolen while sitting in a movie theatre. Oh there is crime.

But somehow, the perception is that the suburban retail/dining/entertainment experience is safer. And that's where the money flows.

Now, I'm not a big fan of chains, franchises or the like. I believe we have to nurture and support as many local businesses as we can. Small businesses are a key indicator of an area's economic health. The men and women who own and operate local, independent businesses put it on the line everyday. Their risk is greater because they don't have the deep resources of the chains. They have to compete on price, service, marketing clout.

Foot Locker coming to Trenton might just be a positive sign. If they maintain the level of service and keep their store presentable, it might just set a higher standard for our Downtown.

If the staff of the local Foot Locker becomes part and parcel of the community, it might make TDA's task of boosting the overall success of the district easier. Other businesses might follow in their footsteps. Downtown could come alive again.

To my way of thinking, our vacant retail space should not become filled with chains and franchises (that's what the Malls are for). But if one or two locate here and raise the retail bar enough for others to seize the opportunity, then its a step in the right direction.