...and says.
The following are direct excerpts from online stories regarding Trenton Chief of Staff/Deputy Mayor Paul Sigmund's lack of a valid driver's license when he was stopped for speeding in a city owned vehicle. Links to the full article are provide.
From the Trentonian:
“It’s true that I don’t have a New Jersey’s license. I’ve been to DMV a couple of times but you need like six forms of identification to get a license. I will take care of it. And in regards to California, I have a permit that allows me to drive to work. I thought I could drive in New Jersey,” Sigmund said.
Sigmund attempted to explain his admitted mistake.
“I was totally lost in thought, rushing back to work because I had this great idea about improving our school system. I’ll tell you about it soon.”
Sigmund, in March, assured the Trentonian that he had “taken care of” his California problems, stemming from two unpaid tickets, and then promised to not drive a city car until he could show proof of rectification.
“I thought everything had been taken care of. I thought all of the restrictions had been lifted,” Sigmund said.
Again, from the Trentonian:
Mayor Tony Mack today said his Chief of Staff Paul Sigmund should not have been behind the wheel of a city-owned vehicle last weekend when he racked up tickets for speeding and driving without a license.
“In hindsight, Paul should not have been given a city car and he should not have been behind the wheel of a vehicle,” Mack said.
Mack said he had “no idea of how this occurred,” referring to Sigmund being issued the Trenton government Ford Escape without having a valid license.
Mack made one other statement, saying that he and Acting Police Director Joseph Juniak never discussed whether Sigmund should get a city vehicle.
“I didn’t speak to Juniak about this,” Mack said.
From the Times:
“My understanding, both from California and New Jersey, was that my license was valid,” Sigmund said yesterday.
He acknowledged he was speeding, saying he was “lost in thought” at the time of the stop and was unaware of how fast he was going.
During a press conference yesterday introducing former state treasurer David Rousseau as Trenton’s new finance adviser, Mack cited personnel issues in refusing to discuss whether he knew of Sigmund’s license status. But Sigmund said he told Mack about the issue earlier, when he believed he had it fixed.
“I brought it right to Tony’s attention the second I found out about it,” Sigmund said.
Sigmund said he drove to work yesterday morning, but would be leaving his sports utility vehicle at City Hall and finding another way home.
That pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, April 08, 2011
Remember this guy?
Remember back last summer when Mayor Mack wanted to appoint Andrew Weber the Business Administrator for the City of Trenton? You know, after Bill Guhl un-volunteered himself and before Andrew McCrosson (later to resign and plead guilty to embezzlement) got to hold the chair for a few months. The problem with the webe appointment was a blatant conflict of interest. Weber is a partner with the Mt. Holly law firm of Riley and Riley. Riley and Riley were being considered for a legal services contract with the city. Mr. Weber, who also served on Mayor Mack's transition team and was a former special counsel with Cooper Levenson. (You remember them, right?)
Well, it looks like Mr. Weber got the tiniest of wrist slaps from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) this week:
NEW JERSEY ELECTION
LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION,
Complainant,
v.
ANDREW WEBER,
Respondent.
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (hereafter, the Commission) considered at its meeting of March 15, 2011 the Complaint, issued on October 27, 2010, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:13C-18 et seq., for non-filing of the Governmental Affairs Agent Quarterly Report (Form Q-4) for the 2009 third quarter report period, which Complaint is hereby incorporated by reference in this Final Decision. The Commission considered the Respondent’s Affidavit and Waiver of Hearing submitted in response to the Complaint, and by a vote of 4-0 adopted as its Final Decision the proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law set forth in the Complaint, after modifying them to reflect that the Respondent filed a Governmental Affairs Agent Quarterly Report (Form Q-4) for the 2009 third quarter report period on February 1, 2011 (476 days late).
THEREFORE, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:13C-23.1 and N.J.A.C. 19:25-20.18, the Commission hereby REPRIMANDS the Respondent and imposes a penalty in the amount of $300.00 for late filing of Form Q-4. Respondent submitted payment of $300.00. No further payment is required.
Date of Mailing: March 30, 2011 BY: _____________________
CERTIFIED MAIL NO. 7009 3410 0001 8442 8922
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
AND FIRST CLASS MAIL
To be sure, a $300 fine is nothing to Mr. Weber. And we're sure his late filing of a Government Affairs Agent (lobbyist) report was a mere technical oversight. Right.
Just like not mentioning the various PAC's Mr. Weber is involved in during all of the Cooper Levenson/City of Trenton controversy was an oversight. You know, PAC's like Voters United New Jersey that Mr. Weber just happens to have the sole signatory power on their checking account.
According to the 4th quarter ELEC report filed (filed about two weeks late, btw) by Voters United, Riley and Riley, along with Cooper Levenson and Hydro-San (which has the same address and ownership as Alaimo Engineering, another consulting firm that has been trying to get work with the city of Trenton) all gave $5000 to Voters United last December. In that same report, we see that Voters United just happened to make a $2500 contribution to the questionable local Trenton PAC, Partners For Progress that same month.
But don't worry. Mr. Weber, Mr. Levenson and friends have no undue influence over the Mack administration. None whatsoever.
Right.
Well, it looks like Mr. Weber got the tiniest of wrist slaps from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) this week:
NEW JERSEY ELECTION LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION
P.O. Box 185
Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0185
NEW JERSEY ELECTION
LAW ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION,
Complainant,
FINAL DECISION FOR
LATE FILING
v.
ANDREW WEBER,
Respondent.
C-1598-1-2009L
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (hereafter, the Commission) considered at its meeting of March 15, 2011 the Complaint, issued on October 27, 2010, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:13C-18 et seq., for non-filing of the Governmental Affairs Agent Quarterly Report (Form Q-4) for the 2009 third quarter report period, which Complaint is hereby incorporated by reference in this Final Decision. The Commission considered the Respondent’s Affidavit and Waiver of Hearing submitted in response to the Complaint, and by a vote of 4-0 adopted as its Final Decision the proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law set forth in the Complaint, after modifying them to reflect that the Respondent filed a Governmental Affairs Agent Quarterly Report (Form Q-4) for the 2009 third quarter report period on February 1, 2011 (476 days late).
PENALTY
THEREFORE, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:13C-23.1 and N.J.A.C. 19:25-20.18, the Commission hereby REPRIMANDS the Respondent and imposes a penalty in the amount of $300.00 for late filing of Form Q-4. Respondent submitted payment of $300.00. No further payment is required.
NEW JERSEY ELECTION LAW
ENFORCEMENT COMMISSION
Date of Mailing: March 30, 2011 BY: _____________________
RONALD DEFILIPPIS
Chairman
CERTIFIED MAIL NO. 7009 3410 0001 8442 8922
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
AND FIRST CLASS MAIL
To be sure, a $300 fine is nothing to Mr. Weber. And we're sure his late filing of a Government Affairs Agent (lobbyist) report was a mere technical oversight. Right.
Just like not mentioning the various PAC's Mr. Weber is involved in during all of the Cooper Levenson/City of Trenton controversy was an oversight. You know, PAC's like Voters United New Jersey that Mr. Weber just happens to have the sole signatory power on their checking account.
According to the 4th quarter ELEC report filed (filed about two weeks late, btw) by Voters United, Riley and Riley, along with Cooper Levenson and Hydro-San (which has the same address and ownership as Alaimo Engineering, another consulting firm that has been trying to get work with the city of Trenton) all gave $5000 to Voters United last December. In that same report, we see that Voters United just happened to make a $2500 contribution to the questionable local Trenton PAC, Partners For Progress that same month.
But don't worry. Mr. Weber, Mr. Levenson and friends have no undue influence over the Mack administration. None whatsoever.
Right.
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Art for art's sake
Spelling doesn't count.
This is the flier produced for tonight's "Arts Summit" at the Mill Hill Playhouse. We love the creative spelling incorporated in the program.
Guess $50,000 a year doesn't buy much in the way of proofreading any more.
This is the flier produced for tonight's "Arts Summit" at the Mill Hill Playhouse. We love the creative spelling incorporated in the program.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
State of the City
We’ve been tempted to draft a lengthy dissection of Mayor Mack’s State of the City Address but hesitated. Fortunately, Dan Dodson was on it immediately and posted a thoughtful response on his blog.
Sometimes, procrastination pays off.
At tonight’s city council meeting, that pay off came. Sort of.
Resolution 11-157 was the extension of the information technology (IT) consulting contract with ADPC. This is the contract that an RFP was issued for last fall and that resulted in the controversial and faulty hiring of an unqualified vendor, Lynx Technology Partners.
ADPC, who has provided this service to the city for over 20 years, took the matter to court and prevailed.
In an order issued on March 11, Judge Feinberg determined that the RFP process would need to be rebid and that ADPC would continue under the terms of the current contract until June 30, 2011.
Tonight’s resolution was presented on the docket this way:
Councilwoman Holly-Ward asked the City Attorney, Marc McKithen, if there was any paperwork to back up the resolution. McKithen reportedly stated he didn’t have anything.
Council voted 5-2 against the resolution. The two members who voted in favor of the resolution, Council President Muschal and Councilwoman Caldwell-Wilson, were the only two to vote against awarding the IT contract to Lynx technologies in the first place. It is pretty obvious that they are paying attention.
It is hard to say what is more disappointing in this matter…the complete lack of understanding on the part of five city council members as to what the judge ordered or McKithen’s apparent refusal to offer a proper and thorough explanation of the matter so they could vote intelligently.
At best, we have a situation where the ignorance and incompetence of a majority on our governing body is compounded by the willful contempt demonstrated by the city attorney and the rest of the Mack administration.
That, friends, is the real state of the city. It is not "well."
Sometimes, procrastination pays off.
At tonight’s city council meeting, that pay off came. Sort of.
Resolution 11-157 was the extension of the information technology (IT) consulting contract with ADPC. This is the contract that an RFP was issued for last fall and that resulted in the controversial and faulty hiring of an unqualified vendor, Lynx Technology Partners.
ADPC, who has provided this service to the city for over 20 years, took the matter to court and prevailed.
In an order issued on March 11, Judge Feinberg determined that the RFP process would need to be rebid and that ADPC would continue under the terms of the current contract until June 30, 2011.
Tonight’s resolution was presented on the docket this way:
11-157 RESOLUTION CONCERNING THE CONTRACT WITH ASSOCIATED DATA PROCESS CONSULTANTS, INC. (ADPC), 116 VILLAGE BLVD, SUITE 200, PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY 08540 TO PROVIDE TECHNICAL SUPPORT SERVICES FOR THE CITY OF TRENTON, DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION, DIVISION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (not to exceed $319,2000 term March 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011)According to a report posted by Bob Chilson on his blog, when the resolution came up for a vote, it failed to pass.
Councilwoman Holly-Ward asked the City Attorney, Marc McKithen, if there was any paperwork to back up the resolution. McKithen reportedly stated he didn’t have anything.
Council voted 5-2 against the resolution. The two members who voted in favor of the resolution, Council President Muschal and Councilwoman Caldwell-Wilson, were the only two to vote against awarding the IT contract to Lynx technologies in the first place. It is pretty obvious that they are paying attention.
It is hard to say what is more disappointing in this matter…the complete lack of understanding on the part of five city council members as to what the judge ordered or McKithen’s apparent refusal to offer a proper and thorough explanation of the matter so they could vote intelligently.
At best, we have a situation where the ignorance and incompetence of a majority on our governing body is compounded by the willful contempt demonstrated by the city attorney and the rest of the Mack administration.
That, friends, is the real state of the city. It is not "well."
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Hello! Is there anyone in there?
Less than two months before a recall effort can be initiated about our sitting city council members or mayor, and all is quiet?
No rumblings of a committee or committees being formed to rid City Hall of the incompetence, ignorance and arrogance that has prevented us from making any progress towards solving the fiscal problems facing us.
No outrage at the repeated failings of the administration to follow the laws of the land, let alone use common sense in managing the city day to day.
No outrage at the repeated failings of members of the governing body (city council) to grasp the most basic concepts of proper process and procedure even when it is pointed out to them in plain English. Repeatedly.
Nearly nine months into this administration and we don't have a budget; we are on the last few months of an IT consulting contract and no IT Director; taxes are up, services are down.
Nod if you can hear me.
No rumblings of a committee or committees being formed to rid City Hall of the incompetence, ignorance and arrogance that has prevented us from making any progress towards solving the fiscal problems facing us.
No outrage at the repeated failings of the administration to follow the laws of the land, let alone use common sense in managing the city day to day.
No outrage at the repeated failings of members of the governing body (city council) to grasp the most basic concepts of proper process and procedure even when it is pointed out to them in plain English. Repeatedly.
Nearly nine months into this administration and we don't have a budget; we are on the last few months of an IT consulting contract and no IT Director; taxes are up, services are down.
Nod if you can hear me.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Technical foul.
Does anyone really know what is going on?
A few weeks back, the city announced it was going to institute temporary layoffs (furloughs) for all departments except police and fire. The furloughs would take place every week for 13 weeks starting in April.
This announcement bothered those seemingly few people who were paying attention because it meant the virtual shutdown of the Trenton Water Works (TWW) for one day each week. Considering the facts that
Some object to moving Inspections back under Housing and Economic Development. Some don’t understand or object to creating a Water and Sewer department.
A workable solution languishes because the governing body seems unable to get its act together to do anything positive and the administration can’t think its way out of a paper bag.
Now here’s an interesting twist…
In November, the Mayor rearranged the former department of Recreation, Natural Resources and Culture (RNRC). Recreation and Culture were brought under the Mayor’s office directly and Natural Resources were moved to the Public Property Division of the Department of Public Works. In some respects the consolidation of departments is a good thing. Eliminating a director’s salary and merging functions are ways to economize.
And doing away with the department of RNRC frees up a space on the organization chart that could be filled by a newly created Water and Sewer department. Right?
Well, it would IF the city’s administrative organization chart was properly amended by ordinance. The Mayor cannot arbitrarily do away with a department. That must be done by ordinance approved by the city council.
Guess the Mayor didn’t think about that.
Neither did the city law department…obviously because of their inexperience with municipal law.
And the City Clerk didn’t catch it, so the city council didn’t realize it either.
Technical foul charged to the whole lot of them for simple failure to operate according to the rules.
- the water utility operates on its own budget; employees are paid from rates charged for water usage, not tax dollars so any cost savings from the furloughs would NOT save the city money
- the majority of the customers of the water utility are located outside of the city and thus would be penalized by the weekly furloughs
- all customers would be put at risk because the furloughs would mean no one was minding the water treatment plant, pumping stations, etc. on those days
The problem comes from civil service rules that state furloughs must apply to entire departments. Since TWW operates under the umbrella of the Public Works Department, any layoffs affecting Public Works must apply to TWW.
Fortunately, the state of NJ through the DEP recognized the potential problems and squelched the furlough idea.
Before that occurred, a plan was drawn up to make TWW along with the Sewer Authority their own department, thus isolating (like Police and Fire) from the furloughs. It was a good idea…for a lot of reasons.
However, the city is only allowed to have 10 departments and our current structure has us maxed out. In order to create a Water and Sewer department, room has to be made in the organization chart. Part and parcel to creating the new department was the idea of making the current department of Inspections a division of the department of Housing and Economic Development. This would actually be a return to the way things once were.
This all needs to be accomplished by an ordinance introduced and passed by the governing body (city council). Predictably, with this administration and council, the plan has stalled.
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Balk!
On the docket for Trenton’s City Council meeting this past Thursday was an executive session to discuss “Personnel and Litigation: ADPC.”
Published reports say that Acting Business Administrator Elaine Adams was to go before council to answer questions about the city’s financial situation. Ms. Adams is a long time city employee who, by all accounts, is competent and conscientious but who has reluctantly taken the hot seat by holding down the oft-vacated position of BA for the city. Apparently, the pressures and controversy surrounding this pivotal position in the city administration are not to Ms. Adams’ liking. She has not been present at many city council meetings and reportedly has not been very responsive to inquiries from city council.
Presumably, Thursday night’s executive session would have provided an opportunity for Ms. Adams and the governing body to come to an understanding regarding the BA’s responsibilities in responding and reporting to council.
Ms. Adams may be uncomfortable in her duties as acting BA. If that is affecting her job performance than she needs to either politely refuse the “honor” of the position and go back to the work she is familiar with or resign from the city completely. If she wants to continue in the acting BA position, than she needs to suck it up and do the job or face these closed-door inquiries.
Council went into session with Ms. Adams standing by. A quarter of an hour later, Council President Muschal told the acting BA she would not be meeting with council after all.
What?
Council, who has complained for weeks on end about a lack of answers from the administration, had the opportunity to flex its legal authority and call a high ranking, if reluctantly so, official onto the carpet and they balked!
Because of the nature of the closed-door session, we may never actually know what happened. What we do know is this: the governing body of the city of Trenton failed yet again. This group…and we are speaking of them as a singular entity here; either does not understand its power and authority or is totally unprepared and unwilling to use it.
While much attention has focused on the failings of the Tony Mack administration, little has been said about the council. This week’s episode pretty much demonstrates that this group of neophytes is ill prepared to carry out the duties of the elective offices they sought.
Looking back over the past eight months of their tenure reveals their repeated breakdowns. This council approved the appointment of the municipal judge at the urging of the Mayor…even though the requisite background check had not been completed. This council approved a legal services contract with Cooper Levenson that later had to be voided because it violated the city’s pay-to-play ordinance. This council drafted and introduced a faulty ordinance that would allow them to participate in their meetings via telephone.
Let us not forget how this council voted to give the city’s Information Technology (IT) consulting contract to a bidder with a weak and non-compliant proposal. Even after a number of individuals pointed out the flaws with the proposal, this council went ahead and made a choice that was overturned by a judge. Now the city is left without an IT director (let go in the November layoffs) or a consultant to monitor and maintain the city’s systems. Moreover, there is the matter of continued litigation in the matter as witnessed by the second item that was to be discussed at Thursday night’s executive session.
In baseball, as in all sports, when players are not performing as expected they are removed from the game. This council has had way too many “visits to the mound” made by members of the public to encourage, enlighten, and enlist them to do the right thing. The council has continually failed.
Time to pull them from the game.
Published reports say that Acting Business Administrator Elaine Adams was to go before council to answer questions about the city’s financial situation. Ms. Adams is a long time city employee who, by all accounts, is competent and conscientious but who has reluctantly taken the hot seat by holding down the oft-vacated position of BA for the city. Apparently, the pressures and controversy surrounding this pivotal position in the city administration are not to Ms. Adams’ liking. She has not been present at many city council meetings and reportedly has not been very responsive to inquiries from city council.
Presumably, Thursday night’s executive session would have provided an opportunity for Ms. Adams and the governing body to come to an understanding regarding the BA’s responsibilities in responding and reporting to council.
Ms. Adams may be uncomfortable in her duties as acting BA. If that is affecting her job performance than she needs to either politely refuse the “honor” of the position and go back to the work she is familiar with or resign from the city completely. If she wants to continue in the acting BA position, than she needs to suck it up and do the job or face these closed-door inquiries.
Council went into session with Ms. Adams standing by. A quarter of an hour later, Council President Muschal told the acting BA she would not be meeting with council after all.
What?
Council, who has complained for weeks on end about a lack of answers from the administration, had the opportunity to flex its legal authority and call a high ranking, if reluctantly so, official onto the carpet and they balked!
Because of the nature of the closed-door session, we may never actually know what happened. What we do know is this: the governing body of the city of Trenton failed yet again. This group…and we are speaking of them as a singular entity here; either does not understand its power and authority or is totally unprepared and unwilling to use it.
While much attention has focused on the failings of the Tony Mack administration, little has been said about the council. This week’s episode pretty much demonstrates that this group of neophytes is ill prepared to carry out the duties of the elective offices they sought.
Looking back over the past eight months of their tenure reveals their repeated breakdowns. This council approved the appointment of the municipal judge at the urging of the Mayor…even though the requisite background check had not been completed. This council approved a legal services contract with Cooper Levenson that later had to be voided because it violated the city’s pay-to-play ordinance. This council drafted and introduced a faulty ordinance that would allow them to participate in their meetings via telephone.
Let us not forget how this council voted to give the city’s Information Technology (IT) consulting contract to a bidder with a weak and non-compliant proposal. Even after a number of individuals pointed out the flaws with the proposal, this council went ahead and made a choice that was overturned by a judge. Now the city is left without an IT director (let go in the November layoffs) or a consultant to monitor and maintain the city’s systems. Moreover, there is the matter of continued litigation in the matter as witnessed by the second item that was to be discussed at Thursday night’s executive session.
In baseball, as in all sports, when players are not performing as expected they are removed from the game. This council has had way too many “visits to the mound” made by members of the public to encourage, enlighten, and enlist them to do the right thing. The council has continually failed.
Time to pull them from the game.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Dear Mr. Kienle
Letter to the Editor of the Times, Thursday, March 3, 2011:
Dear Mr. Kienle,
Agreed…Mayor Mack came into office with facing an unprecedented budget crisis and other problems left to him by the previous administration.
You say the Mayor has been on the defensive ever since. Again, we agree.
Now ask yourself, “Why has the Mayor ‘been on the defensive ever since?’”
Have you not been paying attention, sir?
Shall we start with nominating a twice convicted felon to head up a vital city department? Or how about the questionable judge appointment?
Then there is the summary dismissal of all department heads who served the previous administration and the consequential loss of expertise and knowledge in how the city runs. At the same time, the Mayor filled positions with friends, supporters and the like…most of whom have no experience matching the duties of their jobs.
Or maybe that is the strategy you allude to in your second paragraph. You know the part about trying “to satisfy those who put you in that seat.”
Indeed, the Mayor’s chair is “a bit warm.” And no one, especially our Mayor, is perfect.
You suggest we “try to find a way to help this man out of his dilemma.”
What do you think the likes of Mr. William Guhl was doing? What do you think many of us have offered and tried to do over the past eight months or so?
Many, many people have publically and privately offered assistance and suggestions to help make things right. The Mayor has had none of it.
Mr. Kienle, the plain and simple fact is that Mayor Mack is in over his head; he has refused to accept this fact as steadfastly as he has refused good counsel when offered. Many have tried to have his back, but are forced to turn away because it is of no use.
If you cannot see that the Mack administration to date has been an abject failure then you, sir, are as delusional as the Mayor.
You can not vote for “His Honor” because he has none.
Let's have Mack's back
With his back to the wall, Tony Mack entered the mayoral office of Trenton. He has been on the defensive ever since (editorial, "Cooperation deficit," Feb. 27).
Politics at any level requires strategy to try to satisfy those who put you in that seat, hoping that it does not become "the hot seat."
Right now, the seat is a bit warm. No one is perfect. Let's try to find a way to help this man out of his dilemma.
This letter is a vote for His Honor, Tony Mack, mayor of Trenton.
Joe Kienle Jr.,
Trenton
Dear Mr. Kienle,
Agreed…Mayor Mack came into office with facing an unprecedented budget crisis and other problems left to him by the previous administration.
You say the Mayor has been on the defensive ever since. Again, we agree.
Now ask yourself, “Why has the Mayor ‘been on the defensive ever since?’”
Have you not been paying attention, sir?
Shall we start with nominating a twice convicted felon to head up a vital city department? Or how about the questionable judge appointment?
Then there is the summary dismissal of all department heads who served the previous administration and the consequential loss of expertise and knowledge in how the city runs. At the same time, the Mayor filled positions with friends, supporters and the like…most of whom have no experience matching the duties of their jobs.
Or maybe that is the strategy you allude to in your second paragraph. You know the part about trying “to satisfy those who put you in that seat.”
Indeed, the Mayor’s chair is “a bit warm.” And no one, especially our Mayor, is perfect.
You suggest we “try to find a way to help this man out of his dilemma.”
What do you think the likes of Mr. William Guhl was doing? What do you think many of us have offered and tried to do over the past eight months or so?
Many, many people have publically and privately offered assistance and suggestions to help make things right. The Mayor has had none of it.
Mr. Kienle, the plain and simple fact is that Mayor Mack is in over his head; he has refused to accept this fact as steadfastly as he has refused good counsel when offered. Many have tried to have his back, but are forced to turn away because it is of no use.
If you cannot see that the Mack administration to date has been an abject failure then you, sir, are as delusional as the Mayor.
You can not vote for “His Honor” because he has none.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Failed
The first eight months of Mayor Tony Mack’s administration have been a tragic-comic opera. It is a plot overloaded with bad decisions, missteps, and colorful characters. It has given us the crowd favorite tag line: “Happy Pearl Harbor Day!”
Daily the action unfolds in front of an audience split into two camps: those who still support the Mayor and those who are ready to “give him the hook.”
Those who defend and support the Mayor suggest that the others are being unfair. “He’s only had eight months to undo all of the mess left by the previous Mayor,” they say.
Or they might offer up this, “Where were all these critics while {Doug} Palmer was running this city into the ground?”
Some have even gone so far as to suggest that Mayor Mack’s missteps are the result of him being “dumb, not criminal.”
Loyalty is a good trait…to a point. But when it becomes blind, if not delusional, it is a bad thing.
Past Palmer
Those who think there was no criticism of the previous administration and council either were not paying attention or are in complete denial. From 2003 onward, there was increasing criticism of Palmer’s actions and much was made of his “rubber stamp” council.
True, there was not the same amount of media coverage then as there has been of Mayor Mack. Yet there were people speaking out then who continue to speak up now. (This blog, started in 2006, is but one example).
It was the action and criticism on the part of the public that stopped the ill-conceived Leewood development plan for South Trenton; it was the citizens that passed the city’s Pay-to-Play ordinance that the current Mayor is now running afoul of; it was legal action brought by the citizens that removed Joe Santiago from the police director position for not following the residency law; it was legal action by citizens that got the proposed split and sale of the Trenton Water Works onto the ballot and defeated.
There is no argument and no doubt, that Palmer left a mess in his wake. It is actually amazing that anyone, let alone 10 individuals, would want to run to succeed him, knowing how bad things were. Some might think that Mr. Palmer had “outgrown” the job of Mayor of Trenton. We think he was trying to outrun the collapse of the house of cards he had built here.
Regardless…Palmer is gone; what he did (or did not do) is in the past and it cannot be changed. Certainly, more people voicing publicly what many would only say privately might have helped slow if not avoid the city’s decline. Again, it is in the past and cannot be changed. The point is some noise was made; some criticisms levied, some change occurred.
First steps faulty
Only July 1, 2010, Mayor Mack took the reins of city government and almost immediately displayed a failure to grasp the situation he found himself in.
At a time when the city was facing a huge budget deficit and impending layoffs, Mack dismissed all of Palmer’s cabinet members…and the experience and knowledge that went along with them. Note…we are not suggesting some of them did not need to go, but the wholesale dismissal seemed a little shortsighted, pun not intended.
Knowing there was going to have to be a staff reduction of some sort in the coming months, Mayor Mack padded the payroll with unnecessary hires, filling out the full compliment of aides afforded him under the Faulkner act, paying top dollar to his new appointees, putting on “interns” and paying them through CDBG money that might better have been applied to the real needs of the city. Just a few months later, demotions and layoffs reduced the workforce and the pool of knowledge and experience the Mayor could have drawn upon as he struggled to keep the city afloat.
The nomination of a felon as a department head, the questions surrounding the appointee to the municipal bench, and the game of musical chairs regarding who sits in the Business Administrator seat are all indications of the Mayor’s lack of comprehension as to what his responsibilities are to the city.
It did not take much to figure out why the highly respected and experienced Bill Guhl stepped away from city hall after only a month of volunteering to help Mack get a handle on things. Tony continues to not accept good counsel and helping hands when offered.
Instead, he prefers to hide behind a screen of sycophants and hangers-on while he fiddles and the city burns.
Many people have offered advice and assistance to help the Mayor steer the city forward, but he seems to prefer to consult with the expensive suits from Atlantic City and the company of his lackeys to anybody who really has the best interest of Trenton at heart.
The list of bad choices and inappropriate actions is lengthy. The one consistency of the Mayor’s tenure so far has been his inability to do the right thing.
And there are exceptions to that rule…his appointment of Dan Dodson and Michael McGrath to the board of the Lafayette Yard Development Corporation. This entity actually “owns” the Marriott Hotel and oversees its operation for the taxpayers of the city. From its inception, it functioned in secret with little information flowing to the public “share holders.” That has started to change with Dodson and McGrath on board.
Unfortunately, that is not enough to make up for the rest of the eight months of foolishness coming out of city hall.
Is it the money?
Is it the Mayor’s personal money situation that has made him such easy prey for outside interests? It certainly would not be the first time that a desire for financial security has lead to poor decision making.
And to those who want to excuse Mack’s shortcomings as a function of his mental capacity, well…that just doesn’t wash. If eight months of mistakes are because he is intellectually deficient or mentally incompetent than he is not qualified to serve in the position of Mayor. We all have limitations and Tony’s may preclude him from holding his current job.
This is not to pick on him, put him down, or make fun of him. If he doesn’t have the sense to make the right decisions or won’t compensate by listening to those who do have the ability to determine what the right decision is and accept their suggestions, than he must go.
The taxpayers of the city of Trenton cannot afford to subsidize such ignorance. And anyone who thinks otherwise must also have diminished mental capacity.
Tony Mack has failed in his short time as Mayor of the City of Trenton. There is no way to argue or refute that fact. The citizens who continue to stand by him are failing as well.
Accept that Mr. Mack will probably not finish out his term and let’s start thinking about finding a competent, ethical, intelligent replacement.
Daily the action unfolds in front of an audience split into two camps: those who still support the Mayor and those who are ready to “give him the hook.”
Those who defend and support the Mayor suggest that the others are being unfair. “He’s only had eight months to undo all of the mess left by the previous Mayor,” they say.
Or they might offer up this, “Where were all these critics while {Doug} Palmer was running this city into the ground?”
Some have even gone so far as to suggest that Mayor Mack’s missteps are the result of him being “dumb, not criminal.”
Loyalty is a good trait…to a point. But when it becomes blind, if not delusional, it is a bad thing.
Past Palmer
Those who think there was no criticism of the previous administration and council either were not paying attention or are in complete denial. From 2003 onward, there was increasing criticism of Palmer’s actions and much was made of his “rubber stamp” council.
True, there was not the same amount of media coverage then as there has been of Mayor Mack. Yet there were people speaking out then who continue to speak up now. (This blog, started in 2006, is but one example).
It was the action and criticism on the part of the public that stopped the ill-conceived Leewood development plan for South Trenton; it was the citizens that passed the city’s Pay-to-Play ordinance that the current Mayor is now running afoul of; it was legal action brought by the citizens that removed Joe Santiago from the police director position for not following the residency law; it was legal action by citizens that got the proposed split and sale of the Trenton Water Works onto the ballot and defeated.
There is no argument and no doubt, that Palmer left a mess in his wake. It is actually amazing that anyone, let alone 10 individuals, would want to run to succeed him, knowing how bad things were. Some might think that Mr. Palmer had “outgrown” the job of Mayor of Trenton. We think he was trying to outrun the collapse of the house of cards he had built here.
Regardless…Palmer is gone; what he did (or did not do) is in the past and it cannot be changed. Certainly, more people voicing publicly what many would only say privately might have helped slow if not avoid the city’s decline. Again, it is in the past and cannot be changed. The point is some noise was made; some criticisms levied, some change occurred.
First steps faulty
Only July 1, 2010, Mayor Mack took the reins of city government and almost immediately displayed a failure to grasp the situation he found himself in.
At a time when the city was facing a huge budget deficit and impending layoffs, Mack dismissed all of Palmer’s cabinet members…and the experience and knowledge that went along with them. Note…we are not suggesting some of them did not need to go, but the wholesale dismissal seemed a little shortsighted, pun not intended.
Knowing there was going to have to be a staff reduction of some sort in the coming months, Mayor Mack padded the payroll with unnecessary hires, filling out the full compliment of aides afforded him under the Faulkner act, paying top dollar to his new appointees, putting on “interns” and paying them through CDBG money that might better have been applied to the real needs of the city. Just a few months later, demotions and layoffs reduced the workforce and the pool of knowledge and experience the Mayor could have drawn upon as he struggled to keep the city afloat.
The nomination of a felon as a department head, the questions surrounding the appointee to the municipal bench, and the game of musical chairs regarding who sits in the Business Administrator seat are all indications of the Mayor’s lack of comprehension as to what his responsibilities are to the city.
It did not take much to figure out why the highly respected and experienced Bill Guhl stepped away from city hall after only a month of volunteering to help Mack get a handle on things. Tony continues to not accept good counsel and helping hands when offered.
Instead, he prefers to hide behind a screen of sycophants and hangers-on while he fiddles and the city burns.
Many people have offered advice and assistance to help the Mayor steer the city forward, but he seems to prefer to consult with the expensive suits from Atlantic City and the company of his lackeys to anybody who really has the best interest of Trenton at heart.
The list of bad choices and inappropriate actions is lengthy. The one consistency of the Mayor’s tenure so far has been his inability to do the right thing.
And there are exceptions to that rule…his appointment of Dan Dodson and Michael McGrath to the board of the Lafayette Yard Development Corporation. This entity actually “owns” the Marriott Hotel and oversees its operation for the taxpayers of the city. From its inception, it functioned in secret with little information flowing to the public “share holders.” That has started to change with Dodson and McGrath on board.
Unfortunately, that is not enough to make up for the rest of the eight months of foolishness coming out of city hall.
Is it the money?
Is it the Mayor’s personal money situation that has made him such easy prey for outside interests? It certainly would not be the first time that a desire for financial security has lead to poor decision making.
And to those who want to excuse Mack’s shortcomings as a function of his mental capacity, well…that just doesn’t wash. If eight months of mistakes are because he is intellectually deficient or mentally incompetent than he is not qualified to serve in the position of Mayor. We all have limitations and Tony’s may preclude him from holding his current job.
This is not to pick on him, put him down, or make fun of him. If he doesn’t have the sense to make the right decisions or won’t compensate by listening to those who do have the ability to determine what the right decision is and accept their suggestions, than he must go.
The taxpayers of the city of Trenton cannot afford to subsidize such ignorance. And anyone who thinks otherwise must also have diminished mental capacity.
Tony Mack has failed in his short time as Mayor of the City of Trenton. There is no way to argue or refute that fact. The citizens who continue to stand by him are failing as well.
Accept that Mr. Mack will probably not finish out his term and let’s start thinking about finding a competent, ethical, intelligent replacement.
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Cash, lies and videotape
Show me the money, part II
So we have a Political Action Committee (PAC) known as Partners For Progress (PFP) whose stated mission is:
As was pointed out in the previous post, there are some interesting “problems” with PFP’s required reporting to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. The $7200 contribution from the Cooper Levenson law firm that was apparently wheeled to Tony Mack’s mayoral campaign was covered in the prior post.
We will track some other interesting contributions later. This time out let’s look at some of the expenditures that PFP reported.
The first thing that comes up on the expense pages is a listing of payments made to individuals for “community outreach.” This is another term for “street money,” money paid to individuals to get out the vote. By law, these payments must be made by check and reported with each person’s name, address, and the number of the check used to pay them.
PFP reported 79 such payments of $25 each to individuals. That would be a total of $1975 paid for community outreach. Would be…except seven of the reported payments are duplicate entries. So it was really 72 individuals receiving a total of $1800. Guess PFP is somewhat sloppy with their record keeping.
Of the 72 individuals who received payments from PFP, 30 don’t have check numbers listed. That is a violation of state election law. Twelve of the 72 don’t have an address listed. That is also a violation of state election law.
Pretty sloppy record keeping, don’t you think?
Or was this report just hurriedly put together because of the investigation that Politicker NJ reported in December of last year?
Interesting, too, is that PFP paid a Jeff Meyers a $2500 “consulting” fee. One might wonder what kind of consulting Mr. Meyers provided to PFP. The report doesn’t give the required full address for Mr. Meyers, just the fact that his is from Burlington, NJ.
Is it safe to assume, then, that this Mr. Jeff Meyers is the very same Jeff Meyers who stepped down as the Treasurer of the Burlington County Democratic Committee because of questions surrounding some money “wheeling” and pay to play schemes (sound familiar?)
If we are talking about the same Jeff Meyers, is it not reasonable to expect that a former county political committee treasurer would know the rules for proper ELEC reporting? Wouldn’t it have been prudent to seek his advice and counsel in preparing and filing the required reports in a timely manner?
Three other expenditures jump off the page as one peruses this report.
Under the heading of “Itemized Contributions Made to Candidates and Committees” are entries for the $7200 contribution made to Mr. Mack’s campaign, a $250 contribution to Councilwoman At Large Kathy McBride’s campaign, and a $5000 contribution to Juan Martinez’s campaign.
The Mack contribution seems directly related to the now disputed Cooper Levenson contribution to PFP.
The contribution received by Ms. McBride’s campaign falls beneath the $300 threshold for required reporting and so she apparently didn’t. There are additional expenditures listed as “in-kind” on her behalf that would, when paired with the $250 contribution, put her over that limit and require her to report the aggregate contributions. It looks as though PFP may have failed to notify these candidates of these “in-kind” contributions as required by law and the blame, again, lies with them.
Now the $5000 contribution given to Mr. Martinez presents an interesting situation. The date of the contribution is for June 15, the date of the runoff election. Mr. Martinez, who is one of the candidates woefully lacking in compliance with NJ ELEC reporting requirements, had apparently not filed any reports for the runoff part of the election cycle. So we don’t know if he actually received this money or not.
Interestingly, in a videotaped conversation posted on Robert Chilson’s Trenton United Blog, Mr. Martinez states that he never received any money from PFP. He claims that he received a phone call from someone connected with PFP asking if they could put him down as the recipient of a contribution. Martinez admits that he probably shouldn’t have given the go ahead, even with the attached caveat that if the contribution was questioned it would deflect back on PFP.
Is this another indication that PFP hurriedly put together a report in response to the ELEC investigation and “faked” the contribution?
Or did Mr. Martinez actually take a $5000 contribution and not report it?
Again, all it would take is the production of a copy of the cancelled check to show who is telling the truth.
But that seems to be too much to expect from either PFP or Martinez.
So we have a Political Action Committee (PAC) known as Partners For Progress (PFP) whose stated mission is:
Partners for Progress PAC’s mission is to not only raise money – but also to raise awareness about the political process, educating potential candidates, candidates, and organizations on how to successfully participate in the political process.Well, PFP seems to have gotten the raising money part right…too bad they are a little shaky on how to successfully participate in the political process.
As was pointed out in the previous post, there are some interesting “problems” with PFP’s required reporting to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. The $7200 contribution from the Cooper Levenson law firm that was apparently wheeled to Tony Mack’s mayoral campaign was covered in the prior post.
We will track some other interesting contributions later. This time out let’s look at some of the expenditures that PFP reported.
The first thing that comes up on the expense pages is a listing of payments made to individuals for “community outreach.” This is another term for “street money,” money paid to individuals to get out the vote. By law, these payments must be made by check and reported with each person’s name, address, and the number of the check used to pay them.
PFP reported 79 such payments of $25 each to individuals. That would be a total of $1975 paid for community outreach. Would be…except seven of the reported payments are duplicate entries. So it was really 72 individuals receiving a total of $1800. Guess PFP is somewhat sloppy with their record keeping.
Of the 72 individuals who received payments from PFP, 30 don’t have check numbers listed. That is a violation of state election law. Twelve of the 72 don’t have an address listed. That is also a violation of state election law.
Pretty sloppy record keeping, don’t you think?
Or was this report just hurriedly put together because of the investigation that Politicker NJ reported in December of last year?
Interesting, too, is that PFP paid a Jeff Meyers a $2500 “consulting” fee. One might wonder what kind of consulting Mr. Meyers provided to PFP. The report doesn’t give the required full address for Mr. Meyers, just the fact that his is from Burlington, NJ.
Is it safe to assume, then, that this Mr. Jeff Meyers is the very same Jeff Meyers who stepped down as the Treasurer of the Burlington County Democratic Committee because of questions surrounding some money “wheeling” and pay to play schemes (sound familiar?)
If we are talking about the same Jeff Meyers, is it not reasonable to expect that a former county political committee treasurer would know the rules for proper ELEC reporting? Wouldn’t it have been prudent to seek his advice and counsel in preparing and filing the required reports in a timely manner?
Three other expenditures jump off the page as one peruses this report.
Under the heading of “Itemized Contributions Made to Candidates and Committees” are entries for the $7200 contribution made to Mr. Mack’s campaign, a $250 contribution to Councilwoman At Large Kathy McBride’s campaign, and a $5000 contribution to Juan Martinez’s campaign.
The Mack contribution seems directly related to the now disputed Cooper Levenson contribution to PFP.
The contribution received by Ms. McBride’s campaign falls beneath the $300 threshold for required reporting and so she apparently didn’t. There are additional expenditures listed as “in-kind” on her behalf that would, when paired with the $250 contribution, put her over that limit and require her to report the aggregate contributions. It looks as though PFP may have failed to notify these candidates of these “in-kind” contributions as required by law and the blame, again, lies with them.
Now the $5000 contribution given to Mr. Martinez presents an interesting situation. The date of the contribution is for June 15, the date of the runoff election. Mr. Martinez, who is one of the candidates woefully lacking in compliance with NJ ELEC reporting requirements, had apparently not filed any reports for the runoff part of the election cycle. So we don’t know if he actually received this money or not.
Interestingly, in a videotaped conversation posted on Robert Chilson’s Trenton United Blog, Mr. Martinez states that he never received any money from PFP. He claims that he received a phone call from someone connected with PFP asking if they could put him down as the recipient of a contribution. Martinez admits that he probably shouldn’t have given the go ahead, even with the attached caveat that if the contribution was questioned it would deflect back on PFP.
Is this another indication that PFP hurriedly put together a report in response to the ELEC investigation and “faked” the contribution?
Or did Mr. Martinez actually take a $5000 contribution and not report it?
Again, all it would take is the production of a copy of the cancelled check to show who is telling the truth.
But that seems to be too much to expect from either PFP or Martinez.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Show me the money
If you have been hiding under a rock or stuck in an ice cave the past several days, you might have missed the latest in the ever lengthening line of scandals to hit the Tony Mack administration.
In a nutshell, the city awarded a contract for general legal counsel to the law firm of Cooper Levenson last October. The head guy at Cooper Levenson, Lloyd Levenson, was on Mayor Mack’s transition team and he headed up the committee that put together the Mayor’s Inaugural Ball.
The Mayor wanted Cooper Levenson to get the city contract so badly that he sent it before council three times before he could muster the four votes needed to carry out his desire. At the time, many raised the issue that Mr. Levenson, whose name was prominently featured on the invitation to the Mayor’s gala, was soliciting on behalf of the Mayor and therefore his firm was not eligible to be awarded the contract.
Mr. Levenson, of course, denied that he ever contributed to or solicited contributions on behalf of Mayor Mack. Four members of Trenton’s city council: Alex Bethea, Phyllis Holly-Ward, Kathy McBride, and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson voted to approve the contract.
On January 31, the Times published a story detailing a $7,200 contribution made to a local Political Action Committee (PAC), Partners For Progress (PFP). PFP in turn made an equal contribution to Mayor Mack’s campaign.
A spokesman for Cooper Levenson claims that the firm sent a letter requesting the return of the contribution so they could proceed with soliciting business from the city. The spokesman claims the contribution was repaid and so the potential violation of the city’s Pay to Play ordinance was averted.
If that is the case…show us the cancelled check proving that the contribution was indeed refunded, when it was refunded and that it was re-deposited into the law firm’s account.
Until that check is produced no one should have to take Mr. Levenson’s or anyone else’s word that the violation was “cured,” as the lawyers say.
As for PFP, their tardy reporting to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) just may be central to what is looking to be a very interesting story.
Partners For Progress was formed, in early 2010 by Cynthia Taylor, Carla Hogan and Pete Fields: two Trenton residents (Fields and Hogan) and the owner of a Trenton business (Taylor owns Jet Wine and Liquor on Willow Street). At the bottom of a press release distributed about 3:00 pm on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 PFP states the following:
PFP is required by law to file quarterly reports detailing their fundraising and expenditures. Since they “organized” in February of last 2010, their first report covering inception through March 31, 2010 was filed when due on April 15, 2010. No additional reports were filed until January of this year when the one covering the period ending June 30 and due on July15 was given to ELEC.
The reports due October 15 and January 15 for the 3rd and 4th calendar quarters have yet to be filed (or at least aren’t yet posted to the ELEC website).
{Note: As far as that goes, many of our candidates/elected officials are behind in their report filing as well. But we’ll get to that some other time.}
Besides the late and missing filings, there are some other issues with PFP’s reporting.
In December, Politicker NJ reported that ELEC was investigating the unreported and excessive contribution made to Tony Mack’s campaign by PFP.
By law, a PAC like PFP can only contribute up to $8,200.00 to a candidate committee in an election. The Mack campaign reported receiving a contribution of $8,805 from PFP…$605 over the limit. PFP hadn’t filed the required reports so there was no record of the contributions from that side…a violation of the state’s campaign finance laws.
Interestingly, the Mack campaign also reported a reimbursement back to PFP of $3,173. But it only had to return the $605 excess. Hmmm.
Why then, did Mack return an additional $2,568 to PFP? There’s no details on the Mack report…could it have been a “partial” repayment of the infamous $7,200 from Cooper Levenson?
Let’s say it was returned to PFP so PFP could in turn repay Cooper Levenson. Where is the documentation?
PFP’s sole report, filed months late and only after the story appeared on Politicker NJ has an entry showing the return of the $3,173 from the Mack campaign but it doesn’t show any reimbursement…in part or in whole…to Cooper Levenson.
Did the reimbursement come in the next reporting period (July 1 – September 30)?
We don’t know because there is no evidence of PFP report having been filed for that or any subsequent period.
In the Times article on this mess published February 3, reporter Alex Zdan wrote the following:
Levenson claims there was a full return of the contribution, but Ms. Taylor doesn’t know. And, according to the paperwork filed with ELEC, Ms. Taylor signs the checks for PFP.
A reading of the city of Trenton’s Pay to Play ordinance makes it pretty clear that the contribution has to be returned in full before the violation is corrected.
Let’s look at another aspect of the PFP report. The first sheet of the 30 page document gives a summary accounting of the PAC’s funds. It shows an entry of cash on hand of $2,248.71.
If PFP hadn’t returned the $7200 contribution to Cooper Levenson by the June 30th close of the reporting period as indicated by the report, then the refund must have occurred later (if at all).
Since no subsequent reports have yet to be filed, we can’t determine if a later payment was actually made. But with a balance of $2,248.71 shown on the report, PFP would have to find another $4,951.29 somewhere to make up the difference and be able to return the contribution to Cooper Levenson.
Again, no subsequent reports have been filed, so PFP can’t show that they took in the money.
Doesn’t seem likely that they returned Cooper Levenson’s contribution, does it?
There are other interesting aspects of the PFP report filed on January 27, 2011. We’ll get to those in the next installment.
In a nutshell, the city awarded a contract for general legal counsel to the law firm of Cooper Levenson last October. The head guy at Cooper Levenson, Lloyd Levenson, was on Mayor Mack’s transition team and he headed up the committee that put together the Mayor’s Inaugural Ball.
The Mayor wanted Cooper Levenson to get the city contract so badly that he sent it before council three times before he could muster the four votes needed to carry out his desire. At the time, many raised the issue that Mr. Levenson, whose name was prominently featured on the invitation to the Mayor’s gala, was soliciting on behalf of the Mayor and therefore his firm was not eligible to be awarded the contract.
Mr. Levenson, of course, denied that he ever contributed to or solicited contributions on behalf of Mayor Mack. Four members of Trenton’s city council: Alex Bethea, Phyllis Holly-Ward, Kathy McBride, and Verlina Reynolds-Jackson voted to approve the contract.
On January 31, the Times published a story detailing a $7,200 contribution made to a local Political Action Committee (PAC), Partners For Progress (PFP). PFP in turn made an equal contribution to Mayor Mack’s campaign.
A spokesman for Cooper Levenson claims that the firm sent a letter requesting the return of the contribution so they could proceed with soliciting business from the city. The spokesman claims the contribution was repaid and so the potential violation of the city’s Pay to Play ordinance was averted.
If that is the case…show us the cancelled check proving that the contribution was indeed refunded, when it was refunded and that it was re-deposited into the law firm’s account.
Until that check is produced no one should have to take Mr. Levenson’s or anyone else’s word that the violation was “cured,” as the lawyers say.
As for PFP, their tardy reporting to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) just may be central to what is looking to be a very interesting story.
Partners For Progress was formed, in early 2010 by Cynthia Taylor, Carla Hogan and Pete Fields: two Trenton residents (Fields and Hogan) and the owner of a Trenton business (Taylor owns Jet Wine and Liquor on Willow Street). At the bottom of a press release distributed about 3:00 pm on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 PFP states the following:
Partners for Progress PAC — Partners for Progress PAC is an independent, non-partisan group of individuals dedicated to supporting candidates, organizations or causes who demonstrate a commitment to advancing the interests of their community socially and economically. Through political participation and organizational support,Well, maybe Ms. Taylor, Ms. Hogan and Mr. Fields should have raised their own awareness and educated themselves on how to correctly participate in the political process.
Partners for Progress PAC plans to endorse candidates or causes who have shown an interest in shaping good government policies that will advance the issues important to our organization.
Partners for Progress PAC’s mission is to not only raise money – but also to raise awareness about the political process, educating potential candidates, candidates, and organizations on how to successfully participate in the political process.
PFP is required by law to file quarterly reports detailing their fundraising and expenditures. Since they “organized” in February of last 2010, their first report covering inception through March 31, 2010 was filed when due on April 15, 2010. No additional reports were filed until January of this year when the one covering the period ending June 30 and due on July15 was given to ELEC.
The reports due October 15 and January 15 for the 3rd and 4th calendar quarters have yet to be filed (or at least aren’t yet posted to the ELEC website).
{Note: As far as that goes, many of our candidates/elected officials are behind in their report filing as well. But we’ll get to that some other time.}
Besides the late and missing filings, there are some other issues with PFP’s reporting.
In December, Politicker NJ reported that ELEC was investigating the unreported and excessive contribution made to Tony Mack’s campaign by PFP.
By law, a PAC like PFP can only contribute up to $8,200.00 to a candidate committee in an election. The Mack campaign reported receiving a contribution of $8,805 from PFP…$605 over the limit. PFP hadn’t filed the required reports so there was no record of the contributions from that side…a violation of the state’s campaign finance laws.
Interestingly, the Mack campaign also reported a reimbursement back to PFP of $3,173. But it only had to return the $605 excess. Hmmm.
Why then, did Mack return an additional $2,568 to PFP? There’s no details on the Mack report…could it have been a “partial” repayment of the infamous $7,200 from Cooper Levenson?
Let’s say it was returned to PFP so PFP could in turn repay Cooper Levenson. Where is the documentation?
PFP’s sole report, filed months late and only after the story appeared on Politicker NJ has an entry showing the return of the $3,173 from the Mack campaign but it doesn’t show any reimbursement…in part or in whole…to Cooper Levenson.
Did the reimbursement come in the next reporting period (July 1 – September 30)?
We don’t know because there is no evidence of PFP report having been filed for that or any subsequent period.
In the Times article on this mess published February 3, reporter Alex Zdan wrote the following:
According to Mack, the city received Cooper Levenson’s refund letter when it was sent to Partners For Progress June 28, three days before Mack became mayor. A copy of the letter could not be provided to The Times last night.So was the money returned or wasn’t it?
“The problem is, it’s in a locked office and I don’t have the key,” mayoral spokeswoman Lauren Ira said.
McKithen could not be reached for comment last night.
Partners For Progress’ Cynthia Taylor denied the $7,200 was specifically for Mack.
“We didn’t approach him, he came to us, he didn’t say, ‘This is for Tony, or anything like that,’” Taylor said yesterday.
Although Levenson said the firm received a full return of their contribution, Taylor said she was not sure.
“Well, like I said, I don’t know what’s going on, what happened since then,” she said. “I just know they asked for the money back sometime in June.”
Levenson claims there was a full return of the contribution, but Ms. Taylor doesn’t know. And, according to the paperwork filed with ELEC, Ms. Taylor signs the checks for PFP.
A reading of the city of Trenton’s Pay to Play ordinance makes it pretty clear that the contribution has to be returned in full before the violation is corrected.
Let’s look at another aspect of the PFP report. The first sheet of the 30 page document gives a summary accounting of the PAC’s funds. It shows an entry of cash on hand of $2,248.71.
If PFP hadn’t returned the $7200 contribution to Cooper Levenson by the June 30th close of the reporting period as indicated by the report, then the refund must have occurred later (if at all).
Since no subsequent reports have yet to be filed, we can’t determine if a later payment was actually made. But with a balance of $2,248.71 shown on the report, PFP would have to find another $4,951.29 somewhere to make up the difference and be able to return the contribution to Cooper Levenson.
Again, no subsequent reports have been filed, so PFP can’t show that they took in the money.
Doesn’t seem likely that they returned Cooper Levenson’s contribution, does it?
There are other interesting aspects of the PFP report filed on January 27, 2011. We’ll get to those in the next installment.
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
What YOU can do
We spend a lot of time and energy reporting on the failings and foibles of our government. Things didn't get to the sorry state they are solely because Trenton continues to elect "leaders" of questionable ability and talent.
There has been a growing movement towards citizen activism that is starting to make a difference in how the city of Trenton conducts business. While there is still a long way to go and a lot more to do the increased participation in the process is a good step in the right direction.
Coming up Monday is an opportunity to really come forward and place your ideas and thoughts into the mix.
It's time to step up and be heard.
There has been a growing movement towards citizen activism that is starting to make a difference in how the city of Trenton conducts business. While there is still a long way to go and a lot more to do the increased participation in the process is a good step in the right direction.
Coming up Monday is an opportunity to really come forward and place your ideas and thoughts into the mix.
Friday, January 28, 2011
The price of ignorance
Merriam-Webster’s definition of IGNORANCE
If there was any doubt about the complete inability of our Mayor to comprehend the depths of his inept management of the city, they have long been buried under the blizzard of catastrophes that have befallen Trenton.
From day one, the choices Mayor Tony F. Mack have made as the city’s chief executive officer have lead from blunder to blunder. Starting with the hiring of friends and supporters at a time when the city was facing a critical fund shortage and pending layoffs of experienced and skilled employees; moving through appointments of legally tainted individuals to his cabinet; the indictment of his half-brother on charges of using city resources to profit from a side business of doing plumbing repairs; and now the pending legal action against the Mack administration for failing to follow state public contracting laws (let alone common sense). The Mack administration has demonstrated conclusively that it is overflowing with ignorance. And arrogance.
When advised by Council President Muschal and Councilwoman Caldwell-Wilson of reported problems with employees in the Trenton Water Utility, the Mayor reportedly shrugged it off. The subsequent arrest and indictment of water works employees demonstrated that Mayor Mack doesn’t get it.
The City’s Housing and Economic Development Department prepared an error-filled and faulty ordinance for Council that would have sold city-owned properties to a developer for $1 each. The developer, it turns out, had given generously to the Mack campaign; so generously, in fact, as to have exceeded the limits for campaign contributions. An error like this is supposed to be discovered and corrected WITHIN 48 HOURS of the receipt of the contribution. Some seven and one half months after the contribution was received, the overage had not been returned. Only after the matter became public knowledge did Mayor Mack offer to refund part of the contribution and split the balance between the contributor and his wife in an attempt to comply with the law. (NOTE: as of this writing, there is no public record that any money has been returned to the contributor).
The fact that the Housing and Economic Development staff was decimated by layoffs and retirements played heavily into this matter. By the admission of Acting Director Henrietta Owusu, no one on her truncated staff was able to catch the fact that the majority of the properties being offered to the developer were NOT in a redevelopment area and therefore could not be sold without benefit of some sort of pubic auction. Further, the remaining properties that were in a redevelopment area were not in the redevelopment area stated in the ordinance. While she took full responsibility for the errors and omissions as acting department director, Owusu indicated it was the fact that the department was left critically short-handed by the staff reductions that created the mess.
The Mack administration apparently doesn’t grasp the value of having knowledgeable and experienced employees on hand to perform vital tasks. In fact, the administration seems to favor incompetent and inexperienced friends as witnessed by the hiring practices of the last seven months or so.
Why else would he hire unqualified individuals as Park Rangers and put them “in charge” of city hall security? Or make his campaign committee treasurer his personal secretary? Now the Mayor is reportedly thinking of making this man, the same man who cannot properly complete and file the required campaign reports with the state, the Assistant Business Administrator?
Ignorance.
Perhaps the greatest example of the Mack administration’s lack of awareness and/or knowledge is the matter of the Information Technology (IT) consulting contract. The entire process for competitive contracting as defined in the state statutes was tossed aside by Mayor Mack and his minions so that a favored but flawed vendor could get the contract.
The newly minted city attorney, whose experience with municipal law was questioned at the time of his nomination, was apparently ignorant of the process and gave little in the way of sound advice to the city council as they deliberated the matter.
The city’s long time purchasing agent had left during the RFP process and was not there to shepherd it along.
Similarly, the IT Director for the city was let go in the November layoffs. His exit left no one with a sound understanding of the city’s IT needs to effectively evaluate the proposals of the three bidders.
Just think, Trenton could have kept the IT director on instead of the two worthless, inexperienced and unqualified “grant writers” hired by the Mayor and who have yet to land any grant of any significance to the core functions of the city.
More ignorance.
Now the city is facing legal action via a complaint filed by the long-time IT consulting company who was thrown over for the new guy. It remains to see what this will cost the taxpayers in additional monies unnecessarily paid out due to the administration’s fumbles and foibles.
But let’s not turn a blind eye to the governing body’s role in the IT fiasco. City Council, or at least the five members who voted to award the contract to the vendor with the faulty proposal, must share the mantle of ignorance with the Mayor. Various members of the public tried to explain the problems with the process but the council wouldn’t listen.
Turning a deaf ear to the voices of reason is most likely going to be a costly experience.
The price of ignorance.
The state or fact of being ignorant: lack of knowledge, education, or awareness
If there was any doubt about the complete inability of our Mayor to comprehend the depths of his inept management of the city, they have long been buried under the blizzard of catastrophes that have befallen Trenton.
From day one, the choices Mayor Tony F. Mack have made as the city’s chief executive officer have lead from blunder to blunder. Starting with the hiring of friends and supporters at a time when the city was facing a critical fund shortage and pending layoffs of experienced and skilled employees; moving through appointments of legally tainted individuals to his cabinet; the indictment of his half-brother on charges of using city resources to profit from a side business of doing plumbing repairs; and now the pending legal action against the Mack administration for failing to follow state public contracting laws (let alone common sense). The Mack administration has demonstrated conclusively that it is overflowing with ignorance. And arrogance.
When advised by Council President Muschal and Councilwoman Caldwell-Wilson of reported problems with employees in the Trenton Water Utility, the Mayor reportedly shrugged it off. The subsequent arrest and indictment of water works employees demonstrated that Mayor Mack doesn’t get it.
The City’s Housing and Economic Development Department prepared an error-filled and faulty ordinance for Council that would have sold city-owned properties to a developer for $1 each. The developer, it turns out, had given generously to the Mack campaign; so generously, in fact, as to have exceeded the limits for campaign contributions. An error like this is supposed to be discovered and corrected WITHIN 48 HOURS of the receipt of the contribution. Some seven and one half months after the contribution was received, the overage had not been returned. Only after the matter became public knowledge did Mayor Mack offer to refund part of the contribution and split the balance between the contributor and his wife in an attempt to comply with the law. (NOTE: as of this writing, there is no public record that any money has been returned to the contributor).
The fact that the Housing and Economic Development staff was decimated by layoffs and retirements played heavily into this matter. By the admission of Acting Director Henrietta Owusu, no one on her truncated staff was able to catch the fact that the majority of the properties being offered to the developer were NOT in a redevelopment area and therefore could not be sold without benefit of some sort of pubic auction. Further, the remaining properties that were in a redevelopment area were not in the redevelopment area stated in the ordinance. While she took full responsibility for the errors and omissions as acting department director, Owusu indicated it was the fact that the department was left critically short-handed by the staff reductions that created the mess.
The Mack administration apparently doesn’t grasp the value of having knowledgeable and experienced employees on hand to perform vital tasks. In fact, the administration seems to favor incompetent and inexperienced friends as witnessed by the hiring practices of the last seven months or so.
Why else would he hire unqualified individuals as Park Rangers and put them “in charge” of city hall security? Or make his campaign committee treasurer his personal secretary? Now the Mayor is reportedly thinking of making this man, the same man who cannot properly complete and file the required campaign reports with the state, the Assistant Business Administrator?
Ignorance.
Perhaps the greatest example of the Mack administration’s lack of awareness and/or knowledge is the matter of the Information Technology (IT) consulting contract. The entire process for competitive contracting as defined in the state statutes was tossed aside by Mayor Mack and his minions so that a favored but flawed vendor could get the contract.
The newly minted city attorney, whose experience with municipal law was questioned at the time of his nomination, was apparently ignorant of the process and gave little in the way of sound advice to the city council as they deliberated the matter.
The city’s long time purchasing agent had left during the RFP process and was not there to shepherd it along.
Similarly, the IT Director for the city was let go in the November layoffs. His exit left no one with a sound understanding of the city’s IT needs to effectively evaluate the proposals of the three bidders.
Just think, Trenton could have kept the IT director on instead of the two worthless, inexperienced and unqualified “grant writers” hired by the Mayor and who have yet to land any grant of any significance to the core functions of the city.
More ignorance.
Now the city is facing legal action via a complaint filed by the long-time IT consulting company who was thrown over for the new guy. It remains to see what this will cost the taxpayers in additional monies unnecessarily paid out due to the administration’s fumbles and foibles.
But let’s not turn a blind eye to the governing body’s role in the IT fiasco. City Council, or at least the five members who voted to award the contract to the vendor with the faulty proposal, must share the mantle of ignorance with the Mayor. Various members of the public tried to explain the problems with the process but the council wouldn’t listen.
Turning a deaf ear to the voices of reason is most likely going to be a costly experience.
The price of ignorance.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Six months into the Tony Mack Experience Trenton is still fumbling along.
Six months in and the city still doesn’t have a Business Administrator.
Six months in and the city council has yet to set salaries for the Mayor and his cabinet.
Six months in there are 61 firefighters still hanging by a thread wondering if and when they will be laid off.
Six months in and the dust has not yet settled on the rest of the city workforce: will there be more layoffs, pay cuts, furlough days?
Six months in and we have had two major problems with the Trenton Water Works that many fought so hard to keep intact as a city asset. Besides the “brown water” situation of early October and the Prosecutor’s raid on the department in December, there have been accusations of possible contamination at one of the system’s water tanks and cries for state or regional takeover of the utility.
Six months in and the administration is still tripping over the strings attached to the state aid handed out just before Thanksgiving. This time, it was the failure to clear appointments with the Department of Community Affairs before bringing them to city council…again.
Six months in and there is no real budget on the table and in the process of refinement and approval.
Six months in and there is little reason to expect anything to change in the next six months.
Six months into the Tony Mack Experience Trenton is still fumbling along.
Six months in and the city council has yet to set salaries for the Mayor and his cabinet.
Six months in there are 61 firefighters still hanging by a thread wondering if and when they will be laid off.
Six months in and the dust has not yet settled on the rest of the city workforce: will there be more layoffs, pay cuts, furlough days?
Six months in and we have had two major problems with the Trenton Water Works that many fought so hard to keep intact as a city asset. Besides the “brown water” situation of early October and the Prosecutor’s raid on the department in December, there have been accusations of possible contamination at one of the system’s water tanks and cries for state or regional takeover of the utility.
Six months in and the administration is still tripping over the strings attached to the state aid handed out just before Thanksgiving. This time, it was the failure to clear appointments with the Department of Community Affairs before bringing them to city council…again.
Six months in and there is no real budget on the table and in the process of refinement and approval.
Six months in and there is little reason to expect anything to change in the next six months.
Six months into the Tony Mack Experience Trenton is still fumbling along.
Friday, December 17, 2010
Scratch this one off the list
Applied for the FEMA grant aptly named SAFER to rehire the 61 firefighters slated for lay off. If awarded the grant funds could be in excess of 13.7 million dollars.Mayor Tony Mack admitted to city council last night that the city may be laying off 61 firefighters after all.
Seems the grant application touted as one of the Mayor's highlights of his first 100 days in office is not such a bright spot after all.
The laughable list of "accomplishments" published in a poorly written release was really more of description of everyday activities of a small city mayor. It incorporated activities planned and executed by non-profit support groups for city institutions such as the William Trent House and the Trenton City Museum at Ellarslie.
Mayor Mack touted the SAFER grant application again in his slightly bizarre November 4 press conference vowing that:
Enough is enough; today I am announcing that we will not lay-off any public safety employees, that means very clearly, that no police officers or firefighters will be affected by the lay-off plan.Mack went on to offer fuzzy logic and questionable math as an explanation for how he would avert laying off approximately 1/3 of the police force, the firefighters and substantial numbers of civilian city employees. At this time he repeated his vow that the "libraries will remain open." They have not...only the main library remains staffed and open.
He even went as far as to assert that he could accomplish these reduced layoffs with no help from the state...a remark that Governor Chris Christie rebuked the very next day at a public meeting in Trenton. With Mack present at the event in the Boys and Girls Club on Centre Street, Governor Christie explained that whatever state aid the city got was for public safety personnel.
Mack hasn't listened and apparently won't listen to anyone giving advice or news he doesn't want to hear. And the city of Trenton is sliding deeper into debt and despair because of his stubborn ignorance.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
It just doesn't seem to faze him
Well there has been no slow down of missteps and misdeeds by the Tony Mack administration, as we’ve entered the holiday season.
The capital city’s feckless leader has not managed to stay out of headlines or escape notice of the bloggers since the Thanksgiving break.
Over that long holiday weekend, an article appeared in the Times reporting of citizen annoyance at the overuse of the city’s ability to place robo-calls on a near daily basis for no good reason.
Blogger Kevin Moriarty posted about the lack of information on how the city was going to deal with the $12,000,000 gap in funding between the $39 million requested and the $27 million pledged by the state. Remember, earlier in the month the Mayor said he’d found a way to eliminate many of the planned layoffs with or without state aid? Show us the math.
It was announced that an informational meeting on how the process for recalling an elected official works in New Jersey. Some assumed this would be a blueprint for a Mayoral recall.
Then came reports of personnel and organizational shuffles at city hall. The mayor has yet to name his “permanent” department directors and city council hasn’t pushed him on it, even though the interim directors have been serving for longer than the statutory 90 days.
Along with this was the rumored appointment of campaign svengali Dan Toto to replace the hastily departed Andrew McCrosson as Business Administrator. No sooner was that squelched, then we hear that Toto has been appointed “on an interim” basis but will be “paid immediately” to work part-time as the coordinator of the city YouthStat program.
This raised eyebrows and questions about the legality and propriety of the appointment. Looks like another challenge to Council’s powers by the loose cannon mayor.
Following close on the heels of that announcement was the disclosure that the Administration was now going to the various unions and asking for salary givebacks of 10% plus furlough days. This is the same Administration that had avoided some layoffs by demoting and cutting the pay of employees earlier in the month.
However, perhaps the biggest story to hit to date is the arrest of the Mayor’s half-brother, Stanley “Muscles” Davis for a scheme involving use of city time and materials to do plumbing jobs and pocketing the cash. Reports of the raid on the Trenton Water Works offices on Cortland Street were all over the Times, the Trentonian and TV stations starting Monday afternoon. The latest being today’s story of how Stanley “Muscles” Davis perpetually threatened and intimidated his co-workers at the TWW.
Through it all, Mayor Mack remains quiet, happy and wishing everyone a Happy Pearl Harbor Day!”
Do you think he knows how bad things have gotten?
The capital city’s feckless leader has not managed to stay out of headlines or escape notice of the bloggers since the Thanksgiving break.
Over that long holiday weekend, an article appeared in the Times reporting of citizen annoyance at the overuse of the city’s ability to place robo-calls on a near daily basis for no good reason.
Blogger Kevin Moriarty posted about the lack of information on how the city was going to deal with the $12,000,000 gap in funding between the $39 million requested and the $27 million pledged by the state. Remember, earlier in the month the Mayor said he’d found a way to eliminate many of the planned layoffs with or without state aid? Show us the math.
It was announced that an informational meeting on how the process for recalling an elected official works in New Jersey. Some assumed this would be a blueprint for a Mayoral recall.
Then came reports of personnel and organizational shuffles at city hall. The mayor has yet to name his “permanent” department directors and city council hasn’t pushed him on it, even though the interim directors have been serving for longer than the statutory 90 days.
Along with this was the rumored appointment of campaign svengali Dan Toto to replace the hastily departed Andrew McCrosson as Business Administrator. No sooner was that squelched, then we hear that Toto has been appointed “on an interim” basis but will be “paid immediately” to work part-time as the coordinator of the city YouthStat program.
This raised eyebrows and questions about the legality and propriety of the appointment. Looks like another challenge to Council’s powers by the loose cannon mayor.
Following close on the heels of that announcement was the disclosure that the Administration was now going to the various unions and asking for salary givebacks of 10% plus furlough days. This is the same Administration that had avoided some layoffs by demoting and cutting the pay of employees earlier in the month.
However, perhaps the biggest story to hit to date is the arrest of the Mayor’s half-brother, Stanley “Muscles” Davis for a scheme involving use of city time and materials to do plumbing jobs and pocketing the cash. Reports of the raid on the Trenton Water Works offices on Cortland Street were all over the Times, the Trentonian and TV stations starting Monday afternoon. The latest being today’s story of how Stanley “Muscles” Davis perpetually threatened and intimidated his co-workers at the TWW.
Through it all, Mayor Mack remains quiet, happy and wishing everyone a Happy Pearl Harbor Day!”
Do you think he knows how bad things have gotten?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The F does not stand for Finesse
Tired of having the failings and foibles of his administration splayed across the front page of the Trentonian, Mayor Tony F. Mack has apparently declared the city tabloid as “paper non grata” in city hall. One of the mayor’s minions halted Tuesday’s delivery of the Trentonian and an email has surfaced that suggests the administration is seeking to cancel its subscription to the paper.
Former Mayor Doug Palmer’s thin skin and sensitivity to criticism, while well known, never quite reached the level of Mayor Mack’s apparent discomfort. Of course Palmer may not have made quite as many missteps in so short a time as Tony Mack has, either. Still, Palmer understood the need to keep “friends close and enemies closer” and never turned his back on either of Trenton’s dailies that we can recall. He may have challenged their assertions and reporting but he didn’t cut off their access to city hall.
Mayor Mack’s overreaction is another story; a front page story.
Strange and heavy handed move for a man who promised a transparent government that was accountable to the public.
Former Mayor Doug Palmer’s thin skin and sensitivity to criticism, while well known, never quite reached the level of Mayor Mack’s apparent discomfort. Of course Palmer may not have made quite as many missteps in so short a time as Tony Mack has, either. Still, Palmer understood the need to keep “friends close and enemies closer” and never turned his back on either of Trenton’s dailies that we can recall. He may have challenged their assertions and reporting but he didn’t cut off their access to city hall.
Mayor Mack’s overreaction is another story; a front page story.
Strange and heavy handed move for a man who promised a transparent government that was accountable to the public.
Monday, November 15, 2010
You just can't get it right, can you?
A turkey of an idea
Dear Mayor Mack and staff:
*Before anyone raises the point...we have the same feeling about St. Patrick's Day Parades that are not held on St. Patrick's Day. Regardless of whethere they march in Trenton, Hamilton, Robbinsville, or on the Moon.if it isn't on March 17th, it is NOT a St. Patrick's Day Parade.
Dear Mayor Mack and staff:
- In a city that is broke and broken, do we really need, can we afford, should we have a city sponsored (ie; paid for) parade? It was a bad idea in the waning years of the Palmer administration and yet here you are, the "we're going to do things differently" crew doing just the opposite.
- Was the Thanksgiving holiday moved from Thursday to Saturday? If it was, it somehow escaped our notice. If it wasn't, then the parade on Saturday is not really a "Thanksgiving DAY Parade, now is it?*
Saturday, November 06, 2010
Random thoughts on a saturday afternoon
Hey! All you candidates in last week's elections, it's over! Tuesday was four days ago, how about you send out your minions to collect your campaign signs. Especially you winners...and especially the signs that were placed illegally on public property! Your responsibilities didn't end when the polls closed my friends!
And you know what...some of you losers (figurative and literal) from last spring's city election and runoff need to remove your signs too. That includes you, Mr. Segura para Trenton!
Does anybody remember the water crisis of a month ago? Did anyone ever explain what really happened to cause the low pressure and brown water experienced by some customers of the Trenton Water Works? We know it wasn't strictly a function of the high water level in the Delaware River at that time
And whatever became of Ron Lind?
Nobody has anything to add to the razzle-dazzle fumbling of the city of Trenton layoff plan? We all believe that Mayor Mack's manipulation of "the plan" is going to work, right? The numbers said so. At least that is what we were told.
Now that we've visited the Mayoral Circus (Mayor Mack's Thursday morning press conference touting his "saving" of the public safety jobs; etc.) and wrung our hands in despair over those who did get laid off, are we going to get back to the predicament of having an unfit judge presiding over Trenton's Municipal Court?
The library branches are still closed. And the deadbeat jazz festival promoter is still on the Library Board.
City Council meetings are rapidly turning into a side show of incompetence and in-fighting while the citizens of Trenton seem to be struck silent by the city's rapid descent from bad to worse.
You're doing a heck of a job, Tony!
And you know what...some of you losers (figurative and literal) from last spring's city election and runoff need to remove your signs too. That includes you, Mr. Segura para Trenton!
***
Does anybody remember the water crisis of a month ago? Did anyone ever explain what really happened to cause the low pressure and brown water experienced by some customers of the Trenton Water Works? We know it wasn't strictly a function of the high water level in the Delaware River at that time
And whatever became of Ron Lind?
***
Nobody has anything to add to the razzle-dazzle fumbling of the city of Trenton layoff plan? We all believe that Mayor Mack's manipulation of "the plan" is going to work, right? The numbers said so. At least that is what we were told.
***
Now that we've visited the Mayoral Circus (Mayor Mack's Thursday morning press conference touting his "saving" of the public safety jobs; etc.) and wrung our hands in despair over those who did get laid off, are we going to get back to the predicament of having an unfit judge presiding over Trenton's Municipal Court?
***
The library branches are still closed. And the deadbeat jazz festival promoter is still on the Library Board.
***
City Council meetings are rapidly turning into a side show of incompetence and in-fighting while the citizens of Trenton seem to be struck silent by the city's rapid descent from bad to worse.
***
You're doing a heck of a job, Tony!
Friday, November 05, 2010
No matter how you slice it
In this case, Justice wears a blindfold out of shame.
Superior Court Judge Feinberg has cleared Trenton Municipal Judge Renee Lamarre Sumners to return to the bench after a one week suspension.
City Council has voted, six to one, in favor having Judge Sumners resign.
Mayor Tony Mack seems to be taking the approach of wiping his hands clean of the mess his appointment turned into.
Trenton suffers another hit on its image.
When you analyze the situation, here's what you have:
Sumners is an attorney with a history of twice having her license suspended (2004 and 2006) for non-payment into a state fund.
Either she doesn't have the money, is a poor money manager, or feels she is above the law.
If she doesn't have the money, we have to wonder why. She's an attorney. If she's not making money at her chosen profession is it because she is taking work that doesn't pay or is she not working enough? Just how good of an attorney is she?
If she is working hard, and a lot, but still doesn't have any money to pay the required fee ($258 was the amount I believe) than maybe she is a poor money manager.
We'll concede that keeping a balanced check book is not every one's favorite pastime. But the woman holds herself out to be a professional; someone with advanced and specialized training in a line of work that requires her to be able to analyze and reason through problems. Like keeping track of her finances and meeting her responsibilities.
If she can't manage her finances and doesn't realize she needs to find someone who can than we have to question her ability to analyze and reason her way through the problem. If she can't comprehend that this is a problem after twice having her license to practice suspended, then we might infer her skill set is not up to the standards of her chosen profession.
Now we look at the fact that Sumners bounced two checks paying the dues this year. If she knowingly wrote bad checks, it's criminal. If it was due to an inability to keep a checkbook, she's incompetent. If she just doesn't care, she's arrogant. None of the three are good traits in any line of work...especially so in the practice of law.
And then there is the issue of unpaid income taxes. Reports indicate that Sumners and her husband owe $15,808 from 2003 and 2006. Why? Was they money there but they didn't feel they needed to pay? Did they screw up their tax returns? Or was there no money? Didn't they both have jobs? They must have had income if they owed taxes?
This brings into question Judge Sumners' approach to meeting her legal responsibilities. Did she think she didn't have to pay? Did she place herself above the law?
Then there is the matter of the unpaid credit card bill. Seems Judge Sumners owed $2214.22 on a credit card from 2008. The creditor filed and received a judgement against Sumners in December of 2009 and Sumners received the notice to pay in January of this year. She failed to return the paperwork, the creditor filed a civil action complaint and a bench warrant for Sumners arrest was issued on September 29.
Um, she's an attorney by trade. Right? She should know better. Right?
Judge Sumners is the cause of her problems. Through ignorance and arrogance, she has demonstrated quite plainly that she is incapable of serving as a judge.
The New Jersey Supreme Court decides ethics cases. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing as it can somewhat mitigate politics from influencing the tenure of a judge. Only the Supreme Court can remove a judge from the bench.
Unfortunately the State of New Jersey seems to have a fairly liberal interpretation of what constitutes ethical behavior by attorneys. Sanctions in ethics cases more often result in suspensions than removals or disbarment's.
In layman terms: Judge Sumners would need to be found with a smoking gun in her hand, standing over the still warm body of her victim before she is likely to be sanctioned for breach of ethics. Even then she'd probably only get what amounts to a slap on the wrist.
The fact that once a judge takes the oath only the state supreme court can remove her might explain another little piece of this puzzle.
On the night that Mayor Mack convinced six members of council to approve the appointment by lying about Sumners having completed a background check the would be judge and family were present. Upon being confirmed by city council, Sumners immediately sought out Superior Court Judge Paulette Sapp-Peterson to be sworn in.
Hmm. If it's so difficult to remove a judge once he or she has taken the oath and a newly appointed judges has some questionable baggage, why not hurry up and get sworn in. Maybe she's not so incompetent after all.
Sumners needs to resign. Period.
Superior Court Judge Feinberg has cleared Trenton Municipal Judge Renee Lamarre Sumners to return to the bench after a one week suspension.
City Council has voted, six to one, in favor having Judge Sumners resign.
Mayor Tony Mack seems to be taking the approach of wiping his hands clean of the mess his appointment turned into.
Trenton suffers another hit on its image.
When you analyze the situation, here's what you have:
Sumners is an attorney with a history of twice having her license suspended (2004 and 2006) for non-payment into a state fund.
Either she doesn't have the money, is a poor money manager, or feels she is above the law.
If she doesn't have the money, we have to wonder why. She's an attorney. If she's not making money at her chosen profession is it because she is taking work that doesn't pay or is she not working enough? Just how good of an attorney is she?
If she is working hard, and a lot, but still doesn't have any money to pay the required fee ($258 was the amount I believe) than maybe she is a poor money manager.
We'll concede that keeping a balanced check book is not every one's favorite pastime. But the woman holds herself out to be a professional; someone with advanced and specialized training in a line of work that requires her to be able to analyze and reason through problems. Like keeping track of her finances and meeting her responsibilities.
If she can't manage her finances and doesn't realize she needs to find someone who can than we have to question her ability to analyze and reason her way through the problem. If she can't comprehend that this is a problem after twice having her license to practice suspended, then we might infer her skill set is not up to the standards of her chosen profession.
Now we look at the fact that Sumners bounced two checks paying the dues this year. If she knowingly wrote bad checks, it's criminal. If it was due to an inability to keep a checkbook, she's incompetent. If she just doesn't care, she's arrogant. None of the three are good traits in any line of work...especially so in the practice of law.
And then there is the issue of unpaid income taxes. Reports indicate that Sumners and her husband owe $15,808 from 2003 and 2006. Why? Was they money there but they didn't feel they needed to pay? Did they screw up their tax returns? Or was there no money? Didn't they both have jobs? They must have had income if they owed taxes?
This brings into question Judge Sumners' approach to meeting her legal responsibilities. Did she think she didn't have to pay? Did she place herself above the law?
Then there is the matter of the unpaid credit card bill. Seems Judge Sumners owed $2214.22 on a credit card from 2008. The creditor filed and received a judgement against Sumners in December of 2009 and Sumners received the notice to pay in January of this year. She failed to return the paperwork, the creditor filed a civil action complaint and a bench warrant for Sumners arrest was issued on September 29.
Um, she's an attorney by trade. Right? She should know better. Right?
Judge Sumners is the cause of her problems. Through ignorance and arrogance, she has demonstrated quite plainly that she is incapable of serving as a judge.
The New Jersey Supreme Court decides ethics cases. This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing as it can somewhat mitigate politics from influencing the tenure of a judge. Only the Supreme Court can remove a judge from the bench.
Unfortunately the State of New Jersey seems to have a fairly liberal interpretation of what constitutes ethical behavior by attorneys. Sanctions in ethics cases more often result in suspensions than removals or disbarment's.
In layman terms: Judge Sumners would need to be found with a smoking gun in her hand, standing over the still warm body of her victim before she is likely to be sanctioned for breach of ethics. Even then she'd probably only get what amounts to a slap on the wrist.
The fact that once a judge takes the oath only the state supreme court can remove her might explain another little piece of this puzzle.
On the night that Mayor Mack convinced six members of council to approve the appointment by lying about Sumners having completed a background check the would be judge and family were present. Upon being confirmed by city council, Sumners immediately sought out Superior Court Judge Paulette Sapp-Peterson to be sworn in.
Hmm. If it's so difficult to remove a judge once he or she has taken the oath and a newly appointed judges has some questionable baggage, why not hurry up and get sworn in. Maybe she's not so incompetent after all.
Sumners needs to resign. Period.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
That was close!
By a margin of approximately 3 to 2, Mercer County voters chose to keep Paula Sollami-Covello as their County Clerk rather than hand the office to former Trenton City Councilman Gino Melone.
Guess Gino finally coming out as a closeted Republican after all those years pretending to be a Democrat didn't win over any voters.
Or was it the electorate's memory of the games Gino played going into his final term on Trenton's council.
At that time Melone shepherded Doug Palmer's slate of at-large candidates around the East Ward to get them votes with the hopes of securing the council presidency for himself. That ploy didn't work either.
We don't mean to pick solely on Gino. All politicians and would-be candidates should take note of his plight.
You'll win office once in awhile with your craft and cunning but sooner or later the voters will tire of your games and duplicity. Then you will be left out in the cold.
Serve the public and you can serve for a very long time and move up the ladder. Serve yourself and eventually you will pay.
Guess Gino finally coming out as a closeted Republican after all those years pretending to be a Democrat didn't win over any voters.
Or was it the electorate's memory of the games Gino played going into his final term on Trenton's council.
At that time Melone shepherded Doug Palmer's slate of at-large candidates around the East Ward to get them votes with the hopes of securing the council presidency for himself. That ploy didn't work either.
We don't mean to pick solely on Gino. All politicians and would-be candidates should take note of his plight.
You'll win office once in awhile with your craft and cunning but sooner or later the voters will tire of your games and duplicity. Then you will be left out in the cold.
Serve the public and you can serve for a very long time and move up the ladder. Serve yourself and eventually you will pay.
Accomplishments?
Mayor Mack tallies his toils for the first 100 days (give or take a few days)
On Wednesday, October 27, Mayor Tony Mack held a press conference to enumerate the things he's done since taking office on July 1. In an accompanying and poorly constructed press release titled
the Mack Administration enumerates a lot of...well...nothing.
For six pages, the Mack flacks assembled a rambling, mismatched cut and paste listing of daily functions and activities that any elected official/administration would go through. There is no substance; no breakthrough.
It doesn't take much scrutinizing to realize that the list was assembled out of snippets lifted from various supervisors' reports.
For example, on page four of the document is this tidbit:
In the case of the latter the reader is left guessing as to exactly where and what and how the activities were held. Those in the know would realize that this was a listing of events held at the Trenton City Museum. The museum is currently housed in Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park. Both the building and the surrounding lands are city owned. The collection, exhibits and programming of the museum are the responsibility of the Trenton Museum Society, another non-profit. These accomplishments that the Mayor lists as his own are actually due to the Museum Society...solely or in partnership with other groups.
In both of the above cases the Mayor is actually claiming as an "accomplishment" items from ongoing series of events that pre-date his term in office. We call "FOUL!"
Others have taken note in blogs and comments elsewhere on the Internet of the liberal use of "we" and the poor grammar; mismatched writing styles, etc contained within the press release. It is such a blatant patchwork of poor writing it begs to be printed in a ransom note type font (you know, as seen on TV and in movies, where the kidnapper cuts words from magazines and newspapers and glues them onto a sheet of paper and sends them to the police or whomever). This begs the question of why the city is paying over $83,000 a year for someone who is supposed to be overseeing "policy and communications" for the mayor.
So with that point, let us leave you with a real list of Mayor Tony Mack's "accomplishments" since taking office on July 1, 2010:
For those who keep talking recall, you had better start the search for a viable replacement or we are going to be in worse shape one year from now.
On Wednesday, October 27, Mayor Tony Mack held a press conference to enumerate the things he's done since taking office on July 1. In an accompanying and poorly constructed press release titled
the Mack Administration enumerates a lot of...well...nothing.
For six pages, the Mack flacks assembled a rambling, mismatched cut and paste listing of daily functions and activities that any elected official/administration would go through. There is no substance; no breakthrough.
It doesn't take much scrutinizing to realize that the list was assembled out of snippets lifted from various supervisors' reports.
For example, on page four of the document is this tidbit:
- 1719 William Trent House Museum hosted may events for the public such as Getting the House Ready for Summer, Colonial Ice Cream Making, Herbs in the Trent House Garden, Trent’s Enslaved Workers-Theme Tours Garden Theme Tours.
- Fred Miller concert, Art Exhibit Opening, Art/Theatre Camp, Art Exhibit Opening, Battle Against Hunger Event, Garden State Watercolor Exhibit Opening, Gallery Talk, Trenton High School Exhibit Opening
In the case of the latter the reader is left guessing as to exactly where and what and how the activities were held. Those in the know would realize that this was a listing of events held at the Trenton City Museum. The museum is currently housed in Ellarslie Mansion in Cadwalader Park. Both the building and the surrounding lands are city owned. The collection, exhibits and programming of the museum are the responsibility of the Trenton Museum Society, another non-profit. These accomplishments that the Mayor lists as his own are actually due to the Museum Society...solely or in partnership with other groups.
In both of the above cases the Mayor is actually claiming as an "accomplishment" items from ongoing series of events that pre-date his term in office. We call "FOUL!"
Others have taken note in blogs and comments elsewhere on the Internet of the liberal use of "we" and the poor grammar; mismatched writing styles, etc contained within the press release. It is such a blatant patchwork of poor writing it begs to be printed in a ransom note type font (you know, as seen on TV and in movies, where the kidnapper cuts words from magazines and newspapers and glues them onto a sheet of paper and sends them to the police or whomever). This begs the question of why the city is paying over $83,000 a year for someone who is supposed to be overseeing "policy and communications" for the mayor.
So with that point, let us leave you with a real list of Mayor Tony Mack's "accomplishments" since taking office on July 1, 2010:
- One of Mayor Mack's first appointments, Carleton Badger, was a convicted felon. Mr. Badger "withdrew" from consideration after the press published his criminal history.
- Mayor Mack pads the city payroll with friends, relatives and the daughter of a city council woman while layoffs loom for nearly 400 city employees (including over 100 police and fire personnel).
- Mayor Mack's promises to keep the city's four library branches open even on a limited basis failed after he was unable to deliver adequate funding through an outside donor that never materialized (some would argue that never existed).
- Mayor Mack lied to the city council about his nominee for the lead Municipal Judge seat having completed a full background so they would vote in favor of the appointment.
- Mayor Mack fumbled the removal of deputy city clerk and former councilwoman Cordelia Staton from her job. He then lied on the record at a city council meeting and tried to implicate the Trentonian in a conspiracy surrounding the police being called to escort Staton from City Hall.
- Mayor Mack's team failed to communicate openly and in a timely manner when the city's water filtration plant was shut down in early October. We're still waiting for an explanation of what really happened. And why.
- Mayor Mack continually submitted and re-submitted resolutions to city council until he got professional services contracts awarded to law firms connected to his transition team and inaugural ball committee.
- Mayor Mack's Municipal Judge pick Renee Lammare Sumners (see # 4) is revealed to have a history of passing bad checks to pay for her license to practice law and an unpaid credit card bill of over $2200.00 that resulted in a bench warrant for her arrest to be issued in September.
- Mayor Mack's total mishandling of the city's affairs (and yes, we all agree he inherited a mess, but what has he done to mitigate that? NOTHING!) may weigh heavily in the Governor's final decision on how much "transitional aid" the city gets from the state.
For those who keep talking recall, you had better start the search for a viable replacement or we are going to be in worse shape one year from now.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Spin control?
The following was sent out from City Hall shortly after 12 noon today:
Honorable Mayor Tony F. Mack
319 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08608
609-989-3030
For Immediate Release: Contact: Lauren J. Ira
October 29, 2010 Office: 609-989-3052
Mobile: 609-741-7322
City of Trenton Requires Criminal History Checks for all Non-Uniform Employees
TRENTON—Mayor Tony Mack issued the following statement regarding the requirement of criminal history checks for all non-uniform employees. Mayor Mack stated the following:
“Compliance with City of Trenton criminal history checks is vital to protect our residents and the public. Our stringent requirements mandate all non-uniform City of Trenton employees adhere to a criminal history check regardless of their status or role within the administration.
Judge Renee Lamarre Sumners understands the importance of complying with all of the necessary procedures and mandates. Judge Sumners assured me that all recent matters were resolved expeditiously.
The administration remains confident in Judge Sumners’ ability to preside based on her expertise, discipline, and training as a public officer authorized in the court of law by the State of New Jersey,” concluded Mayor Mack.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Now read this
This advertisement appeared in the Times (of Trenton), page A5, Saturday, October 16, 2010.
We here at the Front Stoop found it interesting. The ad is a public notice from New Jersey American Water (NJAW) that they exceeded a drinking water standard.
According to the ad, during routine cleaning of a settlement basin, sediment was stirred up and entered the water system and overburdened the filters of the system. This caused turbid water in excess of the 1 NTU standard to enter the distribution system of water that Aqua New Jersey purchases from NJAW or it's Lawrenceville customers. The incident occurred on Thursday, September 23, 2010.
The ad goes on as follows:
What does this mean?
This is not an emergency. I it had been you would have been notified within 24 hours. Turbidity is not harmful in itself. High turbidity increases the chance that water might contain disease-causing organisms.
What should I do?
You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions.
So what we want to know is this:
If the incident above is being treated as a non-emergency and notification wasn't required within 24 hours and boiling water wasn't required, what really happened at the Trenton Water Works (TWW) between October 2 and October 8 that made the City of Trenton and the DEP issue "boil water advisories" repeatedly from the 4th through the 7th?
Doesn't it seem likely that the situation with the TWW was somewhat more serious than the NJAW event of September 24? But the city has repeatedly told us there was no risk and that there was no evidence of contamination. At the same time, we were continually advised to boil water and, if our water temperature was lower than 113 degrees Fahrenheit to drain, flush and refill our hot water tanks. And why haven't the results of the water tests conducted between October 3 and October 7 been made public?
We don't consider ourselves prone to conspiracy theories but there certainly seems to be more to the story than the Mack administration AND New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection have so far let on.
Our water is running clear now, how about our government officials come clean.
According to the ad, during routine cleaning of a settlement basin, sediment was stirred up and entered the water system and overburdened the filters of the system. This caused turbid water in excess of the 1 NTU standard to enter the distribution system of water that Aqua New Jersey purchases from NJAW or it's Lawrenceville customers. The incident occurred on Thursday, September 23, 2010.
The ad goes on as follows:
What does this mean?
This is not an emergency. I it had been you would have been notified within 24 hours. Turbidity is not harmful in itself. High turbidity increases the chance that water might contain disease-causing organisms.
What should I do?
You do not need to boil your water or take other corrective actions.
So what we want to know is this:
If the incident above is being treated as a non-emergency and notification wasn't required within 24 hours and boiling water wasn't required, what really happened at the Trenton Water Works (TWW) between October 2 and October 8 that made the City of Trenton and the DEP issue "boil water advisories" repeatedly from the 4th through the 7th?
Doesn't it seem likely that the situation with the TWW was somewhat more serious than the NJAW event of September 24? But the city has repeatedly told us there was no risk and that there was no evidence of contamination. At the same time, we were continually advised to boil water and, if our water temperature was lower than 113 degrees Fahrenheit to drain, flush and refill our hot water tanks. And why haven't the results of the water tests conducted between October 3 and October 7 been made public?
We don't consider ourselves prone to conspiracy theories but there certainly seems to be more to the story than the Mack administration AND New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection have so far let on.
Our water is running clear now, how about our government officials come clean.
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Water under the bridge
Here's a look back at the water crisis of June 2006 as reported in the Times:
WATER WORKS FACED A SPIRAL OF TROUBLE
DARRYL R. ISHERWOOD STAFF WRITER
Published: July 9, 2006
Joe McIntyre's stomach was churning.
He was on his cell phone, getting a progress report on the Trenton Water Works' reservoir, and the news was disturbing.
Water in the city's reservoir had begun to whirlpool around the main pipe that feeds the system, much as water emptying from a tub will swirl around a drain.
It was less than 48 hours after Water Works employees shut down the filtration plant to keep the roiling Delaware, engorged by rains and cresting its banks, from fouling the system. What the vortexing water meant to McIntyre, the Water Works chief, was that the reservoir that supplies water to some 210,000 people in five towns was dangerously close to empty.
The inspection on the morning of June 30 was the culmination of two days of frantic maneuvering by the city's water department to keep Trenton's taps from running dry.
While residents fled the Island and Glen Afton neighborhoods to avoid the rising river and floodwaters poured into river towns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, causing nearly $8 million in damage in Mercer County alone, city employees were locked in the Water Works plant, hoping to squeeze every last drop from the beleaguered system.
And while the crisis that could have left the Water Works' customers without drinking water for weeks was averted, officials say there is little that can be done to fortify the system against future shutdowns.
An upgrade to the system, planned to begin later this year, will help, officials say, but ultimately, the river is the boss.
The crisis began at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, June 28.
McIntyre, the Water Works chief, reported to the filtration plant to find the Delaware agitated into a tempest by stormwater that began pouring into the river the day before.
Testing showed that the water, which is sucked from the river each day to supply the city and surrounding areas, was dangerously muddy. McIntyre had two choices.
He could shut down the system, ceasing all filtration until the river returned to normal and force the city to rely on the 2-day supply stored in the reservoir. Or he could wait and continue filtering the silt-filled water and risk fouling the system, forcing a prolonged shutdown and a hardship for tens of thousands of customers.
Neither option sounded good, but McIntyre chose the riskier route.
"We decided to shut the plant down," the water department chief said in an interview last week about the near catastrophe. "It was nerve-wracking, and it required us to live at the plant for a couple of days to monitor the water, but the alternative was to be more conservative and risk losing the system longer term." 'THE CLOCK BEGAN TO TICK'The system's demand for water runs about 30 million gallons per day. The reservoir is continually replenished by water, sucked from the Delaware and chemically filtered to create what's known in water-supply circles as a floc - a clump of particles that settles to the bottom and is removed from the liquid.
At full capacity, the plant can filter as much as 40 million gallons per day, easily keeping up with the demand.
But when McIntyre threw the switch to shut down the plant, "the clock began to tick."
"From that point we began monitoring how long we were off-line and how that correlated to the amount of water left in the reservoir," he said.
Alerts went out to residents to begin conserving water, and Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer put in a call to Gov. Jon Corzine, beseeching the state's top executive to close down the dozens of state offices located in the city and send thousands of workers home. The governor's action saved more than 3 million gallons for each of the two days the offices were closed.
"Had the governor not closed the state, we would have been in trouble," Palmer said. "He understood the seriousness of the situation, but if he didn't, I think we might have run out of water." HOPEFUL SIGNSMcIntyre's gamble began to look like it might pay off, when at 10 p.m. on June 29 testing showed the water was calming and the amount of silt - or turbidity - began to decrease. The employees, many of whom had not left the plant since the shutdown the morning of June 28, began to feel optimistic that the crisis might be over.
But it was not to be.
"Right after that, we had a spike again," McIntyre said. "It was frustrating because we had begun to get in the mind-set that we would get it running again earlier in the day, but we couldn't."
After the Friday morning inspection of the reservoir, McIntyre knew time had run out. If the water could not be properly filtered and the reservoir ran dry, officials would have no choice but to pump dirty water into the system.
Once that decision is made, McIntyre said, there is no turning back.
"Once you pump in substandard water, the plant will need to be cleaned and that could take several days," he said. "It creates a real hardship for customers for a number of weeks while the system is cleaned."
Finally, with no time left, McIntyre made the decision to fire up the plant. The turbidity was decreasing - though not as fast as he would have liked - and the reservoir was nearly dry.
By 3:40 p.m. June 30, the system was up and running, and employees were running dozens of tests to see if the water could be purified enough for drinking without first boiling it to kill any residual bacteria.
By 10 p.m., the crisis was over as the system began to meet the demands of its customers. Only Ewing was adversely affected when pressure dropped in three areas. A boil-water advisory went out for parts of the township but has since been lifted. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURECity officials say they have learned from the near calamity and are using the knowledge to try to ensure there is no future disaster. The plant is in line for some $50 million in renovations later this year, which Palmer said will modernize the system and make it more efficient as well as increase the amount of water that can be filtered each day.
The city is also negotiating with other providers to increase the amount of water that can be supplied in the event of a crisis.
But to some extent, the city is at the mercy of the river's moods.
"We deal with whatever the river hands us," McIntyre said. "We don't have the power to change the characteristic of the river, so we have to adapt and deal with whatever it throws at us. Sometimes you can do that with effectiveness and sometimes you can't."
For McIntyre, it was too close for comfort. The water dropped to a level not seen since 1975, when a malfunction caused the filtration plant to flood and damaged the pumps.
"We stretched the line as far as we can go," he said. "It was very close. The reservoir level was down to spots where no one that I have dealt with here has ever seen."
What the future holds is anyone's guess, experts say. Upriver development has destroyed wetlands and forests and left nowhere for runoff to go, said Bob Molzahn, president of the Water Resources Association of the Delaware Basin. Several bad storms have highlighted the problems as well, he said.
"What's the solution?" he asked. "I don't know, but you wonder if it might not get worse."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright, 2006, The Times, Trenton N.J. All Rights Reserved.
WATER WORKS FACED A SPIRAL OF TROUBLE
DARRYL R. ISHERWOOD STAFF WRITER
Published: July 9, 2006
Joe McIntyre's stomach was churning.
He was on his cell phone, getting a progress report on the Trenton Water Works' reservoir, and the news was disturbing.
Water in the city's reservoir had begun to whirlpool around the main pipe that feeds the system, much as water emptying from a tub will swirl around a drain.
It was less than 48 hours after Water Works employees shut down the filtration plant to keep the roiling Delaware, engorged by rains and cresting its banks, from fouling the system. What the vortexing water meant to McIntyre, the Water Works chief, was that the reservoir that supplies water to some 210,000 people in five towns was dangerously close to empty.
The inspection on the morning of June 30 was the culmination of two days of frantic maneuvering by the city's water department to keep Trenton's taps from running dry.
While residents fled the Island and Glen Afton neighborhoods to avoid the rising river and floodwaters poured into river towns in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, causing nearly $8 million in damage in Mercer County alone, city employees were locked in the Water Works plant, hoping to squeeze every last drop from the beleaguered system.
And while the crisis that could have left the Water Works' customers without drinking water for weeks was averted, officials say there is little that can be done to fortify the system against future shutdowns.
An upgrade to the system, planned to begin later this year, will help, officials say, but ultimately, the river is the boss.
The crisis began at 6 a.m. on Wednesday, June 28.
McIntyre, the Water Works chief, reported to the filtration plant to find the Delaware agitated into a tempest by stormwater that began pouring into the river the day before.
Testing showed that the water, which is sucked from the river each day to supply the city and surrounding areas, was dangerously muddy. McIntyre had two choices.
He could shut down the system, ceasing all filtration until the river returned to normal and force the city to rely on the 2-day supply stored in the reservoir. Or he could wait and continue filtering the silt-filled water and risk fouling the system, forcing a prolonged shutdown and a hardship for tens of thousands of customers.
Neither option sounded good, but McIntyre chose the riskier route.
"We decided to shut the plant down," the water department chief said in an interview last week about the near catastrophe. "It was nerve-wracking, and it required us to live at the plant for a couple of days to monitor the water, but the alternative was to be more conservative and risk losing the system longer term." 'THE CLOCK BEGAN TO TICK'The system's demand for water runs about 30 million gallons per day. The reservoir is continually replenished by water, sucked from the Delaware and chemically filtered to create what's known in water-supply circles as a floc - a clump of particles that settles to the bottom and is removed from the liquid.
At full capacity, the plant can filter as much as 40 million gallons per day, easily keeping up with the demand.
But when McIntyre threw the switch to shut down the plant, "the clock began to tick."
"From that point we began monitoring how long we were off-line and how that correlated to the amount of water left in the reservoir," he said.
Alerts went out to residents to begin conserving water, and Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer put in a call to Gov. Jon Corzine, beseeching the state's top executive to close down the dozens of state offices located in the city and send thousands of workers home. The governor's action saved more than 3 million gallons for each of the two days the offices were closed.
"Had the governor not closed the state, we would have been in trouble," Palmer said. "He understood the seriousness of the situation, but if he didn't, I think we might have run out of water." HOPEFUL SIGNSMcIntyre's gamble began to look like it might pay off, when at 10 p.m. on June 29 testing showed the water was calming and the amount of silt - or turbidity - began to decrease. The employees, many of whom had not left the plant since the shutdown the morning of June 28, began to feel optimistic that the crisis might be over.
But it was not to be.
"Right after that, we had a spike again," McIntyre said. "It was frustrating because we had begun to get in the mind-set that we would get it running again earlier in the day, but we couldn't."
After the Friday morning inspection of the reservoir, McIntyre knew time had run out. If the water could not be properly filtered and the reservoir ran dry, officials would have no choice but to pump dirty water into the system.
Once that decision is made, McIntyre said, there is no turning back.
"Once you pump in substandard water, the plant will need to be cleaned and that could take several days," he said. "It creates a real hardship for customers for a number of weeks while the system is cleaned."
Finally, with no time left, McIntyre made the decision to fire up the plant. The turbidity was decreasing - though not as fast as he would have liked - and the reservoir was nearly dry.
By 3:40 p.m. June 30, the system was up and running, and employees were running dozens of tests to see if the water could be purified enough for drinking without first boiling it to kill any residual bacteria.
By 10 p.m., the crisis was over as the system began to meet the demands of its customers. Only Ewing was adversely affected when pressure dropped in three areas. A boil-water advisory went out for parts of the township but has since been lifted. PLANNING FOR THE FUTURECity officials say they have learned from the near calamity and are using the knowledge to try to ensure there is no future disaster. The plant is in line for some $50 million in renovations later this year, which Palmer said will modernize the system and make it more efficient as well as increase the amount of water that can be filtered each day.
The city is also negotiating with other providers to increase the amount of water that can be supplied in the event of a crisis.
But to some extent, the city is at the mercy of the river's moods.
"We deal with whatever the river hands us," McIntyre said. "We don't have the power to change the characteristic of the river, so we have to adapt and deal with whatever it throws at us. Sometimes you can do that with effectiveness and sometimes you can't."
For McIntyre, it was too close for comfort. The water dropped to a level not seen since 1975, when a malfunction caused the filtration plant to flood and damaged the pumps.
"We stretched the line as far as we can go," he said. "It was very close. The reservoir level was down to spots where no one that I have dealt with here has ever seen."
What the future holds is anyone's guess, experts say. Upriver development has destroyed wetlands and forests and left nowhere for runoff to go, said Bob Molzahn, president of the Water Resources Association of the Delaware Basin. Several bad storms have highlighted the problems as well, he said.
"What's the solution?" he asked. "I don't know, but you wonder if it might not get worse."
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
Copyright, 2006, The Times, Trenton N.J. All Rights Reserved.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Almost good enough isn't
Ok. Let’s stop tiptoeing around the situation here. We’re all adults, right?
The idea for the Trenton International Jazz and Blues Festival, no matter how noble, was too grandiose and unrealistic from the get go. And that would have been the case if there was a cadre of seasoned, well-financed and connected individuals working on the event.
In yet another case of “the emperor’s (or in this instance, empress’s) new clothes” nobody saw fit to tell Ms. Njie that this (lack of) plan for the event was faulty.
It is one thing to fail in an honest attempt to do something the right way. It is another to make promises and plans and then not diligently follow them up with proper execution.
The now defunct Trenton Jazz Festival failed to break even and it had large (by Trenton standards) corporate sponsorship. The city ultimately had to contribute funds to cover event expenses even though that festival was supposed to stand on its own financially.
The city of Trenton is plagued with individuals who see “the opportunity/potential” but only as far as it lines their own pockets. While there are and have been exceptions*, miss- or half-assed management is the accepted norm.
It’s time we stop this foolishness. In the arts, civic engagement or politics it is time that Trentonians stop accepting 2nd best (or less). An individual, event or promotion presented to the community that seems too good to be true, probably is.
We need fewer posers and dreamers. It’s the doers who are grounded in reality and have a strong work ethic that we need on our boards and committees and in public office.
Until we stop being suckers for the big lie, Trenton will remain mired in mediocrity and failure.
*The Trenton Film Festival is one such example of an event that succeeded, grew, and weathered changes in direction and leadership to continue on in a responsible, if scaled-down format.
Event planning professionals who read the press in the run-up to the festival were seen shaking their heads. “This can’t possibly work,” was the universal comment.
When you consider the lack of experience and track record of the organizer, Ms. Annette Njie, the question marks grow large and fast. And then there is the financial issue.
- Nobody checked to see if there was proper financing behind the event so that performers and vendors at least got paid, even if the event failed to break even (few events do first time out).
- Nobody verified the promoter’s claims of funding from various sources?
- Nobody checked into her background to see if she had been part of anything of this scale or succeeded at such an event in the past.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Is Tony Mack a gambler?
During last spring’s campaign, questions arose about Tony Mack’s personal finances. He hadn’t held steady employment for several years, his short-lived restaurant was closed and in debt, and there were rumors about pending foreclosure proceedings on his personal residence. The “icing” on this cake was the $20,000 personal loan Mr. Mack made to his campaign.
Where did the money come from?
Since taking office, the Mayor’s personal financial picture has come under scrutiny and criticism. Reports have surfaced about outstanding tax issues on the building at Calhoun and W. State Streets that served as Mack Campaign Headquarters. That building is owned by Foremost Development Construction LLC. Foremost is Tony Mack.
The Sheriff’s sale of the Mayor’s residence on Berkeley Avenue was postponed from August 25 to September 29. Beneficial Mortgage Company filed for foreclosure on the mortgage, delinquent water bills, interests and such that total some $319,457 due.
And now comes a report by the Associated Press that the money for the $20,000 loan to the campaign came by way of a mortgage on one of Mack’s rental properties. The mortgage is the fourth on the property and is held not by a bank or financial institution but by a Burlington County resident who states she “is not comfortable” discussing the loan.
The continuing saga of the Mayor’s personal finances indicate that he was willing to bet his already highly leveraged real estate portfolio on the fact that he would win the election.
While he did succeed in becoming the city’s top elected official, his salary has already been knocked down from $149,107 to $126, 460 due to a court decision in a case left over from the previous administration. That’s about a 15% decrease in anticipated salary to the sole bread winner for his family of four children and wife. There is no doubt Mack is heavily in debt and in danger of losing his home and his income properties.
And there is little doubt that his big ticket ($175 per person) Inaugural Ball slated for October, just before some 400 city workers are slated to be laid off is being targeted to refill his campaign coffers. This would enable him to pay back that loan “he made” to his campaign.
But what if he hadn’t won the election? Where would Mr. Mack be right now? How would he face his financial obligations?
Mack and his city paid spokesperson, Lauren Ira, are correct when they say his financial problems are “personal.” Correct, to a point.
Being willing to take such high stakes risk with his own money and his family’s security is one thing.
The city of Trenton is extremely serious financial trouble. Is gambling with what little resources we have the best approach to stabilizing the city budget?
We don’t think so.
Where did the money come from?
Since taking office, the Mayor’s personal financial picture has come under scrutiny and criticism. Reports have surfaced about outstanding tax issues on the building at Calhoun and W. State Streets that served as Mack Campaign Headquarters. That building is owned by Foremost Development Construction LLC. Foremost is Tony Mack.
The Sheriff’s sale of the Mayor’s residence on Berkeley Avenue was postponed from August 25 to September 29. Beneficial Mortgage Company filed for foreclosure on the mortgage, delinquent water bills, interests and such that total some $319,457 due.
And now comes a report by the Associated Press that the money for the $20,000 loan to the campaign came by way of a mortgage on one of Mack’s rental properties. The mortgage is the fourth on the property and is held not by a bank or financial institution but by a Burlington County resident who states she “is not comfortable” discussing the loan.
The continuing saga of the Mayor’s personal finances indicate that he was willing to bet his already highly leveraged real estate portfolio on the fact that he would win the election.
While he did succeed in becoming the city’s top elected official, his salary has already been knocked down from $149,107 to $126, 460 due to a court decision in a case left over from the previous administration. That’s about a 15% decrease in anticipated salary to the sole bread winner for his family of four children and wife. There is no doubt Mack is heavily in debt and in danger of losing his home and his income properties.
And there is little doubt that his big ticket ($175 per person) Inaugural Ball slated for October, just before some 400 city workers are slated to be laid off is being targeted to refill his campaign coffers. This would enable him to pay back that loan “he made” to his campaign.
But what if he hadn’t won the election? Where would Mr. Mack be right now? How would he face his financial obligations?
Mack and his city paid spokesperson, Lauren Ira, are correct when they say his financial problems are “personal.” Correct, to a point.
Being willing to take such high stakes risk with his own money and his family’s security is one thing.
The city of Trenton is extremely serious financial trouble. Is gambling with what little resources we have the best approach to stabilizing the city budget?
We don’t think so.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
King me
Kudos to Checkers proprietor Tom Fowler for being the best provisioned and most professional participant in last night’s Trenton Sampler. The event was billed as a kick-off for the city’s first ever participation in the statewide restaurant week (Sept. 19-25). Mr. Fowler was on hand to personally greet and serve his chili to the participants. His food was hot and there appeared to be enough to go around.
The other participants chose to take a “dump and run” approach to the event and one didn’t even bother to show up. They left one or two trays of food on the tables. The stations were un-attended and many of the dishes were not even kept warm. We’re not the squeamish type, but this screams health code violation when food is left in the “danger zone” of above 40 and below 140 degrees F for any length of time. (To be honest, this was negated by the fact that there was so little food compared to the number of participants that it was mostly gone in the first hour).
The other participants chose to take a “dump and run” approach to the event and one didn’t even bother to show up. They left one or two trays of food on the tables. The stations were un-attended and many of the dishes were not even kept warm. We’re not the squeamish type, but this screams health code violation when food is left in the “danger zone” of above 40 and below 140 degrees F for any length of time. (To be honest, this was negated by the fact that there was so little food compared to the number of participants that it was mostly gone in the first hour).
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