Who’s in charge of this mess?

A Trenton Residents Action Coalition-sponsored Vehicle Accountability Ordinance apparently passed muster with City Council by a 6-0 vote at a recent meeting.

The ordinance seeks to place greater control on a vehicle fleet that is subject to constant abuse by Trenton officialdom.

Now, in non-bizarro world, such an event would mean the ordinance would head to Mayor Douglas H. Palmer’s desk for his signature and passage into law.

Unfortunately those legal geniuses over at 319 E. State Street have apparently told City Council that despite their affirmative vote on the measure, the ordinance is headed to the May 2010 ballot where Trenton’s voters will decide the issue.

While ordinance petitioners such as myself fully expected the measure to go to the ballot rather than be passed by our city officials (because it actually makes sense), the fact that it passed muster with City Council members was a positive note.

That positive note has been shattered, however, by City Hall’s legal shenanigans in claiming that this now-passed ordinance still must gain support from the city electorate.

I guess City Council’s vote no longer matters in this town, because in any other town, it does.

In fact, nowhere in state law is it provided that a petition-initiated ordinance must pass a double gauntlet of City Council consideration AND support from the voters. The Faulkner Act clearly states that an ordinance is only to go to the voters if it fails to be substantially adopted by the city’s governing body and executive.

So, if you happen to be among the 1,000-odd people who signed one of our petitions, next time you happen to be at City Hall, kindly ask the City Clerk, the City Attorney, or the “Special” Counsel to explain exactly where this ordinance has gone and why it must pass two hurdles instead of just one.

We deserve answers.

Silly season

Silly season, by all accounts, is in high-gear in a New Jersey capital that is marching inexorably towards a potentially destiny-shifting May 2010 election.

Recent days have seen newspaper accounts of civic leaders calling for mayoral debates that exclude non-African American candidates. Others are calling on some of these same black candidates to bow out of the race, for fear of thinning out the black vote and paving the way for someone from another race to ascend to the mayor’s chair.

Such talk demonstrates just how much race dominates the minds of many in Trenton, even in an age when a black man is president and the city remains free of the type of racial strife that tore it apart in the late 1960s.

Of course, excluding candidates from debates on the basis of race is a ludicrous idea, not only in and of itself, but because of the fact that even a typical black invitee, being mindful of public image, will most likely refuse to take part in such an exercise of discrimination.

And the push to “thin out” the field of black candidates, which happens to be coming from a longtime-Palmer administration official, is obviously of the same racially-paranoid logic that would have candidates excluded from debates based upon skin color.

I thought Trenton was better than this, but then again, turning to race when confronted by conflict or opposition is part-and-parcel to political operations here in Trenton.

Hopefully things won’t get much sillier as the season goes on…

Questions for the candidates

As everyone in Trenton knows the field of candidates for the mayor’s position and City Council grows daily, fueled by the looming exit of 20-year city leader Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

Unfortunately – yet expectedly – little substantive information has come out of the various campaigns regarding important issues, such as strategies for reviving Trenton’s economic engine, attracting middle class-families back into our neighborhoods, addressing crime and quality-of-life issues.

We know little about the feelings of our leaders on such controversies as the Trenton Water Works sale, the unequal enforcement of residency requirements for employees, or the general mismanagement of city coffers by the current administration.

These issues need to be addressed by this crowd of candidates publicly if Trenton has any hope of drafting a new class of leaders in 2010 to finally end the decades-old slide of New Jersey’s proud capital city.

Civic groups from across the city – despite their difference – ought to organize an ultimate forum or series of forums where these and other questions of importance can be answered, as May is rapidly approaching and we have little idea as to how these potential leaders intend to make our city a better place to live.

Perhaps they are afraid of these issues, or wish to avoid them, as City Council apparently did during its most recent session.

They were supposed to deliberate on a citizen-initiated ordinance seeking to regulate and eliminate the distribution of expensive vehicles to department directors and other employees who can easily conduct their business out of their own personal vehicles for fair reimbursement.

Instead of deliberating and passing this common-sense initiative – which I helped organize – there was reportedly a jumbled discussion and tabling of the measure, despite statutory requirements to act on the ordinance in a timely fashion.

Such treatment of a positive city ordinance indicates the importance of forcing city candidates to clearly state their positions on issues of importance, since May 2010 promises to be an important point of time for the history of this city.

Either we continue our extended decline, and begin the climb out of the hole.

The only way to do the latter is to know what our candidates intend to do if elected to office prior to pulling the lever.

FWW statement on Appellate ruling

MEDIA STATEMENT

December 17, 2009
Contact: Julie Anderson, Food & Water Watch, (202) 683-2500

New Jersey Appellate Court Rules Against Public Referendum Regarding Water Utility Sale in Trenton

Statement by Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter

Washington, D.C. –“Today, the Appellate Division for the New Jersey Superior Court ruled against citizens of Trenton who were pressing for a referendum to determine the fate of the Trenton water system. This ruling essentially denies the citizens of Trenton the right to vote on the $100 million sale of a portion of the city’s water utility to the private corporation American Water and undermines fundamental principles in state law guaranteeing citizen participation in ensuring that water resources are economically and prudently managed.

“The ruling undermined the importance of the ‘Public Trust Doctrine,’ a foundation of New Jersey water law that rests ultimate ownership of drinking water in the hands of the people. Furthermore, the decision failed to recognize the right of citizens in Trenton and elsewhere to vote on large municipal water utility sales in the future. By weakening the avenues for public participation, this decision ultimately strengthens the ability of private companies like American Water to buy water systems in cities like Trenton despite public objection.

“Food & Water Watch, which filed an ‘amicus curiae’ or ‘friend of the court’ brief in support of a citizen’s movement in Trenton, is very disappointed that the Appellate Court chose to overlook key portions of state law. Food & Water Watch will continue to help the citizens of Trenton and the surrounding townships as they continue to fight this sale and believe the New Jersey Supreme Court would be very interested in scrutinizing this decision should the citizens’ group choose to continue pursuing its legal challenge of this sale.”

Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization working with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future. Through research, public and policymaker education, media, and lobbying, we advocate policies that guarantee safe, wholesome food produced in a humane and sustainable manner and public, rather than private, control of water resources including oceans, rivers, and groundwater. For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org

Silly, yet important season

Councilwoman and likely mayoral hopeful Annette Lartigue berated a city resident last week, mentioning “the silly season,” when the gentleman brought up the council’s idiotic passage of a $75,000 contract for a friend of Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez during council public comment.

What’s funny about bizarro-world Trenton is that sometimes it always feels like silly season, given the conduct of our elected officials and their associates.

But now it’s actually true, judging from the calls I have received from prospective mayoral candidates.

Yet I don’t want it to be a silly season.

Instead, I would rather have a productive season in which Trenton gets a new city government that is up to the task of revitalizing our city’s economic engine.

Some groups have already emerged with a stated goal of handling that task – see Dan Dodson’s Reinventing Trenton entry for more on that – but like he said, I think their system is set up for failure for many of the reasons he sets forth.

That’s why I think it’s going to be extremely important for Trenton’s civic stalwarts to somehow unite behind a certain candidate who is both promising, and more importantly, ELECTABLE.

There may be several “promising” candidates who emerge as the May 2010 election rolls closer but they will have no shot at overwhelming the gathering forces of the status quo.

Thus they deserve no consideration from anyone serious about changing Trenton.

Unfortunately Trenton’s eventual savior likely faces a status quo candidate who will likely have a sizable financial advantage. More importantly, they will probably be a current member of the city government, either working in the administration or on City Council.

An administration “quo” candidate is frightening because they will have some of the power normally wielded by an incumbent mayor – like using public works employees to remove the campaign signs of adversaries or soliciting assistance from our city’s sizable public workforce.

To defeat such a menace Trenton’s most civic-minded residents, plus A LOT of newcomers, need to democratically unite behind a candidate and then throw all of their weight behind getting that person elected.

Unfortunately the first step is identifying this person.

Any suggestions?

A $115,000 going-away present

Rumors that Councilwoman Cordelia Staton is to become the next City Clerk have many people hopping mad.

Like the backroom plan to get South Ward resident Carlos Avila into that ward’s City Council seat following the departure of Jim Coston this past summer, it has nothing to do with the person, but instead, the process.

Trenton has loads of problems, and like Councilman Manny Segura said last night, there needs to be a competitive process to fill this potentially six-figure, crucial position with the best candidate.

Ms. Staton may be the best person for the job, but our city needs to find out by advertising the position, vetting candidates, and settling the position based on merit, rather than political maneuvering in the rabbit’s warren of halls at 319 E. State Street.

It doesn’t help that Ms. Staton’s clerk arrangement comes at a time when people working in outgoing mayor Douglas Palmer’s administration are known to be negotiating with potential mayoral candidates to secure employment in the next city administration.

It also doesn’t help that many believe Ms. Staton’s emergence on council represented a patronage power play related to her work on the 1999 city referendum that gave Trenton a police department led by a politicized civilian director rather than an independent police chief.

With all these issues in the background, Trenton’s leaders need to make sure our city sees a fair process for filling the City Clerk’s position, which is of utmost importance in the workings of city government.

This office is supposed to be independent of both the mayor and council, acting like a type of umpire or secretary while maintaining city laws and conducting elections and other business.

Deciding who to put there is no laughing matter.

Doug abandons ship

Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer announced his intention not to run for a sixth term Monday, paving the way for a wide-open mayoral and City Council race in May 2010.

Already formerly timid candidates who where awaiting word from the man who said he “is Trenton” are popping out of the woodwork, with Palmer protege-turned-enemy Tony Mack holding a campaign kick-off event tonight and Councilman Manny Segura following suit next week.

With Palmer’s announcement many look at the Palmer years as the death knell of the city, with most of Trenton experiencing an extended 20-year slide under Mayor Palmer’s leadership.

Many will probably say the city will only decline further and is all but finished in terms of being a vibrant urban place.

I personally disagree.

I can’t say exactly why, except that this totally “gut” feeling was seriously reinforced in a recent round of petition-gathering in some of the city’s more broken North Ward neighborhoods.

Traversing places like Vine and Race streets and East Paul Avenue, talking to city residents who lamented their hometown’s decline as they peer out of their doorways, yet cling to their homes, somehow gave me a feeling of hope.

I sensed something among all those eyes.

Perhaps they were peering towards a better future, with a government that actually works for residents and effectively improves city economic and social conditions.

And their glances, plus their willingness to sign pieces of paper geared towards a better city, gave me this hope.

Trenton can be revived, and the biggest thing blocking its revival just removed himself from the picture.

Time to get to work, Trentonians.

City broke, criminals go free

From The Trentonian’s Joe D’Aquila we read today that the city is releasing criminals picked up on non-indictable offenses because the police force is running out of room in the holding cells at its North Clinton Avenue headquarters.

And what is the reason for the lack of room in these cells?

The courts are backed up because Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez has not paid the city’s public defenders, who are summoned to represent many of Trenton’s fiscally-deficient criminals.

Mr. D’Aquila, in what was apparently denied in a one-liner e-mail by city flack Kent Ashworth, writes that the attorneys haven’t been paid since August and the worsening jail situation has resulted in a Monday police order to hold only indictable criminals and release the rest onto our streets with hand summonses.

We note two immediate problems with this development:

One, the city is spending/wasting money on city-owned vehicles, gasoline, insurance, plus low-attendance events like the Thanksgiving Parade and the Jazz Festival, while we’re not paying public defenders who are an important cog in our city justice system.

Two, picking up people for loitering and other small-time and non-indictable offenses has been a cornerstone of fighting urban crime for decades and is important for getting high-risk and dangerous people off the streets.

The city’s budgetary actions and resulting police order will effectively tie many of our beat cops’ hands behind their backs – they lack the power to actually get the scum that operate our city’s open-air drug bazaars off the streets, into those cells, and away from the rest of us.

This is a real disgrace, Trenton.

Rough road ahead

So, I return from a business trip to Florida and George Muschal is the new South Ward councilman and Chris Christie is New Jersey’s new governor.

Looking back on the gubernatorial race, it seems that the worldwide economic maelstrom – plus Gov. Jon Corzine’s failure to address the state’s property tax issue and reform official corruption – doomed his campaign.

Relatively independent voters and even more liberal citizens such as myself gravitated towards Mr. Christie as an alternative to the past.

Ironically, Mr. Christie won in a manner similar to U.S. President Barack Obama, who won by garnering the support of independent and even right-leaning voters sick of the extravagances of the Bush years.

Back in Trenton, it seems that Mr. Muschal’s organizational and financial advantages overwhelmed his opposition, which included several Hispanic candidates who stole votes from one another and assured Mr. Muschal’s victory.

Looking forward to the May 2010 municipal election, Mr. Muschal faces a tougher challenge.

Unless he takes 50 percent of the vote, plus one, he will deal with the city’s runoff election provisions, in an election that will be a totally different animal from November’s one-and-done vote.

Around that same time Mr. Christie will be wrestling with some of the toughest budget decision ever faced by a New Jersey governor, as he deals with Gov. Corzine’s going-away present – an $8 billion budget deficit.

There’s a tough road ahead for both men.

Quinnipiac: Christie up by two; Daggett key factor

So, here’s the latest from Quinnipiac on Election Day eve:

In the see-saw New Jersey Governor’s race, Republican challenger Christopher Christie has 42 percent to Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine’s 40 points, with 12 percent for independent candidate Christopher Daggett, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Six percent remain undecided.

This compares to a 43 – 38 percent Gov. Corzine lead, with 13 percent for Daggett, in an October 28 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University.

Among Daggett supporters, 38 percent say they might change their mind: 39 percent say Corzine is their second choice, while 29 percent say Christie is number two.

Only 10 percent of Christie voters and 13 percent of Corzine backers say they might change their mind.
Corzine leads 77 – 6 percent among Democratic likely voters, with 12 percent for Daggett.

Christie leads 78 – 10 percent among Republicans, with 9 percent for Daggett, and 47 – 32 percent among independent voters, with 17 percent for Daggett.

“Daggett is the key to an incredibly close New Jersey election,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

From October 27 – November 1, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,533 New Jersey likely voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and nationally as a public service and for research.