The Trenton Times published the following article on March 12, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Mercer County Deputy Clerk is latest to enter Trenton mayoral race

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on March 12, 2013 at 7:45 AM

TRENTON — The field for the city’s 2014 mayoral race is shaping up, with Mercer County Deputy Clerk Walker Worthy the latest candidate eyeing a run for the city’s top spot.

Worthy, 49, filed papers last week with the state Election Law Enforcement Commission to set up a candidate fundraising committee for the 2014 race. While he has yet to make a formal announcement, Worthy confirmed yesterday he will run for mayor.

“It’s time for new leadership, for people who are committed to change, and I am,” Worthy said.

Five people are now filed with ELEC for the 2014 race, including Worthy, businessman Patrick Hall, former police director James Golden, political staffer James Gee and current Mayor Tony Mack, who is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges. Hall, announced his candidacy last summer, but Golden, Gee and other rumored contenders for the mayoral race have only formed exploratory committees and filed paperwork with ELEC. The nonpartisan mayoral election is scheduled for May 2014.

Worthy has lived in Trenton for five years and worked as the county’s deputy clerk since 2006. Before that, he served as a paraprofessional in the Trenton school district and as an aide for Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing) and a staffer for her father, the late Assemblyman John S. Watson Sr.

Worthy said his experiences in state and county government would allow him to gather support for Trenton from other forms of government.

“With limited resources, we’re going to have to do some creative things,” he said. “The people I’ve worked with on a daily basis, I have a good nurturing relationship with them, and they can help me. He said those contacts will enable him to draw upon resources from all over the county. “We’re all going to have input in this revitalization of Trenton.”

Worthy said addressing public safety concerns in a city weary of gun battles and violence and assembling a strong cabinet and team of directors for the city were among the top issues he saw facing Trenton. The city only recently saw some of its top cabinet-level posts filled by state-approved hires after the state balked at some of the acting directors appointed by Mack to oversee city departments and budgets.

“I think the city of Trenton needs new leadership and leadership that people can trust, a leader with a vision who can put together a competent team of people for the people of Trenton,” Worthy said. “One of the things I have is my ability to bring people together.”