The Trenton Times published the following article on May 18, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack focuses on city’s accomplishments, innovations during speech

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on March 18, 2013 at 9:40 PM, updated March 19, 2013 at 1:30 AM

TRENTON — Dogged still by federal corruption charges and the specter of a lengthy trial this summer, Mayor Tony Mack made no mention of his legal troubles at his third State of the City address tonight and instead he said that Trenton is making progress under his leadership.

Mack gave a 30-minute progress report on the city, going over each city department and its functions, recent accomplishments and several new initiatives for the year. At several points — the mention of a “lean” city work force, the announcement of a new computer recycling program for poor families and an assurance that all five city pools would be open for the summer — Mack repeated what became a mantra throughout the address: “We have prevailed.”

“I firmly believe that we can and must make this city a relevant player on the regional and national stage,” Mack said as he closed his speech. “We encourage residents to remain patient and to remember that decades of neglect cannot be undone overnight. Every single issue this city faces has roots that run deep. Our administration will continue to meet every, every challenge that comes our way.”

Mack spoke before a sizeable, if not packed, crowd in council chambers, giving his address at a podium flanked by two teleprompters, which he also used last year. All seven members of city council sat behind him and the city’s roster of department directors and cabinet-level appointees sat in the first two rows. Also on hand was Mack’s brother Ralphiel, a co-defendant in the federal bribery and extortion case that alleges the two brothers and Mack ally Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni ran a nearly two-year scheme to skim bribes and kickbacks from a city parking garage project.

Several potential opponents for the mayor’s seat in 2014 were also there, including former police director James Golden, Mercer County Deputy Clerk Walker Worthy and local businessman Patrick Hall.

At the end of his speech, Mack alluded briefly to the upcoming mayoral race and its contenders.

“In the coming year you may meet individuals, who heretofore have been absent, who say they know what is best for Trenton,” he said, gathering momentum. “I would encourage you to ask these individuals, if they know what is best for Trenton then why have they been keeping it to themselves?”

But Mack kept the focus of the speech on the work the city’s employees and offices have put in over the last year and the accomplishments that ranged from the receipt of millions of dollars in grants and state transitional aid to the Glen Cairn Arms and Thomas Edison State College land deal. At times, he prompted the audience for applause.

He unveiled several new programs and initiatives, including the Trenton Digital Initiative, a partnership with local nonprofits who will donate their old computers to low-income families and residents who will then receive help from the city obtaining low-cost Internet access. City clergy will be trained at a Clergy Citizen’s Police Academy to help the city combat its ongoing crime problem and new paving and downtown lighting projects will start in the next few months, including a major rehab of rocky North Warren Street.

While acknowledging the controversy generated by the city’s recreation department, which was attacked by council members last year as a pit of overspending, Mack said he will continue to support recreation programs and park upgrades such as the ones soon to be completed at Greg Grant Park, Roberto Clemente Park and Hetzel Field.

“The Department of Recreation, Natural Resources and Culture has been on the receiving end of a great deal of criticism over the past year,” Mack said. “But I am here to tell you that progress is being made, and on multiple fronts.”

Notably absent from the list of touted projects were the mayor’s learning centers, a concept Mack unveiled for the first time last year at the State of the City Address.

Created as a way for the city to take over and run four library branches shuttered in 2010 amid budget cuts, the centers have prompted complaints from residents who say the centers are rarely open to council members who have quarreled with the nearly $200,000 of unauthorized city funds spent on the centers.

Mack touched on the city’s ongoing battle against crime and gang violence and said the city “will not be satisfied until our police department is adequately staffed.”

Still, he cautioned residents that the city would not use “one-shot gimmicks” to hire additional officers if the city can’t afford to pay their salaries over the long term. He pointed out that the city struggled with crime even while the economy was robust and the department fully staffed and called on residents to do their part by raising law-abiding children and assisting police with their investigations.

“We need to be willing to have an honest conversation about crime in our city and the role each one of us plays in being part of the solution to reduce it,” he said. “The first step is to stop laying complete responsibility for crime reduction at City Hall’s door; I would encourage every resident to find a mirror and ask yourself the question, ‘What am I doing to be part of the solution?’”

Toward the beginning of the mayor’s speech, David Ponton, the former leader of the 2011 failed effort to recall Mack, quietly held up a sign that read “Mayor Mack please resign.”

“He said so much up here, but how much of it is true?” Ponton said after the address.
Asked afterward about the state of the city several months from now, when Mack is expected to be on trial for six corruption charges, the mayor brushed off the question.

“Today is about the state of the city and we’re going to keep it on the city,” he said. “That’s where our primary focus is going to be.”

Contact Erin Duffy at (609) 989-5723 or eduffy@njtimes.com