The Trenton Times published the following article on April 22, 2013. To read the full article, click here.
Editorial: N.J. oversight of Trenton Mayor Mack’s administration tightens with latest $25M in aid
By Times of Trenton Editorial Board
on April 22, 2013 at 5:48 AMThe good news is that the state will provide Trenton with $25 million the city desperately needs.
The even better news is that state officials in the Department of Community Affairs intend to keep a close rein on city operations as a condition of that aid.
Amid a rigmarole of responsibilities shirked, dodges that echo the old “Who’s on First?” routine, the DCA is insisting on answers.
In stepping up its oversight of Trenton, the DCA appears to be focusing more specifically on Mayor Tony Mack. Since the last transitional aid agreement was signed, he has come under federal indictment on corruption charges tied to an alleged scheme to take kickbacks from a parking lot developer.
Ironically, one of the DCA’s conditions in the new agreement is that the city realign its approach to parking organization and collection of revenue. As Times staff writer Erin Duffy reported last week, the city has been directed to work with the Trenton Parking Authority and “competent professionals with parking management experience” to create a plan for increasing revenues from parking garages and metered spots and improving the city’s fragmented oversight of public parking.
The city also will be required to supply the DCA with a list of all municipal employees, their positions, salary and date of hire — and identify employees who were directly appointed by the mayor.
That directive goes right to the heart of one of the sharpest criticisms of the Mack administration – that the mayor has given jobs to his friends despite a lack of qualifications.
Charles Hall III is a case in point. A friend of Mack’s, Hall was hired as a meter reader for the Trenton Water Works then assigned to the city’s recreation department and was eventually given control over city park projects. Hall, no longer employed by Trenton, is a government witness in the corruption case against Mack.
In the almost three years since Mack has been in office, the shifting cast of employees and their changing roles have been nearly impossible to pin down.
The state also is calling for an account of settlements or judgments totaling more than $100,000, Duffy reported, as well as city records, including bill lists, vouchers and active litigation documents.
And the city also will be required to develop minimum skill requirements for new members of the Lafayette Yard Community Development Corp., the public board overseeing the city-owned, money-losing Trenton Marriott hotel.
If the city council members approve the agreement already signed by the mayor, and we urge them to do so as quickly as possible, the transparency demanded by the DCA may help to begin putting the city on the right path.