The Trenton Times published the following article on July 22, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

“Warrior” for a better Trenton Dion Clark will be missed, fellow activists and city officials say

By Alex Zdan/The Times 
on July 22, 2013 at 7:30 AM, updated July 22, 2013 at 7:36 AM

TRENTON — Zane Dion Clark, a champion for his Wilbur section of Trenton and a longtime civic activist, died suddenly yesterday afternoon. He was 49.

Clark, who was on kidney dialysis, passed away at his home on Walnut Avenue, said South Ward Councilman George Muschal, who had become a close friend of Clark’s in recent years.

Most city council meetings featured an appearance during public comment by the gravelly-voiced Clark, who could be counted on to speak passionately but without hate and to deliver strong condemnations of what he believed to be bad policies without insult.

A native of the Wilbur section who lived on Walnut Avenue, regarded as one of the city’s most dangerous and crime-ridden areas, Clark never lost his vision that the neighborhood could thrive again.

“That’s a warrior that’s going to be missed,” said the Rev. Lee Ingram last night. “Dion had a good heart, he fought for what he believed in and he fought for the neighborhood he loved, even if the people in the neighborhood couldn’t see he was trying to better their lives.”

“The city of Trenton has lost a fighter and I can only hope that Dion’s courage inspires other Trentonians to stand up and fight for what is right,” Mayor Tony Mack said in a statement. “He didn’t fight for fame, fortune or attention. He fought because he knew that Wilbur section residents, better yet — all Trentonians — deserved better.”

Clark was an occasional but unsuccessful candidate for office, running for the East Ward council seat in 2002 and 2010.

“If the elected officials had one-tenth of the heart and determination that Dion had, this city wouldn’t be in the situation it’s in now,” Ingram said.

Clark’s final election was in 2011, when he ran for Mercer County freeholder as a Republican. That ended decades of affiliation with the Democratic party, where Clark worked the campaigns of politicians including state Sen. Shirley Turner and former Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer.

But Clark eventually became a critic of the Palmer administration on the issues of public safety and urban blight. Mack, who like Clark came from the hardscrabble Wilbur section, also received plenty of criticism from Clark, yet none of it was ever personal.

Clark’s signature issues of late included tearing down abandoned buildings and taking slum landlords to task. He recently advocated for more responsibility in the policy for take-home cars, and cleaning up Greg Grant Park in the Wilbur section, which he saw deteriorating barely four months after a re-opening from a multi-million dollar improvement project.

“If the elected officials had one-tenth of the heart and determination that Dion had, this city wouldn’t be in the situation it’s in now” – Lee Ingram

Clark also was a staunch supporter of Trenton’s fire and police departments. That was one of the bonds that connected him to Muschal, a former city cop first elected to council in 2009. Muschal impressed Clark by quickly addressing concerns such as overgrown trees and deteriorating buildings.

“Anytime he called, I went out for him,” Muschal said.

“He couldn’t give me anything but friendship,” Muschal added. “But we just became good friends, good honest friends.”

Clark worked as a city inspector for several years before his health worsened, solidifying his desire for enforcing responsibility with city landlords. One of the landlords he would regularly take to task would be Mack himself, whose rental property caught fire in 2004 and sat gutted on Hampton Avenue just a few blocks away from Clark’s home.

“You did not have to go along with every position Dion took, but you had to admire his faith that the city he loved so much could be better,” said Jim Carlucci, a fellow activist for better city government. “He was a passionate defender of his personal beliefs while maintaining a respectful attitude to those with whom he disagreed.”

When he was younger, Clark applied to be a city police officer but did not make the cut.

His advocacy for public safety and responsibility did not stop his son Zane Jr. from being shot three times in Hamilton in 2006. Authorities said Zane Jr. was a Bloods gang member, and the elder Clark never disagreed, talking openly about the experience. He recently said he felt Zane Jr. was on a better path, living with his girlfriend and Clark’s grandchild.

Clark founded no organization and was never elected to office, but made an impact with his personable nature, decency and perseverance.

“If more people were engaged in civic life at Dion’s level, we would be able to realize what he longed to see — a better Trenton for all,” Carlucci said.