The Trenton Times published the following article on April 16, 2013. To read the full article click here.

Subpoenas being sent to Trenton workers who donated money to sculpture of President Barack Obama, city officials say

By Erin Duffy/The Times of Trenton 
on April 16, 2013 at 10:11 AM, updated April 16, 2013 at 10:12 AM

TRENTON — Mayoral aide Anthony Roberts and several other city employees are expected to be served with subpoenas this week as several city council members continue to demand answers about the donations and city dollars that funded a $4,000 sculpture of President Obama.

Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward confirmed subpoenas were being typed up yesterday and will be sent out this week to Roberts, who headed the “President Barack H. Obama Bust Committee,” and any city employee who donated money to create and install the bust.

“We’re simply requesting them to show evidence of if they made payment, how much and did they submit it cash or check,” Holly-Ward said. “If they say cash, we want sworn testimony that they gave this much money. And we have a list of questions for Mr. Roberts.”

Council gained the right to subpoena documents and testimony in the case when it formed an investigatory committee in January to address concerns about how the bust was funded, whether any city dollars were used and whether city employees felt pressured to make donations when approached by members of the administration.

Holly-Ward said anyone subpoenaed will be commanded to answer questions at a May 7 council meeting. City officials whose names appear on a donors plaque for the bust include fire director Qareeb Bashir, public property division head Harold Hall, park ranger Robert “Chico” Mendez, business administrator clerk/typist John Seigle and assistant city attorney Peter Cohen, among others.

At a town hall meeting yesterday, Roberts said he had received nothing from council yet and hadn’t heard anything about being subpoenaed.

“I thought it was over with,” he said of the controversy surrounding the bust.

“I’ve told them the public funds for the pedestal were repaid and the bust was paid for with private funds, so I don’t know what else they could be concerned about,” he said.

“But I’ll be there with my attorney.”

The faux bronze bust was installed last December in the City Hall atrium as a way to honor the country’s 44th president, Mayor Tony Mack said at the time. But criticism came fast and fierce from council members and some residents who said the mayor was trying to deflect attention from his recent federal corruption indictment with the feel-good ceremony.

In a press release shortly before the ceremony, Roberts said, “The committee worked diligently to identify and secure private dollars and we can say that 100 percent of the funds needed to complete this project were raised through private financing.”

Roberts and Mack maintained the bust was paid for entirely through donations. Donors, who include several city employees and contractors, are listed on the plaque affixed to the bust’s stand.

But public records later showed Stone Tech, the city company that made the granite base for the bust, was paid $1,000 out of the mayor’s office budget.

Council members, who also questioned whether the donations from city vendors violated the city’s strict pay-to-play ordinance, later asked Roberts to appear at a council
meeting in January to answer questions on the bust committee, its fundraising drive and the $6,300 spent on the project. Roberts called in sick to work that day and council later voted to form an investigatory committee to look into the creation and purchasing of the bust.

“It never went away because he wouldn’t come before us when we asked,” Holly-Ward said. “So we had to use our subpoena powers to get answers.”

The councilwoman said as far as she knew, this was the first time a city council had subpoenaed employees before, and that’s why it took several months for the law
department to draft language for the subpoenas.