SO glad to see that Council is addressing the need to act on the matter of all of the city’s current Acting Department heads. I’m not so pleased to hear that Mayor Mack “plans to extend the directors’ acting status,” according to the Times article. I’m sorry, Mr. Mayor, that’s not your call to make. That is Council’s prerogative – or not – to grant extensions of such appointments by statute. The fact that the previous mayor flaunted our ordinances with his appointments doesn’t create a precedent, just an excuse.
Last night’s Council meeting also provided a perfect example as to why it is so important to clear out “Acting” directors. In August, one week after voting not to act on the mayor’s nomination of Renee Lamarre-Sumners to the Municipal Court bench until she passed a background check, the Council voted on the 25th of the month to approve her nomination. That 6-1 vote (Council President George Muschal was the sole “No” vote) passed in large part because then-Acting Business Manager Andrew Weber and Mayor Mack claimed to Council that Ms. Lamarre-Sumners had passed her background check. Turns out, that’s not quite right. “Acting” Police Director Ernie Williams now says that the Judge hasn’t passed such a background check because she has up until today refused to provide fingerprints.
The Trentonian quotes Councilmembers Muschal: “This is starting to sound like a backroom deal, and it stinks.” Councilmembers Chester and Caldwell-Wilson both say their decision to confirm was based on assurances from the Mayor and the Acting Business Administrator.
Well, then, let’s hear from them! A few problems with that: Weber is gone from his post as Acting BA; current BA Andrew McCrosson can’t speak to something he wasn’t around for; Mayor Mack refused to speak to a reporter on the matter yesterday; and “Acting” Police Director Williams can’t seem to get any cooperation from the Judge.
The nomination of this judge was rammed through under suspicious circumstances, based on personal assurances to Council that proper procedure had been followed Assurances that were worth nothing. There is no accountability here, no one taking responsibility.
The actions of our mayor and revolving-door “Acting” department heads continue to bite us on the ass. Last night also saw revealed the fact that last week’s delay on the part of NJ American Water to provide emergency water supplies during the “River-gate” situation last week (I was going to use “Water-gate”, but it’s already been used) was due at least in part to the City owing NJAW $223,000 for previous emergency water deliveries. These bills had been hanging around unpaid for several months (one since May). The reason stated last night by Acting BA McCrosson was that we were arguing with NJAW that the city should have been charged wholesale rates for the water rather than the retail rates they charged us.
First off, we paid Retail? We paid Retail? Someone’s head should roll for that, alone. I also suspect that another reason those bills were rattling around for so long is the upheavals at Trenton Water Works and with the department of Public Works. Over the summer, management at TWW was shuffled and changed, and DPW had a new, Acting, Director installed. And we saw last week just how well all those guys are doing! I can see those bills may likely have just gathered dust for months, until the stuff hit the fan last week.
Unpaid bills. Fast-track appointments for judges allergic to fingerprints. No movement at all on appointments for permanent directors as required by law. “Assurances” by public officials long gone and no longer accountable. More bushwa from the mayor and his spokeswoman.
Each passing week we are seeing more evidence that this administration is lurching in crisis-bunker mode from one situation to another, with not much indication of competence nor skill. There is, though, a great deal of evidence – whether in judicial appointments; juicy contract offers to friendly law firms; personnel moves around city departments hiring pals to jobs for which they are unqualified, as witnessed by last week’s debacle at the Water Filtration Plant – that, as Councilman Muschal said , we are seeing a lot of backroom dealing. And it stinks.