Tipping Point?

There is still so much to process from the events of the last week. I can’t re-cap everything, although some review is in order. What I really do think is that this past week may turn out to be seen as the tipping point that may begin to move the Tony Mack Administration to a rapid conclusion. Perhaps not formally: the man and his minions may well be able hang on to office by the skin of their teeth until July 2014.

But any semblance of credibility, of legitimacy, of trust in Tony F. Mack and those in his inner circle, appointed to positions of authority and power is fast slipping away. We may likely find that all of the rest of us who are stakeholders in the health of this city – citizens; taxpayers; business owners; Mercer County, New Jersey and United States officials and agencies – will have to find workarounds to take care of business, trying to marginalize a city government that turns to shit every single thing that it touches.

What is it about this week’s events that makes it so pivotal? A two-word answer: public safety. The decades-long decline in the ability of the City to sustain its own  functioning finally led to the massive layoff of over one hundred peace officers two weeks ago. Given the condition of our finances, such layoffs were probably inevitable to some extent. The failure of Tony Mack to confront this possibility last year – and actually to trumpet that he had “saved” Public Safety – was a cruel joke made at the expense of those who made the mistake of ever believing this man. Had the mayor attempted to address the situation with a smaller reduction in force last year, might this last reduction been any smaller? We’ll never know.

When it actually came, the layoff of over 100 officers two weeks ago was a profound and deep shock. The immediate after-shock of that event included sharp increases of  violent gun crimes throughout the city, and several stories in the press and the rumor mill of an overstretched rump police department scrambling to react to events with a force either dangerously close to or under minimum levels of effectiveness and safety.This could have been – and in fact was – predicted as a consequence of the sudden amputation of one third of the manpower of our police department.

With all this as prelude, the main question for anxious citizens was, What Next? How well would our elected officials respond to this new climate? How would they lead us through it, and reassure us that they could keep us safe in this raw new environment?

In his actions and inactions on the matter of public safety, Tony F. Mack has utterly failed the people of Trenton. In the leadup to the layoffs, Mack crippled the leadership of the Police Department. Given the presence of the truly effective and experienced Acting Police Director Joe Juniak, Mack could have blunted the anticipated fallout of the manpower reductions and confirmed Juniak to permanent Director status. The continuity and leadership that Juniak could have provided during these critical times would not have offset the loss of so many officers, but it would most definitely have helped.

Instead, Mack discarded Juniak in favor of an attempt to bring in a person new to the Department, Ismael Rivera, whose learning curve on the job would have coincided with dealing with the one-third reduction. Not really the best timing to do that for any new director. As it developed, Mr. Rivera was rejected by City Council, and Mr. Mack visibly scrambled to find a replacement as Police Director after his choice was rejected. Mack selected Chris Doyle from within the Department ranks. Doyle has performed very admirably given his circumstances.

This past week, Mack announced a couple of decisions that just made no sense. He announced that the City’s Tactical response unit as well as the City’s vice squad were to be dissolved and the 23 affected officers placed on foot patrol throughout the city. He also announced a zero-tolerance policy regarding police overtime unless approved in advance by newly-appointed “Acting” Business Administrator Anthony Roberts, a move which had the practical result of leaving many shifts of police coverage even more undermanned as cops went home, and active investigations left incomplete and critical paperwork left undone as officers would have to punch out at the completion of their straight time.

These horrible decisions led to the events of the last few days, including: the visit of Doyle and an associate to City Hall; their attempts to speak with both Mack and Roberts who locked themselves behind closed, locked doors; their ejection from City Hall by Park Rangers (?) who are now also apparently pulling double duty as Praetorian Guards; a trip to County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini by Doyle and members of City Council; and finally an intervention by Bocchini with Mack that resulted in the (at least) temporary suspension of the TAC and Vice Squad dissolution until further discussions in the upcoming week.

So that’s where we are. The beginning of another week of Municipal Mayhem in River City? Why do I see this as a potential tipping point? Lots of reasons. Public safety is perhaps the Biggest service a city government provides, especially in a town as often dangerous as Trenton. A mayor messes with that at his peril. When he and his people do mess with it, they had better know what they are doing. This past week shows to all who were watching that they clearly do not have a clue. These events will leave a lasting impression on Trentonians, and that impression will not be good. The Trenton Times has a blistering editorial out today pointing finger directly at Mayor Mack  for this situation, assigning him “full blame for city police turmoil,” in the words of the headline. Given that the Times has often defended Mack’s tenure in office, this is quite an indictment and is surely representative of a bigger shift in public opinion against the mayor.

With Mr. Bocchini’s limited and probably reluctant intervention in our police situation, I think a major threshold has been crossed. The Prosecutor’s Office, along with other officials in the County and State, have been awfully reluctant to be seen as getting involved in the City’s day-to-day affairs, perhaps rightfully fearing getting sucked into the quagmire of our business and not being able to find a way out. Tom Neff at the Department of Community Affairs was the point guy for the State in Trenton business over the last year, trying as hard as he could with limited resources to keep Mack on the straight and narrow. For better or worse now, Bocchini has been dragged in; and where Bocchini goes, others are likely to follow.

And finally, Mack and his crowd have really exposed themselves as having no clue what to do. Barricading themselves in their offices – from the Police Director, for crying out loud!!! – is pathetic. The Mayor’s Hail Mary letter to the President of the United States is embarrassing and pitiful on its own merits, and also reveals a lack of understanding of how the Federal Government works as well as an appreciation for Mr. Obama’s own position: does Mack expect Obama to overrule his own Justice Department; or does Mack think Obama has his own stash of cash to bail out incompetent city mayors? Has Mack not been reading the stories about Obama and the House Republicans?

Anthony Roberts sums up everything that is wrong with his performance, and with his boss Mack’s, and the whole Administration in an article in today’s Times. This interview attempts to spin Thursday’s locked-door confrontations with Mr. Doyle the Administration’s way, but it fails miserably on that count. The insecurity, lack of competence, and outright fear on the second floor of City Hall come to light pretty vividly in this article. There are just too many quotes I could point to, but I will pick just one.

During a week when Public Safety and the immediate future of the truncated Police Department during a serious crime wave is THE ISSUE in Trenton, the “Acting” Business Administrator says, “…we’re running an entire city, not just a police department, and there are many things we are going over.”  Wow. That’s right, cut us some slack, we’re not just dealing with the Police and crime problem. We have Town Meetings to plan, and Holidays to commemorate, and community centers to visit. Wait in line if you have a problem, Mr. Doyle, or make an advance appointment!

For those of us who have been watching this administration since its beginnings, all of this is nothing new. But the stakes are getting higher, the consequences of ineptness and incompetence are mounting, and the forces opposing Tony F. Mack and his failed Administration are getting stronger and more numerous. The events of the last week may well represent the tipping point in his eventual, inevitable fall.