Uncivil Action

I suppose one could dispute the allegations of a lawsuit filed earlier this month in Mercer County Superior Court: that the layoff notices issued to two licensed maintenance technicians at the Trenton Water Works (TWW) were intended as personally-directed retribution. Edmund Johnson and Timothy London received layoff notices along with 150 other City employees, civilian and police alike, in August. Nothing unusual there.  But unlike the others who received those notices, J0hnson and London had provided testimony in January 2011 to a Mercer Grand Jury and Mercer prosecutors, which testimony contributed to a nine-count criminal indictment against Mayor Tony Mack’s half-brother Stanley Davis and two others for corruption charges related to their TWW employment. This is not disputed.

The pair were two of only six licensed technicians responsible for maintaining the infrastructure of the Trenton Water Works, which serves not only residents of the City, but tens of thousands of customers throughout the County. Their jobs are so important to the safe and proper management of the Water Works that twice this year – in February and August of this year – the State of New Jersey urged the City not to include licensed technicians in its planned furloughs and layoffs, citing possible violations of minimum staffing levels at our water plant and threats to the safety and dependability of the TWW water supply. No one argues this. Regardless of the State warnings, Johnson and London received layoff notices in August. A third technician, not part of the suit, was also laid off.

This layoff, they do allege in their suit filed by local attorney George T. Doughrerty, was the result of a vendetta against them by Davis, his brother the Mayor and some of the Mack Administration’s senior officials. This will be heard, and must be proved, in a court of law. Until then, Tony Mack and the  officials also named in the suit, “Acting” Business Administrator Anthony Roberts and “Acting” Director of Public Works Harold Hall, must be considered innocent of these civil charges until they are proved.

However, like many of the facts stated above which are not in dispute, which are not open to differences in interpretation, there are other incidents which Johnson and London experienced in the last three months since they received their pink slips which can not be denied, and which are outrageous.

After getting layoff notices, Johnson and London were entitled – through the process open to them by their union contract known as “bumping” – to take another position in the Water Works, that of Water Meter Reader. To bolster their case, the NJ State Civil Service Commission directed the City to place Johnson and London in the meter readers positions. Here, again, no dispute.

The City refused to honor that directive. Upon reporting to work after the September 16 layoffs took effect, the lawsuit charges, Harold Hall refused to bump three individuals currently working as Water Meter Readers. One of whom was a nephew of the said Mr. Hall. Nepotism? I can’t say. This is one of the charges that will see the light of day in a court of law. (By the way, the brief for the suit also charges that Charles Hall, the nephew, doesn’t even work at the Water Works, but has an office at City Hall at the Department of Recreation. Hmmm…)

Instead of the meter reader positions, London and Johnson were assigned other duties. London was offered an entry-level position in the TWW construction office – at his previous salary, which is a violation of the bumping procedure. Johnson was assigned to do janitorial work at the Trenton Animal Shelter. No arguments here about what happened at this point.

Now, one note about this last action, though. As Water Works employees, Johnson and London are paid not from the City’s general budget, but by the TWW budget. As mentioned above, TWW services much of Mercer County outside of the City limits. TWW’s revenues come from rate payers throughout the County, and they are intended to cover expenses that serve all rate payers, and not just City residents. By sending Johnson to the City Animal Shelter, the City violated that rule by assigning a TWW employee to a City Department. This assignment is not being disputed.

The lawsuit alleges that Johnson and London have knowledge of other TWW employees working in City jobs. I don’t know; we’ll just have to see about that.

But this is important because this practice, along with others, led to a lawsuit brought a few years ago by the Townships of Ewing, Lawrence, Hamilton and Hopewell against Trenton. This suit, filed during the Palmer Administration, charged that TWW was in effect charging higher water rates on suburban customers to pay for employees working exclusively for the City. This suit was put on hold during last year’s referendum, but was reinstated in late 2010.

As far as I can tell, the suit is still working its way through the courts. And if the charges of Johnson and London are proved correct, then the abuses charged against the City during the Palmer Administration are still alive and well in the Mack Administration!

To summarize a long and sordid – but entertaining in a gruesome way – story shorter, both employees refused the demeaning and illegal demotions. The suit narrates a charge that at one point London provided Harold Hall – through his supervisor – a written job description of the duties of Meter Reader. The plaintiffs claim that the Supervisor stated that

Defendant Hall replied to [Supervisor] Meyers that he “didn’t care” about those duties and that plaintiff London could “go wipe his ass with it.” [Emphasis added]  – Brief filed October 4 in Johnson/London vs. Trenton, Mack, et al

Again, these are allegations, to be proved or not in a court of law. But the day where this testimony will be discussed is bound to be a doozy.

Following their refusal to work as assigned in violation of their entitlements, the two were called up on disciplinary charges, suspended without pay, and brought before hearings on September 28 and again on October 3, chaired by Acting BA Roberts. The plaintiffs argue the rushed pace of these hearing – and the improper way in which the hearings were conducted by Mr. Hall and Mr. Roberts- violated state Civil Service rules requiring 15 days notice before a hearing that could lead to a long suspension or termination.

On October 4, the law suit was filed, and on October 7 Judge Darlene Perekstra granted a temporary restraining order to reinstate Johnson and London to their jobs at the Water Works. A full hearing on the case is scheduled for November 7.

Whew! I know I raced past some key details, omitted some and simplified others. No matter. I do hope you have a better grasp of the big picture. This is a serious case.

If the allegations are proved, then it will have been demonstrated that these layoffs of licensed water technicians – and the demotions which followed after the layoffs were averted – were punitive in nature, motivated by nothing more than a vendetta to punish the two technicians who had testified against the Mayor’s brother. How can the city justify the layoffs and demotions as being financially motivated – Johnson and London were getting the same wages as when they were technicians!! Where are the savings? What is the motivation in their assignment to menial duties, other than punishment?

There are serious allegations against Hall of mismanagement and nepotism; against Roberts for abuse of personnel process and violations of Civil Service rules and the City’s collective bargaining agreements; and against Tony Mack for both overseeing such corrupt and vindictive campaigns against individuals, and jeopardizing the safety of TWW’s water supply by reducing the number of service technicians below required minimums without any good reason.

Beyond the specifics of this lawsuit brought by Mr. Johnson and London, there is the likelihood of deeper and longer-term damage to the City’s future management of the Trenton Water Works. Once again, after brown-water debacles and other service-related issues, this incident shows that the City of Trenton – in this case, the Mack Administration, but going back for years before – continues to mis-manage TWW for the questionable benefit of the City rather than for the county-wide customer base. The State has made a lot of noise about the City’s management; the Townships, especially Hamilton, likewise. Expect a lot more complaining, and likely more action, from both NJ and the Townships.

Don’t assume that the future of Trenton’s municipal ownership of the Water Works is safe.

POSTSCRIPT: Mayor Tony Mack is in the middle of a series of Town Hall Meetings around the city this fall.  You might want to ask him about this case. He won’t answer: “I don’t comment on personnel matters,” he’ll say. In this case, he will actually be right to say so! But it will let him know that people are watching this case, and they know how important it is.