Look Out, 'Cause Here Comes Some Free Advice!

I am not much of a betting man, but I can give you this tip: whatever “Mayoral Aide” and former “Acting” Business Administrator Anthony Roberts favors, bet on the opposite as being the best choice.

The man who Mercer County’s chief judge called “completely unqualified” to evaluate contract bids is still getting his hands into things that are beyond his ken.

A few recent cases in point. This morning, we read that the Mack Administration’s attempt to confirm the appointments of three municipal court judges, originally on last week’s City Council docket, is on hold because the proposal has not been cleared by County Assignment Judge Mary Jacobson. You see, Trenton is authorized to have three judges, and these appointments would have brought that number to five. Judge Jacobson hasn’t given her approval for the extra judges. In fact, as of last Friday, her court had not even received a request to bring on 2 extra judges. Oops!

No worries, says Mr. Roberts. According to today’s report by Matt Fair, “Mayoral aide Anthony Roberts said Friday night that the city intended to seek approval for additional judges. Beefing up the benches of the city’s municipal court is part of a broader plan to begin using the city’s former east and west district police stations for court sessions. Preliminary talks are in the works, Roberts said last week.” [Emphasis mine – KM]

In other words, No, we hadn’t done our homework before we sought approval for these appointments, but now that we’ve been caught, by golly we “intend to” now! And we have plans! for preliminary talks!! In the works!!!

In the meantime, three judicial appointees sit on their hands, and the workload in our Court piles up. Nice job, Mr. Roberts!

Yesterday, in another article Mr. Fair quoted Mr. Roberts as he explained an initiative announced by the City to end its seven-year participation in Mercer County’s recycling program and re-establish its own. This will entail hiring 18 new workers and reopening a city recycling center on Brunswick Avenue. The State’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA), which must approve new hires, hasn’t (Surprise!) heard of the plan before now. And the announcement drew the immediate opposition of at least one Councilmember, the North Ward’s Marge Caldwell Wilson. She doesn’t believe the City will save money, as Mr. Roberts claims.

Have no fear, says Mr. Roberts. Our decision to re-establish the city’s program is “based on sound fiscal assessments.” Well then, I feel a LOT better! And, he continues, we are righting another Evil Act perpetrated by that Dastardly Doug Palmer:  “We continue to undo the irresponsible, uninformed and costly acts of the previous administration.”

That Tony Mack was the manager of the City’s recycling program when former Mayor Palmer shut it down, and laid off Mack from his City employment I’m sure has nothing to do with this latest move. And it probably never even occurred to Mr. Roberts and the Mayor that this Administration – which has always been so darned good about its personnel hires and appointments – would have another 18 patronage jobs to hand out to supporters and friends.

Another fine proposal from Mr. Roberts, and another achievement of Sound Fiscal Assessment!

Mr. Roberts isn’t just full of ideas, he is a manager too. He chaired the first meeting since August 2010 of a committee intended to oversee the administration of a state-funded grant called the “Trenton Municipal Alliance Committee.” This panel, supposed to have met quarterly, has gone six quarters without meeting. Now the $161,000 grant is in jeopardy of being lost, and this meeting last Friday was the Administration’s last-minute attempt to scramble to meet the requirements of the grant.

The members of the committee, according to this article by Alex Zdan, seemed to have little idea what they were doing at the meeting, and what their role was to be. This caused a little, let’s use the word “friction,” at the meeting:

“School board president Toby Sanders got into a heated exchange with Roberts when Sanders tried to make it clear that he and others at the meeting would not be held accountable for what the grant was used for prior to their arrival. ‘Because I will get up right now and walk out this door if I’m to be held accountable for something that took place before I received a phone call,’ he said. “And I would encourage any friend I have in the room to do the same.’

“’That is not the expectation,’ said Roberts.”

Well, I’m sure THAT made Mr. Sanders feel better! When he expressed concern that he might be blamed for the city’s sloppy grant administration before he even showed up, Anthony Roberts gave him a solid “That is not the expectation.” In other words, “Probably not. Unless we can’t blame Doug Palmer and have no one else to blame it on!”

Over the last few weeks, there have been several reports of the City’s mismanagement of Federal Stimulus funds and federal Community Development Block Grant monies. In the last instance, Anthony Roberts didn’t hesitate to shift blame to the Palmer Administration, so if I were School Board President Sanders, I wouldn’t feel all that confident in Mr. Roberts’ “That is not the expectation.”

I feel bad for newly-installed Business Administrator Sam Hutchinson, who surely has a big in-box of urgent items messed up by the Mayor and Mr. Roberts needing his attention. Good Luck to him!

One more tale of Mr. Roberts Midas touch. Not a direct instance, mind you, but you decide about that!

Over the weekend, I wrote about the Mayor’s “Plan” to re-open the City’s neighborhood Public Libraries – without the participation or knowledge of the people at the Trenton Free Public Library. The proposal submitted by Mr. Roberts to City Council is based on a plan to contract with the Young Scholars’ Institute (YSI) to operate the Branches.

I prepared this summary spreadsheet that shows that, however worthy and important the work of the Institute has been since its founding in 1990, the organization has for every year since 2003 run up significant operating deficits totaling nearly $1.3 Million in the years up to and including 2010. YSI has been forced to draw on its financial reserves to cover those losses, to the extent that I concluded that, far from having the financial resources to take on the additional assignment of operating the neighborhood Branches, on present trends the Institute might deplete their reserves by next year.

Why do I mention this? Because Guess Who was working for the Institute from 2003 to 2010? Anthony Roberts, that’s who. (Thanks to Jim Carlucci for that info). I don’t know what his job responsibilities at YSI were, and to what extent if any he may have been involved with its financial performance.

It doesn’t really matter, does it? That’s just a coincidence. A very interesting and provocative coincidence, to be sure. But just a coincidence.

Because, as the above incidents – and many, many  others not mentioned today – can attest, Anthony Roberts has been a disaster in his public service for the City of Trenton. Whatever he gets his hands on, he ruins. Whatever he proposes, do the opposite.

Bet on it.