This is Rich!

I don’t usually respond to charges made in anonymous posts. After all, if you don’t have the guts to use your real name, why should I give any credibility to anything you say? It’s just meaningless noise unless you have the integrity to back up your words with your name and your reputation. Why should I bother?

I will make an exception in one case, because it is just too easy a target. Here is a comment to one of my last posts, made today from an “ISU”:

We all know that this is a ploy between you and Kim Matthews. Enough political theater. What’s important is that the branches reopen for the communities.Since you’re are designated to be her man-servant get the facts correct. The learning centers are bringing back employees that were unjustly laidoff by this creature.This woman doesn’t care anything about the libraries. Her concern and her only concern is her heftly paycheck that she collects evey other Thursday.If she was so concerned about the branches why did she give the keys back to the city, during the layoff.

Every former employee that was laid off stipulated that if she has anything to do with the reopening they’ll not be involved.
No one wants to work with this woman.The foundation that received the grant will not turn over a dime to her, to run the locations. She receives an annual salary of 100k for doing what? NOTHING. Why do you need a Director for 1 location, with 25 employees and a Branch Mgr for the same location. This is unheard of. What the mayor should do firstly is get rid of that sorry Board of Trustees. Then cut her salary, get rid of the Branch Mgr who resides in Chesterfield, NJ.

It’s not Where in the World is Waldo, it’s where in the world is a competent LIBRARY DIRECTOR.

Let me parse this out.

“We all know that this is a ploy between you and Kim Matthews. Enough political theater.” For the record, this is hardly any ploy between me and Ms. Matthews. I haven’t seen the woman in two years or had any communication in that time. Other than a courtesy note to her on Friday to inform her of my petition, and a voicemail back from her acknowledging that effort, I haven’t spoken with her. Hard to construct a “ploy” out of that, LOL! But I do agree there should be an end to “political theater,” but I am afraid I am not one of the actors in this farce that has been written, produced and directed by Tony F. Mack, starring him and with Anthony Roberts as his co-star.

“What’s important is that the branches reopen for the communities.” I agree, but NOT if this is done illegally, as these “zombie libraries,” are being reopened. But Thank You for conceding the point that these Branches are indeed being Reopened. Despite the pitiful effort to re-brand these as “The Mayor’s Learning Center Libraries,” they are in fact Libraries and being re-opened in violation of the Law.

“Since you’re are [sic] designated to be her man-servant get the facts correct. The learning centers are bringing back employees that [sic] were unjustly laidoff [sic] by this creature.” Man-servant? What? Oh, I get what you are trying to imply here. So clever. So droll. Ha. Ha. You seem to know a lot about who will be working at these libraries. Apart from one individual named in the Minutes of the March meeting of the Trustees of the Library, an individual whose quoted comments about the Library Director seem to indicate quite a personal grudge, no information has been disclosed about the employees of these so-called Libraries. Which is part of my complaint.

And “unjustly laid off?” Seems to me they were laid off when the neighborhood library branches were closed in the Fall of 2010 after budgetary cutbacks forced the closures. After, you may recall, the Mayor ignored his promise to provide the $850,000 in funding the branches would have needed to stay open.

What were the Trustees and Director to have done without the funding? Keep the Libraries open and pay employees with money they were not authorized to spend? No, that kind of behavior is reserved for Mayor Mack!

“This woman doesn’t care anything about the libraries. Her concern and her only concern is her heftly [sic] paycheck that she collects evey [sic] other Thursday.If she was so concerned about the branches why did she give the keys back to the city, during the layoff.” I can’t presume to figure out her cares and concerns. And I don’t see any evidence to the contrary that she hasn’t served as a competent Director during difficult times. To my mind, she has never been as strong a supporter of the neighborhood branches as I would have liked, and I have stated so several times in the past. As to why she gave the keys back? The branches were closing and the City is the landlord. Duh!

“Every former employee that was laid off stipulated that if she has anything to do with the reopening they’ll not be involved. No one wants to work with this woman.” Oh, yeah? Show me. Otherwise, shut up.!

“The foundation that received the grant will not turn over a dime to her, to run the locations.” What foundation? What grant? News to me, as I am sure to most Trentonians. Is this another piece of information the Mayor and associates are keeping secret?

“She receives an annual salary of 100k for doing what? NOTHING. Why do you need a Director for 1 location, with 25 employees and a Branch Mgr for the same location. This is unheard of. What the mayor should do firstly is get rid of that sorry Board of Trustees. Then cut her salary, get rid of the Branch Mgr who resides in Chesterfield, NJ.

It’s not Where in the World is Waldo, it’s where in the world is a competent LIBRARY DIRECTOR.”

Well, I was never that concerned with Where in the World Waldo Was, but if that is your standard for Pressing Questions, Whatever!

Actually, here you do make a few good points. Namely that as a Board, the current Trustees are a sorry lot. Institutionally (not as individuals, since most current members were not serving years ago when most of the mis-management over finances took place), the Trustees have failed to perform their fiduciary and public duties to faithfully execute the laws of the state of New Jersey and promote the interests of the citizens of the City of Trenton.

In fact, one of the current members of the Board of Trustees has gone so far as to open his own Libraries, ignoring the Free Public Library of which he is a sworn leader. He is opening his own Libraries on the very sites of the Free Public Library, planning to use books and materials that are the property of his own Board of Trustees. He is hiring unknown people to run these libraries, and calling for Volunteers to show up and start working, without any apparent training nor criminal background checks. And he is doing all this without the knowledge or approval of City Council, the State, or anyone. He is just doing it on his own say so.

If ever there were a Trustee of the Trenton Free Public Library that deserved to be immediately kicked off the Board for abusing  the trust of his colleagues and of the citizens of the City of Trenton, it’s this guy.

I refer, of course, to the “Honorable” Tony. F. Mack.

So, ISU, if you have a beef with me, I have some advice. First, get YOUR facts (and your grammar, and your spelling!) straight. Provide some evidence or justification for your claims; it will make your arguments stronger. And, above all, in the absence of things like facts, proof and evidence, all you have to base your statements on is your name and reputation. Without a name, you have no reputation, no honor.