Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

At last night’s meeting, City Council voted to reverse the hasty and administratively improper decision of Trenton’s Acting Mayor George Muschal to terminate the employment of Fire Director Qareeb Bashir. Mr. Bashir was restored to his position for the remainder of the current mayoral term at the end of June.

Most of the Council members present – all except Mr. Muschal – objected to the fashion in which the Acting Mayor cashiered the Fire Director in violation of City Ordinance 2-9. This Ordinance, covering the Removal process of Departmental Directors, specifically directs that termination of a Director can occur no less than 20 days following written notification by the Mayor (or Acting Mayor in this case) to the employee in question and to Council. Mr. Bashir was terminated last Friday, well before 20 days.

Since I believe the Acting Mayor exceeded his authority and his mandate in this matter, Council was entitled to take the action they did last night.

However, not being content with that action, a number of Council members threatened to take retaliatory action on Mr. Muschal for his attempted removal of Bashir, by promising to remove Mr. Muschal from his other official position as City Council President.

I don’t think they have that power, according to City Ordinance.

Tempers were apparently very high at last night’s meeting. According to theTrenton Times account by Bridget Clurkin this morning, “Several council members said they thought the dual roles Muschal is holding gave him too much power and they mentioned that they ‘have the option’ to strip him of his council president responsibilities, saying that the vote may happen at next week’s meeting. ‘There will be a new council president,’ Councilman Zachary Chester said. ‘We won’t have that vote tonight, but we will have that vote.’

Trouble is, Trenton’s Ordinances do not provide any mechanism for removing the Council President.

Here is what the relevant Ordinance, A316-2, Rule IV A, has to say about the process of electing a Council President:

A. Election and Duties. The presiding officer of the Council shall be the President, who shall be elected at the organization meeting.

The “organization meeting” is held at the beginning of Council’s term. The Ordinance is silent on the topic of rotating, or removing the President. This Council elected George Muschal as President at its org meeting in July of 2010. Their practice of rotating the position each year to different members, and their practice of electing a Vice President – a position not authorized by City code – was done in violation of Ordinance.

Similarly, this Council would be in violation of City Ordinance were they to remove Mr. Muschal in advance of the next organization meeting. The only provision our Ordinances allow is the selection of a President pro tem, but only in the specific instance of the absence of the duly-elected President from a particular Council session.

These members of Council demonstrated last night once again that they have learned precious little over their four years in office about the proper exercise of their authority over the City’s affairs and over the administration of their own body.

It is very ironic that Mr. Chester and his colleagues  threaten Mr. Muschal with punishment for his improper exercise of authority – by promising an improper exercise of their own authority.

I’m afraid to say that Council is stuck with Mr. Muschal as their President until July 1.

Just as we are stuck with these sorry-assed excuses for Council members until that same date. I can’t wait.

After watching the “Acting” Mayor this week, and Council last night, I have to ask one more time, “Can’t ANYBODY here play this game?”