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Comments Delivered at Trenton City Council - March 15, 2018

NOTE: I offered a public comment at last night’s Council meeting, the text of which is below. Most of it should be self-explanatory. But it will make very little sense if you don’t know what a “Consent Agenda” is. As the snapshot of last night’s agenda (below) shows, it’s procedure by which Council votes an entire list of Resolutions, up or down, at one time, with minimal or no discussion. My request last night was to separate out all of the Resolutions concerning Trenton Water Works, and consider them separately, for the reasons I stated to them.

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As it turned out, Council declined to discuss my request. Councilman Alex Bethea responded to my note with comments and questions about items I did not mention last night, at all. Rather, he brought up items from this past January. Councilwoman Marge Caldwell-Wilson inadvertently confirmed the concern leading to my remarks when she admitted that she depends on the presentations of the Water Works and the Administration to guide her vote on technical matters.

Oh, well. It was worth making the effort last night. And, as I told them, their inaction is now on the record. An opportunity was given to them last night for Council to pro-actively demonstrate that they were paying close attention to every matter associated with the Water Works, to try to reassure Trenton’s residents as well as other County water customers about the management and safety of their home drinking water.

They failed to take the opportunity.

Good Evening, Council President and Council Members –

I am here to speak tonight about Resolution #18-112, Resolutions # 18-127 through -130, as well as Resolution 134. These are all business items concerning the Trenton Water Works.

Collectively, most of them seem routine and quite ordinary. With the exception of Resolution #18-112 (which has no direct quantifiable calculation attached to it), the total cost of these items is in the neighborhood of only around $300,000.

But we all know that nothing is routine with the Trenton Water Works these days. After years of decay, neglect and budget games, the condition of the Water Works has reached – I hope – its bottom. The City has contracted over $2 Million Dollars – with the amount increasing weekly, it seems like – with two private firms to provide operating professionals at TWW facilities over the next year.

In spite of that effort, there are still problems. Today’s mail brought another letter notifying customers of another water quality failure, from October of last year. Last week, a very temporary technical failure led to figurative alarm bells going off around the area. It ended up being no big deal, but in the aftermath of the last few years, can you blame anyone for having a short fuse when it comes to our water quality?

No, nothing is routine with the Water Works these days. Tonight, you are reviewing a number of items regarding the Water Works, perhaps the first set of multiple items since the operations contracts with the new vendors were approved. Perhaps the first batch since Council heard the extremely poorly-prepared and incomplete presentation on February 1 by the Water Works and the Director of Public Works.

You have these items scheduled to be acted upon as part of tonight’s Consent Agenda. I ask you this evening to sever these Resolutions from your Consent Agenda, in order to discuss, deliberate and decide them individually. Because there is nothing routine about the Water Works these days.

Most of you are running for re-election in May. Some are even running for a promotion to higher office. In either case, voters will be considering your candidacies based on your records, which includes your spoken. written and oversight record on the matter of the Water Works. I understand that at this week’s candidate forum the issue wasn’t discussed once. I find that entirely hard to believe, but what happened,  happened. Here and now, tonight, you are faced with your public service obligation as elected officials to consider these important matters, and to give us your rationale for your vote.

It is not enough to vote on these matters tonight as part of the Consent Agenda. It’s not enough to say you are voting them up or down because of what you have been told by the Public Works Director, or the Business Administrator, the Chief of Staff, the TWW Superintendent or even the Mayor. Each of those individuals have been repeatedly wrong, misleading, dissembling and uninformed, often at the same time. They have no credibility.

No, Mr. President and Council Members, such arguments won’t work tonight.

As you consider each of these measures, I want to hear each and every one of you making statements explaining WHY you support or oppose them. I want to hear your personal reasons, pro or con.

Such as, “Since February 1, I have seen the financial statements and organization charts of TWW, I believe and trust in them, and I believe these items tonight are reasonable and appropriate. I am in favor.”

Or, “I have met with TWW’s management and the new consultants from Wade Trim and Banc3. I have confidence in their day-to-day judgments and believe these items are fair and routine.”

Or, “I’ve seen and reviewed the quarterly status report sent by the City to the Department of Environmental Protection on March 8, and I am satisfied with the pace of improvement at the utility, for the following reason.”

Or, “I support competitive contracting at the Water Works as preferable over competitive bidding for these reasons.”

Or, “I don’t support paying this amount to Cash Cycle Solutions because customer billing in the last half of 2017 was horribly mis-managed.”

Please, express your approval or opposition to any or all of these, or whatever, while giving your reasons and not relying on the Administration for your position. They have no credibility on this matter left, at all.

Do you get what I am asking, Councilmembers? Tonight you have the obligation to go on the official record this evening, demonstrating your personal commitment to fixing the Water Works. And that means treating these Resolutions, and any and all that come in at least over the near future, as anything BUT routine. Because they have to do with the Water Works, and things there are not normal. This is your opportunity to demonstrate that you personally buy in to the process of fixing the Water Works for all its customers around Mercer County.

Your words, or your silence tonight, as I have said, will be on the record. Expect to hear your words and your actions on this matter, from tonight and other occasions, over the remainder of this campaign.

So, make them count, tonight.

This dais has been the source for a great deal of empty incendiary rhetoric lately about the Water Works, the City and its relationship with the previous State Administration. Let’s end that now, shall we? Show that you are taking seriously your individual obligation to participate in the rebuild of the utility by providing your due diligence and responsible oversight, while also making your individual argument for further public trust, for whatever office you seek.

Council members, time to walk the walk. Sever these items from your Consent Agenda, and let’s hear what you think about each of them, and why.

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