This morning, I joined a number of Trentonians – Algernon Ward, Dan Dodson, Pat Stewart and Carlos Avila – for a meeting with Mayor Mack at City Hall, representing the various groups (TCCA, Fix Trenton’s Budget, and Al Ward’s group) of citizens who have volunteered to help the Administration tackle several of its budget-related issues. These issues include improving a budget process that over the last several years had become seriously broken and late, lacking public input as required by our Ordinances; devising ways for Department Heads to quantitatively measure what their departments so, both in order to make budgets and plans, and then to measure the success or lack of same, of those plans; the proper role of the State of NJ in support of the City of Trenton; and so forth.
The various groups had been seeking face time with Mayor Mack ever since July 1, with no success. During that time, the groups had several meetings and agreed to join forces and pool resources into one joint group effort, the better to avoid overlap or conflict, and to have a better chance to actually work with the City.
Well, we finally got a meeting scheduled, for today at 9AM. It was an introductory meeting, to get acquainted (this was the first time I’ve actually met Mr. Mack) and to discuss our work to date and what we planned to do. For the near term, we discussed the upcoming City Council meeting on the Budget set for November 23, at which the working group is set to make a presentation, and left drafts of a few of our first papers.
The meeting went well. In addition to the Mayor, the City was represented by Budget Officer Elana Chan, and Budget Examiner Alphonso Jones (all through the meeting, I was trying to recall if I’d met Mr. Jones before. His name seemed awfully familiar. It wasn’t until after the meeting that I figured out why.
The meeting started a little late. When he arrived, the Mayor apologized and briefly explained his tardiness was due to a City manner “which you’ll probably read about this afternoon.” I presume he was referring to this story. Trenton Business Administrators are becoming the equivalent of Spinal Tap’s drummers: a short tenure followed by spontaneous combustion.
Whatever the reasons for Mr. McCrosson’s departure, it couldn’t come at a worse time for the city. We have still not yet received word of the State Transitional Aid Award for the current fiscal year nearly half over at this point. Whatever amount we receive from the State that is less than what we’ve requested, plus whatever monies will be required to offset additional payroll for police and fire exempted from layoff by the Mayor last week, will have to be made up somehow, most likely by more and bigger property tax increases.
The outcome of the City’s budget morass for this year will have to be managed by the Administration and whoever the next BA is likely to be. With “Acting” Director of Finance Elaine Adams now plugged in temporarily as the latest “Acting” Business Administrator, we are now on the fourth person to fill that position in a little over four months; the next one will be #5, the same number that The Tap went through.
The City has posted a Press Release on its website this evening soliciting applications for the position from “Dedicated Trentonian’s” (this typo lets you know it’s an authentic Lauren Ira product). I hope someone well qualified, as well as non-flammable, applies.
In the meantime, I wonder how this news is going down on the other end of State Street, under the golden dome?