Further Down the Rabbit Hole

“I don’t think they play at all fairly,” Alice began, in rather a complaining tone, “and they all quarrel so dreadfully one can’t hear oneself speak – and they don’t seem to have any rules in particular: at least if there are, nobody attends to them.”   – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

This is turning out to be City Council Week, as we read of more hijinks among the Super Seven. Actually, the main fault in this story seems to lie at the desk of our Business Administrator, Eric Berry. But there’s a lot to go around. Let’s go!

This story in this morning’s Trentonian lays out the main details, although I had been hearing some of the details, and seeing some correspondence, for the last few days. Four individuals nominated by the Mack Administration – for Police Director, Public Works Director, and two Municipal Judges – are due to be up for confirmation by City Council. Rather than wait for an open hearing, BA Berry convened a series of individual meetings with Council members to apparently lobby for the members’ support for the Administration’s picks. South Ward Council Member George Muschal was not invited to any meeting, perhaps because his likely vote was already known. At-Large Member Phyllis Holly-Ward, hearing of Mr. Muschal’s non-invitation and smelling a rat, wisely chose to decline her invitation. So there were five meetings with Mr. Berry.

So far, so OK. Informal administration lobbying is OK, and part of the process. But – Surprise! –  there is a wrinkle here that makes this whole incident highly ethically suspect, at the very least. Mr. Berry apparently kept a tally sheet after these meetings, recording the likely votes of those five members; then allegedly forwarded that tally sheet to Council President Kathy McBride only. This creates the appearance of a highly unsavory collusion between the Administration and the Council President, in the furtherance of a nomination process carried out not in full public view, but behind closed doors.

Most of these details have not been disputed. Many Council Members are very upset. Mr. Muschal wrote a scathing letter to the BA, calling these nominations tainted: “Do I seem to be a bit disturbed Mr. Berry I am, you not only EXCLUDED ME FROM THE MEETING but you tainted 4 individuals that were to come in front of council ( may I remind all ELECTED OFFICIALS) for a fair and honest vote.  Tell me how you who represents this administration can put forward these 4 individuals to council with your head held high.   I am calling for disqualification on the nominees and hope my fellow council members will follow.”

Yesterday, North Ward Member Marge Caldwell-Wilson wrote her note to her colleagues disavowing the process: “If this is the manner in which the Administration is going to count their votes ,I want no part of it,further, I resent that fact that the possibility of a spread sheet indicating how I may vote was given to Council President.  Our Council business should not be done in a covert manner,no matter what is being discussed . The fact that information was given to the President regarding myself and other Council members without our knowledge is totally unacceptable.”

And this morning – EARLY this morning (my email was time-stamped 1:28AM!) – a press release from the West Ward’s Zac Chester chimed in:  “I was made aware of a possible document with the anticipated ‘votes’ of City Council people being created by Mr. Berry and Council President Kathy McBride on August 9, 2011. If I knew that the purpose of my meeting with Mr. Berry was to gather information for a tally sheet of support, I would not have agreed to meet. I cannot speak for any of my fellow council colleagues, but I have not participated in any ‘back room deals’, regardless of what some may say.”

As noted above, Ms. Holly Ward wisely chose to avoid these meetings. Members Reynolds-Jackson and Bethea are briefly quoted in the article, to the effect that votes were not discussed. Ms McBride is not quoted in the article, nor is there any statement to indicate if reporter LA Parker tried to contact her.

OK, what do we learn from this? First, for the four un-named nominees under consideration (and I won’t name them here because they are blameless in all this, and probably will appreciate one less Google hit connecting their names to this foolishness) should probably withdraw their names from consideration for appointment. This process is irrevocably tainted and spoiled, and is probably dead in the water.

For Aide to the BA Colin Cherry, who set up the meetings for his boss, his attempt to pin the blame for the non-invitation of Mr. Muschal on Council assistant Linda Kelsey is ungallant at the least, and pretty skanky.

Councilmembers Muschal, Holly-Ward show once again that they are growing into their jobs and showing both independence and acknowledgement of their roles on Council. Good for them! I hope they continue this streak, and gather other like-minded colleagues to work together in the best interests of our citizens.

The first matter would be the matter of these four nominations: if the individuals don’t voluntarily withdraw, they should be voted down and a new untainted process begun.

Members Caldwell-Wilson and Chester are to be applauded for their strong statements against this closed-door deal-making after the fact, but I do hope they will be more cautious in the future when dealing with this Administration. What do they say: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me!” How many times have you been fooled now? I hope your statements mark a turning point in your assertiveness and willingness to work together with your other colleagues.

Members Bethea and Reynolds-Jackson, if these statements were the only ambiguous and non-committal ones from you on civic matters, that would one thing. But to this observer, neither of them are getting into the game. They are frequently not engaging the matters before them with any sense of knowledge or authority, or of responsibility.

Ms. McBride, for the second time this week, is demonstrating a main loyalty to the mayor and the administration, rather than to her responsibility as Council president and to the independent role of Council in the city’s government. If she can’t preside fairly and impartially in her role, then she should either voluntarily step aside as president or have her performance reviewed by her colleagues and voted out.

Mr. Eric Berry is a disappointment as BA. He is deep into playing the political game on behalf of the Mayor, rather than recognizing his responsibilities as a constitutional officer of this City on behalf of all its citizens. They throw card counters out of casinos. Tallying votes and feeding the results to Ms. McBride goes pretty far toward killing his effectiveness in his job, in my book.

Before I discuss one last person, I want to introduce you to one of  Trenton’s most distinguished residents. George Brinton McClellan has been in Riverside Cemetery since 1885, so he is unavailable for quotation today. Before he was Governor of New Jersey, and before he lived in Trenton, he was commanding general of the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War. Having been given command by Abraham Lincoln, McClellan built a magnificent military machine, vastly outnumbering his Confederate opponents in manpower, weapons and training. And yet, for far too long, he refused to engage his enemy. An exasperated Lincoln complained that McClellan had “a terminal case of the Slows.”

I think one can make the same claim of the last person I will discuss today, Mercer County Prosecutor Joseph Bocchini. For over a year, Bocchini has been investigating, collecting evidence (and had evidence provided to him), convening grand juries and more; with very little to show for it. He has indicted a few Water Works employees including Mayor Mack’s half-brother, but there has been precious little other movement from his office on any other matter.

I am not saying here that this “vote-counting” incident is illegal. It smells like hell, but I can’t say it necessarily violates any laws. But there have been many other dangling threads – at the Water Works, with preferential hirings and firings, forged time cards, manipulated purchasing and contracting, campaign shenanigans, and much more – that all contribute to a smoky cloud over our city. With all this smoke, can there be no fire?

I think Mr. Bocchini may also have a “terminal case of the slows.” Going forward, I expect this to be one of several articles that will turn up in the future when one Googles “Joe Bocchini” and “Tony Mack.” What will the others say?