On Being a Trenton Democrat in the 15th LD

I had originally planned to conclude my piece yesterday, on the inadequacy of the “Dan Toto for Assembly” campaign, with my feelings about the other Democratic candidates for Assembly in Tuesday’s party primary election. However I decided that my emphasis on the SSNB (Same Shit, New Box) theme, directed as it was against the masquerading “Democrat” Toto might also unfairly tarnish the campaigns of the two incumbents running with the official endorsement of the Mercer Democratic Committee, Assembly members Reed Gusciora and Elizabeth Maher Muoio. Also, a too-brief mention of the two at the end of my long screed against Mr. Toto might come off too much as damning those two with faint praise. That would not have been my intention.

I’ve found, by personal experience with both Assembly members, Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio to be intelligent, effective, and compassionate legislators. I intend to vote for Reed and Liz, and endorse their nomination and election in the fall, for the reasons I will explain below. But my endorsement comes with some reservations.

Over the last several years, Reed Gusciora has often been responsive to issues here in Trenton, and I’ve found him on many occasions to be sympathetic and productive. When legislative boundaries in New Jersey were re-drawn after the most recent federal Census, I welcomed him to Trenton in 2011 after re-districting excluded the town of his previous residence, Princeton. I referenced the assistance he rendered to local neighbors of Trenton’s Carteret Arms apartment building when PSE&G had shut off power to the common areas of the large building due to non-payment of electric bills by the previous owners. After I reached out to him, Reed intervened with PSE&G to get the power turned on, and also arranged a press conference at the West Ward State Street building with his legislative colleagues Senator Shirley Turner and then-Assemblywoman and now Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman. On behalf of the residents of the building, he drew attention to their plight and helped get the job done and the lights back on.

Before that, Reed and I worked together on the short-lived, massively unsuccessful, but terribly enjoyable 2008 NJ “Draft Al Gore for President” movement. It wasn’t exactly a “shoulder-to-shoulder in the trenches together” experience, since we were firing the equivalent of pop-guns in those trenches, but it was enough to show me that he and I felt the same way on many public issues, then and since.

He’s been a busy and effective legislator with sponsorship of and effort behind a large number and diverse variety of legislation, as reader Joey Biscotti reminded me yesterday. In defense of Trenton’s interests, he and his former colleague Watson Coleman voted against last year’s deceptively-named “Water Infrastructure Protection Act,” although the two of them (along with Senator Turner) were sadly on the losing end of that vote. That act, which makes it far too easy for local municipalities to sell publicly-owned water utilities to private companies without public approval, is now on the books as NJ law. I feel confident that Reed Gusciora would defend Trenton’s interests if any effort is made to threaten the city’s ownership of its Water Works.

I’ve known and worked with Liz Muoio since she was a Mercer County Freeholder and chair of the local Mercer County Democratic Committee, and found her to be dedicated to the principles of the Democratic Party. She’s only been in the State Assembly since January, appointed to fill the unexpired term of Ms. Watson Coleman after her November 2014 election to the US House. But in that short time, I have seen her as a very responsive and active representative.

Back in March, I wrote to her via her official NJ Assembly e-mailbox, to ask her to support A3580, a bill introduced to the Assembly’s current session last September. Briefly (and I could go on about this, but I promise to be short!), this bill would ban in New Jersey the sale and distribution of Powdered Alcohol, a newly-developed (and legalized by the federal government) product which goes by the trade name of “Palcohol.” I wrote to her and expressed my opinion that Trenton, and New Jersey,  have enough problems with legal and illegal substances to have to contend with a new form of intoxicating substance that is so concealable, easily trafficked and inherently ripe for abuse as powdered booze.

Liz Muoio wrote back to me the very next day, and promised to support the bill as a co-sponsor, and to support the measure. This she quickly did, joining among others Assembly Members Paul “No Relation” Moriarty and Craig “No Relation” (my mother’s side of the family) Coughlin, who were two of the bill’s Primary Sponsors.

A3580 was reported out of the Assembly’s Law & Public Safety Committee earlier this month, and I hope it moves along to full passage in the Assembly, with Liz Muoio’s support, and the State Senate, where Shirley Turner is a Primary Sponsor of the companion bill.

I believe Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio are fine legislators, and I endorse them for election, at this coming Tuesday’s election and in the November general election.

And yet, I do so with some reservations. I still carry more than a bit of a grudge against both – along with the other principal leaders of the County Democratic organization, both officeholders and other leaders – for their near complete silence and inaction during the excesses of the mayoral administration of the disgraced convicted Federal felon Tony Mack from 2010 to 2014. During a time when the citizens of Trenton suffered under the missteps, excesses, and criminality of Mack and his associates, there were few to none words of criticism forthcoming from Democratic leaders – including Mr. Gusciora and Ms. Muoio – which might have been helpful in providing a moderating influence on the bastards, and which would certainly provided moral support to those few of us who were vocal and active in opposition to Mack during those chaotic days and years.

Even when the actions of these assholes endangered citizens outside of Trenton’s borders into greater Mercer County, there was little criticism. As early as October of 2010, when screwups at the Trenton Water Works led to the interruption of water service to thousands of TWW customers in the County, criticism was restrained. County Executive Brian Hughes was mightily dissed by Tony Mack at that time, when Mack failed to attend an emergency meeting that Hughes convened for the mayors of Trenton and the surrounding affected towns. Apart from being a personal insult to the County Executive, Mack’s wretched behavior should have brought down a torrent of criticism from not only Hughes, but Mack’s former colleagues on the County Board of Freeholders and other Democratic leaders on the County and even State level held their peace. Why, I still don’t know.

But no. Then and after for nearly four full years, criticisms of Trenton’s administration and moral support of its beleaguered citizenry was sadly absent. It was keenly felt and sorely missed by many of us, and not forgotten.

I must recognize the considerable tangible support provided during that time by Mercer County’s leadership. The significant application of resources and manpower from the County Sheriff’s Office during the time when Trenton’s Police Department had been crippled by layoffs, budget reductions and active opposition by Mayor Mack, support that continues to the present day, was and is invaluable and greatly appreciated. I just wish that help would have been accompanied by actions – or even just rhetoric – that might have helped us get rid of the bastard earlier.

That it took the United States Department of Justice, and the US Attorney’s Office, and the FBI, to get rid of Tony Mack, after nearly four years of “Hear No Evil, See No Evil and Speak No Evil” from local public figures will be a long-lasting mark against the local Democratic leadership of Mercer County. And that includes Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio, who then as now served in positions of local leadership and moral authority.

In a wider context, even before the dreary Mack days, there’s been long dissatisfaction on the part of local residents with the Democratic leadership in the County. Trenton has long been a city that has consistently delivered strong blocs of Democratic voters to local and statewide candidates. In return, though, people here have long felt not very well served by those candidates after their elections.

After decades of solid Democratic support from Trenton, the city shows little improvement and little apparent return from that support. And several constituencies in the City such as members of the  local Hispanic Community have long felt unrepresented by the local party, as their numbers have greatly increased with little to no apparent increase in their influence in local party affairs.

That dissatisfaction has, among other ways, manifested itself in support for “insurgent” election challenges such as Dan Toto’s, which is getting some traction among several Trenton Democrats. Whereas I believe there is a certain amount of legitimacy in the criticisms of the County leadership, I believe support of Mr. Toto is a bad, bad tactical choice for these disgruntled local Democrats. After all, to paraphrase Robert Bolt’s line for Sir Thomas More in A Man for All Seasons, “it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world… but for Dan Toto??”

Oftentimes, efforts taken on behalf of the State and County’s Democratic leadership, however well intentioned, miss the mark. Huge and expensive projects such as the Ballpark, the Arena and the Hotel failed to provide the sparks for further development in Trenton that were originally hoped. And measures such as 2013’s “NJ Economic Opportunity Act,” passed with a lot of Democratic legislative support (including co-sponsorship by Reed Gusciora) will actively negatively impact Trenton’s local finances for years to come, a prediction that Mr. Gusciora told me he shared, unfortunately after the bill had become law. A pledge made to me by Mr. Gusciora to improve that Act and mitigate the potential for damage to Trenton has not yet resulted in any legislative action to do so. But I remain hopeful.

On a local tactical level, I’ve been often disappointed in actions taken by the Democratic leadership. Last year’s support given to the unsuccessful mayoral campaign of Walker Worthy, a competent local official having unfortunately zero experience and record on local city issues, came off as tone deaf to other more credible candidacies, and was resented by a lot of locals, including me. And support for other candidates in several other races often seemed unfairly preferential, rude and manipulative. This is New Jersey, though, and local party politics is often a contact sport. To some extent, hardball politics has to be expected, but they often do leave a long-lasting aftertaste.

Yes, county and state Democrats have not always been responsive to the concerns of Trenton’s Democratic constituents. But I have and will continue to support candidates like Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio. I share their priorities and trust their abilities, and the overall goals of the Democratic Party.

Another reason to support them is the hopelessness and cluelessness of their opponents. In the 15th District, one of the Republican candidates for Assembly, a former colleague of mine on the Trenton Zoning Board (and whose judgment and experience on that Board I greatly respected) is running on standard boilerplate Tea Party-esque policy positions that I believe to be totally discredited as not only ineffective, but positively damaging to our state and national economies and culture. At least on the local level of NJ’s 15th District, Republican philosophy is empty and bankrupt, another reason I find to support Democratic candidates like Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio. There is no reason for a Trentonian this year to vote for a New Jersey Republican.

To me, being a loyal Trenton Democrat in the 15th in 2015 is a complicated matter. I give you that. On balance, though, I feel confident enough in the candidacies of Tuesday’s Regular Democratic slate, including Reed Gusciora and Liz Muoio, to endorse them for election.

The polls are open on Tuesday from 6AM to 8PM. Go vote.