Money

Slippery finances kill off jazz fest; grant writer resigns.

Word out of Trenton City Hall yesterday was that the money-losing Trenton Jazz Festival has been suspended. It was reported that a press release distributed by the Palmer administration cited lack of corporate sponsorship in these tough economic times meant there would be no festival.

No doubt that is true. But let's look a little deeper at the problem.

The festival, a vanity project of the current administration, has never made money or been self-sustaining because of bad management and poor attendance. There have been rumors of inflated talent prices along with over spending on sound and stage equipment and technicians. It is actually surprising that corporate funders didn't pull the plug on the event sooner since we doubt they ever got any sort of real accounting of how the money was spent, what the proceeds were, etc.

Interesting that Chief of Staff Renee Haynes was quoted in the Times as saying that the city's contribution has been mostly "in-kind."

The festival's budget had grown to $250,000, with the city contributing assistance worth about $50,000, said Renee Haynes, committee member and chief of staff for Mayor Douglas Palmer.

"City support has largely been in-kind, relying on the countless hours of devoted volunteers," she said. "Having the Jazz Fest be mostly self-supporting has always been within our reach, but this year it is clear that the economic conditions would not make that possible."

Last year's festival apparently lost so much money funds reportedly were taken from the city recreation budget make up the difference. Funds that might otherwise have gone to the also cancelled weekly summer music series that traditionally brought free musical entertainment to various city parks throughout July and August.

Just another example of the gross mismanagement of the city administration.

Compounding the city's fiscal mess, it appears the city's leading grant writer is leaving her post in Trenton. Nancy Diehl, the Coordinator for State and Federal Grants, is reported to be joining former business administrator Jane Feigenbaum in Perth Amboy.

Ms. Diehl has been quite successful in securing outside funds for various departments of the city government. The Trenton Police Department is but one beneficiary of her good work.

What remains to be seen is if the vacancy will be filled and with someone as competent as Ms. Diehl. Or will they let the position remain empty, thus short-sightedly saving money on wages and benefits.

The city continues to wither from neglect while the Mr. Palmer and company ignore their responsibility for the financial hole we are in. We're drowning in red ink and one of our lifeguards just quit.

Council has a lobotomy

The thinking person's representative steps down Sept. 2

The announced resignation of South Ward Councilman Jim Coston has the city all abuzz this morning.

Jim, a Baptist Minister, has taken a position with a church in Waco, Texas and will be leaving Trenton at the end of the summer.

While we congratulate Reverend Coston on his new position, we can't help but feel sorry for not only the city's South Ward, but Trenton as a whole.

Even if you didn't always agree with Councilman Coston's position or action, you know he gave it thought and considered all the information he had at hand before making a decision. He certainly raised the level of discourse on council to something approaching what you would expect of the city's governing body.

His too brief tenure as an elected representative helped open the public's eyes as to what a councilperson could and should be.

We send our hearty thanks and best wishes to Councilman Reverend Coston and family. And we hope Trenton can survive his departure.

For the remaining members of council who must now choose someone to complete Jim's term, we advise you to choose someone who can continue the work begun by him. Do not make your choice based upon what is politically expedient, popular, or who is propped up by the administration.

Make a choice for someone who will continue to stand uphold the sworn duties and responsibilities of the position.

Have some pride, Trenton!

A few weeks ago, fellow blogger DTV Deputy Clean wrote about the worsening conditions he’s witnessed in and around his neighborhood since moving to Trenton. In his post, he talks about the criminal element, the trash factor, and the overall lack of common consideration and civil behavior practiced by a growing number of Trenton residents.

Not too long after that, another web colleague a series of similar observations from her corner of town. TrentonKat also commented on the generally lack of civility and respect that many people show for the neighbors and other Trenton residents. She then contrasted Trenton with a Canadian town of similar size and economic woes.

As is often the case, the thoughts of these individuals resonated with me and echoed similar observations I have made.

Many of us have been quick to point out the foibles and farces of our elected officials as the cause of Trenton’s woes and left the citizenry out of the picture. Now, this is not to say we have been wrong about our public officials and we’re now letting them off the hook for the condition of the city. This is to say there is certainly an equal amount of blame to be placed on the citizenry who just doesn’t seem to care about anybody or anything that isn’t instantly gratifying to his or her own immediate, selfish needs.

This self-centeredness is evident everywhere you look in town. From the trash strewn streets and poorly maintained rental properties to the slovenly dress and rude behavior of our fellow citizens.

Walking through downtown one day, I was struck with the contrasts of Trenton today and the Trenton of yesterday. Where there used to be throngs of people in appropriate attire for their business day activities there are now people looking as if they just got out of bed or had just finished changing the oil in their car.

If you go to any thriving downtown at midday during the workweek, you will see well-groomed people in clean, properly fitting clothes taking care of business. In Trenton, you are treated to women in revealing clothes that are at least two sizes too small while the men are usually struggling to keep their oversized jeans up.

Don’t tell me that it is “fashion” or that it is the only clothing the under-employed, under-educated, underclass can muster. It is laziness and a lack of respect for themselves and for others. These circus-clown garbed individuals are not wearing hand-me-downs and cast-offs, they have chosen to spend their money on these costumes.

Is it any surprise why we can’t get businesses offering good jobs to locate in town!

Moreover, if people don’t know how to dress properly and still be comfortable, they also don’t know how to behave in public.

Just this week while tending to business at a downtown bank branch, I was privileged to watch as another customer calmly consumed his lunch of fried chicken and potato salad from a paper plate…while transacting business at the teller’s window. This repast was most assuredly “finger lickin’ good” as our gourmand smacked his lips and asked the teller, loudly, if she had any hand sanitizer to share with him after he had finished eating.

You’ve read here before about the high number of public urination and defecation incidents we encounter on a regular basis. This goes hand-in-hand with the frequent episodes of people leaving their trash in the street after cleaning out their vehicles or in the parks after having lunch or a snack. And we’ve all seen the person finish with whatever fast-food, take out delicacy and drop the cup/plate/wrapper to the ground rather than hold onto it for a few more steps until they reach one of the many curbside trash cans.

Pet owners constantly flaunt the laws regarding cleaning up animal waste, let alone registering their cats and dogs as required.

Noise issues stemming from too loud music in houses and vehicles of all description are numerous (and not just a Trenton problem). While everybody may feel the need to “rock out” once in awhile, most choose an appropriate time and place so as to minimize the potential for disturbing others.

Do I need to go on?

Trenton has become a very uncivil, rude place to be. It is, contrary to some, not all that great a place to “live, work, play.”

Our “leaders” have failed to do anything about the markedly downward slide the city has taken. Perhaps it is because the same ill-behaved, poorly dressed people are the very same constituent base that continually elects and re-elects the carnival act known as “Trenton city government.”

Therefore, as the city readies to celebrate Heritage Day tomorrow we urge everyone to stop acting as if this is his or her last moment on earth. Start thinking about how everything you do…from the way you dress, the way you talk, how you eat, who you vote for…effects everyone around you.

Show some pride in yourself and your city.

A lasting contribution

The city of Trenton’s decades old Heritage Days celebration is back again this year, but in a pared down version.

Touted as the Heritage Day (singular) Festival, the event will return to its point of origin in Mill Hill Park from Noon until 8:00 pm on Saturday, June 6.

For those not familiar with Heritage Days, the festival came to life in 1979 to commemorate the 300 years or so of Mr. Stacy and Mr. Trent’s quaint little village on the Delaware River. It was designed as a celebration of all the various ethnic groups that had come to settle in the region and call it “home.”

From a modest, multi-cultural food and music festival, held in Mill Hill Park the event soon spilled over onto Front Street and spread up Broad Street to “the Commons” along E. State Street and beyond. Originally organized and run by the Trenton Commons Commission and its successor the Trenton Downtown Association (TDA), Heritage Days at point encompassed a string of sites from the State House Complex, to the Barracks, the former surface parking lot at Front and Broad and Mill Hill Park.

Six or seven years ago, the city of Trenton took over the festival from the TDA. Concentrated on the block of W. State Street between Calhoun and Willow, the festival seemed to be running out of steam and many cried for its suspension. Over time, the event lost its connection with Trenton Heritage. Gone were the various booths highlighting traditional foods and crafts from the dozens of cultures represented in the populace of Trenton and the surrounding area. In their place came a homogenized mix of funnel cake/corn dog/cotton candy and t-shirt sellers that you can find at any baseball park or church carnival. There were more opportunities to spend money on junk and less to learn about and appreciate the many faces of Trenton. It became less a “family picnic” and more of a tacky pointless street fair.

In addition, it is not cheap to put on. The tents, attractions, entertainment all cost money. The overtime for cops and city staff to set up, manage, maintain and clean up added up.

Now, when the city faces the direst financial circumstances in a generation, the festival continues, albeit in a reduced manner.

Why?

Most old hands and many newcomers alike “don’t get it.” Heritage Day(s) Festival is not very festive and certainly has only the most tenuous of connections with the city’s heritage. A big noisy mess serves little purpose and costs the city money better spent elsewhere.

But for grants from various companies, Heritage Day(s) would probably have died of fiscal starvation four or five years ago. Instead, it has survived due to the largess of good neighbors such as Bank of America.

With the national economy in the bad shape that it is in, the large scale funding has dried up. Many had thought this was the final blow that would put Heritage Day(s) out of its and our misery.

But no. The city has seen fit to move ahead with the scaled-back version of the festival. And how can they afford it in the face of looming budget gaps for the essential services and personnel needed to keep the city barely functioning?

Through smaller sponsorships: one from Capital Health and one from McManimon and Scotland Heritage Day(s) lives. We find this interesting.

Mayor Palmer has had little good or kind to say about Capital Health since it announced plans to shutter the Mercer Campus and build anew in Hopewell Township. But the city did not have any problem taking money from the health care provider to keep this dieing event on life support.

Perhaps more interesting is the appearance of law firm McManimon and Scotland as sponsors of the event. While the firm has provided legal services to the city for a while, it most recently has been working on the proposed sale of the outside water utility system (OWUS) to NJ American Water. This lengthy process is now complicated by the citizen lead effort to halt the OWUS sell-off. And complicated legal work usually involves higher bills for services rendered.

Nice of them to “kick a little back” to the community by sponsoring the washed up Heritage Day(s) festival.

Wouldn't it be more useful and lasting a demonstration of community support if these entities shared some of their wealth with the library system? How about that for supporting Trenton's heritage?

A Haitian divorce?

Palmer departs Trenton for paradise

There was a late night pizza party on the Front Stoop last night and we paid the price for overindulging.

Sparked by the announcement that former president Bill Clinton is about to be named the United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti, a fever dream burned through the night as we tossed restlessly in bed.

In the dream, Clinton indeed gets the nod from the UN and immediately tags none other than Trenton’s own Douglas H. Palmer to be his left hand man.

Palmer, who has practiced for the better part of two decades to bring Trenton down to the level of poverty-stricken Port-au-Prince, is a natural for bringing his vision to the downtrodden Haitian capital.

Doug should thrive in the tropical climate. The country is at rock bottom so he won’t have to waste 20 years tearing it down before he can start building it up. He can broker the sell off the country’s few assets while making deals with all the ne’er do well developers from the western hemisphere for projects that never get completed. He’ll manage to get a stranglehold on the country’s library system so the citizens can’t better themselves. And, working for the UN, Doug will finally get a police force (the peace keeping troops) totally under his control.

Palmer should prove to be popular in Haiti. Like ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Doug’s success comes from a powerbase among the poor underclass. All the Zombies will quickly become Palmeristas.

You laugh, but we woke up in a cold-sweat, chants of “Papa-Doug, Papa-Doug” echoing in our head.

More malfeasance at 319 East State Street

Is there no end to the incompetency and ineptitude of the Palmer administration?

In yet another round of finger pointing, long-time acting Business Administrator Dennis Gonzalez says it is the state of New Jersey's fault that pension records for city employees are screwed up. "They" would not give the city an extension on the time to submit correct records; "They" have an "antiquated" system; "They" didn't notify the city. Blah-blah-blah.

Gonzalez, who has overstayed his time here in Trenton by at least two years, is apparently not man enough to own up to the fact that the very people he oversees as "acting" Business Administrator failed to do their jobs in a timely and efficient manner. Yes...there were a lot of calculations needed because of the long overdue settlement of police and fire contracts. But here's a clue for you Dennis...you and your staff should have been prepared to do those calculations all along. Each wage proposal should have had the calculations done, if for no other reason that to demonstrate what the costs to the city would be to the city.

Nope. Can't do that. That would smack of planning and competency.

And how about this?

Gonzalez said he intends to send out a letter notifying members of the PFRS system about the trouble.

"The letter will go out either today or tomorrow," he said.

Uh...too late, Dennis. The members know. And they are not happy. That's the whole reason this came to light and you are busy back-pedaling and blame-gaming in the newspaper. You got caught in a screw up. Again.

But if Mr. G's familiar cry of "It's not my fault. I didn't cause it" wasn't bad enough, Chief of Staff Renee Haynes' quote in the Times article was the best.

Regarding the question of where the pension money is, Haynes said the money for the pension payments remains under the city's care.

"I would imagine it's still in a city account under the auspices of the comptroller," Haynes said.

She would "IMAGINE?!?!"

Ms. Haynes should imagine herself in a prison jumpsuit peering at the world from behind bars as an accomplice to the never ending questionable, if not outright illegal, actions of the Palmer administration.

Another load of Doug dung

Mayor offers another idea that stinks

In Tuesday’s Trentonian, ace reporter/award winning columnist L. A. Parker wrote that the East Trenton and Skelton Branch libraries would again host port-o-potties this summer to accommodate the anticipated number of kids participating in the reading programs.

According to the article, Library Director Kimberly Bray admitted that there had been no resolution to the limited bathroom facilities located in staff areas at the two older branches and no one had come up with the estimated $100,000 to due the needed renovation work.

Last year, the Trentonian reported the discovery of the port-o-potties still sitting on library property long after the summer reading program had ended and the school year had resumed. Mr. Parker even posed for the paper by sitting on one of the seats, pants at his ankles, looking as if he was settling in for a long comfortable “session.” The ensuing controversy added to the outcry over the poor oversight of the library system by the Mayor appointed board of trustees that became known with the announcement of budget cuts and staff layoffs.

Apparently not ready/willing to suffer more criticism for a repeat of the port-o-potty mess, Mayor Palmer told the Trentonian “That’s just not going to happen. We’re not going to have our kids put in that position again.”

What did the Missing Mayor offer as an alternative?

According to the Trentonian, Palmer suggested that Bray partner with local schools.

“School libraries could handle the large number of students in the summer reading program,” Palmer said.

Good idea, Doug. Can you give us some details on how this might work?

As we recall, when announced last fall that the branch libraries might have to close, you suggested a similar solution: use the school libraries. You were obviously ignorant of the fact or didn’t care that

a) the school libraries do not equate with the branch libraries when it comes to collections, programs, professional staff
b) the school libraries are not readily secured from the rest of the school building and vice versa, leaving the buildings susceptible to roaming and potential mischief

Now you are proposing a similar solution for the crowds of children expected to use the libraries over the summer. What has changed?

1) The libraries have reduced their staff. How can they cover the reading program at the schools and the regular hours and activities at the branches?
2) The schools are not near enough to the existing branches in question to work as a viable alternative location for the reading program.
3) The school district is also facing a budget crisis and layoffs. How are they going to provide the required staff to open, oversee, maintain and close the buildings to accommodate the reading program?

Once again, Doug, you and your handpicked library board of trustees have failed to look beyond the end of your noses to the real needs and requirements of running a viable library system.

Surely, you could have used your charm and persuasiveness to coax some money out of the many developers, contractors, law firms, etc who have done well during your tenure. They could have underwritten the needed renovations to improve the bathroom facilities at these two branches so Director Bray would have a real alternative to renting port-o-potties.

Unfortunately, you would have to be here, in Trenton, regularly; doing the job you were elected to; rather than seeking that leg up for your sinking political career.

You failed again, sir. Moreover, you are too arrogant to realize it.