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That press conference yesterday was a wild ride. - promoted by Rosi
It's a Friday in August. The citizens of Trenton are desperately hoping that the velocity of events seen this eventful week slows down to a more peaceful and quiet pace as we head into the weekend.
Trenton is a small city relative to many others in the rest of the state, but we certainly punch above our weight when it comes to political theater. Yesterday had its share, although most of it consisted basically of fallout and aftershocks from the previous days' events. There was scant resolution on many of the issues causing turmoil throughout the week, but it's a start.
Mayor Tony Mack started the morning with a press conference intended to highlight the accomplishments of the first 30 days of his administration. Reasonable enough, and there were indeed some positive things that warranted attention. A version of the press release distributed at the conference is on the front page of the city website this morning. Video of the press conference is here.
The real news from that conference was on two fronts: the withdrawal of convicted thief Carleton Badger's name from consideration for appointment as city Director of Housing and Economic Development; and the police intimidation of a few reporters during the conference. The intimidation was low-key ( a plainclothes detective in the face of Trentonian newspaper editor Paul Mickle), and the reporters in question were actually being pretty loud and insistent (OK, they were jerks, but the Mayor was obviously ducking their tough and legitimate questions ). But press intimidation it was, and following as it was by only one day the police intervention to remove Deputy City Clerk Cordelia Staton, it didn't go over well. When asked by another reporter after that if this kind of response was to going to become routine in his administration, Mr. Mack was pretty equivocal. Not encouraging for future open relations with the press and public.
The City Council meeting last night was also eventful. There are better accounts available about the meeting than I could give you, so I won't go into too much detail. But a couple of things.
The main event was the dustup about the Deputy City Clerk position, and all the ancillary events. In my mind, this was entirely avoidable. There are many, many, many more important issues that the Mayor and Council should be devoting their limited time and energy to, than this inside-baseball shouting match. Former Councilwoman Cordelia Staton's appointment to the Deputy's position was controversial in the first place, having been appointed to the unbudgeted slot by a now-challenged vote by her colleagues on the previous Council in June. So it is amazing that of all the parties involved in this mess, she is now emerging as a martyr. But, a rather craven dismissal-by-office-chair-lunchtime-letter on Monday followed by a police intervention on Wednesday can do that for a person. Everyone who has ever had a job, and everyone who's ever been fired or laid off from a job would not want to be treated the way she was treated this week.
There was a lot of sympathy generated by the circumstances of Ms. Staton's dismissal; this also had the unfortunate effect of distracting attention from the circumstances of her hiring and tenure at the Clerk's office. Council left unwinding that particular Gordian knot for its next meeting.
But for me the astonishing, breathtaking (Yeah, I've been using a lot of hyperbole this week. It's been that kind of week) moment came when Mayor Mack, without prompting, jumped to the podium during Public Comment, after a presentation earlier in the evening, and suggested that the police intervention of Wednesday may have been staged. He didn't make any specific accusations, but he definitely cast his suspicions on Ms. Staton and reporter/columnist L.A. Parker of the Trentonian.
This accusation takes questions - or should take them - about Wednesday's incident to a new level. The Mayor of this city, in remarks to City Council in open session, has suggested that elements of the city's police force and the Mercer County Sheriff's Office may have participated in a staged incident to remove a city official . This wasn't any tinfoil-hatted crazy; this was the duly-elected Chief Executive of this town saying this.
With this accusation by the Mayor before Council openly on the table, the outsatanding questions about the chain of command in Wednesday's incident now require prompt and full answers from Police Director Ernie Williams, from Sheriff Kevin Larkin, and from Mayor Mack.
How was it that Trenton Police Officers and Mercer Sheriff's Deputies were dispatched to the City Clerk's Office to settle a politically-motivated personnel dispute? Who gave the orders? Was the event in fact staged by private parties, or was this an abuse of power by this Administration?
Mayor Mack himself has now cast these accusations. They need answers.
But, please, it's Friday. Please, no new drama! |
