BATTLE FOR TRENTON
New mayor and council sworn in at Cit Hall
TRENTON » The Battle of Trenton was a historic pivot point in the American Revolution that happened nearly 242 years ago.
The Battle for Trenton started Sunday, new Mayor Reed Gusciora said during a sweltering swearing-in ceremony Sunday afternoon outside City Hall where he and members of City Council put their hands on the Bible, took the oath office and then formally voted to make at-large councilman Kathy McBride the new council president.
In doing so, they vowed to help restore historically neglected Trenton – the site of George Washington’s key victory that reversed the tide in the American Revolution – to former glory following a lackluster fouryear tenure by ex-Mayor Eric Jackson.
Gusciora addressed head-on everything from the threat of the privatization of Trenton Water Works, potholes, community policing and everything in between.
“This is a battle for safe and cleans streets and better education for our children, jobs and economic recovery, for our citizens and peace and security for our seniors. It’s also about bringing back the pride and the swagger which the capital city not only requires but deserves, said Gusciora, who gave up the 15th District assemblyman seat he held for 22 years after beating Paul Perez in last month’s runoff.
Gusciora overcame Perez’s roughly 700-vote lead to become Trenton’s first openly gay mayor. On the other side for Perez, it represented a historic bust as his second push to wear the capital city crown came to a crushing end.
Gusciora takes over for Jackson as the city’s 56th mayor, at a time when the ghosts of corrupt ex-Mayor Tony Mack have started to fade.
While Jackson patted himself on the back for stabilizing the city, his critics impaled him for not doing more to push the city forward post-Mack. As his successor, Gusciora inherits plenty of problems in taking on a task so great that none of the city’s problems are too small to overlook.
While Perez has hinted at contesting the election, that was only cloud hanging over the jubilant coronation on an otherwise sunny day where hundreds endured the blistering heat to watch as Sen. Shirley Turner, a longtime political pal of the assemblyman, helped swear him in.
The clerk, Dwayne Harris, presented Gusciora with the traditional city seal which Gusciora joked about being reluctant to give back as he touched on the June 17 mass shooting at the Art All Night festival that injured at least 22 people during his speech.
The new mayor said the national fervor over the mass shooting overshadowed the everyday violence that plagues the streets, promising an increased emphasis on public safety that starts by hiring more cops to patrol the streets.
“We must acknowledge the unease and the violence that occurs every day in our streets,” Gusciora said.
The new mayor promised his administration will “think outside the box.”
Looking to set a bold but cooperative tone, Gusciora hoped to put residents at ease over the hamstrung water works department.
He said he plans to alter the department’s focus and bring in West Windsor Township Mayor Dr. ShingFu Hsueh, a retired water quality expert from the Department of Environmental Protection, to help ensure the water department is “a fully functional and trusted Trenton-run water utility.”
“There will be no privatization of our water supply,” Gusciora said. “The special interests who are watching our every move, they can look elsewhere.”
Gusciora also hopes to establish a new recycling program that will employ more residents, modernize the parking authority to help bring revenue in through enforcement and hire more inspectors to crack down on slumlords.
His plan for economic development includes splitting the department into two divisions focused on economic development and ridding the city of abandoned and vacant properties. Gusciora will do an in-
tensive job search for the next director.
He also announced the interim appointment of Mercer County undersheriff Pedro Medina to take over for outgoing and oftcriticized police director Ernest Parrey Jr.
Gusciora’s goal is to restore trust in the police force which has taken a battering after the ex-police head faced heat for making remarks about residents many felt were racially insensitive.
“This Battle for Trenton needs all of us,” Gusciora said. “It requires hard work and patience. Our challenges didn’t come over night nor will they be addressed in a week or a month. We will all look back and see how far we’ve come... I told you my goal was to lift Trenton together, and I meant every word. No one person, no one elected official, no one councilperson, can fix the problems that plague our city. It’s takes all of us.”
He’ll be joined on that mission by returning council members George Muschal of the South Ward and Marge Caldwell-Wilson in the North Ward, newcomers Robin Vaughn in the West Ward, East Ward councilman Joseph Harrison and at-large members McBride, Santiago Rodriguez and Jerell Blakeley, the youngest member of the legislative body.
They pledged to work together.
“We can move this city forward beyond the pessimism and the cynicism of the past for the advancement for the future,” Gusciora said. “And not a better Trenton for a select few, for a privilege few, or a connected few. We need a better Trenton for every single man, woman and child regardless of color, creed or religion. We are one city with one future.”
McBride, who was selected council president by a 6-1 margin with Vaughn voting against it, promised to honor her word to help the distressed capital city.
“We are gonna move Trenton forward,” she said. “We are gonna get things done.”
Her six colleagues struck the same supportive chord, promising to be different than the past legislative body that was held up by infighting and personal animus toward ex-council president Zachary Chester.
Blakeley, who represents new blood on the panel, said “Trenton must be a doorway to hope” as it was for him in his lifelong quest to become a public servant.
“We can do better,” he said. “We will make Trenton what it should be.”
Rodriguez told the crowd he was proud of Trenton, a city he’s lived in since arriving in 1970, and hoped to capitalize on the city’s history in selling it as a destination place for tourists. And he hopes the city becomes a place his grandson can be proud to say he went to school, where he can walk the streets without fear and, hopefully one day, settle down and buy a home.
Rodriguez envisioned a time when seniors can sit on their porches and take in summer nights without fear of gunshots and carnage.
“It will not take too long to fix Trenton,” he said. “It’s a small city. When I was getting signatures, I walked it all, corner to corner, and I’m an old man. This has to be a community effort.”
With his mother by his side, Harrison said the ceremony was symbolic of healing the city from the “past political division.”
“It’s about us,” he said. “It’s about us coming together and bringing a change.”
Promising to be a “productive and positive” force in her third term, CaldwellWilson said it starts by making smart economic decisions that will give the city a chance at success.
“We need all your help to lift up the city,” she said. “This we cannot do alone.”
Muschal, who was also elected to a third full term, noted his stay in office has spanned four mayors, including his time serving as mayor, when Mack got booted out of office over a corruption conviction.
“It couldn’t be possible to stand here without the support of my South Ward residents who came out strong, very strong,” he said. “It sent a message: I’m not going to be taken away by anyone. When the South Ward is done with me, they won’t vote for me anymore.”
The former cop, who has earned his reputation as Trenton’s Mr. Fix It, texted the mayor to get him on board with a July 11 cleanup kickoff that will bring in at least five street sweepers from Newark for a week to polish every street and alley.
“And I’m gonna hold his feet to the fire,” Muschal, a outspoken Jackson critic, promised as he shook Gusciora’s hand.
Vaughn cited council’s “great energy” in moving forward “at a time of historic inequality in our county and city.”
“In too many other parts of our city, there’s poverty, nightly gunshots, devastating addictions and insufficient mental health services,” she said. “Against this backdrop, the work of city governance is more important than ever.”