Councilman and Mayor team up for street sweeping effort
TRENTON » Trenton’s Mr. Fix It got his way.
Mayor Reed Gusciora, extending an olive branch across an aisle of thorny bushes under ex-Mayor Eric Jackson, is making good on a promise to work with City Council members.
He announced Friday he will team up with South Ward Councilman George Muschal to clean up the city streets, starting with the South Ward, a preferred spot for illegal dumpers.
Muschal alluded to the summer clean-up initiative during the July 1 inauguration ceremony, when the two leaders repeatedly shook hands as they looked to start with a clean slate under the new administration.
The mayor’s office said the tentatively scheduled July 21 streetsweeping effort marks the first of numerous cleanups set for the months ahead. The city plans to bring in five street sweepers to polish the streets and alleys from the South Ward to Battle Monument in the North Ward.
“I’ve been waiting nine years for an opportunity like this.” Muschal, who didn’t respond to a phone call requesting comment, said in a statement.
The city leaders agreed this is part of their plan to crack down on absentee homeowners and illegal dumpers “who are using our home as their trash-can.”
Muschal has proposed seizing vehicles of illegal dumpers, the enforcement prong of a two-part proposal to encourage others to join in the cleanup. The second part is a coupon program dubbed “Discounts for Debris,” supported by the mayor.
“This is something every Trentonian should be excited about,” Gusciora said in a statement. “Our city deserves better than the status quo.”
The street-sweeping collaborative perhaps signals an end to Muschal’s hostility toward past mayoral administrations.
The South Ward councilman’s relationship with former Mayor Jackson was prickly as the boisterous Muschal often accused Jackson of being corrupt, just like ex-Mayor and federal jail bird Tony Mack.
Muschal served out the rest of Mack’s term when he was ousted from office following his conviction for accepting bribes.
Muschal, wearing an all-black getup, was present Friday as the mayor hosted the ambassador for Taiwan, Lily Hsu.
He lauded Gusciora for, so far, always picking up the phone when he rings.
One of Muschal’s biggest gripes about Jackson was he was incommunicado unless he needed council members’ votes to help him get something passed.
Gusciora ran, in part, on a simplified platform of filling potholes and cleaning up Trenton, a historically neglected capital city that has been overrun by urban decay and rampant violent crime.
Despite some of his out-there proclamations, Muschal, a former city cop, has remained popular among residents because of his commitment to tending to the little things in his ward.
On the way to handily winning the runoff race, Muschal whipped the crowd into a frenzy at The Trentonian runoff debate by leaning on the reputation he has earned as Trenton’s Mr. Fix It.
Pounding on his penchant for rising early in the morning, Muschal reminded residents he’s always available by phone.