STATE CREEPING IN?
Critics of recent DEP partnership fear it may lay groundwork for full state takeover >>
TRENTON » The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has imposed a virtual stranglehold on the city of Trenton that one city leader fears is more restrictive than state oversight of the city’s financial decisions.
In addition to requiring the almost immediate payment of $13,000 in fines for violations incurred under former Mayor Eric Jackson’s administration, the Administrative Consent Order entered into by new Mayor Reed Gusciora allows DEP to “unilaterally terminate” the new deal if the city violates any terms outlined in the 18-page agreement.
The ACO also gives DEP the power to “take any additional enforcement action it deems necessary,” including taking the city to court.
While the words “state takeover” do not appear anywhere in the agreement, one city leader who works on Wall Street believes the new, more demanding ACO, which supersedes a previous one signed by Jackson in February, is as strict as regulatory measures implemented during the nation’s financial crisis a decade ago to crack down on widespread abuse in the banking industry.
West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn, who is also an economist, wondered about the implications of the ACO for Trenton if it doesn’t meet strict deadlines to comply with DEP’s mandates outlined in the agreement.
“I can’t imagine why we would enter into an ACO considering we are struggling to get out from an MOU, another regulatory oversight process,” said Vaughn, who plans to introduce a resolution at an upcoming council meeting opposing continued oversight of the state Department of Community Affairs stemming from a Memorandum of Understanding. “We’re at risk for a state takeover, total control of one of our largest assets.”
Asked to address whether the
agency is setting up the city for a checkmate in a game of political chess, DEP spokesman Larry Hajna shrugged off any ulterior motives.
“The purpose of the Administrative Consent Order is to bring the Trenton Water Works into compliance with the federal Lead and Copper Rule,” he said.
Still, the West Ward councilwoman couldn’t understand Gusciora’s rationale in signing the highly restrictive agreement.
Essentially, Gusciora, who is about to wrap up his first month is office, explained the DEP had the city over a barrel and wasn’t inclined to negotiate terms, including waiver of the $13,000 fine, following repeated blunders and failures under the Jackson administration.
Trenton Water Works has become a political steam pipe, always bubbling and on the verge of blowing up, following repeated calls from suburban leaders and lawmakers for change.
Bills have been introduced in the state Assembly and Senate calling for TWW to be monitored and regulated by a 17-member Mercer Regional Water Services Commission as part of proposals pushed by Assemblyman Wayne
DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) and Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Mercer/Middlesex).
“Kelly Yaede has run out of patience. Wayne DeAngelo has run out of patience,” Gusciora said. “So, I pulled the trigger. Eric was setting it up to have that confrontation with DEP. He told [DEP commissioner] Catherine McCabe to go pound salt. That’s why they appealed [the fine]. We could have expended energy fighting the DEP, making it very public. But that’s more reason for legislators to say the city has no business running the water utilities. This says, ‘The city is up to the challenge.’ You tell me which is the better way?”
Ex-Mayor Doug Palmer, who arranged a meeting with water quality experts in Washington D.C. about a week before the city signed off on the deal with DEP, learned Gusciora attempted to negotiate away the $13,000 imposed on the city for not providing DEP with documents required about lead service line replacement.
But with nearly two dozen violations brought against TWW since Jackson took over in 2014 and other public gaffes, including a belated public notification of a boil-water notice at the beginning of the year, the new mayor wasn’t
in a position to negotiate.
“He said, ‘I don’t want to pay it,’” Palmer said. “And he tried to negotiate or get some concessions, ‘If you allow me to do this.’ The DEP basically said, ‘Mayor, we don’t work like that.’”
For someone like Gusciora, who was so adamant about getting out from underneath state control that he prematurely announced the lifting of the MOU, his willingness to sign the new ACO didn’t make sense upon first blush.
But the signing appeared to signal the cooperative relationship Gusciora hopes to establish with DEP going forward in building toward the greater goal of striking a partnership with the Murphy administration with loftier goals in mind.
The city ultimately wants to get out from underneath the MOU with the DCA that will enable it to have more control of hiring crucial personnel, including dozens upon dozens of vacancies at TWW.
But Vaughn still viewed the thinking behind such a move with great skepticism while other city leaders didn’t seem as concerned.
“I back Reed 100 percent,” South Ward councilman George Muschal, a vociferous critic of Jackson, told The Trentonian.
Muschal said he blamed Jackson, who is now working in Plainfield and didn’t respond to a request
for comment, “100 percent” for the situation the city finds itself.
“He was the commander. He was the one who was steering the ship in the wrong direction,” Muschal said. “This is a money-maker for the city of Trenton. It should be second to none, and we will get it back on track.”
Council president Kathy McBride, who accompanied Gusciora to the water quality meeting in Washington D.C., said she still has questions about the terms of the agreement but she ultimately must “respect” the new mayor’s decision.
At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley, who pushed back against the mayor’s team-up street-sweeping initiative with Muschal, wasn’t pleased the city must pay the $13,000 fine, but he felt it wasn’t a big blow considering the city has millions in surplus funds.
“I have the highest confidence that the mayor can follow the DEP,” he said. “I think we need to give him the opportunity to institute the reforms. I’m not pleased with [the fine], but if it’s mandatory, in the grand scheme, I think there’s a $6 million surplus. It’s not a cause for alarm. Those kind of fines are a thing of the past.”
Vaughn, however, was quick to point out money for fines isn’t
spent on bettering the water department, including the expensive removal and installation of new unleaded pipes mandated as part of the agreement.
The ACO outlines the city must have a contractor in place to undertake the lead service line replacement project by April 12, 2019. The project requires the city to replace 14 percent of the leaded pipes in the cityowned distribution system within two years and offer home owners the opportunity to have their pipes replaced at their expense by Dec. 31, 2019, in an attempt to get under control the recurring elevated lead levels officials believe are being caused from the leaching of the toxic substance into the water from the old pipes. Officials estimated the price tag for the long-term
project is at least $10 million.
The city, under Gusciora, was once again cited for the lead problem when DEP evaluated test results of water samples collected during the first half of 2018 and found more than 10 percent of TWW’s samples had elevated lead levels exceeding 15 parts per billion.
“The honeymoon was over before it started,” Palmer said. “He accepts responsibility for that. He knows what he’s getting into. The ball’s in his court. I know people don’t want to hear excuses like the dog ate my homework. They want to see a person who accepts where we are.” Vaughn feels the ACO is another indication the governor isn’t as supportive of Trenton as he claims.
“I don’t believe the state is on our side,” she said. “I think the state is setting up Trenton for failure. They’ve shown it in several ways, and this is another example of that. The state wants to take over our city. This is, to me, another line-item veto of the MOU.”
For his part, Gusciora said he can only put competent people in place and do what the DEP says, stressing he believes the ACO’s outlined goals are “meetable.” To try to achieve those results, the mayor brought on Dr. Shing-Fu Hsueh, a former DEP water quality expert, for three months to help guide TWW out of the dark times, before a permanent replacement comes aboard.
The city also recently hired another water quality expert who is a recent Princeton grad, Gusciora said. Gusciora knows the political consequences if his decision to sign the agreement becomes disastrous for the city, especially with millions being poured into contracts with engineering firms brought in to stabilize TWW. “We have to be on our Agame,” Gusciora said.
“If we don’t adhere to the timelines, we’re in danger of getting more fines. The biggest risks are to me. The buck stops here. It’s my signature on it. A politician worries about his next term of office. A statesman worries about the next generation. If I’m in here one term or not, at least I’m trying to do the right thing.”