Councilmember and mayor sparring over ACO signing
TRENTON » A $13,000 IOU mandated by DEP under terms of an ACO with the city has one leader screaming C-U in court.
The mayor’s response to the alphabet soup of discord over his authority has essentially been, “Bring it on.”
“If council would like to take me to court and say I have no authority, they’re perfectly free to do that,” Mayor Reed Gusciora said, in setting up a potential legal showdown with West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn.
Vaughn has doubled down on objections she already raised to Gusciora “unilaterally” signing an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with the state Department of Environmental Protection that requires the city to pay a $13,000 fine for not providing documents regarding lead service line replacement.
She told The Trentonian she’s willing to go “all the way” in challenging the signing of the ACO, which she compared to a more restrictive Memorandum of Understanding the city is under with the state Department of Community Affairs.
Vaughn wouldn’t rule out taking legal action and has already set up a meeting with acting law director John Morelli, the mayor and the city clerk on Aug. 8 to discuss the ACO.
“I don’t think Reed acted, in this particular instance, in the best interests of the city of Trenton,” Vaughn said, echoing statements she made at Tuesday’s contentious meeting, which grew so heated at least one person walked out in disgust. “If it looks like a duck, and smells like a duck, it’s a duck. He feels like he can unilaterally sign something where our assets could be seized.”
The agreement gives DEP power to end the ACO at any time and take the city to court if it doesn’t feel its complying with strict deadlines to meet goals outlined in the 18-page document that includes sending the state a $13,000 check by Aug. 1 for fines incurred under ex-Mayor Eric Jackson’s administration.
The city, under Jackson, was fighting the fine in court but that changed when Gusciora took office as he has stressed his commitment to establishing a partnership with the state, touting his close personal relationship with Gov. Phil Murphy.
Gusciora, who is a lawyer and a former assemblyman with 22 years of experience, said he felt secure that he had the power to sign the agreement without consulting council because it was within the “prerogative of the executive.” “This is law school 101,” he said. The mayor felt there was a political bend to Vaughn’s decision to challenge his authority.
“Robin is aligned with,” Gusciora said, before stopping himself.
When asked if he was suggesting the councilwoman was a puppet for shunned mayor wannabe Paul Perez, the mayor responded, “I’ll just leave it alone. I’m not saying anything.”
The councilwoman wouldn’t say who she voted for in the runoff, but swept aside the “hearsay” allegations that she’s a Perez flunkie saying she refused all overtures during the election from candidates who wanted to put signs up in her yard.
“Campaign season is over. I support my mayor. I don’t know where that came from, nor do I care,” she said. “Robin Vaughn is unbought and unbossed.” And unconvinced.
In response to the councilwoman’s growing discontent, Gusciora asked the city law department to issue an opinion after the fact agreeing with his interpretation that he has the authority to sign the agreement with DEP without council approval.
Gusciora said he discussed the parameters of the ACO with council president Kathy McBride prior to signing it.
He said he also provided Morelli’s opinion to McBride, but not to other members of the legislative body, after the ACO was already signed, when he was challenged over his decision to enter into the agreement without council’s approval.
McBride didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether she shared the opinion with council members.
When The Trentonian asked for a copy of Morelli’s opinion, Gusciora said he would provide it but his spokesman called back
later and said the mayor “spoke out of turn,” and the document was being withheld because it was protected by attorneyclient privilege.
The mayor’s spokesman, Connor Ilchert, said he could only give an overview of what the opinion said about Vaughn’s interpretation of the Faulkner Act governing Trenton’s municipal government.
Ilchert said the mayor is at the top of the city food chain and ultimately must supervise Trenton Water Works. Thus, signing the ACO was a “supervisory process, not a contract,” as the councilwoman contends.
The Trentonian filed a public records request to try to obtain the opinion at the center of the dispute.
Vaughn is convinced Gusciora overstepped his authority by entering into the agreement before it went before the legislative body for advice and consent.
Jackson signed the last ACO without council approval. But Vaughn feels this situation is different because council controls the city purse strings, and the city is basically entering into a financial contract with DEP that requires it to pay the hefty fine.
She said the council approves all other financial decisions that impact the city.
“We’re almost nullified in this whole process,” she said.
Just a month into office, Vaughn has already been fiercely critical of the governor, who she believes doesn’t have Trenton’s back.
She has since turned the sights on Gusciora, questioning the ex-assemblyman’s political dalliance with Murphy and his administration.
“Maybe that’s why he feels like he can do things unilaterally because, ‘Hey, I’m friends with the governor.’ That’s not a democracy,” Vaughn said.
Gusciora felt the back-and-forth banter was what “democracy is all about. Robin can have that opinion. I think she’s wrong and she doesn’t have enough information. But I respect her opinion. The next question is what does she envision happening by not signing the ACO.”
Gusciora fears DEP would take the city to court, ultimately sowing the seeds for a state takeover which is what Vaughn wants to avoid.
But she feels the state’s ACO is setting the city up for a checkmate with their “unachievable and herculean” goals that included replacing a large swath of the city’s distribution system with lead-free pipes.
“What happens when Dr. [Shing-Fu] Hsueh fails? And he will,” she said. “He has an uphill climb.”