Council to vote on resolution opposing TWW bill
TRENTON » Robin Vaughn, who has already earned her stripes for political jousting in her short time on city council, has put together another paper tiger.
The West Ward councilwoman’s resolution opposing Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo’s legislative bill that would put much-maligned Trenton Water Works under oversight of a 17-member Mercer Regional Water Services Commission is up for a vote at Thursday meeting.
And already, one of Vaughn’s critics said he will not vote in favor of the measure.
“I’m voting no on that. That means nothing. We don’t need that resolution. That’s all BS,” South Ward councilman George Muschal said. “It don’t make no sense.”
An identical bill, sponsored by Sen. Linda Greenstein, has been introduced in the Senate.
Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, a former councilwoman, previously appeared as a co-sponsor of DeAngelo’s bill but yanked her support after explaining she was in favor of a less restrictive measure, such as organizing a city-appointed advisory board.
She said if passed DeAngelo’s bill would “undermine the mayor and city council.
Mayor Reed Gusciora also disavowed the Hamilton assemblyman’s bill in a letter.
In an interview with The Trentonian, Gusciora suggested the bill set the stage for an attempted “hostile takeover” of the TWW, which has been beset by problems.
Gusciora followed up this week with another letter to DeAngelo, calling the commission an “unnecessary duplication of bureaucratic oversight will not only hinder further improvements of services from Trenton Water Works (TWW) but will unnecessarily raise costs for suburban water ratepayers.”
At-large councilman Jerrell Blakeley said he supports his colleague’s resolution calling the bill a “means to a quasi-takeover” of TWW.
Vaughn, who didn’t respond to a request for comment, drafted a resolution saying the commission “would be harmful to the successful operation of the Trenton Water Works,” which is already under an Administrative Consent Order (ACO) with the state Department of Environmental Protection.
The city was required to pay a $13,000 fine for not submitting paperwork mandated by DEP over lead service line replacement.
The Department of Community Affairs also effectively oversees TWW as part of a Memorandum of Understanding with the city requiring DCA approval for key hires and financial decisions.
Gusciora also pointed to the role of the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) in monitoring public utilities such
as TWW.
“I would be remiss if I failed to note that since the TWW will have to comply with yet another layer of oversight under A.4243, we will have to hire additional compliance personnel, thereby adding costs to consumers. In essence, your bill amounts to an additional water tax on suburban ratepayers,” Gusciora wrote.
This is one of the few times Vaughn and the new mayor are lockstep on an issue.
The two have sparred publicly on other matters, including when Vaughn derided Gusciora’s “unilateral” decision to enter into a ACO with the DEP.
She felt the ACO set the city up for failure, citing DEP’s un-meet-able goals.
Vaughn put together a similar paper-tiger resolution spelling out Trenton leaders’ disdain for the state’s MOU that some believe has held the capital city back.
But her measure, which was intended as a symbolic message to the state but would have done little to lift the MOU, failed following a 5-2 vote by the legislative body.
Dubbed “Radioactive Robin, the hard-charging West Ward councilwoman’s personality and sharptongued criticism of colleagues has done little to gain her political allies.
And the already-fractured body has repaid Vaughn by tossing all of her proposals – even well-intended ones – on top of the garbage heap.