DeAngelo bill on Water Works passes from committee
TRENTON » Will the hashtag #NoDisrespectToReedGusciora become Trenton’s rallying cry?
Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo uttered the “no disrespect” refrain – coined by Kanye West who popularized the term #NoDisrepectToBenAffleck during a Twitter feud with late-night host Jimmy Kimmel – when consoling upset Trentonians before the Assembly’s Telecommunications and Utilities Committee voted to advance his Trenton Water Works bill at Thursday’s legislative hearing.
The bill calls for TWW to be regulated in part by a 17-member Mercer Regional Water Services Commission.
“I’m respectful to your concerns,” DeAngelo told city stakeholders who testified in opposition to a measure they view as a shortsighted government “takeover” of the city’s public water utility.
Critics believe if passed the bill could cripple Trenton in the long term and lead to a spike in water rates.
The Hamilton assemblyman promised to take into consideration feedback he received at the hearing when deciding whether to retool portions of the bill before it goes before the full Assembly for a vote, perhaps as early as October or November.
DeAngelo told The Trentonian he felt Mayor Gusciora, who previously supported legislation to reign in TWW when he was an assemblyman, relied on “partial facts” when publicly expressing disapproval of the bill.
Gusciora has called the assemblyman’s proposal an attempted “hostile takeover” of the TWW.
DeAngelo felt the mayor’s statements led to a misinformed public view of the measure which convinced Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson to withdraw her previous support.
“That’s just local politics, plain and simple,” DeAngelo said. “Right now, you have one of five [communities] that are being heard. You can rely on a handshake, but [Gusciora’s] not always going to be the mayor.”
Trenton council members Robin Vaughn and Santiago Rodriguez left the hearing dejected after they unsuccessfully urged committee members to reject the “misguided bill” because it didn’t “solve the former Gov. Chris Christie-created crisis.”