Director of Trenton water department steps down

TRENTON >> Maybe the mayor should change his motto from the “best and the brightest” to the “best and the bravest.”

The former state water big shot that Mayor Reed Gusciora brought in to fix the city’s failing water department is stepping down, leaving a huge hole for the getting-back-on-its-feet water department to plug.

Dr. Shing-Fu Hsueh, who took over as water director when Gusiciora was sworn into office last year, is resigning after almost 15 months in office.

After getting confirmed by the legislative body in December, Hsueh’s last day is Sept. 13.

Steven Picco, vice chairman of the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, will take over as interim director while the city conducts a national search for Hsueh’s replacement.

Sources who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested Hsueh grew tired of the harsh treatment he received from certain council members.

The council previously tried to head off talks that Hsueh would step aside earlier this year when it voted to acknowledge his hard work restoring trust and respect to the hamstrung Trenton Water Works, which had been besieged with problems under former Mayor Eric Jackson.

The mayor and at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley weren’t shy about the abuse the water director absorbed the last few months.

Gusciora said Hsueh contemplated stepping aside for a couple months, in part due to the “schizophrenic government” style that has exemplified fast-pitch Trenton.

Hsueh likely didn’t face as stiff pushback in Gusciora’s position in softball West Windsor.

“I think he’s weathered the storm pretty well,” the mayor said. “Council could have cooperated better with him . ... You have people that just don’t treat the directors with the respect they deserve. it becomes very frustrating for them to continue. They’re used to professionalism and mutual respect. We’ve bent over backward to work with council. When you have someone who is determined to do it a different way, or do it the same way it’s been done, it’s distressing.”

Blakeley said his colleagues were “absolutely despicable” to the water director.

West Ward councilwoman Robin Vaughn was one of the hardest members of the legislative body to please. She often aggressively questioned Hsueh at meetings, to the point that council president Kathy McBride cut her off.

Blakeley said Hsueh was a “martyr” for the cause.

“I am afraid that their treatment of directors is going to serve as an impediment to recruiting and retaining the type of directors we so desperately need,” he said.

“I want to thank Dr. Hsueh for his amazing contributions to the Trenton water works. His tenure was defined by progress, and the people of Trenton owe him a debt of gratitude for taking what has been a thankless job . ... He was constantly under attack by many of my colleagues who continuously harassed him with baseless allegation of incompetence and malfeasance. Shame on them for running him off by attempting to bully such a distiguished public servant.”

South Ward councilman George Muschal said Hsueh was “under the gun. That’s what his job is.”

Hsueh, who did not respond to a phone message seeking comment, said in a statement released by the mayor’s office it was the right time to step down.

“With Taya Brown-Humphrey’s recent appointment heading filtration, we now have fine leadership in all sectors of the utility,” the water director said. “I had originally only planned to stay for about three months. But after seeing all the work that needed to be done, I was compelled to stay until we could start to restore public trust in our water.”

TWW had been repeatedly cited for water violations and is under an administrative consent order with the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The ACO required the city to pay a $13,000 fine for not providing documents regarding lead service line replacement.

TWW had 13 violations last year and 11 in 2017, the worst performing years on record for the public water system. The water utility has incurred eight violations so far this year.

Hsueh, the former mayor of West Windsor Township a retired DEP water quality expert, was brought in to improve operations in the water department and ease tensions between the city and DEP.

In addition to those builtin relationship advantages, the mayor’s office, in a statement announcing Hsueh’s resignation, touted his accomplishments over the last year.

They included restoring water quality, eliminating disinfection by-products (DPBs) and helping to launch millions in capital projects, the mayor’s office said. The city is in the process of replacing outdated lead pipes in in service systems.

Hsueh was also instrumental in filling more than a quarter of the job vacancies in the department, the mayor’s office said, and helping promote BrownHumphrey to superintendent of TWW’s filtration plant.

Gusciora said having “seven second-guessers” added to the stress of Hsueh’s job, but he didn’t know whether the water director would have stayed longer if he had a better relationship with council.

The mayor stressed Hsueh originally expected to stay three months, in an interim capacity, but couldn’t walk away from the job until TWW was on better footing.

Hsueh appeared to be in it for the long haul when he was confirmed by council in December for the permanent gig, but things got harder in the months that followed with council’s “unreasonable demands,” the mayor said.

“This was a great swan song for him on his career,” Gusciora said. “The frustrations at the same time were building. And he was spending the majority of his day at Trenton Water Works.”

The mayor worries the situation with Hsueh may impact the city’s ability going forward to get the “best and the brightest,” as he promised on the campaign trail.

And if the chaos gets out of control, he is concerned about state leaders’ perceptions of how the city is being run.

“We’re under the eyes of DCA,” Gusciora said. “At any time, they could say, ‘We don’t think Trenton is a stable government, and we’re going to take it over.”