Tibbetts resigns from Trenton Ethics Board
TRENTON » In an explosive claim as he heads for the exit, ex-city ethics board member Justin Tibbetts said he won’t be shocked if colleagues exonerate famed brother of Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman and his political compatriot who are embroiled in scandal.
Tibbetts wrote in a sincedeleted farewell Facebook post that he blamed the city clerk’s office for the media blitz that followed the leak of the Maley Givens law firm letter.
The December letter, asking the board to authorize subpoenas to the involved parties, outlined troubling allegations from two whistleblowing commissioners against Trenton Parking Authority Board of Commissioners chairman Bill Watson and ex-commish Perry Shaw III.
The men allegedly used their office for personal gain to steer a $120,000 contract to Kim Jackson, the former transportation and parking director at Princeton University and an associate of Watson.
Shaw resigned from the TPA board last year to become executive director of Jackson’s fledgling consultant
firm, KEJ Associates of Lawrence, which won the TPA contract without any competition.
The startup company was the lone bidder, in a contract-awarding process that commissioners Anne LaBate and Evangeline Ugorji claimed was tainted by Watson and Shaw’s actions.
“I am very disappointed that the investigation documents were leaked to the paper, by the City Clerk’s office, which then stripped the Board of its integrity,” Tibbetts said in his parting shot, a screenshot of which was obtained by The Trentonian. “The leaked report jeopardized the integrity of the investigation and will most likely lead to a dismissal of a serious situation that needed to be brought to light.”
The Republican who ran for Mayor Reed Gusciora’s vacant Assembly seat in 2018 announced this week he was resigning from the board and moving out of the city.
His five-year reappointment wasn’t over until July 2024. The six-member Trenton Ethics Board must search for a replacement.
Tibbetts didn’t cite any proof that the clerk’s office was behind the leak but was likely alluding to the fact that the Maley Givens’ letter was stamped as received by officials in that office.
He went on to take an obvious dig at controversial clerk Matthew Conlon, who has dominated headlines for his bizarre antics.
“The mishandling of documents occurs far too often in the City of Trenton, and we need to bring back the same level of professionalism that was once here with Mr. Harris,” he said.
Tibbetts did not respond to a phone call or text message seeking comment.
Sherwood Brown, the chairman of the Trenton Board of Ethics, said Tibbetts’ departure is one of four expected vacancies.
David Dewberry, whose term is also up in 2024, is also resigning, Brown confirmed.
Some board members had enough and are leaving Trenton altogether.
“There’s quite a few people who are moving,” Brown said. “Taxes have gone up three years in a row. People are making personal decisions.” Sherwood suggested he even contemplated resigning from the board. An allout exodus could have farreaching implications for the city.
The ethics chairman said he still believes the board serves a purpose and shouldn’t be disbanded, its powers handed over to an ad-hoc committee of council.
The city will advertise for the ethics board openings in the coming weeks. It’s up to council to vote to approve replacements.
The board has a make-up meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The Watson-Shaw complaints are on the agenda.
The last meeting was cancelled because the board lacked a quorum. Tibbetts and Dewberry plan to participate in Wednesday’s meeting, Brown said.
He wouldn’t discuss whether the board will vote on the Watson-Shaw complaints.
The investigation was seemingly halted over a row with Maley Givens, which was working without a contract.
The city put the contract out to bid and the law department received three proposals and was expected to grade bids and submit the winner for council’s approval.
Legislators wanted a stipulation in the contract that the Watson-Shaw probe would be finished in two months.
“After everything is decided, then it becomes public information so it’s not a secret,” Brown said.
While Tibbetts hasn’t said publicly how he’d vote on the Watson-Shaw complaints, he appears to have telegraphed how he feels about what allegedly went down.
His name was on a complaint from three concerned citizens who asked the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the allegedly rotten deal. Mike Ranallo and Bill Kearney joined the complaint.
The MCPO hasn’t said whether it will launch a criminal probe into the actions of Watson and Shaw.
Another former prosecutor told The Trentonian the contract deal deserved further scrutiny.