Councilman says proposal is ‘political chicanery’
TRENTON » Will Robin Vaughn run for mayor in 2022?
That question was debated at Tuesday’s council meeting, when the West Ward councilwoman’s proposed election reforms came under fire.
On Thursday, she’ll introduce a measure that could pave the way to move Trenton’s nonpartisan mayoral and council races from May to November.
A companion bill, still in the works and not yet before council, would also eliminate runoff elections, enabling mayoral candidates to win with a plurality of votes.
The proposal to move the capital city’s election must be approved by the legislative body following a public hearing and requires voter approval at a referendum, officials said.
One opponent called the proposal a “piece of blatant political chicanery” intended to benefit Vaughn if she challenges Mayor Reed Gusciora, should he run for a second four-year term in 2022.
At-large councilman Jerell Blakeley said Vaughn wants to “change the rules” to ease her “pathway to victory” in a mayoral race.
Eliminating runoffs is “dangerous” and shifting municipal races to the fall creates a situation in which Trenton’s nonpartisan races have a “way more partisan bend” to them since they’ll occur at the same time as other county, state and federal races, Blakeley said.
Capital city candidates’ voices on local issues will also get washed out by the deluge of concurrent campaigning.
“Nobody on this council is beloved by the local political parties. None of us would be appointed by the local political parties,” Blakeley said. “They would have a lot more control that I think they shouldn’t.”
Vaughn pushed back against the suggestion that she is sponsoring election reforms for “selfish reasons.”
The move would inspire higher turnout in a city that has experienced voter apathy, she said.
Only 9,058 of 39,731 registered voters cast ballots in Trenton’s mayoral and council races in 2018, with Gusciora toppling two-time runnerup Paul Perez in the runoff.
Consolidating races to the fall would also save money. But instead of focusing on the benefits, Vaughn said her critics are “consumed with what Robin Vaughn is going to do in 2022.”
City clerk Dwayne Harris said Trenton spent more than $237,723 on the 2018 election. Those costs covered printing, advertising, equipment rentals, workers and expenses reimbursed to Mercer County.
He estimated the city could save as much as $181,000 by moving the mayoral and council races to the fall.
The local trend is toward moving elections to the fall, Mercer County clerk Paula Sollami-Covello said. West Windsor and Robbinsville moved their elections to November years ago, the clerk said.
Trenton remains the the lone municipality here that holds its election in May.
Gusciora is “not opposed” to shifting Trenton’s election to the fall, but he’s concerned about the companion proposal to do away with runoffs.
The longtime assemblyman was the benefactor of a runoff against Perez, who was the top vote-getter in Round 1 of the mayoral race, when the field was whittled down from seven candidates.
Perez flopped in the runoff, watching his more than 700-vote gulf swallowed en route to Gusciora’s historic coronation as Trenton’s first openly gay mayor.
The mayor seemed less concerned about the possibility of facing the West Ward councilwoman in 2022.
“If Robin wants to run, god bless her,” he said.
When challenged during the meeting, Vaughn went nuclear on the administration and detractors of the Election Day ordinance.
Councilman Joe Harrison claimed that Vaughn mentioned Gusciora’s name at least 45 times during the meeting, blaming him for all the city’s woes.
Vaughn dismissed Blakeley’s criticism of her bill, calling him a “minion” and “political operative” for Gusciora.
In an moment of animated chest-pounding, Vaughn hit another octave suggesting she was the top vote-getter in council races, which isn’t true.
At-large council members Kathy McBride (3,398) and Blakeley (2,745) received more votes than Vaughn (1,284). All city residents vote for at-large candidates while only those residing in the West Ward vote in the West Ward race.
Vaughn went on to say that the mayor was “obsessed with me and now he has his minions running around saying, ‘Oh, she’s running for mayor, and we gotta stop her.’ ... The reason why they’re afraid is because everybody knows ... that Robin Vaughn was the highest vote-getter in the city of Trenton.”
The councilwoman called her bill “good legislation that’s going to help this city.”
“This is not an ordinance that is going to give me an advantage, that’s going to boost my stock,” she said. “I have not told anyone in this city that I’m running for mayor.”