Beautiful Trenton questions answered

Following are the questions posed to all the certified At-Large Council Candidates by the Beautiful Trenton citizen’s group.  My answers are in red italics and give a pretty good overview of my thoughts on what the city needs from the people elected to a Council At-Large seat.

1. The City Council is a legislative body with investigative powers. What do you see as the role of the City Council in advancing the economic, educational and cultural success of Trenton? Council must help the Administration set goals for the city’s various departments and then act as watchdog/mentor/cheerleader to see that those goals are achieved. The members of Council must have a full knowledge and understanding of their rights and responsibilities as the legislative branch of the city government, including their power to initiate legislation on their own as well as override a Mayoral veto. Council must be ready and willing to use their powers appropriately as situations arise. Council needs to hold the Administration accountable just as the Council members themselves are accountable to the public that elects them.
2. Department heads are appointed by the Mayor “with the advice and consent of Council.” What do you see as the role of the City Council in evaluating and voting on department heads and other officials proposed by the Mayor? City Council must take an active role in not only providing the advice and consent to the Mayor, but needs to hold the department heads accountable.  Council has the power to remove a director for cause through a specified process and should be fully prepared to use that power if and when warranted.
3. Some City of Trenton departments and services are seen as effective, while others are viewed as creating obstacles to progress. What two current City of Trenton departments or services do you believe are working well, and what two departments or services most need to be improved? What specific actions will you push for the City Council taking to improve underperforming departments or services? Overall, I feel that our police and fire departments have done a remarkable job of preserving public safety in the city and are probably the best functioning departments.  Inspections and Economic Development seem to be lagging behind in effectiveness.  In both cases, I believe that a clear set of goals and policy set by the Mayor and City Council is needed for these departments to improve performance. Modernization and streamlining of processes as well as improved code enforcement and the introduction of zero based budgeting for all departments will help us focus our efforts and resources on programs and areas where we realize the most return for dollars spent.
4. A healthy city must be able to meet the needs of its citizens while balancing its budget. Trenton has many assets and a resilient population, but it still relies on the state for almost 75% of its operating budget revenue. What specific steps should the City Council take to increase revenues and to reduce expenditures? What will be the combined benefits of these actions? The city is currently responsible for an estimated 3000 vacant properties.  We must work harder to get these buildings and lots back on the tax rolls.  We also need to focus on enforcement of all housing, parking and other quality of life ordinances.  The fines collected from violators will increase revenue and the resulting improvements to the overall quality of life in the city will make further development and investment easier to come by. I would also urge that we maintain ownership of the complete Trenton Water Works system because with competent management it will provide a continuing source of revenue and affordable public water for all.
5.  Many successful cities use history, arts and cultural opportunities to capture the spirit of the community and create vibrant places to live. As a Council member, what three specific steps will you take to support and market Trenton’s history, arts and cultural diversity both in our neighborhoods and downtown? It has always struck me as odd that council members attend so few of the smaller civic and cultural events around the city. Councilpersons need to lead by example and attend and participate in the cultural events held in the city.  A Council member should be a model citizen who leads by example.  It is imperative that they participate in a reasonable percentage of the city’s cultural events.
6. Trenton is a remarkably diverse city, with many different neighborhoods, blocks and organizations. As a Council member, what will you do to foster and promote citizen action and efforts on the local and neighborhood level? What are examples of citizen-lead efforts you would support, and what would you do to support them?  To my way of thinking a councilperson’s responsibility extends beyond delivering proclamations at awards banquets.  As Councilman At Large I would regularly visit neighborhood events and attend community meetings to encourage and support a strong civic network.  I would be accessible to my constituents and work to help form civic groups where they don’t already exist. As Councilman At Large I would continue to be an advocate and supporter of a variety of civic and cultural groups, just as I have as a private citizen.  My track record of involvement, from my weekly civic calendar list, to my efforts to halt irresponsible development (Leewood in South Trenton) to my participation in the creation of the (albeit short-lived) foundation to support the Trenton Library are just a few examples of what can be done.
7. 9.      Civic engagement requires open and honest sharing of information between those elected to serve in government and those who elected them. What will you do to make the City Council more accessible, transparent and responsive to citizens?  I suggest that Council conference sessions automatically be moved from the conference room to the larger Council Chambers whenever it appears that there will be an overflow crowd.  Start times for council meetings could be set back an hour or so to enable people to get home from work in time to attend. City Council meetings should be televised just as school board meetings are.  At the individual level, I believe it is key for an elected representative to use all manner of interpersonal, mass and internet communications to maintain contact and communication with the public. And there is no substitute for good old fashioned “face time.”  Council members who actively participate in the city’s cultural and civic events cannot but help to engage their constituents.
8. How will your role as a Council Member-at-Large be reflected in your service on the Council? What do you see as the critical responsibilities and duties for Council Members-at-Large? Whereas Ward Council Members by definition serve the people of their respective wards, the At Large members represent the entire city.  An At Large Council member must be able and willing to deal with the concerns of a diverse constituency.  A Council Member At Large should possess excellent communication skills in order to properly understand and serve the needs of the entire city and be able to build and reinforce the bridges between all segments of the community. All members of City Council must be well versed in their powers and responsibilities, it is especially important for the At Large members to seek out best practices from around the region, state and country.
9. Many successful individuals have passed through the Trenton educational system, but we still have low student achievement levels, high dropout rates and a poor community image. What can the City Council do, and more importantly what should the City Council do, to improve our schools and increase the number of students that succeed? City Council has very little input on Trenton’s school district. With the exception of a council member being appointed to sit on the School Board of Estimate, Council merely approves the city’s annual contribution to the school budget.  That said, I feel Council is obliged to make sure that appropriation is spent as effectively as possible. Council should receive regular updates from the schools superintendent and demand accountability from the entire schools administration. Finally, let’s not forget that many of the problems within the schools are due to situations (such as home life) completely beyond the control of city government. About all City Council can do to combat that is to demonstrate a belief in the importance of providing the best possible education for Trenton’s students.

Fix Trenton’s budget scorecard results

Dan Dodson’s “Fix Trenton’s Budget” group has graded the candidates’ responses to the survey questions.  You can read the results here.

I took the survey on my own and scored 83%, the second highest overall and higher than any of the Mayoral Candidates!

Admittedly, I gave a couple of “no opinion” answers and that hurt my score.  Those responses were entered, not because Ididn’t have an opinion or care to give one but because I wanted clarification and or more information before answering.

I’ll take the “B” grade for the test and admit I prefer to be able to ask questions and gather information before I take an action.

How do your candidates measure up?

A quick look at my announcement

Kevin Williams was kind enough to videotape Friday morning’s announcement of my write-campaign.  You can view it on YouTube by clicking here.

Four years ago

In 2006, we produced a 30 second ad promoting my candidacy for Council At-Large.  About six seconds into the spot, I can be seen standing in front of a vacant house at 316 Bellevue Avenue.  The windows were missing and the front porch was in danger of collapsing. 

Neighboring property owners had brought this situation to my attention and stated that repeated calls to city hall had yielded no results in getting the property cleaned up and secured.

Fortunately, a day or two after the campaign ad aired, a crew was sent out to demolish and remove the front porch.

316 Bellevue, Saturday May 1, 2010

This is the same building, four years later.  The once impressive front porch is gone (the stone piers for the support columns can still be seen); the missing windows were replaced and some siding added. But that is all!

Unfortunately for the residents of Trenton, stories like this can be found throughout the city, in all four wards and neighborhoods from Berkeley Square to Jersey Street to Mill Hill to Top Road in North Trenton.

We cannot turn this city around if we don’t actively pursue property owners who don’t maintain their properties.  Trenton needs to go after them aggressively.  We need to find ways to make it impractical and expensive for them to leave properties vacant and underutilized…perhaps by adopting a higher tax rate for unimproved properties and undeveloped empty lots.

Let’s change the way things are done in Trenton.  Write-in Jim Carlucci for City Council At-Large.

Things won’t change if we don’t change

The first question I was asked yesterday after declaring my candidacy was “Isn’t running as a write-in candidate a long shot?”

The answer, of course, is “Yes.”

But I explained that we’ve been doing things the same way every election cycle for the past 20 years or more.  We’ve elected the same people or people with different names but the same way of doing things.  And where has that gotten us?

Maybe we need to take another approach.  Maybe we need to consider voting for someone who isn’t on the printed ballot.  Maybe we need to change our way of doing things.

The city is broke and broken.  Our budgets have grown faster and larger than our tax base.  And our elected representatives continue to spend and spend and spend.

The second (and most frequently asked) question I received was “What about the taxes?”

It is a very serious question.  Our property taxes are taking a significant jump this month due to the irresponsible actions of the Administration (in submitting a budget ¾ of the way through the fiscal year) and the Council (in passing on their obligation to adopt a budget to the State).  This is going to hurt us all.

If we don’t change the way the city approaches the budget process, we are going to feel the pain of repeated tax increases.  And that pain will be self-inflicted if we continue to elect people without the desire, experience and qualifications to steer us on a new course.

As an At Large Councilman, I will:

• Work diligently to see that the new administration brings forth a reasonable budget for our known revenue sources in a timely manner…preferably within the first 90 days of the new fiscal year that starts on July 1.
• Encourage the city to adopt zero based budgeting to ensure we get the most bang for our bucks and we don’t waste precious dollars duplicating services provided elsewhere or on extras that we frankly can no longer afford.
• Ask the administration and all the department heads to prepare realistic financial plans and goals extending out at least five years so we know where we are going and can work on getting there.

We can’t do anything about the tax increase we are facing in the last quarter of this fiscal year, but we can change how we do things going forward. 

That change starts on May 11 when you go to the polls and write in my name, Jim Carlucci, for Council At Large.

An unexpected announcement

Friends,

As Trenton’s municipal election this May 11^th approaches, I have received an increasing number of inquiries about the possibility of people writing my name in. 

After giving the matter much consideration and discussing it with my wife, Ann…

I have agreed to stand as a write in candidate for City Council At Large.

While I had not intended to run for office this time out, the lack of experience and/or qualifications on the part of some candidates is of a growing concern to many, myself included.

The City of Trenton is in critical condition and it will take a lot of work by everyone to fix the many problems confronting us.  The people we elect to serve us for the next four years must be up to that task.

We need people who are familiar with the rights and responsibilities of public officeholders.

We need people who have the ability to look at long-term goals for the city and take the steps needed to achieve them, regardless of political expediency or personal impact.

We need people who are accountable to the public that has elected them and who will conduct the City or Trenton’s business openly and transparently.

I feel that I embody those qualities and more and I have decided to answer the call of my friends and neighbors by stepping up and asking for your write-in vote for one of the three City Council At Large seats on May 11. 

Whether you vote with an Absentee Ballot or at a Voting Machine on Election Day, remember me, Jim Carlucci, as I have remembered you.  We can each make a difference… and together we will turn this City around.  Thank You!