The Ruins of Trenton

One situation that remains unexplained following the recent filings of court papers by all sides in the Santiago residency case is the appearance of court papers seeking the dismissal of the complaint against Police Director Joseph Santiago by a woman named Susan Singer, who claims to represent the City of Trenton.

Hailing from Mr. Santiago's old haunts near Newark, Ms. Singer authored the papers that seem to purport that the municipal corporation that is the City of Trenton - including both City Council and Mayor Douglas H. Palmer - has come to some sort of consensus on the residency issue, and wants the case dismissed.

But nothing could be further from the truth, and no one in any part of the Palmer administration has yet explained the purpose of retaining this woman for taxpayer dollars to represent a position for a client that disagrees with itself.

You see, in the residency situation, one part of the City of Trenton disagrees with another part of the City of Trenton, namely Mayor Palmer with City Council.

City Council has filed its own response, demanding a judge to order Mr. Santiago to establish a residence in Trenton and Mayor Palmer to enforce the residency ordinance and remove Mr. Santiago from office, should he fail to do so.

Mayor Palmer's stance is that the law violates state guidelines and is null and void, and that Mr. Santiago is a police officer and does not need to abide by a residency requirement.

These two positions are completely opposed to one another, and yet the City of Trenton and its taxpayer-funded coffers are paying for an attorney to establish a false position for an entity that cannot reach agreement, and put that false statement on paper and officially file it with the court.

Something stinks at 319 E. State Street.