The Ruins of Trenton

Talk about "do as I say, not as I do."

Mayor Douglas H. Palmer advocates for the "Live Where You Work" program, which he unveiled at his State of the City address last fall.

That program seeks to have highly-paid executives and other people working in Trenton actually move into the city, through incentives like reduced mortgage rates and assistance from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

But Mayor Palmer does not really practice what he preaches, as evidenced by the whoe Police Director Joseph Santiago affair, and the mayor's treatment of other high-ranking and highly-paid city officials who should be living here, under the city's residency law.

Trenton's economic and social problems coincide with a decline into an impoverished state, with fully one-fifth of the city's population living under the federal poverty line.

Getting executives to move into the city is a good idea, but an even better and easier idea is to force well-compensated city officials to abide by the residency ordinance, which is a much more effective method of economic redevelopment than simply offering incentives and hoping for individuals to bite.

These employees are being paid straight out of the city's own coffers, rather than being a group of people working in Trenton for the state or some other business.

Let's start with enforcing the residency ordinance, and getting city employees to live in the community of Trenton, and then go after the others.