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Friday, June 27, 2008

Focus is elsewhere

"My focus entirely is always Trenton," Mayor Douglas Palmer said, to the Times of Trenton Friday.

What a crock.

This, coming from a mayor who is so frequently absent from city business that he requires text messages and cell phone updates to show up at a city meeting that was advertised with flyers boasting remarks from Mayor Palmer.

In fact, the most active this mayor has been during the entire calendar year past was when his highly touted and highly ineffective police director came under fire after openly flouting Trenton's residency ordinance.

Besides tending to his more national responsibilities, the biggest attention this four-term executive has given to the city he rules and the town he calls home has been the cut-and-dry, black-and-white case of former Police Director Joseph Santiago.

Mr. Santiago so blatantly broke the city's residency ordinance - which Mayor Palmer used so successfully to eliminate foes within the ranks of Trenton city employees - that the arrogance of the mayor and the director combined opened such a gap in Mayor Palmer's seemingly invincible armor that soon, it is hoped, the former director might be handed his walking papers.

But besides that attention paid so closely by Mayor Palmer, the city has moved on, basically unchanged. Residents have been murdered, lives have slipped into the abyss, and more businesses and viable residents have fled the city borders.

Mayor Palmer's legacy is one of emptiness, of using a small city and a capital of an important state to leverage greater influence and greater positions.

But we living in Trenton know the truth.

Mayor Palmer's focus long ago stopped being "entirely Trenton."

3 comments:

Christine Ott said...

Great points, Greg.

Plus, if Doug "Hunterdon" Palmer is Entirely Trenton, why doesn't he, or his abundant staff, inform the citizenry of his national appearances, like his participation two weeks ago at the 19th Annual United States Energy Association's Energy Efficiency Forum, in DC. A mayor who is all about his hometown should be proud to announce these sort of appearances, so his people can either make the trip with him, or try to catch his appearances on TV, or on the internet.

But, he's probably afraid some of us would crash the party and expose him for what he is: a two-faced, ineffective, self-serving politician. This might damage his reputation enough so that higher level politicians stay away from him, and also ruin his chances of getting reelected again here in Trenton.

Old Mill Hill said...

Chrissy,

I thought that was what the City of Trenton website was for...to promote Doug Palmer's appearances around the country.

Mistër Cleän said...

"My focus entirely is always Trenton"

WTF?!?

For a silver-tongued politician such as King Douglas to resort to Parker-Speak... was he caught with his pants down just before that utterance?