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Honorable Mayor Tony F. Mack319 East State Street

Trenton, New Jersey

609-989-3030

www.trentonnj.org

For Immediate Release: Contact: Lauren J. Ira

August 31, 2011 Office: 609-989-3030

Mayor Tony Mack Urges City Council to Approve Critical Resolutions

TRENTON-Mayor Tony Mack issued the following statement urging council not to block moving

Trenton forward:

As Mayor of Trenton, I represent the Executive Branch of Government. The City Council is

the Legislative Branch. At all levels of government there is a separation of powers, and that is why I

do not consistently attend Council meetings. Unfortunately, while I have attempted to move the City

forward, some members of Council actually stated they do not mind bringing the Citys operation to

a screeching halt unless I appear before Council. In furtherance of this stance, at the last Council

meeting Council refused to take any action because I was not present.

In order to move the City forward and recognizing public safety as my number one concern, Iwill attend the council meeting and make the following demands:

1. I demand that Council approve the following resolutions (11-504 Body Armor State,

11-507 Body Armor Federal and 11-509 Edward Byrne Justice Assistance grant) most of which

involve grants for the police department for body armor, laptops for the police vehicles, etc.,

equipment our law enforcement officers need to effectively and efficiently carry out their sworn duty.

Failure of Council to do so will restrict this City moving forward with the budget process and will

leave our police officers without necessary equipment and public safety at risk.

2. I demand Council approve the two municipal court judges I recommended. They are

highly qualified and their qualifications were approved by the State. Failure of Council to approve

these judges will hurt the Citys budget by limiting the courts ability to collect fines and will impact

public safety by limiting the courts ability to prosecute criminals. If the Council fails to approve

these appointments, then I will take all legal action necessary to have these vacancies filled, if only

on an interim basis.

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3. Lastly, I am proposing a plan to cut the layoff of law enforcement officers by two-

thirds through a Federal, State, City and Police Union cooperative effort. First, I am demanding

Council approve a Federal grant that would provide the City with 36 police officers for three years

with two conditions. The first condition is the Federal Government waive the requirement the City

pick up the salary for these 36 officers for the year after the grant ends. The second condition is the

State provide the $750,000.00 necessary for the City to accept this grant. After all, the City provides

police protection for thousands of State workers, the legislators and the Governor.

The other 36 officers would be saved from layoff through a combined commitment of the

City and the police force. The City would commit $750,000.00 to retain these officers. The rank and

file police officers will need to agree to an 18 month salary freeze retroactive to January 1, 2011 and

the entire police force will need to agree to a payroll deduction retroactive to July 1, 2011 through

June 30, 2012 of only $100 per month. We all have to make sacrifices in these times for the benefit

of the City and its citizens, and I am sure the police force will agree to these concessions in order to

keep their brothers in blue working and to help keep the City safe.

To date, there is no other plan presented anywhere in the United States requesting a

cooperative effort between the Federal Government, State Government, Municipal Government and

the Police Unions to avoid the significant layoff of law enforcement officers.

Thank you for your time, join me tomorrow night, and urge Council to move Trenton

forward, stated Mayor Tony F. Mack.

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