Author Archive

Ten years ago the Palmer administration decided Trenton needed a full service hotel.    With the help of a group of boosters, including local businessman Shelly Zeiger , the administration shopped the idea around to investors. No one bought.  That didn’t stop this group.  They convinced the city and the state to fund a $46,000,000 hotel with a Marriott brand. 

The city effectively owns the hotel and manages it through a non-profit entity called the Lafayette Yard Community Development Corporation (LYDC).    The Mayor appoints the board and during the Palmer administration it was largely controlled by the city business administrator.  Read the rest of this entry »

  In Part 1 of “The State’s Role in Fixing Trenton” I argued that New Jersey should fund a portion of Trenton’s revenue and I presented a simple calculation for a fair funding level, $70M.  However, there are several big changes that only the state can make that will truly re-invent Trenton’s economy and potentially all of New Jersey’s urban centers.

Over the years, state and federal governments have adopted policies favoring the creation of suburbs:  most notably road building, tax advantaged mortgages for single family homes and electrification.  Technology also played an important role in making urban centers less important as telecommunications, trains, power generation and eventually container shipping spread manufacturing out of town. [1]

These policies and technologies, among others, led to urban decline over the last 50 years.  Urban renewal and the riots in the late 60s were just nails in the coffin.

These are powerful mega-trends but their influence is waning and new mega-trends are taking over: Read the rest of this entry »

 Not every big revitalization idea takes big money.  There are low cost policies that Trenton can either implement on its own or begin lobbying for that will fundamentally change how our city works.

I’m hopeful that our current city council will be inspired to act on these ideas as it has shown signs of willingness to move in a new direction.  I’m encouraged by many of their private and public comments especially around the subject of refocusing our economic development efforts on attracting disposable income.  Read the rest of this entry »

While at the November 23rd City Council meeting I noticed, buried in the back of the ordinances section of the docket, some details that show our government is not yet focused on Trenton’s economic recovery. 

Most budget-minded Trentonians bemoan the high proportion of tax-exempt property in Trenton due to our status as a state capital.  Not only do we house a large number of tax-exempt government buildings but we also house tax-exempt buildings owned by non-profits.  Non-profit organizations tend to cluster in state capitals and in urban areas.  We also know that Trenton’s heavy proportion of subsidized low income housing has added to our cost structure without a corresponding revenue benefit.  Trenton outpaces all other Mercer County towns in low income housing combined.  As a result, our population can’t afford to support the services we all want. Read the rest of this entry »

Gov. Christie’s “money with strings” approach to giving charity to NJ cities (and Trenton in particular) is to be applauded.  Our democratic form of government requires clear distinction between the roles of government at each level (city, county, state and national).   When funds are intermingled and distributed between levels as they have been in NJ, voters no longer have direct control or responsibility over their government and we get NJ politics.  NJ’s urban centers are almost totally dependent on state aid and for that reason we have no real responsibility for the actions of our elected officials.  The state always bails out Trenton and the others. Read the rest of this entry »

My Trenton Resume

Apparently, one needs Trenton “cred” to be part of the political discourse in Trenton.  It’s obvious that “clear thought” isn’t a pre-requisite.  So to try and establish a bit more “right to talk”,  here’s my Trenton story.

Unlike a lot of people involved in Trenton politics and revitalization I wasn’t born and bred here.  I was born in Alexandria, VA and was raised mostly in North Carolina.  My wife, Michelle Emerson, and I moved to NJ from Dallas in 1998 and to Trenton in 2000.  That’s 11 years in Trenton, not exactly born and bred, but pretty long. Read the rest of this entry »

In normal times, in normal cities, budget prioritization isn’t really a big deal.  Political factions will scream and yell for their interests to be accommodated.  In a complicated dance of political give and take eventually budgets get done.  

For the most part, even if budget items don’t yield their promised results no one really cares because the basics were covered.  The trash still got picked up, schools didn’t close, the police responded to calls and property taxes are still a fraction of the cost of home ownership. Read the rest of this entry »

Back during the Water Works debate when times were less turbid, I made one central argument for selling the suburban water works. (see Invest the Trenton Water Works proceeds in the future not the past ,   Valuation tips for voters on the Water Works deal  and  Hope for Trenton – Compromise on the Water Works deal)

My thesis was that the suburban pipes were not strategic for the operation of Trenton as a city and that it would, instead, divert management attention from out critical issues. Read the rest of this entry »

There’s been a lot of talk lately about citizen’s advisory groups in Trenton politics.  We’re in such a bad state that it seems a good idea to get citizen input on the policies that might revitalize the city. Read the rest of this entry »

The following story is often passed along by Republicans who wish their liberal friends could understand economics.  They hope that making a simple parable out of the down-side of progressive taxation they can stop the madness.  As Dr. Kamerschen (the author) and many other economist and philosophers (including my favorite Ayn Rand) have pointed out, there is no stopping the madness of self destructive societal behavior that attempts to feed on the success of others.  That’s certainly one of the factors that’s contributed to Trenton’s mess.  We love the poor and hate the rich.

Read the rest of this entry »