Tuesday, June 07, 2011
By Matt Fair/The Times
TRENTON — Five city residents filed a notice of intent to begin the arduous process of recalling Mayor Tony Mack yesterday, saying they represented a much larger number of people tired of Mack’s failed leadership.
“This is a very exciting moment for Trenton,” the group’s leader, community activist David Ponton, said after filing the notice with the city clerk. “The potential to demonstrate that the citizens of our city can come together to take control of a failed administration is powerful.
”The committee’s other members are Aida Albino-Wimbush, Marion Ray, Craig Shofed and Christine Ott.
Since he took office last July, Mack’s administration has been at the center of a number of scandals, including the arrest of his former chief of staff and of his half-brother, a Trenton Water Works employee. Mack has had eight business administrators during that time, including one who quit and subsequently pleaded guilty to stealing from a congressional campaign.
“The rumbling is already in the air,” Albino-Wimbush said. “The people are tired and they need a different perspective. We’re tired of reading something new in the paper every day.
”Mack dismissed the effort yesterday, saying he was focusing on improving the city.
Asked whether he thought the recall effort signaled a loss of confidence in his leadership, Mack said, “I don’t think (so). That’s not my business. I’m so excited about where we are in this city that I haven’t even given it a thought.”
