The struggle between members of the Trenton Community and the State of New Jersey over the construction of state office buildings had another moment during a well attended City of Trenton Planning Board session on October 11.
That was when New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) representatives presented a proposal for one of the buildings, and members of both the planning board and the Trenton community reiterated their opposition because the plan ignored the City of Trenton’s adopted master plan, Trenton 250.
First, a quick review: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie entered the final year of his administration by announcing the razing of three state office buildings and authorizing the NJEDA to obtain bonds to build two new buildings.
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC was selected as bond counsel. Christie ally Jeffrey Chiesa served as Christie’s attorney general and was governor-appointed U.S. senator to fill a vacated seat. The company was originally Wolf Samson. Christie ally David Samson was a McGreevy administration attorney general and the Christie-appointed Port Authority chairman convicted in federal court for bribery.
Members of the Trenton business community and planners responded to Christie’s plan by arguing that the project did not reflect the city’s current plans, would negatively affect downtown businesses by moving office workers further away from the business district, and was based on outmoded practices.
Trenton business community members and community activists — unassisted by outgoing Mayor Eric Jackson’s administration, the newly formed Greater Trenton, and the Mercer County Administration — launched Stakeholders Allied for the Core of Trenton (ACT) and unsuccessfully attempted to get the Christie administration to refocus or alter its plans.
Individuals resisting the Christie plan include former assemblyman and current Mayor Reed Gusciora, former mayor Doug Palmer, and former Mercer County executive Bob Prunetti.
The disagreement between the Trenton business community hoping to strengthen the downtown region and state officials interested in moving buildings is now in its second year, and past actions include a failed ACT lawsuit and a change of state administration. Yet despite the hopes of ACT members that a new administration may side with the Trenton 250 plan, the Murphy administration’s actions indicate a capitulation to the Christie plan.
Nevertheless the following excerpted response by the city Planning Board to the NJEDA’s presentation shows Trenton community members’ dislike of the state’s plans and ongoing resistance.
This article was originally published in the December 2018 Trenton Downtowner.
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