TRENTON – Disrespectful, clamored North Ward Marge Caldwell-Wilson.
Unacceptable, tsk-tsked at-large councilman Jerell Blakeley, saying afterward the city is being led by “Mr. Magoo.”
I’ll remember that when you need a vote, warned South Ward councilman George Muschal.
Send the mayor a letter, demanded council president Kathy McBride.
We need serious people to man these posts, thundered East Ward councilman Joe Harrison.
I concur, at-large councilman Santiago Rodriguez stated.
The legislative body was all up in arms about many of Mayor Reed Gusciora’s acting directors deciding to leave Tuesday night’s council meeting before the final whistle.
Blakeley had a bunch of questions for the embattled acting police director Carol Russell about how she plans to combat violence in the city following the brazen midday execution of a Crip gang member.
But those questions went unasked because Russell was nowhere in sight.
“I had my questions and now I’m talking to an empty podium with the Wild Wild West outside,” Blakeley said. “I can’t know [her plan] because there’s no one here.”
Council members were also upset acting fire director Derrick Sawyer and acting water works director Shing Fu-Hsueh bounced early, too.
Both are up for confirmation votes this week, and apparently can’t attend Thursday’s meeting, so this was council’s and the public’s only chance to address them prior to the upcoming advice-and-consent sessions.
Muschal has already indicated he has problems with Sawyer, a former Philadelphia fire commissioner.
But the South Ward councilman didn’t get a crack at him.
The mayor’s chief of staff, Yoshi Manale, also left the meeting early, so council had little recourse to address anyone from the mayor’s team.
McBride asked law director John Morelli to help her put together a letter to the mayor demanding the directors to remain till the end of future meetings.
