Up against the establishment, Tony Mack knew the hard questions would come down the stretch.
Beset by financial difficulties since he lost his job with the city after challenging the sitting mayor in 2006, the Trenton mayoral candidate said those troubles have nothing to do with his present candidacy for mayor or with his ability to lead the city.
“My family’s personal matters have always been resolved in a timely manner and this is not the time to take shots at politicians, it’s the time to listen to their ideas,” said Mack, when asked by PolitickerNJ.com about being delinquent by over $5,000 on residential property taxes.
“Over the past 20 years, my wife and I have always met our obligations, and we will continue to make those obligations,” added the candidate, generally regarded as one of the front-runners in a ten-person race to succeed Mayor Doug Palmer.
Mack said the question about taxes with five days until Election Day proves the desperation of other camps, and reasserted his own belief that he’s the favorite.
“I look forward to serving the residents of Trenton, who are overwhelmingly saying it’s me,” said the former Mercer County freeholder, batting aside a query about his being behind in his tax payments while personally loaning his own campaign $20,000 on April 12th.
“This is a happy time in our city, we will have a new mayor for the first time in 20 years,” said Mack, who in his march toward the May 11th election has mobilized a grassroots change movement against the remnants of the retiring Palmer’s political machine.
“In politics, people want somebody who will stand for them,” he added. “We have a chance to start fresh. I believe my ideas about educating young people, about policemen walking the beat, bringing back police athletic league – all these ideas have resonated. Talk to the average voter, don’t talk about personal obligations. It’s about what Tony Mack can do for us. They know it because of what I’ve done. My message is one of hope. What does it say about the other side that they would resort to putting these questions out there with a few days left in the campaign?”
Having already landed the support of some key Latino leaders, Mack today stood on the steps of City Hall and accepted the endorsement of retired Trenton police officers. “We had a cross-section of city and state police there today representing the cornerstone of building our city,” said the candidate.
