I am running for Mayor because Trenton is my home, and I believe our city has much more potential than we are realizing today.
I was born and raised here, experienced housing instability as a child, and returned home after completing my education to build my career, serve my community, and raise my family. Now, as a father raising a child in Trenton, I have an even greater sense of urgency about the city we leave to the next generation.
My experience has prepared me to understand Trenton from many different sides. I have served in state government as a Deputy Attorney General, worked on education and a nearly $600 million budget as a member of the Trenton Board of Education, supported businesses and economic development through the Trenton Downtown Association, and spent years working on civil rights, public safety, housing, and criminal justice issues through the NAACP and other community organizations.
I also earned degrees from Howard University, Howard Law, and Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs.
I am running because I believe it is time to bring that experience together and build a City Hall that is more effective, accountable, and focused on improving people’s everyday lives.
My primary goal is to make Trenton a city where people can build a good life, whether they were born here or chose to make Trenton their home.
That starts with jobs. I want to attract employers, grow small businesses, and connect Trenton residents to careers in construction, healthcare, the trades, clean energy, technology, transportation, and other growing industries.
Second, we need more quality and affordable housing. That means putting vacant properties back into productive use, expanding homeownership, improving existing housing, holding bad landlords accountable, and reducing the pressure of rising housing costs.
Third, we need safer neighborhoods. That requires effective policing, walking patrols, community-based violence prevention, stronger youth and after-school programs, and better pathways for Trenton residents to become police officers.
Finally, City Hall itself has to work better. I want more transparency, stronger financial management, better coordination between departments and community organizations, and clear measurements so residents can see whether government is delivering results.
For me, Trenton First means jobs, homes, safe neighborhoods, and a government that works.
I would look at Trenton’s budget with one basic question in mind: are residents getting enough value for the money the city spends?
I would support more funding for things that can improve neighborhoods and save money over time, including economic development, job creation, code enforcement, housing rehabilitation, youth and after-school programs, and public safety efforts that focus on both policing and prevention.
At the same time, I would take a hard look at overtime, outside consultants, unnecessary administrative costs, no-bid contracts, and programs that are not producing clear results. I do not believe in cutting important services just to say we cut the budget.
When it comes to property taxes, we have to do more than simply raise rates on the same residents year after year. We need to grow the tax base by getting vacant properties back into use, attracting new businesses and development, supporting homeownership, collecting taxes more effectively, and bringing in more state and federal funding.
The goal should be simple: spend smarter, grow the tax base, and reduce the pressure on Trenton homeowners and renters.
Trenton needs more of the everyday services that families should be able to find in their own city. That includes full-service grocery stores with fresh food, more neighborhood retail, pharmacies, banking services, quality restaurants, family entertainment, and expanded healthcare options, including primary care, specialty care, maternal health, and mental health services.
Attracting these businesses requires more than waiting for companies to come to us. City Hall should actively recruit businesses, identify development-ready locations, and make it easier to open and operate in Trenton. We should use tools like the Urban Enterprise Zone, redevelopment incentives, state and federal grants, and city-owned property to help close financing gaps where appropriate.
I also want the city to work with developers and businesses earlier in the process so permits, inspections, zoning, and other requirements do not become unnecessary barriers.
Finally, economic development should benefit Trentonians. When the city provides incentives, we should push for local hiring, good wages, and opportunities for Trenton-based businesses.
My goal is simple: Trenton residents should be able to shop, work, eat, receive quality healthcare, and enjoy their city without having to leave it.
Trenton has many strong nonprofits and community organizations doing important work, but too often that work happens in silos. We need much better coordination between what residents need, what services are available, and where the gaps still exist.
City Hall should play a much stronger role in bringing nonprofit providers, schools, healthcare organizations, faith-based groups, workforce programs, and other community partners together around shared goals. We should know who is providing what service, where they are providing it, and which neighborhoods or populations are still being missed.
For residents, especially those who need the most help, finding assistance should not require calling five different agencies or figuring out which organization handles which problem. City Hall should serve as a one-stop shop that can connect people to housing assistance, food, healthcare, job training, youth programs, legal services, and other support.
The goal is not for government to replace nonprofits. It is for City Hall to coordinate the network so everyone is working together, resources are used wisely, and residents can actually find the help they need.
I would look for appointees who are qualified, ethical, experienced, and ready to produce results.
That search should start in Trenton. We have talented people already working in city government, nonprofits, schools, healthcare, public safety, business, and community organizations who understand our neighborhoods and know how this city works. I want to identify and promote that local talent.
But for major positions, I would also conduct serious statewide and national searches. If we are hiring a Police Director, Finance Director, Economic Development leader, or department head, I want people who can show that they have successfully managed large teams and budgets, improved performance, secured outside funding, and solved problems in other cities.
For example, an economic development appointee should have a record of attracting businesses and investment. A finance leader should understand municipal budgeting, grants, audits, and long-term planning. A public safety leader should have experience improving safety while building community trust.
And integrity is non-negotiable. Appointments should be based on qualifications and performance, not political connections.
My goal is to combine the best local talent Trenton already has with proven experts from across New Jersey and the country who can help move our city forward.
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Slogan
A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
I’m running because I believe Trenton deserves a fresh approach to leadership, one focused on solutions, accountability, and results.
As a Trenton detective and CEO of a nonprofit, I understand the importance of public safety, community trust, and being responsive to residents. I also understand that good leadership is not only about the individual, but about the collective team that has the expertise and knowledge to deliver results. A leader is only as good as the people he surrounds himself with.
I intend to lead with integrity and, most importantly, with the heart to listen to the experts in the room, always keeping one thing in mind: How do I, as a leader, ensure that Trenton residents are taken care of?
My experience serving this community has prepared me to lead with discipline, transparency, and a commitment to putting Trenton first. To be the Breath of Fresh Air the city desperately needs.
My priorities are centered around enhancing the quality of life for all Trenton residents. For a short overview, the four areas will be public safety; housing and economic development; youth and senior services; and preserving Trenton’s historical integrity while creating economic opportunity.
We need safer neighborhoods, stronger community policing, more affordable housing, thriving businesses, opportunities for our youth and seniors, and a City government that delivers.
We need to prioritize spending that directly improves residents’ quality of life, public safety, infrastructure, youth and senior services, housing, and economic development.
I also want to strengthen Trenton’s ability to pursue federal and state grants. We cannot continue placing the burden primarily on taxpayers when outside funding opportunities exist. Growing our business and development base will also help create additional revenue and reduce pressure on residents.
Trenton needs more grocery stores, healthcare services, retail, restaurants, childcare, and businesses that create good-paying jobs.
We need to actively recruit businesses instead of waiting for them to come to us. That means marketing Trenton’s assets, working with business owners and developers, utilizing available properties, pursuing incentives and grants, and making Trenton a place where businesses want to invest.
Nonprofits are important partners in addressing the needs of our residents. We need stronger coordination between the City and nonprofit organizations so we can identify gaps, avoid duplication, and maximize available resources.
My administration would focus on collaboration, accountability, and connecting nonprofits with grant opportunities so we can bring more resources into Trenton.
I would choose people based on their qualifications, experience, integrity, accountability, and commitment to Trenton, not simply on political connections.
I want people who understand their responsibilities, can work collaboratively, and are focused on delivering results for residents. The goal is to build an administration grounded in competence, professionalism, and service, not favoritism.
Slogan
From Trenton to Triumph
I am running for Mayor because Trenton is my home, and I believe our city has tremendous potential that has gone unrealized for far too long. I grew up here, attended Trenton Public Schools, graduated from Trenton Central High School, and spent 26 years serving this community as a member of the Trenton Police Department.
My motivation comes from seeing both what Trenton was and what it can become. I have watched families leave, businesses disappear, neighborhoods struggle, and residents become frustrated with a government that too often fails to deliver basic services. I believe we can change that trajectory.
What distinguishes my background is that I have actually led large organizations and people under difficult circumstances as a Lieutenant with the TPD, and then as a Chief of Police on an Indian reservation.
I am also not a politician, meaning I do not subscribe to a particular party. Party politics is what is hurting this city, because it has become more important for the party to succeed, than for the people to.
For this city to truly change, there must be a break with the past, and to elect a leader that is not beholden to anyone, and that does not owe anyone.
That candidate is me.
First, we must make Trenton safer. That means rebuilding a proactive police department, properly staffing it, improving morale and supervision, targeting violent offenders and crime hotspots, and strengthening partnerships with county, state, federal, community, and social-service organizations.
Second, we need to create economic stability for Trenton families. I want to move more residents from renting to homeownership, return abandoned properties to productive use, attract employers that create jobs for Trentonians, support our existing small businesses, and revitalize downtown.
Third, City Hall has to work. Residents should not have to fight government to get a pothole repaired, garbage removed, a permit processed, or a telephone call returned. Every department should have measurable goals, written policies and procedures, performance standards, and public accountability.
Ultimately, these priorities work together. Safer neighborhoods encourage investment. Investment creates jobs. Jobs and homeownership strengthen families and the tax base. A stronger tax base gives us greater ability to provide quality services without continually placing the burden on existing taxpayers.
My goal is to break the cycle of poverty, crime, population loss and government dysfunction and replace it with a cycle of safety, investment, opportunity and growth.
Before promising across the board increases or cuts, my first action would be a comprehensive assessment of every department and its budget.
I want to know what taxpayers are paying for, what results they are receiving, where positions are vacant, where services are understaffed, where contracts are unnecessarily expensive, and where programs are failing to produce measurable results.
I would prioritize funding for essential services, particularly public safety, infrastructure, public works, code enforcement and the employees responsible for delivering basic municipal services.
At the same time, I would scrutinize consulting contracts, unnecessary studies, noncompetitive contracting, duplicative services, and programs that continue receiving taxpayer dollars without demonstrating results.
Trenton cannot simply tax its way to prosperity. The long term solution to our tax burden is economic growth and expansion of the tax base.
We need abandoned properties rehabilitated and returned to the tax rolls. We need homeowners purchasing and improving properties. We need businesses occupying vacant storefronts. We need development that produces economic activity and jobs.
I also want Trenton to develop a responsible, long-term strategy to reduce its dependence on Transitional Aid and eventually regain greater control over its own finances.
The goal is an independent and productive city government that works for everyone and delivers.
Trenton needs more of the basic services that residents of a capital city should be able to access without leaving their community.
A major priority is attracting a quality full service supermarket, particularly to the downtown area. We also need additional retail, restaurants, entertainment, professional services, healthcare services, mental health and addiction resources, and employers offering jobs that can support families.
But businesses do not invest simply because a mayor asks them to come.
We have to create the environment in which investment makes economic sense.
That means improving public safety, cleaning our commercial corridors, addressing abandoned properties, making parking and transportation accessible, streamlining permits and inspections, and creating a predictable development process.
Trenton also has an enormous geographic advantage. We are the capital of New Jersey, located between Philadelphia and New York, with significant highway and rail access and thousands of state employees coming into the city.
My administration would actively market those advantages rather than wait for developers to find us. We would work with property owners, developers, financial institutions, the State of New Jersey and the business community to identify opportunities and remove unnecessary barriers to responsible investment.
Economic development has to become something we pursue aggressively, not something we hope happens.
Nonprofits are essential partners in Trenton. Many provide services government either cannot provide or cannot provide as effectively, including homelessness services, youth programs, workforce development, mental health services, addiction treatment, food assistance and other critical programs.
My concern is not whether we should work with nonprofits. We absolutely should. The question is whether those partnerships are producing measurable results for Trenton residents.
Government should establish clear expectations whenever public money, property or resources are involved. What service is being provided? How many Trenton residents are being served? What outcomes are being achieved? Are services being duplicated by multiple organizations? And are taxpayers receiving value from the partnership?
I also believe Trenton must work with nonprofits without allowing the city to become the regional destination for every social problem. Homelessness, addiction, mental illness and poverty are regional issues. Trenton should do its part compassionately, but surrounding municipalities, Mercer County and the State must also share responsibility.
I want to move from a relationship based primarily on funding programs to partnerships based on outcomes, accountability and long term solutions.
My first requirement would be competence.
Department directors should not receive positions because of political relationships, party affiliation, campaign support or personal friendships. They should be selected because they have the education, experience, leadership ability and professional background necessary to manage the department they are being asked to lead.
I would look for individuals with demonstrated management experience, knowledge of their field, experience supervising personnel and budgets, strong ethical standards, and the ability to establish measurable goals and be held accountable for achieving them.
I also want leaders who understand customer service. City government exists to serve the public. Residents and businesses should be treated professionally and respectfully.
My appointees would understand from the beginning that accountability starts with me as Mayor and extends through every department.
I will give department heads the authority and resources necessary to do their jobs, but with that authority comes responsibility. We will establish benchmarks, review performance regularly and report progress to the public.
I am not interested in surrounding myself with people who simply agree with me. I want qualified professionals who will challenge assumptions, provide sound advice and tell me when they believe there is a better way to accomplish our objectives.
The standard will be simple: the most qualified people we can find to serve this city.
