Santiago Rodriguez has resigned his at-large seat on the Trenton City Council, saying he was protesting executive orders signed by a political foe, Mayor Reed Gusciora.
Rodriguez will leave office on June 30, six months before his term expires. He was not seeking re-election.
“Yesterday we went from a democracy to a dictatorship in Trenton,” Rodriguez said. “Mayor Reed Gusciora and his gang issued and executive order usurping the function of City Council. By executive order he approved around 20 resolutions some of which we had rejected in the past.”
His resignation will allow the state’s most dysfunctional governing body to appoint his replacement, potentially giving a candidate some incumbency before facing voters in the November non-partisan municipal election.
“This short dictator with one stroke of the pen destroyed hour democracy in Trenton,” stated Rodriguez. “Most of the resolutions he imposed are for contracts to his cronies.”
Rodriguez said he had intended to serve the remainder of his term, which was extending when Trenton moved local elections from May to November.