We demand better State office building development, fostering a more dense, walkable, livable, beautiful city.

​ Our Lawsuit - Status:

In January, with the support of many concerned stakeholders, we sought a court injunction to stop the sale of $250 million in bonds by the NJEDA and intended for the ill-conceived state office building project, a plan that would trample upon the recently enacted Trenton 250 Master Plan as well as the State’s own Capital City Redevelopment Corporations’ Renaissance Plan.

Governor Christie, intent to sell the bonds before his term ended, surely knew his odds were good against a grassroots community group, and indeed, the lower courts ruled in his favor, denying an injunction and allowing the bond sale to go forward. Governor Christie’s friends got their lucrative payday.

We considered continuing our challenge to the NJ Supreme Court because we believe that the bond sale was clearly unconstitutional and a violation of both the rights of our State Legislators as well as the rights of all New Jersey voters. Yet upon close consultation with our attorney, we determined that even as there are important constitutional issues at stake, our organization, Stakeholders Allied for the Core of Trenton, must focus our limited resources on achieving a better development plan for our downtown.

Our lawsuit was comprised of four counts, one of which was very specific to Trenton, and three which addressed violations of the state constitution and state administrative laws.
The legal issue most important to Trenton and now our immediate focus: The Christie Administration never conducted the impact study as required by the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation regulations.  In fact, even as impact studies are understood to be necessary very early in any planning process in order to lessen any potential negative impacts, they apparently intended to provide an impact study only after the fact, once the project was well underway.

Next Steps:

We will communicate with Governor Murphy’s Treasury Department our request that the following steps be taken:
Institute an immediate moratorium on expenditures related to this project, including all pre-development contracts and activity. 
Defease the bonds: The NJEDA Bonds which were sold in January will severely limit the state’s ability to control project costs, obtain the best deal structure and project design. The State Treasurer should complete the necessary analysis and process to defease the bonds (refund bond buyers) in order to allow maximum flexibility in project design, cost-benefit and maximum conformance with both City of Trenton and the CCRC Master plans.
Expedite a thorough project review and the completion of impact studies mandated by CCRC legislation and the Environmental Assessment mandated by Executive Order 215 of 1989, for all major state construction projects be completed by the NJDEP.  
Convene an advisory commission to broaden input beyond just state officials, to assure the project proceeds in a manner that will allow for creation of the required state office space, while addressing parking needs, fostering the use of public transportation, giving due consideration to the tax ratable impact for the City of Trenton among other considerations.  Such a commission would include local elected officials, along with Trenton stakeholders and urban development experts.  This commission would be required to make its recommendations within a defined period of time.​

The Constitutional Challenge - Can you help?

Two counts  of our lawsuit challenged the bond issue by the NJEDA as a violation of the Lance Amendment to the state constitution, which requires a ballot vote to approve bond obligations of this size.  Another count challenged the role of the NJEDA in taking on the development of State office buildings, since this role clearly belongs to the NJ Building Authority, an entity for which the legislature has veto authority, but which had been deliberately bypassed by the Christie Administration.
If we can identify partners to pursue the constitutional matters, we can file a new lawsuit in the Trial court at any time.  Interested individuals are invited to read our legal briefs HERE and the State of NJ's legal briefs HERE
Contact us at; Stakeholders.act@gmail.com

Support the legal fund!

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Calling All Trenton Election Candidates:

All candidates running in the upcoming Trenton municipal elections are invited to submit a short statement outlining you position on the state office building plans.  We will post on this website and circulate via social media.  Email: stakeholders.act@gmail.com

Trenton Candidates' Statements

Reed Gusciora - Candidate for Mayor: The plan presented by former Governor Christie’s Administration to address the need for new state office buildings in Trenton, offers in equal parts, disastrous planning for our downtown and a huge missed opportunity. Read More

Recent Press

4/4/18 - US 1 Newspaper: Stakeholders to Governor: Stop the Bad building plan
3/28/2018 - The Downtowner: ACT and water battle rages on
3/1/2018 - The Downtowner: Stakeholders to Governor: Stop the bad building plan.
1/22/2018 - NorthJersey.com: $1 billion of NJ debt added without required voter approval
1/22/2018  NorthJersey.com: Christie's Sleight of Hand: Debt as Leases
1/11/18 - Trenton Times: Trenton sidelined
1/8/2018 - North Jersey.com: NJ Borrows nearly $376 million
​1/4/2018 - NJ Spotlight: Judge refuses to block contentious sale
1/4/18 - the Trentonian: Judge does not stop funding for Trenton office buildings
1/4/2018 - New Jersey Law Journal: Judge won't halt bond issue for disputed State construction project
1/3/2018 - the Observer: Judge declines to block bond sales for State buildings
12/29/17 - Record (editorial): Christie ignores State debt
12/28/2017 - the Record: Opponents go to court to block Christie's bond sale
12/22/17 - the Trentonian: Opponents sue Gov Christie in hopes of blocking Trenton state construction project
12/21/2017 - Trenton Times: Opponents sue to block Christie from borrowing $250 million for new Trenton office buildings
12/20/17 - US1: US 1 Newspaper - 12/20/17
12/20/17 - NJTV: Assemblyman sues to stop proposed State buildings in Trenton
12/20/17 - Town Topics: State Committee approves controversial Trenton project
12/18/17 - NJ Spotlight: Legal bid to stop $200m state bonds for controversial Trenton construction
12/18/17 - the Record: State borrows $228 million for new Taxation and Health Department Buildings
12/17/17 - NJ Spotlight: Op-Ed by Senator Robert Torricelli 
12/07/17 - Trentonian: Trenton residents to sue NJ
12/07/17 - Star-Ledger: Christie plan advances despite residents' objections 
12/07/17 - Trentonian: Christie plan ramrodded through despite no resident support
12/07/17 - NJ Spotlight: Pols play musical Chairs - Trenton Project gets green light

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