In Praise of James H. Coston

Jim Coston has been mentioned in this blog before, but never in depth, but I feel at this point that it is very necessary to recognize just what an exceptional person he is. Elsewhere in the world of Trenton revitalization there has been an idea put forth that any private person, politician, business, etc...that has endorsed Mayor Palmer should be "blacklisted." The reasoning behind said blacklisting, I'm assuming, is to send a message to Palmer, and to chip away at his power base, which I don't disagree with in spirit at least. However, I think this situation can be likened to a man going into his doctor's office and finding out he has cancer. Of course, now there must be a treatment plan. Blacklisting EVERY person and business that endorsed Palmer is akin to shooting the cancer patient in the head in order to cure the cancer. I believe this analogy is helpful for seeing the error in the "blacklisting" approach. However, relevant to this post is the fact that eschewing this type of tactic is just one facet of Jim Coston's expert leadership style.

For those of you who do not know much about Jim, I suggest you browse his website, which contains an extensive amount of information about him. The simple fact that the man has bothered to maintain a website (and very impressive site, I might add) speaks volumes of his determination and drive. No other Trenton Councilperson maintains a website. Not one. A resident of the South Ward can log on to www.southtrenton.com and learn about Jim, his positions, the city, and read about new developments at Council, among other things. They also are given more than one way to contact the Councilman should they need to. I wonder if residents of other parts of the city would know how to contact their representatives in Council? I wonder, if they had a problem, would they receive any assistance with it, provided they could even get in touch with their Councilperson? I seriously doubt it since most Councilmembers don't even seem to want residents to show up to meetings, let alone contact them.

Regarding Jim's style of leadership, he is one of the few breaths of fresh air this city has seen in a long time. At first glance, Coston seems like a firebrand, an upstart, and quite a troublemaker. A cursory look at the local paper headlines would give a casual observer that idea. However, when one looks at the big picture, one sees that the reason Coston looks so revolutionary and confrontational is because our frame of reference is simply a bit skewed. In my experience with the city (which spans just shy of 30 years) I have never seen a member of Council who fought harder for accountability and truth, filed OPRA requests with such tenacity, or hounded slumlords with such zeal. Likewise, I have never seen a Councilperson who ever really listened to constituents praise and criticism with equal consideration. Trenton is just not used to people who believe in good government. Though good government is the way it's "supposed to be," it just hasn't been in Trenton for many many years, and Jim is simply doing the people's work. Of course the compassion and dedication to service that Jim brings to the office of Councilman comes from his vocation as a pastor, but I believe that we can find more people like him no matter what their occupation. Perhaps if we had more like people like Jim Coston on City Council, the man himself wouldn't seem so revolutionary. With enough people like him and a Mayor who shares their commitment, perhaps good government would just be "business as usual."

Slan go foill