In what appears to be a never-ending saga of legal drama and bad behavior, controversial ex-Trenton City Council member Robin Vaughn is being threatened with a legal judgment from a division of the state’s Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in Trenton for failing to pay a fine.
According to a document filed earlier this week by Trenton government officials and obtained by NJ Urban News, the Trenton Division of Local Government Services will file a judgment against the disgraced ex-council woman for failing to pay a fine of $1,350.00 stemming from her participation in the previous Trenton City Council’s lethargy and ineptitude in passing a timely city budget last year. The letter gives Vaughn fourteen days–until March 22 to pay the fine in full or face a judgment.
Vaughn lost her bid to unseat incumbent mayor Reed Gusciora. And late last month, she was named a plaintiff in another lawsuit challenging the validity of the most recent Trenton City Council elections. That suit is still pending. And late last year, she was named as a defendant in another lawsuit by the Trenton police director.
In the letter that was sent via certified mail to Vaughn on or about March 8, 2023, Jacqueline Suarez, director of the Local division of Local Government Services, said, “The Division is in receipt of email correspondence dated December 29, 2022, from Edward Kologi, Esq, Legislative Counsel for the Trenton City Council, asking that the penalty imposed upon you be reversed and vacated. I decline to do so.”
A $25 per day fine was imposed on all Trenton City Council members, including Vaughn, in October 2022, for failing to pass a municipal budget. According to reports, at least six council members, then headed by embattled ex-council president and failed mayoral candidate Kathy McBride, were assessed the daily fine. How many council members paid or had the fines dismissed remains unclear. Vaughn did neither.
Vaughn’s four-year reign as Trenton’s West Ward representative was marred by lawsuits, public expletive-laced shouting matches, an assault, and repeated calls for her to resign from top New Jersey politicos, including Governor Phil Murphy and State Senator Cory Booker. She has not commented about the most recent debacle nor responded to previous calls and emails from reporters.