Merkle Cherry, who was fired by former Mayor Douglas Palmer, started work Monday
TRENTON -- Trenton's newest cabinet appointment quietly began work this week amid questions over his qualifications and past job performance, but the state confirmed on Wednesday that it did approve his hiring.
Acting Public Works Director Merkle Cherry Merkle Cherry, who previously worked for the city but was fired in 2000, was named by Mayor Eric Jackson as the acting public works director. He started Monday and is expected to go before City Council for advice and consent in the coming weeks.
The state's Department of Community Affairs, which has oversight in the city's hiring and firing decisions as part of its transitional aid agreement, approved the waiver request to hire Cherry, subject to a mandatory three-month probationary period, spokeswoman Tammori Petty said.
Petty said the city received three resumes for the position and ultimately selected Cherry. That differs from what Jackson told NJ Advance Media on Monday when he said Cherry was the "overwhelming" favorite for the job from a list of eight to 10 candidates.
Cherry's first stint with the city began in 1992 when he was hired as a senior administrative analyst in the Recreation, Natural Resources and Culture department.
In 1994, he was named director of the Weed and Seed program, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to reduce violent crime, gang activity, drug trafficking and drug use and promote neighborhood revitalization. Trenton was among the initial sites when the pilot began in 1991.
Cherry was promoted to department director in 1996. But in May 2000, after learning the city had lost its Weed and Seed status, Mayor Douglas Palmer fired Cherry and suspended then-program director Blanca Ohler. The city had failed to adequately complete its recertification application in four of the seven categories.
Funding for the program was restored the following year under Cherry's replacement, Francis Blanco, who is now Jackson's chief of staff.
Cherry's firing also came after various city officials had expressed concerns about dirty parks, poor park security, slow park renovations and disappointing special events.
"There are an awful lot of things that happened and are happening," Cherry said, defending his job performance in a May 2000 Times of Trenton article. "I'm proud of the things that happened in the time I directed my department."
Cherry later went into banking, working as a financial advisor through the 2000s, according to his profile on the BrokerCheck database. He also ran unsuccessfully for an at-large city council in 2002.
For the past two years, he has been the operations director at Henry J. Austin Health Center. A woman who answered the phone there Tuesday refused to comment on his employment status.
Some residents have questioned whether Cherry has the qualifications necessary to run the public works department, which oversees roads, trash, public utilities and the maintenance of city-owned properties.
There have also been concerns about whether it was premature for Cherry to begin work as acting director before council gave him advice and consent.
City code says "whenever a vacancy exists in any office required ... to be filled by the mayor with advice and consent of council, and there is no holdover incumbent, the mayor may temporarily fill such vacancy by appointing an active officer."
But even though the department has been without a permanent director since Jacqueline Foushee left in February, there was not a true vacancy since Deputy Director Sean Semple has been serving as the acting head. Council had in fact granted him a 90-day extension on Sept. 15 until a permanent director was named.
By contrast, when Leslie Graham was named the acting inspections director last year, he was filling a position that had been vacant since the mayor was sworn in in July 2014. Business Administrator Terry McEwen and Blanco had been sharing the duties.
The city's law director, Marc McKithen, said on Tuesday that an acting director can replace another acting director.
With most of his previous cabinet appointments, Jackson announced his picks, but in Cherry's case, the city only confirmed when asked.
"I believe he has a lot of assets that will serve us well -- serve the administration well and the community as well," Jackson said Monday.
The mayor, who worked with Cherry during the Palmer administration, said he had done an "admirable" job.
"That was a long time ago and we've come a long way," Jackson said. "I think he's the right guy."
Cherry is the father of Colin Cherry, who is a management assistant to McEwen.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.