Trenton mayor Tony Mack.

Carlton Badger, the controversial appointee for Trenton's position of acting director of Housing and Economic Development, withdrew his name from consideration for the post, recently elected Mayor Tony Mack announced Aug. 5.

Henrietta Owusu, who had previously held the director position on a temporary basis, and was chief of housing production for the department, has been appointed in Badger's place.

Mack made the announcement two days after newspaper articles revealed Badger's criminal record. He had pled guilty to unlawful taking in 2003 and served probation and community service for stealing money from his own company, Roi Realty.

Mack tried to use the conference to highlight accomplishments of the 35-day-old administration. He said he had found ways to begin to plug the city's $60 million budget shortfall by identifying $1.2 million in savings on professional services, as well as calling a halt to a $3 million courthouse expansion on Hermitage Avenue.

Mack said sources from an as-yet-unidentified private philanthropic organization would help avert the closure of five of the city's branch libraries, and said the city's senior centers would remain open and expand their transportation offerings.

He promised that forthcoming police layoffs would not affect the number of patrol officers on the street.

He said a $3.2 million federal community block grant to engage in a "massive overhaul" of the city's parks and recreation buildings, including building a computer learning center and an indoor track. He said former NFL player Troy Vincent was working with the city to build a multi-purpose football/soccer field.

Mack also announced that attorney Andrew Weber had volunteered to serve as acting business administrator. Weber was Gov. Jim Florio's chief counsel in 1990.

But the press conference was marked by a showdown between Mack and a pair of reporters from the Trentonian.

Police entered the Mayor's conference room when reporters for the Trentonian, L.A. Parker and Paul Mickle, bombarded Mack with questions about Badger. Mack at first ignored Mickle's question about whether Mack knew about Badger's criminal record before appointing him. Mickle and Parker continued to shout questions at the Mayor as he brushed them aside and answered another reporter's question about the firing of city clerk Cordelia Staton the previous day.

An armed plainclothes police officer asked Mickle to "step outside" the conference room, but Mickle refused. Two uniformed officers entered the room, but made no further attempt to escort Mickle out.