By Debra DeHaney-Howard
October 26, 2009

Conference Past President Trenton Mayor Douglas H. Palmer announced to more than 400 Trentonians and other special guests a new direction for his Trenton First Initiative – a nonprofit organization that he established 15 years ago to provide resources to various activities and programs for residents in the city.

“In the past 15 years, my foundation has provided scholarships to city students, helped Little League baseball players, and other efforts like that, but a new effort will focus on green energy technology,” Palmer said.

In his remarks at the October 20 event, Palmer described how he began thinking about changing the focus of TFI after traveling with President Bill Clinton to Africa in 2007. “I witnessed the work of President Clinton’s Global Initiative which focuses on AIDS and climate issues. Seeing his successes inspired me to do more with my foundation.” Palmer said.

“Seeing what he was able to do with this global initiative, in terms of energy, in terms of AIDS, I said, you know, I’m going to expand and enhance Trenton First from an organization that would give scholarships, that would do ads and work with Little League teams and those things to one that would help low- to moderate-income families go green with retrofitting of homes, solar panel installation, and other green technology,” he said.

Palmer told the audience that he got to know President Clinton and the First Lady and now Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 1990s through his work with The U.S. Conference of Mayors. He described the impact of meeting people in Africa who said they were alive because of the efforts of the former President’s work on negotiating low-cost AIDS treatments.

In his remarks, Clinton stated that Palmer is a person who has “always been ahead of the curve” especially in his work on climate and green technology projects. Speaking to the Trenton First Initiative, Clinton noted that it’s similar to the Clinton Global Initiative in that it provides additional services that governments cannot. “It’s very important that you understand that this is a big part of the 21st century. Because no matter how good the mayor is, no matter how good the governor is, and no matter how good the President and the Congress are, there’s always going to be a gap between where we are and where we ought to be. You know it and I know it,” he said.

“And the rest of us have to step forward and fill that gap,” he said. “So I’m here because Trenton has got something here [TFI] that is a precious resource. You need to nourish this, and hone its mission.”

Clinton told the audience, “If we went into every poor neighborhood here in Trenton and retrofitted every home, and we got the churches and community groups and everybody to help, and we did what I tried to negotiate for all of these cities — to access the least expensive, high-quality insulation and light bulbs — every working family could save 20 to 25 percent on their utility bill. That’s better than any tax cut.”

“If we retrofitted every city, every county, every state building in this country, every college building, every hospital, every auditorium, it would create well over a million jobs within the next year,” he said.

In addition to Clinton, others joining Palmer on the dais were New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, who all gave brief remarks praising Palmer’s work over the past 17 years as mayor of Trenton.

Also attending Palmer’s announcement were several mayors from New Jersey, including Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, East Orange Mayor Robert Bowser and Atlantic City Mayor Lorenzo Langford, and other guests, including Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran.

In discussing Palmer’s work, Cochran said, “The Trenton First Initiative reflects Mayor Palmer’s continuing and strong commitment to make Trenton one of the greenest cities in our nation. His work is another outstanding example of mayors leading on climate protection, as more than 1000 U.S. mayors who have joined as signatories to the Conference’s Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.”