Mayor Sharon coddles City Hall criminality

A close examination of criminality at City Hall raises the question of why Mayor Sharon -- who touts herself as having 'reduced crime in Plainfield by 300 percent!' -- coddles criminal activity when it takes places at City Hall.

Here is a partial list of City Hall crimes and Mayor Sharon's involvement --

$135,00 SPENT WITHOUT COUNCIL APPROVAL

Mayor Robinson-Briggs' first City Administrator, Carlton McGee, with her approval was inclined to spend city funds without going to the Council, as I reported back in December 2006 (see here) -- involving payments to an Information Technology consulting company in which McGee was said to be an undisclosed principal, and whose bid documents were incomplete. McGee is long gone, but Mayor Sharon is with us still.

$25,000 PAYMENT BEFORE SERVICES PERFORMED

Mayor Robinson-Briggs also let McGee pay an insider consultant friend of his $25,000 to help float bond anticipatory notes he had forgotten were rolling over -- IN ADVANCE and WITHOUT COUNCIL AUTHORIZATION (see here). I tell you, people go to jail for this stuff, but not under Mayor Sharon.

$41,000 MISSING FROM TAX COLLECTOR'S OFFICE

Mayor Robinson-Briggs has never brought the person who stole an entire deposit (approximately $41,000) from the Tax Collector's office to justice. I originally reported back in 2006 (see here) and was told by police sources that a 'forensic investigation' was under way. Mayor Sharon has resolutely avoided answering questions about the missing money, what she knew or when she knew it, and why she didn't do anything to the perp.

MISSING HEALTH DEPARTMENT CASH RECEIPTS

When it became known that the monies paid in cash by a restaurant for its Health Certificate renewal were never deposited, even though the employee had given the owner a receipt for the cash, a ruckus ensued. What did Mayor Sharon do? She fired the Health Officer who was pursuing the matter. Though the Health Officer later won reinstatement, with back pay, by an Administrative Law Judge, no employee was ever prosecuted for the theft. How's that for protecting Plainfield's taxpayers from crime?

MAYOR'S BODYGUARD & MISSING PBA FUNDS

When one of Mayor Robinson-Briggs' personal bodyguards was charged with writing checks on the PBA's accounts for his personal use, it is said that the Mayor intervened with the Prosecutor's Office on behalf of the cop, who has since had to resign from the force, though in a plea deal no guilt was admitted.

MISSING CHANNEL 74 EQUIPMENT

When Mayor Robinson-Briggs fired PCTV 74's original staffer, an inventory of thousands of dollars worth of equipment was signed off on by Craig Smith, then the City's purchasing agent, when the staffer inventoried the equipment and went over it with Smith. After Robinson-Briggs hired new staff, reports began to circulate that much of the equipment -- including cameras, VCRs, editing decks, computers, and software to run the community bulleting board -- had disappeared. After inquiries, the Mayor has yet to give a reply or match any current equipment with the inventory submitted by the departing staffer and certified by Smith.

So, with a record of coddling City Hall criminality, what should the voters do on Tuesday?

How about voting for a candidate who truly stands for law and order?

Adrian Mapp.

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-- Dan Damon

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