Surfing Plainfield's official website (see here) is always such an adventure. It reminds me of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America while looking for a way to 'the Indies'.
While looking for something else, I stumbled on what purports to be an update on Plainfield's quest for monies from President Obama's stimulus (ARRA) program (see here).
I say 'purports' because the discrepancies start right off with the opening page, which says figures are as of July 21, 2009. Really?
Highlights indicate web page 'date' versus real date created. Click to enlarge.
Looking at the PDF document's secret hiding place shows it was created on Monday, August 3, at 5:44 PM, a far cry from July 21 (two weeks, to be exact).
The web posting appears to be created from a PowerPoint presentation whose slides show various breakdowns of grants applied for (or not, if they are simply distributions by formula), and amounts awarded (or not).
Does the update include the $2.5 million for affordable housing on the PNC parking lot the city has proposed (see my post here)? You will be hard-pressed to figure it out, as dollar amounts don't align.
Alas, it also does not align well with the city's well-hidden 'Stimulus Tracking' subsite (which you can find here), and you will get a headache trying to match the update numbers with the original figures -- starting with the total amounts: $11.162 million on the original web pages, as against $20.762 million in the update document.
What?! We've asked for more than $10.5 million more since April and you never heard about it? You must have been dozing. Or maybe you blinked. Or maybe no one told you.
In any event, there is one number that may explain the update's timing and the date of its posting on the city's website.
That would be a ZERO. On slide three.
It's the ZERO as in the amount received against the $937,552.87 requested for the COPS grant.
Could this update have anything to do with the questions raised in the blogosphere by Olddoc and others about why Plainfield was not among the New Jersey communities to receive a COPS grant?
Plainfield's accounting for the Stimulus Money, still hokey after all these months.
Just can't get that Simon & Garfunkel track out of my mind.
Would I be convicted by a jury of my peers?
- City of Plainfield
Posts
4 comments:
I read this at the suggestion of Rahway Rising. While it's apples-to-artichokes, it significantly raised my sophistication level regarding the local condo situation.
http://nymag.com/realestate/features/57904/
Phew, I am so glad you found something wrong with the presentation. That data mismatch must be something reaaaal sinister.
Bet Charolette and Jerry were involved in that. Maybe even Corzine.
Thank god you were there to spot the errors, else we would all have focused on the $2M that the city has been awarded.
Now we know (yet again) how slimy Jerry and Charoltee are. Wow! They are really going to rot in hell now Dan.
Why do they think they are - separate dates. What is next? The will stop using PDF formats? The horror of this administration!!
But we know better. And it is all thanks to you. WOW!
5:30 PM -- Don't you get it?!
It would be so simple to leave me with nothing to write about but the weather. All anyone would have to do is care about seeing to it that the public, who elect the officials and pay the bills, got decent, timely, accurate information.
Now, just what is so hard about that?
BTW, have you tried to call anyone at City Hall in the last two days? Suppose it was something important you wanted to find out about? Or maybe something you needed to let the City know.
Or maybe you're happy the phones AREN'T ringing, with those pesky taxpayers or whoever....
"It would be so simple to leave me with nothing to write about but the weather. All anyone would have to do is care about seeing to it that the public, who elect the officials and pay the bills, got decent, timely, accurate information.
Now, just what is so hard about that?"
Dan, nothing wrong with that. You mean to say you used to do all of the above when you were the public information officer of Plainfield? Please entertain us some more pearls of wisdom and you boundless dedication to Plainfield.
Please...we need a few more laughs in this bad economy.
Post a Comment