The Council meeting in 11 words, plus or minus

Last night's Plainfield City Council meeting can be summed up in 11 words: When all was said and done, more was said than done.

The Robinson-Briggs administration (surprise!) failed to bring a budget proposal to the table, as had been promised at the last Council meeting, which promise became one reason for calling this special meeting.

Upon a motion by Councilor Bill Reid, the Monarch condos tax abatement ordinance was withdrawn (yet again), evidently because sufficient information for the Council to feel it can go forward is yet to be produced by the Administration. CORRECTION: I surmised. The reason for the withdrawal of the ordinance was that no Executive Session was -- or could be -- held, as Councilor Mapp makes clear in a blog post published mid-morning today (see here).

(An attorney with Wiener & Lesniak, the law firm of Sen. Ray Lesniak, which represents the Dornoch/Fishman/P&F entity, along with a woman attorney for the UCIA accompanying him, got up and left the room without a word after the proposed ordinance was withdrawn. I wonder why he was there at all, with his big file folder of papers.)

An ordinance to EXCEED the FY2010 municipal budget appropriation limits and establish a 'cap bank' was passed on first reading, with only Councilor Storch dissenting -- because he thought a little externally applied fiscal restraint would be a good thing. You will want to pay attention to the discussion and the Robinson-Briggs administration's rationale as this one unfolds.

An unwarranted attack of bloviation was brought on by a resolution approving Councilor Mapp's attendance at the annual Black Issues Convention. Ostensibly meant to provide transparency concerning Council members' expenditures (there has been serious recent abuse, if you recall), the discussion was anything but razor sharp about why Mapp's minor expenditure ($375) was singled out and whether every Councilor will be REQUIRED to jump through the hoops as Mapp was made to do.

Councilor McWilliams politely inquired whether there was a policy on Councilors' expenses and if there was, whether it could be shared with the Council members. It occurred to me to wonder why no other Councilors were planning on going to the Convention, attendance at which was de rigueur when Malcolm Dunn was on the Council.

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-- Dan Damon

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