I have just been told that Plainfield PBA #19, in a special meeting Wednesday evening, voted 'no confidence' in Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig.
Sources say union members feel Hellwig misled them with regard to City Council's intentions with regard to striking a budget for FY2010, now more than half gone, concerning possible elimination of ALL captains.
Plainfield's City Council will soon have to act as the executioner in striking a budget, since Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs ducked all responsibility in the matter by deliberately avoiding submitting a budget before the November general election OR the state's budget submission deadline.
With this vote of 'no confidence' in a key appointee, Robinson-Briggs now finds herself in a position similar to that of her predecessor, Mayor Al McWilliams.
This is not a good sign as Robinson-Briggs steps bravely out into the new world of her second term.
-- Dan Damon [follow]
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21 comments:
Sharon is being Sharon and we can't expect the leopard to change it's spots. I hope she can do better, but I see no evidence of it.
This is why you can't have political appointees responsible for dictating staffing of uniformed services. Their responsibility is to the so called "powerbrokers" and not towards proper management of the police division.
I think Hellwig is right. There are too many captains.
Stop whining kids. You have a pension and benefits paid for by the taxpayers.
Go into the real world and see what your benefits will look like. And by the way, there are no pensions out there. It's called a 401K.
@10:52, your rhetoric doesnt work here. We are talking about public safety. Who do you would celebrate if the police department is cut...criminals. Unless that is your motive (hmmmmm)
regardless of the reason of the article..Dan ..seriously...You used the word bravely with regards to The Assistant Mayor Sharon...next time remember the proper way to do it, "bravely" ( wink wink ). I can't think of one brave thing she has done except boldly going to see what Jerry wants her to do. Again, THIS WOMAN IS A HOT MESS and somehow manages to look at herself in the mirror and not be disgusted.
Hellwig is doing a good job and so is the Plainfield Police Dept. But our police need to learn they're not immune from the realities we're all facing.
To 10:52
And don't forget - we get full paid Health Benefits too.
Guess you never had to call for emergency services before.
@1052, your rhetoric doesnt fit this time. When you reduce the quality of our Police force you jeporadize the safety of all Plainfield citizens. The only one who benefits from the reductions are the criminals.
The Police Department has been topheavy for years--the state audit done during the McWilliams administration pointed that out. Nobody is attacking the cops, but how many captains do we need?
Before you question how many CPTs or topheavy. Your first question should be why are they needed. The police department have five bureaus, each bureau is managed/supervised by a CPT. CPTs are non political. They dont work for the mayor or have political agendas. They work for the people of Plainfield. If Hellwig gets rid of the CPTs, there will be noone left with any authority to represent the Citizen, thus Mayor Briggs will have full autonomy over the police force. They only ones benefiting that scenario are Mayor Briggs and friends.
I feel for the police division as they are the finest working under the toughest condition. The forgotten step child is the fire division with crumbling infrastructure and vehicles that the
junk yard would not take. Now Director Hellwig does not replace vacancies or promote. His ideas of cutting budget is to take from the fire and give to the police. Prisoner have better condition then the Plainfield Firefighters. Mayor and Hellwig need to be carted out of Plainfield and find prudent,proffesional people .
After we get rid of the Captains, then let's go after the Lt.'s. Then we can get rid of the Sgt.'s and have no supervision of uniformed personnel. If you think all Captains do is look our over the flock, then you watch too much TV.
Some of my best friends are police captains in Plainfield and they are terrific! The question really is how many captains Plainfield needs and how many we have now. Nobody should expect an automatic promotion.
Way too many Captain, Lt. Sgt and not enough Police officers.
If they don't like Martin, then Martin is doing somthing right. All our Police want is a bog fat check and do nothing in return.
Go Martin. Out with the Captains! The people of Plainfield are behind you Martin!
Well said. Our Fire Division is barely "combat effective" and thats exactly what we ask of our Firefighters when they do battle with fire. The operation there is day by day. Never knowing what will break down next or if someone will get hurt with low staffing or old equipment.
The Fire Division has offered to negotiate taking over EMS to better provide for the citizens for Plainfield and has been pushed to the back burner. Carting Hellwig out in a professional manner is putting it nicely. He should be run out on a rail.
Seriously... How many captains do we need? Won't the six be there but with a different title? Won't Plainfield be getting 6 new officers? Let's be real. Public safety is #1 but if people can't afford to live here what good is it? Besides, won't these folks who were "demoted" still supervise staff?
Once CPTs are eliminated, Hellwig will have free reign and the police department will become puppets to the mayor. Remember when Piv tried to attend an event and was told he couldn't. Who do you think they got their orders from? The CPTs or Hellwig? First the Chief, now the CPTs.
What are the real goals? Any captain who is eligible to retire will not be around to be demoted, as a demotion has a real impact on pension value. So, the city can eliminate the full cost, not just cut the difference between Capt and Lt. A greater area of concern relates to just who will be running the show. The Director is a civilian and by statute cannot manage certain police functions..that is now being done by an assigned captain. Looks like full political control of the PD. You should see how well that has worked in Pa. Or you can just check the federal indictments.
i find the previous comments regarding the cops should join the real world laughable. Is the real world he is referring to fantasy land that we keep safe for him or is the evil, violent saddening world that we live in. We take down the most violent in our society. We come into your homes when you call us to solve your problems. We see dead babies and people writhing in agony from gunshots. We encounter the dark depths of society.
We all do this because we are called to it. We don't ask for much in return; a fair wage, benefits and a pension when we retire after a long stressful career in a crime ridden city. It should be noted that the life expectancy of cops after retirement is fairly short, mostly 5-10 years.
You sir, that can't walk in our shoes can sit back in your desk or whatever you do and be thankful for all that wear a vest and gun everyday. Instead of trying to give us a reality check, you should look into one.
My only concern is as a citizen why does Plainfield a small town have to have a Safety Director at all. Why are we as citizens paying taxes to have a person who is not a citizen of Plainfield decide for for our safety. You a Fire Chief and we use to have a Police Chief why do we need a Safety Director. If any title that need to be eliminated should be Safety Director. Since Sharon Robinson-Briggs and this Safety Director been in office all they have done was cut jobs and titles.. How is that helping the citizens in Plainfield even with the titles and jobs cut Sharon you are still raising the unproctective citizens property taxes in this town. Im so glad I changed my mind at the voting booth during your election. Eliminating the CPTS is not the answer. If you want to eliminate titles start with yours Sharon we all know Jerry Green is running the city.
Speaking of Jerry...is he on vacation somewhere? He's been unusually quiet on all the turmoil with the police and school board.
Maybe he is finally letting the assistant mayor sink or swim! Hope she has a life vest!
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