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Saturday, January 2, 2010

Robinson-Briggs offers half a banana at Council reorg





Plainfield's City Council reorganization got off to a leisurely start on Friday with a small-town feel as residents gathered, exchanging New Year's greetings, hugs and kisses.

Once the Council reorganized, with Councilor at-large Annie McWilliams elected as Council President, Ward 3 Councilor Adrian Mapp elected chair of the committee of the whole, and Ward 4 Councilor Bridget Rivers sworn in and seated, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs was given the floor to deliver her 2010 State of the City Address. (See Bernice's take on the day here; and Olddoc's here.)

Mercifully spared yet another PowerPoint presentation, attendees were showered with a 40-minute recitation of accomplishments and happenings -- both large and small -- that had taken place during the final year of Robinson-Briggs' first term (the Address is online here; in PDF).

(By way of contrast, New York City's Mike Bloomberg covered the details for his somewhat larger burg in just 14 minutes.)

There were little nuggets in the Address if one listened closely --
NEW SUPERMARKET
Mayor Robinson-Briggs announced that a 'major supermarket' would be coming to Plainfield by April 2010. Noting that the City had been trying for many years to bring a big-name player to Plainfield, she showed a board of pictures of the proposed location on South Avenue (the now vacant Drug Fair, which many will recall as the one-time home of a popular and busy Foodtown), adroitly sidestepping the fact that it was the West End which was supposed to benefit from a new supermarket in a development proposed for West Front Street across from the Drake House -- an initiative that fell by the wayside during the Mayor's first term. A sudden drop in her voice as she named the store left many in the room wondering what chain it was. All I heard was '...town'; Olddoc misheard it as Foodtown, but I was told by someone behind me that it is C-Town (I'll have more on that later).
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY 'DIVISION'
Robinson-Briggs noted that she would be 'increasing the level of communications to our residents by enhancing the information technology infrastructure', by creating an IT 'Division' in 2010. Those who understand bureaucratese will immediately recognize the 'D' word as a sign that Robinson-Briggs will proposed to add not just an IT slot, but STAFF to go along with it. While the Robinson-Briggs administration adamantly denied that a person had been preselected for the IT job, word in the street is that the deal is in and that the new hire will be who everyone thought it would be all along, a staffer from another city organization. Meanwhile, one has to wonder about these new 'Division' employees -- are we looking at the hiring of friends, relatives or girlfriends to feed at the public trough? As I said way back when the Council started down this road, there needed to be a Needs Assessment by an outside, independent professional to assure we were not going to be ripped off. Stay tuned on this one.
RADAR BLIPS
There were a few roses strewn, the brown spots on which were glossed over --
  • -- TAX COLLECTION: While the collection rate was a laudable 96.11% (the highest ever, the mayor said), there was no acknowledgment of the oppression of our property taxes or any attempt to control them, nor the difficulties homeowners have had this past year, arguably the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s;

  • -- SWINE FLU: While holding two vaccination clinics was heralded, there was no mention of the total number of shots administered; I suspect we have plenty of unused vaccine and wonder if we will have another clinic -- open to all -- but no mention was made;

  • -- SENIOR CENTER: Mayor Robinson-Briggs went to some pains to tell the audience that the 'dedication' of the new Senior Center back in May, during the height of the Primary season had been scheduled so that Charles Nelson, the ailing chair of the building committee, could see the fruition of his efforts, but that sadly he had 'gone on to Glory' that very day. This could be contrasted with media coverage at the time, which pointedly noted the challenge to the Mayor and Assemblyman in the upcoming primary. Left unspoken was any acknowledgment that the Mayor and Charles Nelson were about as far-removed from each other as could be, and that Nelson had sometimes been a burr under the mayor's saddle;

  • -- GOLDEN GLOVES TOURNAMENT: Mayor Robinson-Briggs repeatedly noted that the Golden Gloves Tournament had been held in cooperation with the Plainfield School District, and that there had been 'no disturbances'. Why that had to be noted was left unsaid, though the mayor did say she would 'like to see [the event] reported on the blogs'. Was she unaware that that is really the bailiwick of the Plainfield Sports News blog (see here), a beat which the rest of the bloggers don't normally cover?
The mayor was stunning in a gold jacket under which she wore an outfit in her trademark bright red.

Though in many ways what was offered was half a banana, that's better than none at all, right?



-- Dan Damon [follow]

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7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dan,

Do you EVER stop griping?

Dan said...

Dear 9 AM -- I'll tell you a dirty little journalistic secret: folks just don't read little puff pieces as avidly as those with an 'edge'.

Or, as some have said, 'If it bleeds, it leads'.

You would probably save yourself an ulcer if you came to the conclusion that while I take great pains to be factual, to an extent the blog is a form of ENTERTAINMENT, or shtick.

The political powers-to-be have all the levers in the world to get out the story the way they see it: website, cable TV station, press releases, media events, taking reporter's phone calls -- it's mind-boggling, really.

I just don't see it as my job to do their job.

Besides, there are plenty of folks who line up daily to be entertained about life in our beloved city as 'The Needler' sees it.

Rob said...

Yeah.. ok.. I will tell you this...ANYBODY who has ever shopped at a C-Town will tell you... NOT a major supermarket. The only consistency I ever found when shopping at the C-towns in Jersey City was out of code product and dirt. They might as well try to have another Twin City open because at least I have never been overwhelmed with out of code product such as found at C-towns.
Per the Major Supermarket Snub of the year..go with Aldi's opening up RIGHT OVER the city line in South Plainfield..I am never over joyed or in love with ALdi's but they are clean.

Anonymous said...

As Rob said, C-Town is know for old expired product and dirty stores. Twin City, which I frequent do to its produce and fresh meats and seafood, would be a bonus to the city. Aldi's, which we have in South Plfd and a new coming soon to Piscataway by Walmart and Lowes, would be a blessing. The stores are immaculate and prices affordable. With the location so close to Fanwood, I cant see a benefit of a C-Town. Lets get Aldi's.

Anonymous said...

Nice to know that the best Plainfield can get is another low class food chain. When will we ever learn that we are no longer second class citizens?

Ever hear of Trader Joe's - Kings - - Whole Foods - Stop and Shop? Would be nice if someone who leads this city would really believe that we deserve better.

C-Town? Aldi's? - OYE

Anonymous said...

Dan,

Regarding the IT "division" rather than an individual to run the IT dept., there is no way that the city council will allow anyone's spouse or boyfriend or girlfriend to be hired is there? And what about the salary? I remember this was a sticking point because the person they wanted to bring over from the school district wanted more money. Why can't this mayor get her personnel director to get a headhunter to find someone who is NOT beholden and who will NOT try to bring friends, cronies or girlfriends over at taxpayer expense?

Anonymous said...

IT DIVISION? the Mayor is out of control if she thinks she can justify another 500,000 encumbrance for "improved communication".

One Director at 125,000/yr
Staff of 5 or 6 at 50,000 per head avg = 500,000 [including benefits]

You dont get MORE for incompetence you get the boot. Why is she still Mayor?

Why did the Council approve this CRAZY expense when we are struggling with substandard services and quality of life, AWFUL schools, and a downtown that we AVOID whenever possible?

I blame the Council more than the Mayor on this. Please forget this and THINK SHARED SERVICES.

We need relief from MORE SPENDING in PLAINFIELD!!