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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Congratulations to 'AJ' Jalloh, Plainfield's new Municipal Clerk


Movin' on down the road to 'just and capable'...
Congratulations to Plainfield's new city clerk, Abubakar Jalloh, who was confirmed and sworn in at Monday's City Council meeting by Freeholder Linda Carter.

AJ, as he is known to one and all, earned his spurs under just-retired clerk Laddie Wyatt.

His appointment comes at a crucial time for the City and for the Clerk's office. AJ will have plenty on his plate, managing the responsibilities of the Clerk's office with reduced personnel AND moving the office ever forward in the new digital age of access to documentation.

This last will actually make AJ's life easier in the long haul, as everything that is done by City Hall employees -- from contracts to agendas to applications, permits and records of every department and division -- is increasingly done DIGITALLY, making access to this information structured, easy, and transparent will significantly reduce the need to spend time at the counter servicing resident requests.

Though appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the  Council, the Municipal Clerk's duties are structured by the state, and New Jersey's municipal clerks are thus set free from local petty politics to serve the peoples' needs, and are answerable for their conduct and the performance of their duties not to local elected officials, but to the state's Department of Community Affairs.

It is a considerable responsibility, and will play a key role in helping the Queen City move forward into the challenges of the 21st century.

One word of advice as AJ moves from being an employee to being in charge, and effectively becoming a public figure (which I received once when preparing for the priesthood):

You will get credit for many things which are not of your doing; and you will get blame for many things which are not your fault. Success will come with learning to live with both...
To AJ, best wishes for much success and a long, useful and fulfilling career as Municipal Clerk!


-- Dan Damon [follow]

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats! I have some advice for AJ.....STAY AWAY FROM JERRY GREEN!

YEP I SAID IT!!! said...

All the best AJ!
There is a long road ahead of you.

Anonymous said...

You see, even Dan has a heart!

Anonymous said...

He came from Greens office,can he be trusted not be just anouther Dem puppet? Does he live in plainfield? All of Green/Briggs team dont want to live here as the charter states,but they will be making lifetime decisions for those of us who live here in this Queen City paying very high taxes.

Anonymous said...

Priesthood? Lol!