Wynn defends himself on treatment of Queen City Baseball League

Last night's QCBL appearance echoed that of 2010 (above)
except that the City has lost all credibility.

 

When he finally deigned to make an appearance at Monday's Plainfield City Council meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Dave Wynn defended himself on the treatment of the Queen City Baseball League (QCBL) by saying he was unaware of its existence, causing the room to erupt in a buzz and chuckles.

I think it was Marx (Karl, not Groucho) who said things repeat themselves -- the first time as tragedy and the second time as farce, and that is what appears to be happening (see here).

Though the inconvenience for the QCBL organizers is real, and a repetition of roadblocks thrown up by Wynn (acting on behalf of Mayor Robinson-Briggs, who has never contravened him) in prior years, he came across this time around as the buffoon, very much a farce, and with his principal defender being a paid seasonal worker, Roland Muhammad.

Mr. Muhammad himself is coming under scrutiny over several questions.

First there is the fact that he is a seasonal employee, limited by law to a maximum of six months employment per year. There are questions of whether that limitation has been abused by Director Wynn, whether or not under direct orders from Mayor Robinson-Briggs.

Secondly, QCBL speakers reported that Mr. Muhammad attempted to throw one of its T-Ball (ages 4-6) teams off a practice field at Hubbard School.

This should open a whole can of worms for the Recreation Division, since school grounds and facilities are not City properties, and there is no reason to believe that the City can control their use -- apart from any permission the Recreation Division has from the Board of Ed. I am given to understand that Mr. Wynn has been tardy in submitting his own requests to the Board of Ed for use of school grounds and facilities.

Then there is the question of who delegated Mr. Muhammad to be Mr. Wynn's 'enforcer'. City Administrator Eric Berry said Monday that he was unaware Mr. Muhammad was even a city employee.

Mr. Berry owes it to himself and to Plainfield taxpayers to familiarize himself with the ins and outs of the employee roster to prevent even the appearance of abuse of the public trust and purse. For example, once the Administration became aware of Monday's agenda containing a discussion item on the QCBL issue, Mr. Wynn should have been told by his superiors that his presence was expected at the Council meeting as a matter of course rather than Mr. Berry having to scurry out to the hall to try and reach Wynn on his cellphone when things had reached the boiling point.

And secondly, if Mr. Berry had known of Mr. Muhammad's employment there could have been appropriate clarification of the policy of employees addressing the Council so that Mr. Muhammad's role was fully disclosed and not falsely cloaked as merely an 'interested citizen' as he has portrayed himself in the past.

Wynn's laughable attempt to pretend the Queen City Baseball League was an entity unknown to him ought to undermine any credibility he has on the issue of fair treatment of the independent league.

Councilors Mapp and McWilliams were quite right to focus attention on Mayor Robinson-Briggs, who with a single word could be the adult in the room and enforce fair play all around.

The Council is in hopes that Robinson-Briggs will appear next Monday and do just that. I am not so hopeful. Dare we hope that the woman who stomps her way through City Hall shouting 'I am the f***ing mayor!' is in any way interested in being reasonable?

Citizens have their own way of responding to such abusiveness. As one QCBL speaker confided to a member of the audience, 'and to think I voted for her -- twice -- but I won't make that mistake again'.

---

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.