Mayor Sharon gets an 'F' for storm response

Among hundreds of trees felled by Sandy, one is this 'city tree'
which narrowly missed striking St. Marks Episcopal Church on Park Avenue.

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs gets an 'F' for her response to Super Storm Sandy, in my humble opinion.

With days of advance notice that the storm was coming, and a quite accurate prediction that landfall would take place along the New Jersey shore and impact central Jersey severely, what public preparations did the mayor take?

The sum of Mayor Robinson-Briggs' public preparations seems to have been designating Emerson and Washington Schools as well as the Senior Center as emergency shelters, and to announce on the city's website that City Hall would be open for business on Monday, October 29, the day the storm hit.

By 5:30 PM that day, Plainfielders had lost power -- some not to regain it for a full two weeks.

In such situations, one of the most important needs of the general population is for INFORMATION.

What is going on? What is being done to recover? What to do about food, shelter, medical emergencies? How to get accurate, timely information on recovery progress?

While we sat in the dark, without power or heat, listening to the hand-cranked emergency radio, we waited in vain to hear Mayor Sharon call in to 101.5 (or WBLS or WNYC or any other station) to give any kind of update as so many other New Jersey mayors were doing.

The mayor did not reach out to Council members, and when they tried to call her cellphone they got a message that her voicemail box was full. Text messages to her asking for updates and volunteering assistance went unanswered.

No wonder that Councilors Mapp, Williams and Storch began to copy and circulate PSE&G and FEMA information by hand in the neighborhoods and to post the same to their blogs.

While the city did post some brief notices on the website, apparently no effort was made to reach out to residents in as many other ways as possible.

This contrasts sharply with Westfield (see Ledger story here), where officials went through the neighborhoods broadcasting on bullhorns, enlisted high school students to circulate flyers throughout the community, and mounted several conference calls between officials and residents (one of which drew 4,600 phones hooked into the call).

In Cranford, the police kept the public in the loop through using Twitter, FaceBook and Nixle (see story here).

Nixle (see more here) is a mass notification system that is free to local police departments. Over 5,000 jurisdictions in the US offer the service, which alerts subscribers by way of text messages. Among towns using the service in our area are Newark, Piscataway, Morristown, Cranford, Hillsborough and South Brunswick. Why not Plainfield?

New Providence's Office of Emergency Management send news updates to the media, which were printed in Ledger and local newspaper outlets (see here).

In Plainfield, there were no bullhorn broadcasts. No students mobilized. No conference calls to dial into for information.

Why not?

While police, fire and public works crews got to work immediately, it wasn't until Saturday, November 3, that a 'press release' from the Mayor was posted on the city's website.

The morning after the storm, the police had traffic flowing through Front Street, Park Avenue and South Avenue, with stop signs mounted at key intersections. (I am told by police sources that Director Hellwig made a cameo appearance and then spent days at his Staten Island home, checking in by phone.)

Public Works crews were busily removing fallen trees that did not have to have PSE&G workers shut down wires first.

The Mayor was nowhere to be seen (helping to explain the persistent rumor that she used the occasion to vacation in Bermuda).

Meanwhile, DPWUD director Eric Jackson, Public Works Superintendent John Louise and City Solicitor Dave Minchello (whose wife had just given birth to a son) worked tirelessly to restore services and monitor PSE&G's progress.

I am told by a source with FEMA connections that no official from Plainfield -- not Mayor Robinson-Briggs, Public Safety Director Hellwig, nor Emergency Management Coordinator Sheldon Green -- contacted them about using the County office building at Park-Madison as a regional office. Instead, FEMA officials unfamiliar with the area located services in a highly inconvenient location for Plainfielders, many of whom are dependent on public transportation.

While in communities such as Fanwood (see story here), Maplewood and South Orange, the library became the community's hub following the storm, Mayor Robinson-Briggs made no such provision for Plainfield.

The city should long ago have concluded that this centrally-located facility with ample parking was a key component of its emergency preparedness plan (if there is one), and should be supplied with backup generators as a permanent capital improvement. In a time where Internet access and wireless electronic devices have become essential, what better place to offer the public access as an emergency service?

Though power has been restored to most of the city, and most streets are cleared (though West 8th is still blocked between Arlington and Central, and the traffic light at West Front and Clinton is still not functioning), what residents need is a sign from the mayor that she has learned how important it is to have an up-to-date emergency plan, and to make relevant portions of it available to the public via the city website.

Doing that would let me improve her grade from an 'F' to a 'D-'.

Still not a passing grade, but better than an 'F'.

---

• Ledger storm coverage --
• Westfield:  "Some towns handled crisis well, some did not"
• Cranford:  "Police use social media to keep public informed"
• New Providence:  "Office of Emergency Management news update"
• Fanwood:  "Library shines as community hub after storm"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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