 |
President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued over 3,000 Executive Orders. The most notorious was No. 9066 (shown here) interning Japanese citizens during WWII. Governors and mayors have also used them. They have the force of law. |
Plainfield City Council meets in a combined agenda and business session on Tuesday, November 12 (Monday is a holiday), at 7:00 PM.
Mayor Adrian O. Mapp's first-ever executive order has occasioned considerable comment and questions. But there are plenty of other items worth paying attention to as well.
EXECUTIVE ORDER No. 1
Although this is a first for Plainfield, executive orders at the local level are not unknown in New Jersey.
Mayors Steve Fulop of Jersey City and Ras Baraka of Newark have both used them to reaffirm their city's 'sanctuary' policy regarding undocumented immigrants.
Most often though, they appear to be used exactly as Mayor Mapp is using his: to clarify policy and put departments on notice of the Mayor's expectations.
In this case, it concerns the 'administrative assistants' that Mayor Mapp added to the revised city charter request.
While the revised city charter specified these were to be hired outside of the Civil Service structure, the language in the EO suggests future hires would follow Civil Service guidelines. Perhaps some clarification is needed about the language here?
What is also unusual about the Plainfield EO is that it is presented to the City Council as 'correspondence from the Mayor'.
In other communities, they are simply publicly announced -- though Newark has had a requirement that they be advertised.
OTHER BUSINESS
EMERGENCY APPROPRIATION: The $600K bond ordinance for the emergency appropriation to pay reinstated employees' back wages is up for second reading and passage.City Council meets for a combined agenda and business session at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street and in the lot across from Police Headquarters.
STATE HEALTH PLAN: After having left the state plan, the City is rejoining. I am told coverage under the state plan is better, which begs the question why the City left in the first place.
REDUCING CONTRACT AMOUNTS: Something unheard of -- change orders to reduce contract amounts. Two street resurfacing contracts are being lowered by about $8,000. A first for Plainfield, far as I can recall. Congrats to Director Oren Dabney and crew.
BUS FOR SENIORS: The Senior Center is proposing to make use of a federal program that will pay for 80% of the cost of a new bus for senior transportation. 20% is to be paid by NJ Transit. Kind of makes you wonder why Plainfield never applied before.
REDEVELOPMENT PLANS: The condemnation and non-condemnation plans that have caused so much comments are on for adoption (again), as are proposals to do studies on two vacant inidustrial buildings on Waynewood Park (the street next to Auto Zone), and the former SSYC property on South Second Street.
SPECIAL IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT: The 2020 budget for the new and handily-named Plainfield Central Business District Management Corporation is up for approval also. That total is $162,323 and covers salaries, rent, utilities, insurance, and other overhead. No program expenses are listed (except for $30,000 for holiday decor -- which looks like it is money already in the bank). Looks a little skimpy to me, especially in light of the generous contracts to outside vendors for promotion and 'rebranding' of the city. A Rumpelstiltkin operation?
SCATTERED-SITE REDEVELOPMENT PLAN: The 20-something year-old plan for vacant, abandoned, and city-owned properties is being whittled down in a fifth amended plan, dropping 28 properties from the current list of 78. This was an unusual redevelopment plan because the properties were scattered throughout the city. Development was partially successful with a number of new houses being built, but developer misconduct led to the abandonment of the original effort and nothing has been done for years. All but one of these properties is listed as 'privately owned', and the city-owned one is probably too small to build on.
View today's CLIPS W here. Not getting yoThur own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
About Cookies: This blog is operated by Google, which uses cookies to improve the user's experience. By continuing to read this blog you agree to their use.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment