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Though Plainfielders will still find the scrolling notice of 'technical difficulties' on the City's cable TV channels (down since September 7, see my previous post here), I am told the problem may be fixed shortly.
Lamar Mackson, chairperson of the Cable TV Advisory Board, confirmed yesterday that vendor mmm
The stations (channels 34/FIOS or 96/Comcast) have not had regular programming since a September 7 two hard drives failed at the time of a 'brownout' in the City Hall Annex, which was detailed on the Board's blog (see here).
Mackson advised that the consultant, who was owed approximately $2,300 by the City, has since been paid, and the new hard drives were set to be shipped last Thursday.
"Once they are here and installed," Mackson said, "the station will be up and running."
Meanwhile, he said, the Advisory Board has questioned the adminstration's point person, IT Director Chris Payne, about the amount of money spent on the consultants and what exactly Plainfield was getting in return.
'You will find,' Mackson said, 'that while we are supposed to have been getting 'editing' services, no videos of Plainfield's City Council meetings have been posted to the city's website since the April 5 meeting.'
'We are exploring options to improve that situation -- and at a potentially considerable cost savings to the city,' Mackson said.
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In Trenton, Gov. Corzine said New Jersey faces a $1.2B deficit because of the economy.
In Newark, several mayors gathered to sharpen President-elect Obama's focus on urban problems.
In Plainfield, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs put out a basket of snacks.
For the members of the Cable TV Advisory Committee.
It was another night down the rabbit hole in Plainfield, as I attended the Cable TV Advisory Committee's meeting.
The committee -- which for a good portion of the meeting was outnumbered by visitors -- seemed dispirited and frustrated.
There did not appear to be an agenda. There is no current chairperson.
At some point after the meeting's desultory start, a door opened and Mayor Robinson-Briggs entered, wordlessly, placing a basket of cello-wrapped snacks on the table and then leaving.
The laptop presentation by the city's public information officer (PIO) was interrupted more than once by committee member Dottie Gutenkauf over errors --
- a missing 'R' in the word 'PRESENT',
- inconsistent spelling of the Mayor's last name (with or without a hyphen?),
- was another person's last name spelt correctly ('I'm not sure.').
I was stunned by the PIO's attempt to brush it all off by saying that the presentation was meant for the committee only and was not being put up for public viewing.
That makes it better?
It wasn't hard to see why the committee feels frustrated --
- the ball evidently was dropped by the person who said they would see that the committee got a list of its own members and none was forthcoming;
- the list of grant monies for PCTV74 that the PIO was supposed to provide also was not gotten;
- the members weren't even sure everyone had received a notice of the meeting.
Some kvetching was done about perennial issues with Comcast -- prices, channels. But I have been unable to find out whether the Robinson-Briggs administration ever gave the committee a charge to review the Comcast franchise, a process which was to be completed by this past July and seems not to have been done.
To have to have a discussion about lighting and sound issues with regard to prototyping taping Council meetings only revealed the technological abyss at our public access station.
I left the meeting during this discussion. It's no wonder the committee is dispirited.
Meanwhile, the snacks were untouched.
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Tamping the soil around the rootball (DK Images)
Plainfield's Shade Tree Commission is joining with the New Jersey Tree Foundation to 'reforest' Leland Avenue by planting fifty new trees this spring.
The campaign kicks off on Saturday morning, when volunteers will plant the first group of 25 young trees along Leland Avenue in the First Ward.
Volunteers will be taught proper methods for preparing the soil and planting a tree. In addition, says Commission chairperson Greg Palermo, there will be a demonstration on how to plant safely -- with an emphasis on avoiding strain injuries in lifting and moving trees with root balls.
Volunteers will meet at Leland Gardens Circle, Coles Place and Leland Avenue (just before the bridge to North Plainfield). Participants should wear work sneakers or boots and clothes that they do not mind getting dirty.
The project gets under way at 9 AM this Saturday -- rain or shine.
For more information, contact Shannon Buckley of the NJ Tree Foundation at (609) 439-1755 or by email at njtf_sbuckley@yahoo.com.
-- Dan Damon
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Sign at PMUA's new Environmental Resource Center.
Plainfielders looking for a model corporate citizen need look no further than the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA).
Especially with its new Environmental Resource Center on Rock Avenue, formerly known as the 'Transfer Station' (see my previous coverage here and here).
This all comes to mind as I read of Sen. Lautenberg's stumping in northern Jersey, touting a new federal law that gives local communities more authority over waste transfer facilities (see more here).
Thankfully, the concerns of those North Jersey communities are not duplicated here, owing to the long-term vision and hard work of the PMUA Board of Commissioners and the agency's executive team, including executive director Eric Watson and his left hand person Dave Ervin, plus financial whiz Jim Perry. They have shown they know how to get things right.
Attendees outside new ERC's 'big house'.
One question does come to mind, however.
Can the administration of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs reciprocate? Will it be able to get things right in the same way?
Appointments to the PMUA Board of Commissioners are due.
This year's batch should include the regular annual appointment of an alternate, the statutorily required appointment of a commissioner to a full five-year term, and the appointment of a person to fill out the remainder of William Reid's term (Reid resigned when he was appointed to the City Council).
Shouldn't be much heavy lifting here. Let's see if the Robinson-Briggs administration is up to the task.
Oh, by the way. Jimmy the Greek is giving 20-to-1 odds that former Mayor and Councilor Harold Mitchell will replace Reid.
-- Dan Damon
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'Houston Plainfield, we have a problem.' Well, maybe not Plainfield, but the Administration appears to. Again.
You will recall PT muttering last week (Counting to five) that it didn't seem like there should be TWO appointments to full seats on the PMUA board coming up, as Bernice had earlier noted in the Plaintalker.
Well it kept after me just because it seemed so ASYMMETRICAL it didn't make any sense. So PT started to check it out.
First up -- the ordinance passed by the City in September 1995. Below is a scan of the section pertaining to membership (I have merged the portion on the overleaf into one image). Click on any image to enlarge it or check the links at the end of the article to full-size scans posted on the archive blog.
You will note that is quite sketchy, but elsewhere in the ordinance it does refer to the State statute which allows for the setting up of county and municipal utilities authorities. Since the City ordinance doesn't explain how the terms are to be laid out, PT turned hopefully to the State statute.
What a shock he got!
Not only does the statute specify that there will be five full members, it specifies that they will serve 5-year terms and specifically outlines a process whereby it is guaranteed that ONE, AND ONLY ONE, will be appointed to a FULL five-year term in February of each year. (Of course, if a seat falls vacant it is filled FOR THE REMAINDER OF THAT SEAT'S TERM.)
Check it out yourself here --
But that's not all. Guess who does the appointing? It would appear from the language -- and I read it aloud several times -- that it is NOT the Mayor, but the GOVERNING BODY that makes the appointments. (It seems it IS the Mayor only if the form of government is that of a TOWNSHIP, else it is the governing body. Plainfield is, of course, not a Township, but a City -- with a special charter.)
But wait! There's more! The next page contained another shocker, regarding the ALTERNATE MEMBERS.
Two are allowed, again apparently APPOINTED BY THE GOVERNING BODY. But there appears to be an additional wrinkle -- their terms are for FIVE YEARS, and not TWO as Plainfield's ordinance would have it.
Now, PT is not a lawyer, but the plain English of the statute -- and I was always told State statute takes precedence over local ordinances -- suggests that Plainfield has a real mess on its hands in the way it has gone about these appointments.
PT hopes that the Council will be concerned as well, and will get to the bottom of the matter before taking any action on the PMUA appointments.
With President Bush sending our young men and women to die in a war that has as a goal bringing respect for the law to the citizens of that unfortunate land, it hardly seems appropriate that Plainfield should be less concerned about respecting the laws here at home.
Full page printable scans of the State statute and the relevant section of the City's ordinance can be found here.
The State statutes are on the State Legislature's website, and the link to this particular statute is here.
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