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Monday, June 29, 2009

Connolly Properties: Something the Mayor and Burney could do



If Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs had not pressed in the opening months of her term in 2006 to dismantle the ordinance requiring annual city inspection of multi-family rental units, it is most likely the Connolly Properties residents would not be faced with the multitude of issues uncovered by Courier reporter Mark Spivey's dogged investigation (see links at end of story).

The ordinance also required the landlord to pay for an inspection every time an apartment turned over, as well as provide floor plans of bedrooms (important in case of a fire, but which might also indicate illegal partitioning of rooms -- including basements and attics), as well as emergency contacts (required by state law, but often honored in the breach), the property owners' actual addresses (often not on file), and fuel oil and trash collection contacts.

A special team was set up within the Inspections Division to handle the process and was even equipped with handheld devices to record conditions in the field and download reports back in the office.

Owners of large multi-family rental properties, of which Connolly Properties is the largest, lobbied against the program.

Ray Blanco, my neighbor and friend who was Council President in Mayor Robinson-Briggs' first year (2006), told me privately that he was acquiescing in the rescission of the ordinance as an 'olive branch' gesture to Assemblyman Jerry Green and Robinson-Briggs, who wanted the ordinance repealed and the inspections program dismantled.

I have no doubt Mayor Robinson-Briggs is genuinely upset over the conditions that have come to light on her watch. But, her pledge to launch comprehensive inspections of all the Connolly properties (see here) smacks of locking the barn door after the horse is out.

Even Councilor Burney, who went along with dismantling the inspections ordinance in 2006, is now calling for 'strong enforcement from the City and [the] state' (see here).

In the spirit of making helpful suggestions that Assemblyman Jerry Green is always advocating, I offer the following:
Undertaking the inspections the Mayor seems to have in mind is probably not realistic, given the magnitude of the task. Far better would be to reinstate a PLANNED inspection program -- annual, with additional inspections of units as they turn over -- and STICK TO IT, rather than a Keystone Kops-style crash program which will go away as soon as the headlines do.
Mayor Robinson-Briggs and the City Council, under the leadership of Council President Burney, would do the residents, tenants and taxpayers of Plainfield a REAL SERVICE if they would reinstate the rescinded ordinance.



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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am glad you gave this history. The city council are like sheep. Did anyone on the council object to Blanco's acquiescence, or did they all go along?

olddoc said...

Although a immediate short term answer, this is a band aid. I urge active pubic support for my suggestion of an complete review of all facets of Plainfield's TO.

If no action is started long befor elections we will know who benifits by this.

Anonymous said...

How could anyone fall for such a tactic as to rescind CO's. They are the most important protections from slumlords such as Connoly. Sorry readers...the shoe fits. They assure the City that its landlords are keeping the places safe and habitable. They protect the Tenants from landlords like this. If the apt is not to code, it does not get occupied until it is. It is done all over NJ. It should be mandated by the State.

Anonymous said...

The city council went along with Blanco and the people have suffered ever since. Why doesn't council president Burney say anything? He is not being "transparent" in this instance, he just does Jerry and Sharon's dirty work behind closed doors.