What is it with Recreation and money?

 

'Murky' is probably the best description that can be mustered for the relationship between Plainfield's Division of Parks and Recreation and money, and it proved to be true at Tuesday's special Council meeting, where several questions were raised about funding of Recreation items.

The provision of a line-item version of the 3-month temporary budget appropriation in the publicly distributed agendas stirred considerable interest among attendees -- and Councilors.

Acting City Administrator Kochel and CFO Zilinksi were asked specifically by the Council to provide a breakout of the details behind the $44,000 item titled 'Independence Day, Other Expense', a line item disbursed through the Rec Division.

There was also some back-and-forth over several items covering 'seasonal employees' and 'summer pool program' salaries and wages. A little math-in-the-margin of my handout showed the City putting up $269,000 in salaries and wages for seasonal employees for the next three months only. Would the Council's budget deliberations be better informed if that number were looked at in detail? (Something for the Citizens Budget Advisory Comittee to consider asking about?)

Then there was a further $49,700 earmarked for 'Other Expenses' for the Rec Division for the next three months? Again, details would no doubt be helpful for the Council and the CBAC.

The recent auditor's findings cited, yet again, the perennial problem of the Recreation Division's handling of cash receipts. The auditor's specific point is that Rec consistently fails to make deposits within the required statutory time limit (48 hours). Worse, I have been told by City Hall sources the loosey-goosey handling of cash receipts raises questions about whether monies have gone astray. Surely the Robinson-Briggs administration should want this situation straightened out?

Perhaps most interesting of all is the little 'Prior Years Bills' item for $63,331.51 tucked in near the end of the temp budget appropriation.

Pressed by Councilor Mapp, CFO Zilinski and Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson allowed as how this covered claims for unpaid bills by T&M, one of the city's engineering firms, going back to 2003.

Asked point-blank by Mapp if this was the amount publicly alleged to have been held up for payment by Councilor Storch in recent campaign literature attacking him, Williamson claimed ignorance, as did Zilinski who reminded all he has only been here a few months.

But Zilinski did give a peek at the details, saying the dispute involved work the firm says it performed for the Planning Division, Public Works, and -- are you ready for this? -- Recreation.

My preliminary inquiries about these items after Tuesday's meeting indicate that the largest portion of the outstanding bills (some $42,000) traces back to work done for Recreation and DPW, and that though various meetings were held between the parties, including one put together by former DPWUD Director Jennifer Wenson Maier, Recreation never supplied the documentation to back up its claim and the Robinson-Briggs administration failed to aggressively pursue the matter.

Perhaps the Council can finally get the Administration off the dime and get this long-standing dispute resolved.

One way to proceed might be for the Council to break the problem into bite-sized pieces, and dispose of the easiest parts first.

This would leave any goldbricks to the last -- and the public spotlight.

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-- Dan Damon

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Could Mayor Robinson-Briggs have done better last night?

Though the release is 'dated' June 27, the document was not created until June 28.

 

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs was in her element last night at Washington Community School. As hostess-with-the-mostest, that is.

Was I the only one disappointed in the small turnout?

When the meeting finally got under way, nearly a half hour past the official start time, there were only 42 people in the room. That included a delegation of eight from Rutgers, there to make their report, and about twenty employees. If you don't count the bloggers (3) and elected officials (6), that leaves a net of about FIVE members of the public.

Attendance included just a handful of residents.

And considering the content of most of the evening was a rehash by city staffers of what they've been up to for the first six months of the year -- much of which has either been reported in the press and blogs or not, reflecting its 'news' value -- I was trying to get Peggy Lee's hit 'Is that all there is?' out of my head.

As someone wrote me recently, the city certainly could use a better PR mechanism. I had noted the date down weeks ago, but there was no further public notice until it cropped up on the now-defunct Courier microsite, based evidently on a city press release (see here, PDF) ostensibly dated June 27, but in actuality created as a PDF file on June 28 (see illustration at top). Two days public notice? How extravagant!

That aside, there was too much talk, not enough news.

And the two really worthwhile items had to compete with all the fluff.

Those were the report on the Visioning Study by the Rutgers team, and the Brownfields hearing on the contaminated Lee Place properties, which the city has been trying to sell or develop for years.

It was interesting to see Mayor Robinson-Briggs, who had fought tooth-and-nail against the Council over having the Rutgers/NJIT study done in the first place, be so gracious and bubbly when it came time to take credit. (NOTE @ 12:55 pm: Seems I am a little ferhoodled here, as Bernice informs me that this was not the NJIT/Rutgers study, but another altogether. So, maybe the Mayor deserves the credit for this one?)

I'll be taking up some of the items brought up last night in further posts. You will find Bernice's report on the Brownfields hearing of interest (see here).

Could Mayor Robinson-Briggs have done better last night?

That depends on what your definition of 'better' is.

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-- Dan Damon

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Decoding the curious conversation of Councilor Mapp and the CFO

How money is spent always seems to be a puzzle around here.

As the audience at last night's Plainfield City Council was eagerly looking forward to the end of a string of 55 or so resolutions, all of which passed unanimously, a curious conversation took place on resolution R 215-11, which concerned transfers of funds between various accounts, a practice allowed in the final two months of a municipality's fiscal year.

CFO Ron Zilinski was summoned to the mike by Council President Annie McWilliams to help answer questions concerning the transfers.

The whole matter had caught the Council's attention last month, when one of the items Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson brought up at the end of the meeting was a resolution for the funds transfer that included swapping money OUT OF the Recreation Division account. This raised eyebrows because the recent tussle to PUT MORE MONEY INTO the Recreation Division (see my post here).

By last week, the Administration's figures now had Recreation as the RECIPIENT of a transfer of $21,000, all of which set the stage for last night's conversation.

Pressed by Councilor Mapp as to why the $21,000 should be transferred to Recreation after the Council had previously expanded that budget line, CFO Zilinski said there was 'no stated reason' for the transfer.

With Mapp continuing to press, Zilinski said these were Trust Fund monies, which had to be spent on their dedicated use (Recreation) and that the transfer was being requested TO PREVENT MONIES BEING USED FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN THOSE TO WHICH THEY WERE DEDICATED.

While CFO Zilinski appears wanting to do the right thing, one only has to wonder what was going on with the trust account before Zilinski arrived on the scene.

Now, what could that mean?

Whatever it means, it seems likely that we would never have heard this curious exchange of words had it not been for Councilor Mapp's persistence.

At the end of the complicated rearranging of the swaps, Council President McWilliams shot a glance at the Clerk, asking 'Do you have that?'

Without missing a beat, Clerk AJ Jalloh replied, 'Of course, Madam President'.

At which point the audience burst into laughter.

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• Plainfield Today:  "Mayor's manage-by-surprise style highlighted"

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Council tonight: PMUA Task Force appointments; Liquor license hearings

Plainfield's 1917 City Hall, an exemplar of the 'City Beautiful' architectural school.

Liquor license issues and appointment of the PMUA Task Force are on the Plainfield City Council's full agenda tonight, which also includes several new items not discussed last week.

LIQUOR LICENSE ISSUES

I cannot recall the Council having sat separately as the local Alcoholic Beverage Control Board for several years, but it seems they will do so tonight.

That is a sign that serious issues are on the table in the renewal of several local liquor licenses.

Besides some bars about which the Robinson-Briggs administration has questions, Councilor Storch has insisted that some retail outlets also be subject to the hearing process.

While most social club, consumption (restaurant, bar and night clubs) and distribution (liquor stores) licenses will be renewed without fuss, there are some licensees who have had repeated problems over the past year, including fights, drugs, sales to minors and repeated calls for police presence.

Holding ABC renewal hearings gives the Council, which is the local licensing authority, its only chance to put some real squeeze on licensees whose calls on the police are excessive and whose operations verge on being a public nuisance.

This should prove an interesting portion of tonight's business, and give a window into a part of Plainfield life of which many Plainfielders are unaware.

PMUA TASK FORCE APPOINTMENTS

The Council discussed making these appointments at last week's agenda-setting session. Though it does not appear on the agenda, I am guessing that is an oversight.

My recollection is that after Mayor Robinson-Briggs suggested she be given a seat, the Council decided to stick to its original plan: a COUNCIL-APPOINTED task force, with one member for each Council seat.

While it is a Task Force, and has no formal authority to compel any changes, the very fact that the Council feels it is necessary attests the intensity of feelings around the matter of the PMUA, its cost structure, the refusal of the Commissioners to honor certain items in the establishing interlocal services agreement (regular meetings with the City Council, for example), and what kinds of options the Council,as the enabling body, has.

There are some residents who have taken a rather simplistic view that the only issue with the PMUA is getting rid of its solid-waste collection monopoly, but the agency has other components for which the City would ultimately be responsible (sanitary sewers, for instance) that make it prudent to examine all the issues and all the possible means of resolution.

The Task Force will have four months from its initial meeting to submit a report with any findings and suggestions to the Council.

It's going to be an interesting, though probably long, evening.

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Plainfield City Council
Business Meeting

Monday, June 20
8:00 PM

Council Chambers/Municipal Court
Watchung Avenue at East 4th Street
(Parking on the street and in the lot across from Police HQ)

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council works with Administration. Is this news?

The only business to actually be transacted by the Plainfield City Council last night showed the Council working with the Administration, as it does MOST OF THE TIME -- a point made by Councilor Storch over and over amid the campaign noise about a 'dysfunctional' relationship.

The Special Meeting called by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs contained four action items --

• Resolution approving end-of-year fund transfers;
• Resolution authorizing execution of a contract with Jersey Professional Management;
• Resolution authorizing application to the state to change to Calendar Year;
• Ordinance to revert to Calendar Year.

Though scheduled for 7:30 PM, which was also the starting time of the regular agenda-setting session, the Special Meeting did not get under way until 9:05 PM, after Councilors Greaves, Mapp and Williams arrived from the Union County Dem Committee reorganization.

The Council UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED both the Robinson-Briggs administration's resolution to apply to the state for the change to a Calendar Year, AND the first reading of an ordinance for Plainfield to revert to a Calendar Year (which the city been on previous to, I think, 1991).

The Concil also UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED the contract with Jersey Professional Management, under which its associate David Kochel assumes the responsibilities of Acting City Administrator.

As for the end-of-year fund transfers, a quick scan by the Councilors (as well as myself and Bernice) noted that the details of 'From' and 'To' were different from the Resolution presented to the Council last month (Recreation, which was originally slated by the Robinson-Briggs administration to LOSE FUNDS, is now proposed to RECEIVE FUNDS; would it be fair to assume there are some questions that need answering?). Chairman Mapp proposed instead only taking up the transfer of $20,000 at this time to cover expenses associated with the Acting City Administrator, and that action was also UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED by the Council.

Dysfunctionistas take note!

The earlier portion of the meeting was taken up by discussion items that ran well over their allotted time, including --

• An update from the ShotSpotter technology salesperson on a proposed LEASE -- rather than PURCHASE -- option. With only four Councilors participating (McWilliams, Storch, Reid and Rivers, who was once again on a phone-in), Reid was highly critical of the cost of the initiative, saying he was in favor of having more cops on the street instead. Storch was more supportive, but cited the need of the Administration to provide the Council with INDEPENDENT (that is, not from the Vendor) data on the program's effectiveness.
  
  
• And yet another discussion on the Armory by the Robinson-Briggs administration -- short on facts, long on rosy prose -- citing once again the 'urgency' of acting so the state's 'deadline' doesn't run out. Storch was not impressed, noting the State was in a tough market and not likely to have a buyer in the current circumstances and urging the Administration to hang tough.

At the risk of boring folks with facts, proposals involving the Armory have a long history, going back to 2005 (see a Ledger item here, and two Courier stories here, and here), and see my 2008 overview (here), including threats by the State that its offer of the property would 'time out'.

As an aside, I spoke with my brother-in-law while in Connecticut yesterday (he is in HVAC) and he guesstimated installing an HVAC in the Armory (my estimate is it's a 30,000 square-foot building) at $300,000 at the minimum. So, folks, we are talking REAL MONEY here, and that doesn't include updating electrical, plumbing, roof/insulation, asbestos and/or possible underground fuel remediations, or ADA-compliant building adaptations.

The Council is wise to be chary of this project.

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• Ledger - 6/24/2005: "State puts Plainfield Armory up for sale"
• Courier - 6/30/2005: "Bids on Armory to start at $1M"
• Courier - 7/10/2005: "Plainfield eyes deal for Armory"
• Plainfield Today - 9/8/2008:  "Plainfield buying Armory? A modest proposal"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Guerrilla warfare between officers, Hellwig?

 

There are many in the Plainfield Police Division who regard the elimination of the Chief of Police position and its replacement with Martin Hellwig as Police Director as the politicization of the police division.

Discontent with Hellwig's leadership (or, as some complain, lack of it) now appears to be breaking into the open.

Last night, I was besieged with reports of Hellwig's rumored resignation, supposedly after hours Thursday. Though checking with many sources, I was unable to confirm it as more than a rumor.

This morning, I am told, there were so many calls to the Division about the rumor that the Mayor's office was called to confirm that it was indeed just a rumor.

Add to that that the Director's parking space was said to be marked off by yellow crime scene tape, and it appears the conflict is pretty much out in the open.

One has to wonder if Hellwig's ability to effectively lead the Division is being compromised and whether the Prosecutor may have to step in to guarantee effective police operations for the citizens of Plainfield.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mayor's manage-by-surprise style highlighted

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs offered a double-dose of her trademark dysfunctional management-by-surprise style at last night's Council meeting.

A ho-hum agenda (except for the PMUA Task Force, of which more later) was spiced up with three shoe-droppers when Council President McWilliams gave the Mayor/Acting City Administrator the floor at the beginning of the meeting to 'make a few remarks'.

While none of the factions in the baseball tussle appeared last night, Mayor Robinson-Briggs felt impelled to address the fresh embarrassments of the Recreation Division's hampering QCBL access at the Rock Avenue ballfields by announcing she will 'be meeting with Superintendent Wynn and Mr. (Roland) Muhammad on Wednesday...and will get back to you (the Council) with an update'.

Council President Annie McWilliams pointed out that the Council would be looking to the Mayor, as the City's chief executive officer, as the party responsible for resolving the issues and treating all the City's youngsters fairly.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs also announced that she expected to appoint David Kochel as Acting City Administrator Wednesday. Kochel has held administrative posts in Metuchen and in Ocean Township. The appointment will be for ninety days, at the end of which Robinson-Briggs will be expected to nominated someone for the permanent position.

The last shoe the Mayor dropped personally was to announce that ShotSpotter, the gunshot-detection firm the city has looked into, has developed a proposal to allow cash-strapped municipalities to lease the technology on an annual basis. Robinson-Briggs said the amount to cover three square miles in Plainfield (approximately half the city) would be $159,000 for a one-year lease, and that she wanted to put the matter on the Council's June agenda.

I was just making a note that this would provide the perfect pressure point for the Council to get the Mayor to BEGIN the budget process she promised back in January, when Councilor Storch made the very same point.

Good for him, and good for the Council if they drive a hard bargain to get the Mayor to begin the promised -- but so far adroitly avoided -- joint Council-Administration budget process.

The second dollop of dysfunctionality was of the Mayor's doing, but she left Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson to do the dirty work after she left the meeting.

At the conclusion of two new items added to the agenda after all other business was concluded (a sidewalk encroachment and a memorial resolution), Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson said he had two items to put forward on behalf of Mayor Robinson-Briggs.

The first was to ask the Council to authorize the transfer of $471,000 between various accounts (which is allowed in the final two months of the fiscal year).

Council President Annie McWilliams balked, challenging Williamson to explain why the matter was not presented to the Council earlier than Monday evening. She was joined by Councilors Mapp, Reid, Williams and Storch, all of whom expressed annoyance at the manner in which the matter was brought up, demanding that CFO Zilinski should appear before the Council to explain the requests.

Williamson then proceeded to the Mayor's last item: that she would like the Council to consider leasing the Armory from the state (for $1), while she continued the search for a permanent occupant. Council President Annie McWilliams interrupted Williamson to ask if he was aware that the Obama Green Charter High School was no longer interest in the property. Williamson said he was aware of that.

Again, the Council declined to take the matter up at this meeting.

Seems to me those who argue that an easy collaboration with a Mayor who manages everything by surprise will be an easy task are deluding themselves.

Thank God the majority of this Council will not be steamrolled.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Flor Gonzalez honored, Deputy Clerk appointed

Councilor Mapp reads Council resolution honoring Flor Gonzalez.

 

Longtime Plainfield activist Flor Gonzalez was honored with a Council resolution at Monday evening's meeting citing her role in the arrest and conviction of a former Salvation Army pastor who was running a phony immigration services scam.

Gonzalez, founder of the Latin American Coalition, offers services to immigrants including citizenship classes, job referrals and translation services out of her Watchung Avenue offices.

Following the Resolution, Councilor Mapp read a letter from New Jersey's First Lady, Mary Pat Christie, announcing that Ms. Gonzalez has been named a 'New Jersey Hero' on the nomination of the Union County Human Relations Commission.

DEPUTY CLERK APPOINTED

Continuing his plans to modernize and improve the services of the Municipal Clerk's office, Clerk 'AJ' Jalloh got an assist from the Council at Monday's meeting with the appointment of a Deputy Clerk by unanimous Council resolution.

India Cole, who has been a mainstay in the office of Tax Assessor Tracy Bennett in recent years, becomes the first person to assume the statutory office of  Deputy (there have been assistant clerks, but the Deputy is provided for in the state statutes).

Ms. Cole will be a tremendous asset as 'AJ' continues to modernize the office and improve the delivery of services to the Council, residents and business owners of the community.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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State to District: Use $1M in Stimulus funds, or lose 'em

 

With nearly $1 million in Federal Stimulus (ARRA) monies showing as being unspent by the Plainfield school district, the state is warning it that if the monies aren't spent down by August they will be lost.

This is the end of the much-vaunted (and later reviled) ARRA, or Stimulus, program undertaken by President Obama soon after taking office.

The idea was to pump monies into local governments and schools districts to help stave off job cuts and stimulate the flagging economy in the depths of the 'Great Recession'.

Monies allocated to the Plainfield school district and remaining unspent as of April 2011 are as follows (see list by district here) --

PROGRAM	ALLOCATION	UNSPENT	%
IDEA Basic ARRA	$1,948,710	$271,972	14%
IDEA Preschool ARRA	70,038	61,870	12%
T1 A ARRA	1,652,096	955,588	42%
T1 SIA ARRA	105,673	0	0%
TOTAL	$3,776,517	$976,648

The State Department of Education is at pains to point out to local school districts that the ARRA funding does not contain the usual waiver allowing for a drawdown after an 'expiration' date providing programming is already in place and drawing on the funds.  As an article today on NJ Spotlight points out, with ARRA, if its not spent down by August, tough luck (see article here)!

Nor is the school district the only Plainfield recipient of ARRA funds. The city set up a special, separate web subsite to track its Stimulus/ARRA applications and funding (see here). Unfortunately, it has never been updated, so you will not be able to find out a) how successful the City was with its requests, and b) whether or not all monies received have been spent.

One item that comes to mind immediately is the $345,000 requested for a CCTV system to allow video monitoring of the downtown business district and high-crime areas.

City asked for $345,000 for camera system in 2009.
What ever happened?

Did the City ever get the grant? If so, has it been spent? Or is it in danger of being lost in August, along with the rest of unspent ARRA monies?

Another item was the job training grant. Originally awarded to PAS (Plainfield Action Services), there was hanky-panky with the grant while Marc Dashield was City Administrator (see here) and the grant was finally made to The Incubator (see here).

I have been told that among the questions FBI investigators have been asking in recent Plainfield interviews are plenty concerning the grant to the Incubator and the circumstances surrounding it.

I am sure the District, under the leadership of Acting Superintendent Anna Belin-Pyles and BOE President Renata Hernandez will be updating the public with the status of the District's ARRA monies.

Would be nice if Mayor (and Acting City Administrator) Sharon Robinson-Briggs would do the same for the City side.

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• Dept. of Education:  "Spent and Unspent ARRA Funding, by District" (PDF)
  
• NJ Spotlight:  "State urges school districts to spend ARRA funds"
• City of Plainfield:  "Recovery Act (ARRA) Funding for Plainfield"
• Plainfield Today --
• "Somethin' funny with the (PAS) Stimulus money"
• "Incubator contract renews question of 'missing' money"
• "FBI in Plainfield investigation?"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Hate flyer author's ID just mouse clicks away?

Header of the hate-filled flyer distributed throughout City Hall Monday.

The anonymous perpetrator of the hate-filled flyer circulated throughout Plainfield City Hall on Monday could be unmasked with a few simple mouse clicks, according to anonymous tips shared via yesterday's Plainfield Today post (see here). The flyer was an attack on Councilors Annie McWilliams, Adrian Mapp, Cory Storch (they couldn't get his name right) and Rebecca Williams.

The incident was covered by the Courier's beat reporter Mark Spivey in a story in today's print edition (see here).

Seems that every single copy of a document printed on a color laser printer has its serial number encoded on the piece, according to an article on the Electronic Frontiers Foundation's website (see here).

When color laser printers became so good that they were beginning to be used by counterfeiters, the Secret Service (which is responsible for combating counterfeiting) worked with manufacturers to develop the encoding process, which allows investigators to track the copier to its owner.

This technology would immediately reveal whether or not the 'Scarlet Letter'  hate piece was printed on a City of Plainfield color copier, and if so, which one.

Another anonymous tip revealed that these large copiers associate a job number with each image scanned in for printing and store that information in the machine's memory, where it is intact and recoverable by authorities. This would include the user identification number of the person who logged on to print the copies.

Additionally, if the document were composed on a computer linked to the copier's network, the identity of the computer would also be captured.

I may have to eat my words about the Union County Prosecutor's office being too busy to attend to this matter.

Technology may have made this an easy nut to crack.

And if it turns out the perp is a City employee and used taxpayer-funded resources for this little escapade, they could be looking at termination or worse.

Also, if the 'Scarlet Letter' was mailed to anyone, the Postal Service's investigations unit would get involved. So, if you received a copy in the mail from the perp, be sure to save it -- along with the envelope in which it came -- and log on to the Postal Inspection Service website (https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/), where you can download a form to begin a USPS investigation.

Quick action by the Mayor/Acting City Administrator to involve the Prosecutor's Office will show Plainfield is committed to civil discourse and opposed to hate speech.

You can view a copy of the 'Scarlet Letter'below, which I have provided online only so readers can see the outrageousness of this attack.

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Flyer-ScarletLetter-2011

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• Plainfield Today:  "Slur-filled flyer circulated at City Hall marks opening of political season"
  
• Electronic Frontiers Foundation:  "Machine ID code technology in color laser printers"
• Courier:  "Hate-filled letter distributed at City Hall sparks call for probe"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield and Route 22 overpass: A clarification that makes things worse?

Sometimes there is static in the communications.

Here's a clarification on yesterday's Plainfield Today post about Plainfield as the site for WASTE from the upcoming Route 22 overpass project in Bridgewater (see post here).

It is not WASTE that is being considered for Plainfield, it is the supplying of TRACK BALLAST for NJT's operations.

Track ballast support rails and ties, drains away moisture.

TRACK BALLAST, which looks like ordinary stone, but is specially sized to optimize its uses in supporting railway ties and rails and in draining water away from the right-of-way (see here and here), is supplied for the Conrail lines on which NJ Transit operates its trains by the quarry located on Chimney Rock Road, just north of Route 22.

The rail spur which serves the quarry will be out of commission during the overpass construction, which has been quoted in the newspapers (see here and here) as being expected to take two years.

The need for the track ballast will not be abated, so the stone will have to be shipped via another means.

Hence the dump trucks, hence Plainfield.

The likely staging area for the track ballast
would be adjacent to the Reinco building (upper center).

If the daily output from the quarry is 12-13 rail cars (spotted by a commenter passing Netherwood Station) and it takes 5 dump trucks to fill one car, the math says that would be about 60-75 dump trucks pounding the streets of Plainfield four or five days a week for two years (or more if the construction falls behind, as often happens).

Wear and tear on the streets. Increased risk of pedestrian danger. Noise.

Would a siding have to be constructed adjacent to the Reinco lot? How would the trucks gain access? What construction and equipment would be required to get the stone from the trucks to the rail cars? Would an enormous pile of ballast be built up there? Would everything be restored to the status quo ante after the Route 22 project is finished?

And the large question remains: Is Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs party to discussions on using the Plainfield site to store and transfer the track ballast on a large scale, or is she out of the loop.

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• Plainfield Today: "Plainfield as waste storage site: Mayor in on the deal or out of the loop?"
• Wikipedia:  "Track Ballast"
• American Rails:  "Ballast, supporting the rails and ties"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council President Annie McWilliams interviewed by BKS1 Radio on Recreation rumors

Council President McWilliams in BKS1 Radio interview.

Plainfield's City Council President Annie McWilliams was interviewed by BKS1 Radio (Best Kept Secrets) concerning the misinformation being spread in the community about the Council's support of recreation opportunities for Plainfield youngsters.

Listen to the interview below --

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Congratulations, Bibi!

C O N G R A T S

B I B I !

County Manager George Devanney notified Assemblyman Jerry Green that Bibi Taylor is being appointed finance director for the County of Union (see Jerry's post here). Sources tell me that the offer has been accepted by Ms. Taylor, pending waiver of the county's residency requirement, which is expected to be given at this evening's Board of Chosen Freeholders meetings.

Congratulations and best wishes Bibi, from all your friends in Plainfield.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Bibi's new job: Jerry scoops Sharon, smacks Bernice for speaking the truth

Who you gonna believe, baby?

Since Jerry is -- wink, wink -- not the 'King of the Queen City' and has nothing to do with hirings, firings, or layoff hanky-panky in Plainfield, it should come as a complete bolt out of the blue that the County Manager would call Jerry to tell him that Bibi Taylor is being appointed finance director for the County of Union (see Jerry's post today here).

But was Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs left out of the loop?

Was she told and hasn't told a soul? Or wasn't she told at all? Or was she glad doesn't have to face working once more with the competent, popular and attractive Taylor, whom many suspect leaves Robinson-Briggs feeling upstaged?

Then Jerry takes a swipe at Bernice over her post today (see here) recounting some of the background of the brouhaha over Recreation and Purchasing funding and the layoff plan adopted with the current budget.

Bernice only says that two of Green's former employees came over to City Hall when Sharon became mayor.

Word in the street in Plainfield for years is that the two Bernice references were indeed 'taken care of' by Jerry and Sharon for their support of Sharon in her first run for mayor.

Word in the street also says that the Mayor's plan was to get rid of a 23-year employee so that Jerry's former aide's police job could be saved.

Jerry, you can't have it both ways.

If you want to control who gets the jobs -- whether it is City Hall, the PMUA, the school district or the Housing Authority -- you have to expect that every once in a while folks will call you out.

What's a pol to do?

Why, trot out the Richard Pryor defense: Even if caught in the act of cheating on your wife, say 'Who you gonna believe, baby? Me or your lyin' eyes?'

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mayor succeeds in veto, fails in budget amendment, withdraws Constables

No one ever said 'just and capable' would be easy.

In another long Plainfield City Council meeting, more than forty people spoke in the comments section preceding the Council's business.

When the Council finally got down to its agenda as midnight approached, the mayor's veto of the ordinance establishing a Recreation Commission stood, with Councilors Greaves, Reid and Rivers voting against the override (a 'super-majority' of five votes is needed to overturn a mayoral veto).

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' victory on the ordinance, however, was Pyrrhic as the Council failed to amend the FY2011 budget adopted in December to add amounts to the staffing lines for either Recreation or Purchasing. (Again, a super-majority of five of the seven councilors was needed for any amendment of the budget.)

Another item of interest, the mayor's proposal to appoint two Constables, which had been made without consulting the PBA, was withdrawn by the Administration without explanation.

The bulk of the evening was taken up with impassioned public comment, much of it in support of Recreation Superintendent Dave Wynn.

Many speakers urged a spirit of compromise and collaboration on Wynn, his critics and the mayor and Council. (Three speakers spoke out in favor of the PMUA, despite there being no business involving the PMUA on the agenda; and one person spoke in favor of the Constable notion.)

Comments of a few were personally abusive and even menacing of several Councilors by name, and at least one seemed to resent a woman (Council President Annie McWilliams) having a position of authority in city affairs.

Sadly, Wynn's defenders did not address the fact that the Recreation Division fails to service the recreation needs of probably ten times the 600 said to be enrolled in Division activities.

How many sport stars waiting to be discovered, encouraged and developed are among those unserved thousands? How will we ever know?

How many thousands of youngsters will fail to be saved from the pressures of gangs, drugs and crimes because the Recreation Division is not reaching out to them? How will we ever know?

As Mayor Robinson-Briggs and the City Council face another difficult budget year, the pressure for accountability and effectiveness for every dollar raised from taxpayers is only going to increase.

And the Mayor's failure to begin the collaborative budget effort with the Council which she promised at the January reorganization meeting is troubling.

Perhaps things will pick up when Bibi Taylor returns to her post as City Administrator in the next couple of weeks.

We must live in hope.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Taxpayers, parents lobby Greaves to overturn Mayor's recreation veto

Over the weekend, parents of children involved in Plainfield's recreation programs together with Plainfield taxpayers mounted a campaign to lobby newly-appointed Councilor Vera Greaves to stand by the position she originally took in favor of establishing a Recreation Commission by supporting a vote tonight  to overturn Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' veto of the ordinance.

Two concerns are flowing together on this issue --

1. Members of the current Recreation Advisory Committee (which would be replaced by a stronger Recreation COMMISSION under the vetoed ordinance), are concerned that the Recreation Division needs assistance in focusing on improving and expanding delivery of recreation services to Plainfield youngsters and others, including adults and seniors; and
   
2. Taxpayers are becoming alarmed that the Recreation Division only reaches -- by its own admission -- 500 of the total of 6,500 youngster in the community, making the cost-per-user outrageously high.

Councilor Greaves' telephone number is (908) 672-8701. If you feel strongly about either (or both) of these two issues, let her know how you stand and urge her to stick to her original vote in support of establishing a Recreation Commission (and if you live in the 1st or 4th Wards, let her know you will be remembering this matter when you vote in the primary election June 7th).

I am posting the email being circulated by Committee member Dwayne Wilkins and others below --.

Monday (today) is an important VOTE for Plainfield's Future.

Please CALL COUNCILWOMAN GREAVES - 908.672.8701, who says she is “on the fence”, and request that she vote YES for Recreation Commission.  I have spoken to Dwayne Wilkins and as you can see by reading the emails below -Vera Greaves seems to be not so much on the fence but sure to vote NO.  Presently –one man, Dave Wynn makes all the decisions for the Plainfield’s recreation department, which only serves 500 Plainfield children out of a possible 6500 and to my knowledge NO adults (Recreation should include Adults as well as Senior Citizens).  It is obvious the Recreation Department of Plainfield needs HELP and one man managing is not working.  A Commission will not eliminate Dave Wynn’s job it will only enhance his performance as a Recreation Manager.

 

ALSO - Please forward this email to your family, friends, neighbors and call ALL of your Plainfield Councilpersons and ask them to vote YES. 

TIME FOR A CHANGE.

Make your voice heard today!

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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