Congratulations to 'AJ' Jalloh, Plainfield's new Municipal Clerk

Movin' on down the road to 'just and capable'...

Congratulations to Plainfield's new city clerk, Abubakar Jalloh, who was confirmed and sworn in at Monday's City Council meeting by Freeholder Linda Carter.

AJ, as he is known to one and all, earned his spurs under just-retired clerk Laddie Wyatt.

His appointment comes at a crucial time for the City and for the Clerk's office. AJ will have plenty on his plate, managing the responsibilities of the Clerk's office with reduced personnel AND moving the office ever forward in the new digital age of access to documentation.

This last will actually make AJ's life easier in the long haul, as everything that is done by City Hall employees -- from contracts to agendas to applications, permits and records of every department and division -- is increasingly done DIGITALLY, making access to this information structured, easy, and transparent will significantly reduce the need to spend time at the counter servicing resident requests.

Though appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the  Council, the Municipal Clerk's duties are structured by the state, and New Jersey's municipal clerks are thus set free from local petty politics to serve the peoples' needs, and are answerable for their conduct and the performance of their duties not to local elected officials, but to the state's Department of Community Affairs.

It is a considerable responsibility, and will play a key role in helping the Queen City move forward into the challenges of the 21st century.

One word of advice as AJ moves from being an employee to being in charge, and effectively becoming a public figure (which I received once when preparing for the priesthood):

You will get credit for many things which are not of your doing; and you will get blame for many things which are not your fault. Success will come with learning to live with both...

To AJ, best wishes for much success and a long, useful and fulfilling career as Municipal Clerk!

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council reorganizes tonight; Laddie Wyatt honored

'Zeal for the common welfare' and 'Just and capable government', two worthy goals.

Plainfield's City Council, as the governing body of the 'corporation', reorganizes every year -- having newly elected members duly sworn in, choosing its officers for the upcoming year, adopting a schedule of public meetings, and making various and sundry appointments.

The city's charter provides that the INHABITANTS OF THE CITY OF PLAINFIELD are 'a municipal body corporate and politic with perpetual succession'.

'Body politic' refers to the inhabitants considered as a collective unit (see here).

'Perpetual succession' means that notwithstanding the bankruptcy, death or exit of any member the corporation continues (more here).

The Council, as governing body, takes two basic types of actions --

• ORDINANCES are intended to be laws in effect in perpetuity or until changed or abolished by the governing body;
  
  
• RESOLUTIONS are more transitory, usually approvals of actions to be taken on behalf of the corporation during the current year.

BUDGET RESOLUTIONS are something of a hybrid. Though they are in fact resolutions (they only concern events for a single fiscal year), they are dealt with in the manner of ordinances (two readings and a public hearing before adoption/passage).

In addition to the other matters being considered tonight, a Councilmanic Resolution honoring retiring Municipal Clerk Laddie Wyatt is expected to be read. (I can't confirm this because the agenda linked to on the City's website cannot be opened -- hope someone fixes that.)

Laddie is also being honored by the Mayor at a public reception in City Hall Library from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

The charter also provides (Section 3:4) that the Mayor 'shall annually report to the council and the public on the work of the previous year'. This has come to be referred to as the 'State of the City Address' and is customarily delivered by the Mayor at the reorganization meeting.

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Mayor's Reception Honoring Laddie Wyatt
Today | 5:30 - 7:30 PM
City Hall Library

City Council Reorganization
Today | 8:00 PM
Courthouse/Council Chambers

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Laddie retiring

[With hundreds of photos of city officials, I cannot find one of Laddie. Will try to fix that.]
 

Though always addressed as Madame Clerk, Plainfielders universally refer to their Municipal Clerk as 'Laddie' when speaking of her to others.

With (if I have it right) thirty-nine years of service to the community (she began with the school district), Laddie has become an institution, a repository of the communal memory, and what the French call une dame formidable when maligned.

Laddie has managed the discharge of the Clerk's multitude of responsibilities (here is just a short list) --

• Secretary to the Governing Body
• Secretary of the Municipal Corporation and keeper of the Seal
• Presides at annual reorganization of the Council until a new President is sworn in
  
• Custodian of all records of the corporation
• Chief administrative officer of all elections held in the municipality
• Oversees licenses and permits (liquor, taxi, events, etc.)
• Serves as Ward Commissioner after every decennial Census to re-apportion Wards

with aplomb as these have grown more demanding over the years.

At last night's meeting, each Councilor thanked her for her years of service and noted personal anecdotes about their relationships.

At the end, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs crossed the Council chambers to the Clerk's desk and gave Laddie a big hug and a smooch.

Laddie, thank you for all you have done, and know that we shall miss you.

Thank God, you'll only be a phone call away in case anyone gets stuck!

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Democracy in Plainfield: Should it be doctored?

There has been considerable comment by Plainfielders on the length of Council meetings, which are beginning to noticeably affect the speed of the legislative process.

Like it or not, this is how democracy works. Should it be 'doctored'?

Repeated comments by Olddoc (see here and elsewhere on his blog), as well as mentions by other bloggers (Bernice, Maria) and private comments by various and sundry to Council members have underscored the issue.

Council President Annie McWilliams acknowledged the difficulties in a recent email to Courier reporter Mark Spivey (see his story here), but argues that there is important work being done by the Council through its committees that helps clarify and advance the legislative process and which the public deserves to be aware of.

McWilliams' idea of a 'second agenda-setting' meeting each month -- basically for the committee reports and discussion -- would go a long way to ease the situation, I think. Hopefully, the Council can make it through the remainder of the year (and the budget process) and consider a fresh approach when it sets up the 2011 meetings calendar.

That is the kind of 'doctoring' that could do some good.

There are other 'doctoring' proposals that I think are more problematic.

In response to a query by Maria Pellum on the lack of Council minutes, Council President McWilliams outlined a proposal for dealing with the backlog and handling future minutes (see her post here).

Part of her suggestion is a two-step process which would include bare-bones minutes in a speedy manner, with amendments to include Councilors' explanations of their votes to be added subsequently. In the meantime, she suggests that the videos of the meetings are available for the public's review.

Which leads to other 'doctoring' proposals that are also in the air.

In response to my post (see here) on the status of returning Plainfield's cable channel to active programming (after being down since September 7), reader Steve Kilduff wondered --

...it would be great if the council meeting videos were available in a YouTube type setting where they could be indexed by agenda sequence. Watching 3 to 6 hours of a council meting on PCTV is deadly and not a real option for a working person who has an interest in a part but not all of a meeting.

to which Cable TV Advisory Board chairperson  Lamar Mackson responded --

...[i]n response to Mr. Kilduff's inquiry-the Department of Media has been working on a new website specifically for PCTV 96/34 which will offer programming, Video-on Demand, schedules etc.

In the case of recordings of the overlong Council meetings, it certainly would be good to have an easy way to navigate them.

The problem is that videotapes are just not up to the task.

Editing them down to segments would be very costly and time consuming.

What is needed is a quicker, easier and less expensive method of getting the recorded meetings in the public's hands, and that requires some more up-to-date technological thinking.

There are systems marketed that allow for direct-to-DVD recording of meetings, where the Clerk can insert 'chapter headings' for agenda items, presentations, public comments, etc. and have the finished product available for the public or broadcast on the local access channel THE NEXT DAY.

No consultants to pay to videotape meetings. No minutes to amend for Councilor comments on their votes. No worries about 'editor bias'. No endless hours of tape editing. No weeks delays for broadcast.

Plus the DVDs are available for the public at a small fee, basically the cost of a copy.

Messy as the way democracy works itself out in Plainfield is, the record of it should be full, unedited and permanent.

Thanks to advance in technology it is now easy and cost-effective.

Isn't it time for Plainfield to make the investment?

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• Doc's Potpourri:  "The public be damned!"
• Courier:  "Plainfield's marathon meetings spur thoughts of calendar change"
  
• Positive Change: "Overdue minutes: Taking responsiblity, proposing a plan"
  
• Plainfield Today: "Plainfield cable TV may be up again soon"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Back door meeting at Jerry Green's office

Follow the arrows to Jerry's rear entrance.

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green had a back door visitor just before 2:00 PM on Wednesday, October 6.

I saw the dapper Deputy City Clerk adjusting his tie as he walked from his car to the rear entrance to Jerry's office.

This leads to a couple of interesting questions.

Assemblyman Green has been at pains in the past to say that he doesn't interfere in the day-to-day operations of the Robinson-Briggs administration (despite longtime rumors that he regularly attends -- and sometimes presides at -- the Mayor's all-day Wednesday cabinet meetings).

So why then would he summon (I am told the Deputy Clerk advised he had been summoned to the Assemblyman's office) a city employee to his office?

To discuss CITY BUSINESS? To discuss PERSONAL BUSINESS?

Hmmm... and Hmmm...

If it was CITY BUSINESS, why wouldn't the Assemblyman take it up with the person in charge, the City Clerk?

And if it was PERSONAL BUSINESS, why during work hours?

Whatever the business discussed or the propriety of it, my other question concerns the Council.

It is no secret that City Clerk Laddie Wyatt has been talking about retiring.

That means the Council -- whatever else is on its plate, and there is plenty -- will also have the task of appointing a new Clerk of the Governing Body.

Back in the days when I was attending Clerk U., our instructors were at pains to underscore that they were preparing us to be PROFESSIONAL NON-PARTISAN PUBLIC OFFICIALS, dedicated to the management of the Clerk's considerable responsibilities in a fair, open and honest manner. This was often contrasted with the 'old days', where clerks owed their jobs to and were servants of local political machines.

The Council will have the responsiblity of choosing a Municipal Clerk.

Will that person embody the ideal of the NON-PARTISAN PROFESSIONAL OFFICIAL?

How will the Council know?

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield Liquor Licenses: An Interactive Map

Every June, every alcoholic beverage license in Plainfield -- and all of New Jersey -- must be renewed.

Each municipal governing body sits as a local Alcoholic Beverage Control board to hear comments from the public and act on the renewals of the town's licenses.

Google Maps now makes it possible to provide customized local maps, and I have entered the information on licenses from the Council agenda of June 9 as a map entitled "Plainfield NJ: Liquor Licenses".

Here it is --

View Larger Map

Hover your mouse over the map. When you see a 'hand' shape, you can click on it and drag the map around to get a specific neighborhood in view. To zoom in closer (or out), use the '+ or -' clickers at the left side of the map.

Clicking on a marker will show an information window with the common business name, the corporate name, address of the establishment and liquor license number

The licenses are color coded as follows --

• GREEN = Restaurants serving alcohol
• BLUE = Bars
• RED = Liquor Stores
• YELLOW = Clubs

I will be posting photos of the establishments later.

PARIS and Plainfield - Perfect Together?

PARIS and Plainfield together?

Yes, but make that P.A.R.I.S. -- Public Archives and Records Infrastructure Support -- the grants program of the state's Division of Archives and Records Management designed to give local governments the tools they need to preserve priceless and irreplaceable records concerning local history.

Plainfield received a grant of $50,000, as the Ledger noted in passing.

Table of 2007 PARIS grants. (Click to enlarge.)

But what is the grant for?

Plainfield had applied for a part-time records manager.

The state did not see it exactly that way -- the grant is being made on the condition that the City hire a FULL-TIME records manager, to start on January 7, 2008 or sooner.

And that the City submit to the state a) a revised budget reflecting a full-time position, and b) an outline of specific goals, objectives and job duties for the first year.

This is a good first step to getting a handle on both better routine records management and the preservation of irreplaceable artifacts. (I could tell you horror stories of the casual disregard in which the City's records have been held in the past -- including fires, water damage and plain old-fashioned rot.)

The grant award and its conditions. (Click to enlarge.)

Next question: Who is getting the job? And will they have any qualifications?

Other than knowing someone, that is.

-- Dan Damon

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ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/