Election-time budget hanky-panky by Robinson-Briggs administration?

I am scratching my head wondering why Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, having to face the voters in two weeks in her quest for re-election, would engage in budget hanky-panky just when the voters are most likely to be paying attention.

After having promised to present the city's FY2010 budget proposal 'at the next meeting' more than once, City Administrator Marc Dashield disappointed yet once again last week, when he allowed as how the budget would NOT BE OFFERED TO THE COUNCIL UNTIL THE NOVEMBER MEETING, which is, of course, AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION.

Now that might just be attributed to SIMPLE POLITICAL CUNNING (an accusation which is not often made against this Administration), since one result of the defeat last week of the ordinance to exceed the annual budget increase cap is to put the matter of fiscal restraint squarely on the Mayor's plate.

Consider Mayor Robinson-Briggs' dilemma: On the one hand, having to impose fiscal restraint by arm-wrestling the unions (at election time) or on the other hand, having to come before the Council with a proposal to exceed the budget increase cap (at election time). Neither alternative is palatable, so it's not hard to understand the notion of avoiding the budget until after the election.

Except for a little unnecessary hanky-panky that may blow up in the Robinson-Briggs administration's face.

According to sources in the Division of Community Affairs, the Robinson-Briggs Administration submitted a budget proposal to them for review WITHOUT PRESENTING IT TO THE COUNCIL FIRST. Not only that, eyebrows were raised in Trenton when the document arrived WITHOUT THE REQUISITE SIGNATURE OF THE MUNICIPAL CLERK.

You'd think the Robinson-Briggs administration would understand the nervousness in Trenton during election season, when all kinds of folks -- media and otherwise -- are snooping, and prophylaxis demands the dotting of all i's and the crossing of all t's.

Not so, evidently.

Not only was a budget sent down without Council knowledge or approval, the Robinson-Briggs administration also submitted its request for Extraordinay Aid without Council knowledge or input, as has customarily been the case for years.

Not only the hanky-panky but now the embarrassment of having to try and withdraw a budget whose numbers will no longer reflect the reality on the ground after the defeat of last week's cap waiver ordinance.

Is the Robinson-Briggs administration trying to be placed in nomination for The Darwin Awards?

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-- Dan Damon

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Governor appoints Estevez to School Ethics Commission

Plainfield Board of Education member Christian Estevez has been appointed by Gov. Jon Corzine to a seat on the state's School Ethics Commission (see appointment here).

The School Ethics Commission is a nine-member body appointed by the Governor to oversee enforcement of the School Ethics Law, including conflicts of interest involving both BOE members and school administration staff as well as the Code of Ethics for School Board members (see more on the commission's duties here).

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• "Governor's Appointments"
• "School Ethics Commission"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Two train fatalities near Netherwood Station

A Plainfield Today reader wrote over the weekend --

We were at a neighborhood gathering Friday night and 2 men at the party said both of their trains were interrupted last night...5:30 train, in Fanwood, supposedly a man was chasing his dog from the tracks..the dog made it, the person didn't. They halted everything and loaded one train to the other and proceeded. They said the man was killed.

Saturday's Ledger and Courier both had brief items concerning the fatality -- the man was struck and killed.

I have also learned that the man was indeed chasing a dog, presumptively his own, and that the dog also was killed by the train.

The accident occurred near the Terrill Road bridge, where high tension wires cross the tracks, according to a source.

---

• "Man struck, killed near Netherwood Station" -- Courier | Ledger |

-- Dan Damon

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Another Connolly water shutoff notice posted

New water shutoff notice for 600 East Front Street.

For Connolly Properties' Plainfield residents, the news just doesn't stop being worrying.

A reader -- and Connolly tenant -- sent along the above photo, which she found on her building's door Friday with this note --

I'm sending a not so great shot of the water shut off notice on my building tonight as I arrived home from work. We also had notices posted in May before all the Connolly brouhaha went down. I'm also sending a copy to Marc Dashield. The photo of the notice is legible, but not truly great quality as I had to use the flash. It's on the front unable to lock front door. A bum was sleeping in the hallway the other day.

Argh ... and I do pay fair market value on the place.

Is the city working on the Connolly situation?

Readers of this blog who are Connolly residents have commented that the Mayor has not gotten back to them as she promised she would.

Meanwhile, tenants suffer indignities such as intruders (see note above) and worries over their future as tenants.

And the city faces having to pay to move any tenants if essential services (light, water, heat) are shut off.

---

-- Dan Damon

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It's a rainy day, perfect for Jazz Brunch and 'Four Centuries'

Like the weatherman said, it's a rainy day in Plainfield.

Meaning a MUCH BETTER ALTERNATIVE yard work today -- Jazz, brunch and history!

Plainfield's own Bev and Kev (Beverly Calland and Kevin Catwell) are hosting a JAZZ BRUNCH today at Adrian's Restaurant.

'It will be a perfect day to treat that someone special with Jazz and a very special brunch', says brunch organizer Bev Calland, 'and then take in some of Union County's Four Centuries in a Weekend sites.' The hearty brunch (see menu at right) will be offered with the inimitable touches of Plainfield's very own Kevin of Adrian's on East Second Street. Bev has arranged for Lady CiCi and Don Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band to provide the special musical setting.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

BRUNCH MENU Chicken Marsala Salmon Ribs Oxtails Fresh Fruit Salad Garden Salad Assorted Cold Salads Mac & Cheese Rice w/Peas Carrots & String Beans Collard Greens Tropical Punch Coffe/Tea Assorted Desserts

Jazz, like good wines, needs to be aged properly to be appreciated. Having entertained audiences for a quarter century together, this dynamic duo knows how to deliver that soulful musical experience perfect for a rainy day. With smooth and spicey sliding tones, Lady Cici highlights the bluesy jazz style and gospel roots that have thrilled audiences here and abroad.

Lacy Cici and Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band have toured nationally and internationally over the years with the likes of Arthur Prysock and the Jim McGriff Quartet (check them out on the Web here and here).

You won't want to miss this very special treat.

After brunch, you can pop on over to the DRAKE HOUSE, one of the twenty-five historic locations around Union County open specially this weekend to celebrate the annual Four Centuries in a Weekend event.

The Four Centuries event is Union County's annual spotlight on its historic sites' heritage.

All the county's sites are open to the public FREE on both Saturday and Sunday, with special programming revolving around five themes -- including the age of the Robber Barons and the Great Depression as well as the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras.

While at the Drake House, you will be able to see the extensive work done (much of it unobtrusive) in a two-year capital upgrades program that has seen the installation of central air and dehumidification systems as well as accessibility improvement to Plainfield's house museum, which is operated by the volunteers of the Historical Society of Plainfield.

All in all, a perfect treat for a rainy weekend.

Did I forget to mention Bev's incomparable homemade pound cake?

Shame on me.

---

Jazz Brunch at Adrian's
Sunday | 11 AM - 3 PM
$35/advance | $40/at the door
Tickets and Info: (908) 361-8533 or (908) 313-6568

Adrian's Restaurant
1100 East Second Street (at Netherwood Avenue)


Drake House Museum
Four Centuries in a Weekend
Sunday | Noon - 5 PM
FREE
602 West Front Street (at Plainfield Avenue)

---

-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield Friday Night: Shootings, Robberies, Beatings, more

Crime on Friday night, October 16, in Plainfield --

1. Robbery -- Armed robbery with handgun, Crescent Avenue;
   
   
2. Robbery -- Armed robbery with knife, East Second Street;
   
   
3. Robbery -- West Front Street, man shot in arm;
   
   
4. Shooting -- Two males shot in the leg, Madison Avenue;
   
   
5. Assault -- Male attacked, beaten unconscious by two others, Park Avenue & West 6th Street;
   
   
6. Fight with serious injury -- Four males in fight behind Chez Maree, one now in coma with bleeding on the brain. If he dies, it will be homicide number 3.

Today's news includes bail being set for a homicide that occurred outside Chez Maree in December, 2008 (see here).

Plainfield Today readers may not be aware that the Police Division is understaffed.

In the past year there have been retirements and officers removed or resigned from the force in various court cases.

Word in the street is that Mayor Robinson-Briggs ABSOLUTELY REFUSES to consider hiring police officers laid off from other towns or law enforcement agencies, preferring instead to try and fill the ranks with Plainfield residents.

While that is a nice sentiment (and disregards the fact that police and fire employees CANNOT be required in NJ to reside in the town in which they work), the net effect has been ADDING ONLY ONE OFFICER in the past year, I believe (I am working from memory here, and stand to be corrected).

So, where do the public's safety and police effectiveness stand in the Mayor's list of priorities?

Let's hope it's not somewhere behind Leon's Catering.

---

• Plainfield Today, 9/30/09: "Crime wave hits Plainfield after second homicide"

-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield artist Maria Mijares in Newark show

Paramount Theater, Newark. By Maria Mijares.

Plainfield artist Maria Mijares is an invited participant in Theater Town, the theme for this year's annual group show at the New Jersey School of Architecture.

Maria has four paintings drawing on fabled Newark movie theaters.

The show opens with a reception tonight and runs through November 28.

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Gallery Show: Theater Town

October 17 - November 28
NJ School of Architecture
113 Summit Street, Newark

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-- Dan Damon

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Jazz Brunch and 'Four Centuries' perfect for rainy weekend

Plainfielders dismayed they will not be able to do yard work on Sunday because of the expected rain have a MUCH BETTER ALTERNATIVE.

Jazz, brunch and history!

Plainfield's own Bev and Kev (Beverly Calland and Kevin Catwell of Adrian's) are hosting a JAZZ BRUNCH Sunday at Adrian's Restaurant.

'It will be a perfect day to treat that someone special with Jazz and a very special brunch', says brunch organizer Bev Calland, 'and then take in some of Union County's Four Centuries in a Weekend sites.' The hearty brunch (see menu at right) will be offered with the inimitable touches of Plainfield's very own Kevin of Adrian's on East Second Street. Bev has arranged for Lady CiCi and Don Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band to provide the special musical setting.

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

BRUNCH MENU Chicken Marsala Salmon Ribs Oxtails Fresh Fruit Salad Garden Salad Assorted Cold Salads Mac & Cheese Rice w/Peas Carrots & String Beans Collard Greens Tropical Punch Coffe/Tea Assorted Desserts

Jazz, like good wines, needs to be aged properly to be appreciated. Having entertained audiences for a quarter century together, this dynamic duo knows how to deliver that soulful musical experience perfect for a rainy day. With smooth and spicey sliding tones, Lady Cici highlights the bluesy jazz style and gospel roots that have thrilled audiences here and abroad.

Lacy Cici and Williams' Jazz Just-Us Band have toured nationally and internationally over the years with the likes of Arthur Prysock and the Jim McGriff Quartet (check them out on the Web here and here).

You won't want to miss this very special treat.

After brunch, you can pop on over to the DRAKE HOUSE, one of the twenty-five historic locations around Union County open specially this weekend to celebrate the annual Four Centuries in a Weekend event.

The Four Centuries event is Union County's annual spotlight on its historic sites' heritage.

All the county's sites are open to the public FREE on both Saturday and Sunday, with special programming revolving around five themes -- including the age of the Robber Barons and the Great Depression as well as the Revolutionary War and Civil War eras.

While at the Drake House, you will be able to see the extensive work done (much of it unobtrusive) in a two-year capital upgrades program that has seen the installation of central air and dehumidification systems as well as accessibility improvement to Plainfield's house museum, which is operated by the volunteers of the Historical Society of Plainfield.

All in all, a perfect treat for a rainy weekend.

Did I forget to mention Bev's incomparable homemade pound cake?

Shame on me.

---

Jazz Brunch at Adrian's
Sunday | 11 AM - 3 PM
$35/advance | $40/at the door
Tickets and Info: (908) 361-8533 or (908) 313-6568

Adrian's Restaurant
1100 East Second Street (at Netherwood Avenue)


Drake House Museum
Four Centuries in a Weekend
Sunday | Noon - 5 PM
FREE
602 West Front Street (at Plainfield Avenue)

---

-- Dan Damon

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UPDATE: Mayor Sharon and 'lying bloggers challenge'

Plainfield Today challenged Mayor Robinson-Briggs to cite chapter and verse to back up her charge that "city bloggers don't always tell the truth" (quoting Bernice, see here).

It is now one week since the challenge was issued, and no response from the Mayor.

---

• Plainfield Today: "Challenge to Mayor Sharon on blogger allegations"

-- Dan Damon

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BREAKING: Director's settlement with Dover may have to be divulged

The Government Records Council has ruled that Plainfield's Director of Administration and Finance's settlement with her previous employer is a public record and that a confidentiality agreement in the severance agreement does not constitute a legal basis for denying public access to the document.

This according to an email received this morning from John Paff, who is with the NJ Foundation for Open Government.

Here is the text of Paff's email --

[An] article in Wednesday's Daily Record concerns the Government Records Council's September 30, 2009 decision in Joe Ungaro v. Town of Dover (Morris), GRC Complaint No. 2008-115. In that decision, the GRC ruled that a confidentiality clause in an administrator's severance agreement does not constitute a legal basis for denying public access to the agreement. (Unfortunately, I have not been able to read the GRC decision because it hasn't yet put any of the cases decided on September 30, 2009 on its web site.)

The GRC's decision is consistent with the Appellate Division's March 17, 2009 decision in Asbury Park Press and John Paff v. Monmouth County. In that case, the court held that the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) did not permit Monmouth County to deny access to an agreement that the county entered into to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit.

Despite the positive rulings, the issue of whether or not a confidentiality agreement forecloses public access is still an open question. At Monmouth County's request, the New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to review the Appellate Division's decision, and oral argument will be held on November 2nd or 3rd.

John Paff

Paff references the Daily Record story on Ms. Taylor's settlement, which Plainfield Today broke here.

Seems like the curious may get to find out the FINANCIAL details soon enough, though the reasons for the severance itself may never fully come to light.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Monarch Condos: P&F/Dornoch end run around rentals prohibition?

Monarch sales sign was recently blown over by strong winds.

Notwithstanding Plainfield City Council President Burney's recent announcement that the proposed tax abatement for the Monarch condos is off the table, that does not mean the project may not be in desperate straits.

And, as the old saying goes, extremis malis extrema remedia, or 'desperate times call for desperate measures'.

My curiosity was piqued when city administrator Marc Dashield wrote in answer to a query by Councilor Adrian Mapp (see here) that sales of condo units was 'approximately 13-15 units'.

What's to be 'approximate' about? Either they are sold or they are not, right?

It's not quite that easy.

Actually, there are NO COMPLETED SALES YET, only contracts to buy units.

And, considering that some offers to buy were made as long as SEVEN MONTHS AGO, it is hardly any wonder that some prospective buyers are canceling their contracts so they can get on with their lives.

Faced with potential cancellations, rumors in the real estate community are that those with contracts are being offered 'use and occupancy' (U&O) agreements by P&F/Dornoch in lieu of closed sales. In residential real estate, U&O agreements are sometimes used when a buyer is unable -- but on the verge of being able -- to complete a sales transaction.

Essentially, the buyers are granted 'use and occupancy' of the premises for a stated length of time for a stated amount of money, at the end of which the deal is expected to close.

(The twist here is that it is P&F/Dornoch which is unable to complete the sales transaction -- not enough units are sold, and there is no Certificate of Compliance.)

You can be forgiven for thinking it sounds like RENTING, which is not part of the Developer's Agreement.

Does it happen anyway? Youbetcha. In Rahway, the developer of the Sky View at Carriage Plaza condos simply started renting units in disregard of the development agreement which prohibited same (see here).

But the Monarch situation is complicated not only by the fact that the agreement does not allow rentals, but also that there is NO Certificate of Compliance, which would allow legal occupancy of any units.

Is P&F/Dornoch trying to make an end run around its Developer's Agreement with the UCIA?

Could be.

But in any event, the City is likely to be the last to find out.

---

• Plainfield Today: "Monarch condos: More wrinkles than Dorian Gray"
• Mapping It Out: "Answers to tax abatement questions"
• Rahway Rising: "101 units accounted for at Sky View"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Public employees removing roadside Christie signs?

Are public employees removing Christie for Governor signs in Plainfield?

Seems it might be so.

Got the following comment Wednesday in response to the post about Linda Stender getting in the sign game (finally) by chipping in for some new Linda/Jerry signs.

Here is the comment, in full --

Dan,
Was driving to work this morning at 6:15 am listening to 101.5 (Trenton). A caller from Scotch Plains told the host Jim Gearhart that yesterday he witnessed Plainfield DPW employees removing Christie signs on West 7th St. The caller asked the DPW employees why and they said "the signs were too close to the road." The caller said Corzine, Green and Briggs signs were in the exact same location and left untouched. Seems to me the DPW is now working for the re-election of the Democrats. Can you investigate? Call the station. Talk about unfair -- first the removal of the Republican mayoral candidate from a public forum and now opposition party signs being removed compliments of city employees. Come on.

An email inquiry to the producer of the Gearhart's call-in show has not been answered as of this posting.

However, I wonder whether the caller may have confused the identity of those allegedly picking up the signs.

West Seventh Street (on which I live) is a county highway, and the city's DPW trucks do not come down it to pick up leaves or yard waste, nor plow snow. However, Union County trucks are regularly seen. My suspicion is that the driver may have spotted Union County public employees along the county roadway.

Besides, if Assemblyman Jerry Green or his protegé Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs wanted any signs removed, I have a hunch that Christie's would NOT be at the top of their lists.

---

• Plainfield Today: "Monarch condos: More wrinkles than Dorian Gray"

-- Dan Damon

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Administration runs off a cliff at Council meeting

Wile E. Coyote was constantly running over a cliff's edge.

Plainfield's City Council meeting on Tuesday reminded me of the old Looney Tunes cartoons, in which the hapless Wile E. Coyote often is found running off a cliff, hanging in the air for a suspenseful moment as the import of what has happened dawns on him, then crashing into the canyon below -- only to repeat the scene in yet another cartoon adventure.

You could have caught that suspenseful realization-while-hanging-in-air moment if you had had a camera with you last night (Alas! I did not, and I think Laurence Rice videocam was aimed in the wrong direction.)

Actually, there were TWO such moments.

The FIRST came with the second reading of Ordinance MC2009-23, intended to EXCEED the budget appropriations limitation for FY2010 and establish a 'CAP bank'.

Councilor Storch had twice warned, most recently at the agenda session last week at Hubbard School, that he thought the ordinance was fiscally irresponsible and that he would vote against it.

With only five Councilors on hand (Reid and Simmons were absent), the Administration should have sensed it was in trouble when the meeting began. The reason is that BUDGETARY VOTES require a two-thirds majority of the FULL GOVERNING BODY, not just those present. That means that FIVE YEA VOTES are needed on budgetary measures.

Predictably, the measure went down.

Ask yourself this -- Knowing of Storch's vote in advance, and knowing that FIVE YEAS were needed, why wouldn't the Administration move heaven and earth to get to the magic number? Did they even try? Did the missing Councilors skip on purpose, knowing what the result would be?

You would need a magic decoder ring to even guess.

Administrator Marc Dashield then opined that the Administration would have to go back to the drawing board, which would delay the offering of the budget proposal. Well, duh.

But who REALLY believed the administration would offer its budget on Tuesday anyway, despite a previous promise?

The SECOND moment of fateful enlightenment came when Councilor Mapp questioned Resolutions 453-09 and 454-09, in which a 'certification of funds availability' was integral.

Saying this certification could ONLY be made by the Chief Financial Officer, a position which needed Council advice and consent, Mapp asked on what basis the certification was being made.

To the assertion of Administrator Dashield that Director of Finance and Administration Bibi Taylor was the 'acting CFO', Mapp asked by what authority, as the Council had not been asked for, nor given, its advice and consent.

Cue camera, catch Dashield and Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson with 'that' look crossing their faces, just before they crash to the canyon floor.

Further discussion uncovered that Mr. Dashield was not quite sure just when the City last had a bona fide CFO that the Council had approved (there had been a part-timer from Bridgewater that the Council had approved a contract for, but she had left at some point -- the exact time of which Dashield was 'not sure' but he thought it may have been February 2009).

This would be laughable except that it casts a pall over all of the financial transactions of the City since the date (whatever!) there last was a legitimate CFO.

Who was signing off in the meantime, Dashield? And by what authority?

Folks, you simply cannot make this stuff up.

Dashield and Williamson allowed as how there would need to be a special meeting of the Council to address the CFO issue, as the issue now stymies everything.

(Councilor Carter brought out that YET ANOTHER resolution, 458-09, regarding a grant for sports equipment funding would also need to be withdrawn.)

To my mind, there are TWO FURTHER QUESTIONS that this whole sorry episode raises --

1. What kind of advice is Mayor Robinson-Briggs getting from Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson that such a glaring oversight could occur? and,
   
   
2. Why, with the ability to conduct its financial affairs hanging in the balance, has the Robinson-Briggs administration not recruited a certified CFO (it's almost a year since the last CFO, Pete Sepelya, retired)?

So, is the Robinson-Briggs administration a Looney Tunes cartoon adventure or just the most inept bumblers in New Jersey?

Or is that the same thing?

---

-- Dan Damon

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New Finance & Admin director paid nearly $250K to leave former job

Plainfield's new Director of Administration and Finance was paid nearly $250,000 to resign her position as administrator with the Town of Dover (Morris County) before her contract expired, according to a report in today's Daily Record (see here).

Pursuing an OPRA request, it took the Record 15 months to get documents about the matter, though the agreement itself remains undisclosed, as both the town and Taylor (then Garvin) had agreed to its confidentiality.

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• Daily Record: "Dover paid almost $250,000 to buy out administrator"
• City Website: "Administration & Finance"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Assembly race: Linda finally puts some skin into the game

Finally, some 'real' Stender campaign signs.

Plainfield Today readers who have been scratching their heads over the lack of any Linda Stender campaign signs are having their questions answered before their eyes, as the picture above shows.

The new white signs with blue lettering appeared on Sunday.

Jumping out of the car to get a snapshot, I had to squint to read the tiny 'paid for' line, but there it is --

'Paid for by...'

Meanwhile, Pivnichny signs are breaking out around town --

Piv signs await pickup by supporters.

and Daggett even makes an appearance -- strategically, at the flagpole at Watchung and East 7th Street, one of the city's busiest intersections.

Daggett supporters pick key location.

Despite the signs, many are undecided about who to vote for.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Update: Is 'pedestrian' fatality homicide #3?

Updating Plainfield Today's post yesterday that a pedestrian was run over and killed on East Front Street Friday evening, it appears possible the incident may be Plainfield's third homicide of 2009.

Word in the street is that the male was pushed into the path of the vehicle which struck him, and that two men fled the scene on foot.

As details emerge, I wonder if my hunch that the victim may have been Hispanic and the victim of a mugging gone awry -- by individuals who may NOT have been Hispanic -- will be proven correct or mistaken. And whether the public will be given all the details.

If correct, would that make this a homicide? The city's third for 2009?

---

-- Dan Damon

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Everyone (almost) honors the Symphony's 90th season

Recovering from the Plainfield Symphony's 90th season opener, I had time to go over the program booklet Sunday, and noted that everyone -- well, ALMOST EVERYONE -- honored the Symphony on reaching this milestone.

The front of the book contains congratulatory letters of recognition from U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and Gov. Jon Corzine.

The back of the book has letters of recognition and congratulations from Assemblyman Jerry Green and Union County Freeholder chairperson Alexander Mirabella.

Missing in action?

There is no letter from Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Nor was a proclamation offered at the concert itself, jammed though it was with perhaps 800 or more people of voting age.

The Mayor, who arrived during the concert's opening piece, Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 6, departed shortly after the intermission.

Perhaps she had a more important engagement, or didn't want to be thought to be campaigning at an event held by a private organization.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Pedestrian fatality

Pedestrian fatality downtown on East Front Street Friday night.

No other information yet.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Dan done in by Symphony Gala

The Plainfield Symphony's most excellent opening concert for its 90th season packed the hall at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church last night.

And the gala party afterward was oversubscribed.

Altogether, a swell evening.

But it kept this little blogger up waaaay past his bedtime.

---

-- Dan Damon

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DPW Fall leaf pickup schedule: A game of mother-may-I?

'Children's Games', Breughel (click to enlarge).

Not having received the Plainfield DPW's Fall Leaf Pickup schedule, I was told by a city employee at the Fire Safety Fair last weekend that copies were available at City Hall and the Plainfield Public Library.

Dropping by City Hall and finding none on the pickup table in the rotunda, I called the office at the DPW Yard where the ever-helpful Marie Davis told me they had some copies and I could pick one up.

When I arrived, Marie told me that there actually were some at City Hall -- inside the Mayor's office, as well as the Clerk's office.

It had never occurred to me the schedules would be behind the Mayor's locked door.

So, public information has become a matter of the old children's game 'Mother-May-I'?

Must we now ask permission and take two 'umbrella-steps' to get public information?

Back in the bad old days when I was responsible for printing and distributing the semi-annual schedule, we did it differently.

Since there are 16,000+ households, we printed up 20,000 copies (the extra 4,000 cost pennies more than an order of 16,000 would). After mailing to Plainfield households, the remainder were split between a number of pickup locations throughout the city, including the Senior Center, the Plainfield Neighborhood Health Center, Muhlenberg Hospital, the Plainfield Public Library, the DPW Yard, City Hall rotunda, Plainfield Action Services and Recreation in the Annex, and a variety of other business and community locations.

That distribution pattern seems to have fallen by the wayside.

I'm reproducing the SCHEDULE below for those who didn't get their mailer. If you don't know what zone you're in, I can't help you.

[CLARIFICATION: The problem is not with the DPW, which evidently mailed the schedule in plenty of time. It is with the Administration's arrangements for those who need one but did not get it in the mail.]

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CITY OF PLAINFIELD DIVISION OF PUBLIC WORKS SERVICE SCHEDULE: OCT - DEC 2009
ZONE	BRUSH & YARD WASTE	STREET SWEEPING	LEAF COLLECTION
			PICKUP 1	PICKUP 2
1	1 OCT		4 NOV	1 DEC
2	2 OCT	ALL STREETS	5 NOV	2 DEC
3	5 OCT		6 NOV	3 DEC
4	6 OCT	WILL BE SWEPT	9 NOV	4 DEC
5	8 OCT		12 NOV	8 DEC
6	13 OCT	ON A MONTHLY BASIS	16 NOV	10 DEC
7	14 OCT		17 NOV	14 DEC
8	19 OCT	WEATHER PERMITTING	19 NOV	16 DEC
9	21 OCT		23 NOV	18 DEC
10	26 OCT		30 NOV	22 DEC
CHRISTMAS TREES will be picked up during the month of January, 2010.
For information regarding Union County curbside collection (for those living along County roads), call (908) 789-3660.

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NOTE: For anyone who's interested, it was moi who developed the pickup schedule and mailing to all households, including the map with zone markings and a cover letter from the mayor, a format Mayor Robinson-Briggs evidently does not find too shabby as a communications vehicle.

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-- Dan Damon

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