A forum that arose out of what appears to be a genuine grassroots effort will be held tomorrow to discuss the current ShotSpotter controversy.
The forum will take place at 4 p.m. at Clinton School, 1302 West Fourth Street.
Maria Pellum has already posted comments she received from Tony Rucker. Click here to read her post. I received a slightly different e-mail from Tony Rucker, but the one on Maria's blog is more complete.
This commitment to spend $1 million on as gunshot detection system has apparently left even our estimable Assemblyman Jerry Green in doubt. Green reports on his blog that he is in contact with two other companies offering the same kind of service, possibly at lower cost. The City Council has already voted approval on first reading of a $1 million bond ordinance, which will come up for final passage on Oct. 12.
Green is the chairman of the Regular Democratic Organization of Plainfield, but other than that, the basis for his intervention in this process is unclear. In the next paragraph of his "9/29/10 Thoughts" blog post, he attacks Councilman Cory Storch and denies that the RDOs "are involved with the day-to-day operations of the city." Oh, really? Under what authority is he dealing with private firms seeking to do business with the city?
The administration and governing body should rather heed the voices of citizens who have concerns about this large expense in the current economic climate. On Monday, there will be a special meeting to take action on this:
"AUTHORIZING THE INTRODUCTION OF THE SFY 2011 MUNICIPAL
OPERATING BUDGET
COUPLED WITH A
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING A CIVIL SERVICE PLAN."
The latter has to do with layoffs. The former refers to the administration's budget plan, which may be modified by the council following introduction. Once it is revealed, the public will see what kind of a tax impact the governing body will initially be faced with.
More later on Green's garbled "thoughts." For now, if the forum delivers a broad cross-section of the community as expected, those are the voices and thoughts to consider in decisionmaking on the costly gunshot detection system.
--Bernice
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Ohhhhhh Bernice...you are now going to have another "JERRY BLOG" written about you. Haven't you learned??? HOW DARE YOU QUESTION ANYTHING JERRY DOES ???
ReplyDeleteMr. Green is not only the Chairman of the Plainfield Democratic Committee but also represents the city in the New Jersey General Assembly.
ReplyDeleteCouncilman Storch has recommended that the City's Administration seek out grant money if it is to even think of purchasing that technology.
The money will need to come from somewhere. If not from the County or Federal government then from the State government. It is hard to imagine this money could come without legislative approval.
Doesn't it make sense for Assemblyman Green to research the issue in his role as a State legislatrue? What other authority does he need?
Did you see this? Seems to me that this Shot Spotter works! "ShotSpotter in Action: 2 Charged in Shooting Death of 21-Year-Old" http://kstp.com/news/stories/s1771835.shtml
ReplyDeleteMiss Bernice,
ReplyDeleteGood day I would like to know what is this Civl service plan you wrote about.
The inept Council voted 7-0 for this waste of money we do not have.
ReplyDeleteTo 3:17 p.m.: The packet at the Plainfield Public Library Saturday did not include the special meeting agenda, so I don't know what titles may have been affected. Normally the city must give (I think) 75-day notice of impending layoffs under Civil Service rules. The thing about Civil Service plans is that people can get "bumped" out of their existing titles to other positions. For example, that is why the City Clerk's office now has new people while trained staff from that office has been shifted elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteTo 1:32: It would help if the Assemblyman spelled out the grant issue instead of being vague. He frequently speaks in a shorthand that others cannot comprehend.
ReplyDelete