Stern Last Year, DLGS Now Too Weak to Act?

About a year ago, the City Council was trying to resolve the lack of a chief finance officer when it came out that the proposed action would not be allowed by the state Division of Local Government Services. Click here to read Plaintalker's post on the meeting.

Little has changed in the interim. An acting CFO is still signing off on the availablity of funds for various council actions. A city request for a temporary CFO to be assigned to Plainfield was promised a timely response, which did not happen. A tepid search process for a CFO has not attracted many candidates.

Plainfield clearly needs some help to attain fiscal stability, but after reading Maria's post on state Comptroller Matthew Boxer's findings on PILOT programs, I am guessing it will not come from the state anytime soon. Boxer cites many kinds of oversight or guidance that DLGS formerly gave to municipalities, but which are no longer available due to lack of resources.

My recollections of DLGS from my early days as a reporter were that of a voice that municipalities had to heed. I recall it as a supportive yet demanding agency that was pretty much up to the task of keeping municipal officials on track fiscally as part of the Department of Community Affairs.

In July 2009, DCA Commissioner Joseph Doria stepped down at about the same time 44 people were arrested in a massive corruption probe. Doria's home in Bayonne and office in Trenton were raided by investigators, but he was not charged with any wrongdoing. Still, the sudden resignation gave me a sense that DCA had become rudderless, if only temporarily, and that DLGS would be impacted.

These are only impressions, but the ensuing months have not restored my faith that necessary checks and balances are in place between municipal autonomy and state oversight. If there is any way for Gov. Chris Christie to provide DLGS with the resources it needs to address Boxer's findings, let alone Plainfield's issues, I hope he will do so. Something needs to happen to set Plainfield back on the path to fiscal stability and accountability.

--Bernice