More shared services and better public information are two needs the City Council identified in budget talks Thursday with representatives of the Health Division and social service agencies.
City Council President Annie McWilliams asked Health Officer Mark Colicchio to develop a citywide calendar for his division’s many public health events. The division offers flu shots, health screenings and advice on meeting prescription costs, among other things, but currently only uses the city’s web site or flyers to advertise its services. Councilman Adrian Mapp suggested an electronic bulletin board at City Hall or a “ticker tape” ad on the local television channels to reach more people.
Mapp also asked Colicchio about sharing of health officers in Union County. Colicchio said Westfield has a regional health department. Plainfield will look into shared health services “once we get everything in order,” he said, noting he has only been on the job since mid-2009.
Al Restaino, acting director of Administration, Finance, Health & Senior Services, received similar queries when he presented information on Plainfield Acting Services, the city’s anti-poverty agency. Restaino said the agency wants to create its own food bank, but council members asked what food distribution was already in place citywide and also suggested the agency might be better located at the county office building downtown.
Also asked about relocating to the county office building, Prema Achari said the idea was explored under former Finance Director Douglas Peck but was rejected by the building’s management. Achari conducts the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program in City Hall Annex. Mapp said when he was a Union County freeholder, he pushed the program as a means of combating childhood obesity, but questioned where it should be provided and how much other municipalities should contribute, as the program is open to qualified residents outside the city. The only other Union County site is in Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth.
Also up for discussion Thursday were the Senior Citizens Service Program and the Bilingual Day Care Center.
All presenters got quizzed about performance measurements, goals and objectives, impact of possible layoffs and other answers the council is seeking this year in writing from each one. Council members were a bit displeased to receive all the information just that night and McWilliams said they may ask for answers to the 10 questions at least 48 hours before upcoming presentations.
Next week, the council will hear from the tax assessor, tax collector, audit & control and purchasing from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at City Hall Library. On Tuesday, the Plainfield Public Library, the City Clerk’s office and IT/Media will be reviewed at the same time and location. The last session scheduled so far is 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 10 at the senior center, when the capital budget, planning and economic development will be reviewed.
--Bernice Paglia
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It is apparent to this observer that without an indecent amount of yelling and screaming to both city officials and the state's Department of Community Affairs, our City Administration was wholly prepared to steal $268,000 of federal grant money, using about 1/3 to add to the city's cash flow while turning 2/3 of the grant into a windfall profit for a former City Councilman. Interestingly, for two months now the Administration has yet to fill an OPRA request for correspondence concerning the grant or for the minutes of any PAS Board of Director's meetings, while it has varyingly and orally claimed attorney-client privilege, no Board meetings, no correspondence, too much correspondence, or Corporate Counsel's need to review what can be said or made public. Last night, after some belated questioning by several Council members, Administration officials claimed there have been four Board meetings and at least two pieces of correspondence from DCA concerning the grant. Many questions still remain unanswered as the Administration seems ever-challenged to say what is what and put it down in writing.
ReplyDeleteAlthough DCA may have forced the City to walk itself back somewhat towards accountability, Plainfielders should not lose sight that Plainfield Action Services, with extra effort from City Administrator Bibi Taylor and current Acting Director of Administration and Finance, and PAS director, Al Restaino, if left to their own devices, fully intended to defraud needy Plainfield residents, the Federal government, and all American taxpayers. This is unacceptable and requires a full accounting of every penny spent. With all the dithering and shadiness, there is now the distinct possibility that most of the grant money will be lost because of time constraints on its use.
Where should we go from here?
We do need to make better use of our grant money, and while no grant will solve all our problems or lift everyone's boat, we should be certain that no pending promotions go to anyone who puts greasing the city's bureaucracy and the pockets of the politically-connected ahead of the well-being of our residents. Too much of our limited resources go this way.
Plainfield Action Services, along with the WIC program and Bi-Lingual Daycare, need to be de-coupled from the city government, so they become more responsive to our needs and less likely to be used for patronage, profits, and politics.
Finally, the City Council would do best to look under all the rocks today, rather than wait for the inevitable crisis to begin taking action. The public questions posed by the Council last night to Ms. Taylor and Mr. Restaino were appreciated, but late by months if not by a full year, and barely scratched the surface. It should not approve a budget that includes the three aforementioned divisions, but because the hour is late to take action this year, it should not approve a budget without concurrently setting in place a community-based task force to have it done by next year. The Administration will cry holy hell at the prospect of losing access to Other People's Money as represented by the grants these entities receive. However, city residents, especially those that receive the services provided by these divisions, should be encouraged they will be run more efficiently and responsibly without the politics.
Al,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. If nothing had been said about that grant PAS, the City and Dunn would have had a windfall at our expense. Hopefully, your OPRA request will show all grants submitted under the RFQ, as there never was an official RFP. If the Counsel allocates one dime to that mess; I consider them to be complicit in this manner.
Alan is right. PSA, Bi-lingual and other services likes these need to be removed from taxpayers rolls.
ReplyDelete