Civic Responsibility Act Still Fallow

More than five years ago, the City Council approved the Civic Responsibility Act, an ordinance aimed at increasing citizen participation on boards and commissions. Here is an excerpt:

ARTICLE 39. CIVIC RESPONSIBILITY ACT.
Sec. 3:39-1. Intent and purpose.
The purpose of this Article is to foster the openness of government and
provide citizens with information concerning the various positions on
Appointed Boards, Commissions and Agencies which exist within the City of Plainfield. The Article further provides for a procedure whereby a citizen can indicate his/her desire to serve on a particular board, agency or commission. Finally, the Article provides for a notification process so that those citizens who have indicated a desire to hold a position will be notified when that position is under consideration for appointment and will ultimately be notified as to the action that was taken.
MC 2005-07, § 1, April 4, 2005.

If you read the whole ordinance, you will see that within a year of its passage, openings on boards and commissions were supposed to be posted on the city web site and in the City Clerk’s office. Last week, I took it upon myself to try to put up information on Shade Tree Commission vacancies. I am the current secretary of the commission. So the first thing I found out is that there is no place on the city web site to put up such information. The only place that seemed suitable at all was Community Events, where some general information is posted in addition to specific events.

It is not very likely that anyone wishing to serve on a board or commission would look under Community Events for opportunities, but I submitted the information anyway.

Flash! I was just informed that my submission was posted Thursday underneath the Tree City USA announcement on the main page.

Yesterday on MyCentralJersey.com a video was posted on a conference sponsored by the Citizens’ Campaign. It was on hyperlocal news coverage and it is still available. I watched it twice and found it informative, but it also reminded me that the Citizens’ Campaign was the motivating force behind creation and passage of the Civic Responsibility Act. All of this group’s efforts are geared toward empowering citizens to participate in local civic life, whether as bloggers, office holders or watchdogs.

I once asked someone from the group about the fact that the Civic Responsibility Act got put on the books but has never been implemented. The response was that it was up to the citizens to follow through on its implementation. Now there’s a readymade New Year’s resolution for somebody or somebodies.

It occurred to me that my submission to the city web site may be so far down the list of IT chores that weeks could pass before it got posted, so I am putting it up on the blog:

Serve on Shade Tree Commission

As of January 2011, there will be three vacancies on the Shade Tree Commission. One is a five-year term as commissioner. There is also a two-year unexpired term as commissioner and a five-year term as an alternate.

The Shade Tree Commission meets on the fourth Wednesday of each month, except for November and December, when meetings are a week earlier. Duties include making decisions on tree species for plantings (235 street trees planted in 2009) and reviewing Planning Board applications for tree selection and placement. Members attend conferences to learn more about arboriculture and to maintain standing with state forestry agencies.

Annual Arbor Day celebrations bring awareness of urban forestry to city residents and provide recognition to community leaders through memorial trees.

To apply, download the form for boards and commissions from the city’s web site and submit the completed form to the mayor’s office and to the City Clerk, 515 Watchung Ave. Keep a copy for your files and be sure to follow up on the progress of your application.

There could be as many as 100 appointments to be made to various boards and commissions in January, along with numerous legal and governmental appointments. Way back in 2005, Plaintalker did a study of boards and commissions and found many needing members. It is unfortunate that there is still no easily accessible means of finding out about current opportunities as contemplated in the Civic Responsibilities Act.


--Bernice Paglia