2010: Inch by Inch

If the city had had a mascot in 2010, it could have been the inchworm.

Several major issues moved along only by the smallest increments.

One was the use of technology to fight crime. Closed circuit television cameras have yet to appear and it is still not clear how or where they would be monitored. A $1 million gunshot detection system got a huge PR boost, including a $20,000 “Town Meeting” broadcast on WBLS, but never received council approvals. It later came out that funds for the town meeting were taken from an account for the new IT program and the council ordered an investigation. Meanwhile, shootings took place by the dozens and last year’s tally of two homicides quadrupled, causing one Fourth Ward activist to toss back at Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs her 2005 campaign charge that Plainfield was the “murder capital” of Union County under her predecessor.

Then there was the fuss over the Recreation Division’s management. The conflict continued between a volunteer-run baseball league and one formed by the city with paid staff. The long-dormant Recreation Committee was reactivated to help resolve the issues, but found Recreation Superintendent Dave Wynn not sufficiently responsive to its inquiries. A proposal to create a Recreation Commission to plan and oversee programs did not get off the ground and the year ended with, if anything, a hardening of officials’ conflicting views on how to resolve the situation that is impacting hundreds of children and parents.

The year began with one person – Bibi Taylor - handling both the day-to-day operations of the city as well as its largest of three departments and ended with the council overturning the mayor’s move to fire Taylor in the final days of her pregnancy. Among other cabinet moves, the mayor and council escaped daily state fines by finally hiring a chief finance officer after three years, but meanwhile the city lost another department head after only eight months. Currently, Taylor’s future work schedule is under discussion and Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson is acting city administrator, Jacques Howard is acting director of Public Works & Urban Development, Al Restaino is the newly named director of Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services and Martin Hellwig remains as director of Public Affairs & Safety.

Hellwig was suspended for three days in February over charges the mayor declined to reveal, but which according to widespread reports had to do with misuse of city property and other allegations of impropriety that were never officially confirmed. The Police Benevolent Association announced a vote of no confidence in him around the same time over other issues. Having changed the table of organization from five captains to seven in 2008, Hellwig announced in 2010 a reduction to three captains. One captain refused to be demoted to lieutenant and left the force at the higher rank.

The city finally hired an IT manager in February. To no one’s surprise, it turned out to be Chris Payne, formerly of the Plainfield school district. Payne had been in charge of a shared services agreement between the city and the school district that was halted abruptly. For the city, Payne’s purview was to include not only technology, but also operation of the local television station and other media duties. He was reporting directly to the mayor for much of 2010 until the City Council took action to formalize IT as a division under the Department of Administration, Finance, Health & Social Services. However, Payne had no staff for much of the year. The council recently approved another shared services agreement with the school district that is meant in part to afford Payne staff support.

The city saw two major layoffs in 2010, one of which affected the City Clerk’s office by removing two highly capable staffers through Civil Service “bumping” rights and adding an individual unfamiliar with the tasks of the office. An inquiry from blogger Maria Pellum revealed that minutes of council meetings were months in arrears and City Clerk Laddie Wyatt said in budget talks that her office had been virtually crippled by the loss of experienced staff. Similar effects rippled through other offices affected by the layoffs.

These are some of the reasons to say good riddance to 2010. Will things go better in 2011? Fiscal constraints are predicted to get worse. That means leadership must be tightened up somehow to deliver the most important municipal services. The city may still just inch forward, but we hope it will do so with common sense and strong effort.

--Bernice