The City Clerk's office was stripped to the bare walls and floor Monday for a complete "makeover" that by day's end was taking shape with new carpeting. Visitors were advised that office would offer limited services through Wednesday.
City Clerk Abubakar "AJ" Jalloh carried on using an IPad. Jalloh, formerly the deputy clerk in the very busy office, was appointed to the statutory title of municipal clerk city in February, following the retirement of City Clerk Laddie Wyatt. See Plaintalker's report on Jalloh's appointment here.
All the work is scheduled to be finished by mid-week, as the clerk's office must prepare for the Aug. 8 City Council agenda session, followed by the regular meeting on Aug. 15.
Historic statuary stands in contrast to the jumble of modern office appliances and boxes of documents that will be put back in the office. Jalloh said his plans call for a public seating area with access to a computer, so that citizens can look up the Municipal Code and other documents online in a searchable data base. Plaintalker will follow up on the remodeling later this week.
--Bernice
How can we get all of our employees motivated to have that "MAKE IT HAPPEN" attitude. How has AJ been able to accomplish more in 6 months then most in 30 years. I am truly impressed!
ReplyDeleteI believe this is in large part a generational thing about approaching tasks, not so much making things happen. Laddie Wyatt diligently upheld her responsibility as city clerk during her tenure. Like most young people, AJ lives and breathes in the digital world and sees his role through that lens. Plainfield is lucky that he decided to choose municipal service at this time, as his innovations more closely match the increasing expectations of the public for instant access to important information.
ReplyDeleteBernice,
ReplyDeleteThe computer access for residents to be able to look up and print out the code and other forms and to make OPRA requests is part of what I am excited about--AJ has gone out of his way to make sure that all the clerk's office has to offer is easily accessible to us. The office is very inviting and friendly, and there is also comfortable seating for customers.
Rebecca
City Hall is an embarrassment, there is no excuse for it to look the way it does. The Municipal Building is supposed to be the pride of the City. Our Municipal building looks like the ghetto. I’m happy to see someone take pride in their surroundings and bring professionalism to this city.
ReplyDeleteEveryone office in City Hall should get a fish tank and a big green frog, like in the Mayor's office! SMH!!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously, how hard is it to refurbish the floors, paint the walls and remove that ridiculous welcome desk!
It's so nice to see such enthusiasm
ReplyDeleteMakeover.....how much does this cost and why AJ office. Others could have used the capital expenditures, as their space looks like something out of an office nightmare. Also how are we paying for this when we have such budget constraints for funding just about everything else. Laddie and her clerks functioned in that space for ever and now we find capital improvement funds to fix this office. Public seating would be great for such high traveled areas as the tax office and the programs in the annex. Guess it still who you know and not who needs what. No offense to AJ, but where did we find the funding for this.
ReplyDelete@ 12:13 = crabs in a barrel mentality! Exactly why nothing gets done and City Hall looks the way it does...
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Now let's see the rest of City Hall get some help - - a little paint goes a long way.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to know how a person manages their own life, many times all you have to do is look inside their home. The overall maintenance of City Hall is indicative of the state of this City, in need of a major makeover!
AJ for Mayor!
Instead of being so negative, Anonymous at 12:13 should encourage more cleaning up of a very shabby city hall, beginning with removal of that gigantic, godawful eyesore desk in our historic rotunda. What AJ is doing is called "pride" and he has a great deal of it. The city clerk's office looks like a beacon of professionalism. Fresh, scrubbed, and ready to work--why on earth would ANYONE criticize a young man who wants to make his staff and the residents of this city feel respected? How AJ carries himself is reflected in how he has taken on this critical job in our city. Carry on, AJ, carry on.
ReplyDeleteRebecca
Props to Rebecca for stating it so well!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree with Rebecca more. Maybe the mentality of not taking pride in oneself and surroundings points to larger issues in the city.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Lattie may have done her work, but certainly did not do much to advance the office and its efficiency.
AJ is one of Plainfield's jewel. Thank you, AJ, for what you have accomplished so far, and for making this city better.
The point of the post is not AJ's professionalism as I stated, the pointis the funding of the makeover. Why on earth is there not a capital improvement fund/grant in place for the entire building. It seems that people don't see the forrest from the tree. It matters not what one office looks like if the other publicly used offices look like rat holes. Nothing negative about stating the obvious. Stop being a fan club and care about the entire operations of City Hall. AJ didn't paint, remove carpeting or rewire the place, someone was paid to do this and maybe the council person should be asking questions on where the funding came from instead of praising an individual who received a nice new working space. Visit the Office of Economic Development, Tax, Purchasing: there are a lot of fine employees who have excellent job skills working in rat holes. Fact!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness the Planning Board approved all this in the CIP !!
ReplyDeleteKudos to the update. Hopefully it is a sign of more to come. Maybe it can be done office by office, floor by floor? The building is so beautiful, but is so out-dated, it really needs an extreme makeover. While we are at it... can we please get our flag pole back up?? We are still in America are we not?
ReplyDelete@ 11:47, Spoken like a true intelligent individual. Intelligent people know that it takes a combination of pride, enthusiasm, creativity and persistence to succeed. Sure AJ didn't paint, Director Hellwig doesn't do drug bust, and Obama didn't shoot Bin Laden. It's called, having a plan, a set of priorities and showing you have the ability to execute!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to find out where the money came from, fill out an Opra request. I'm sure AJ and his push for transparency in Government has nothing to hide, and I’m sure he spent every penny, whether grant dollars or not, wisely.
Also, stop comparing AJ to Laddie. Laddie in her time was a legend and kept this City running admirably throughout her tenure. It is premature to compare the two. It’s a different day and a different time, which calls for a different perspective!
I think the overall consensus is that City Hall looks like crap and needs an overhall, everyone agrees, now all we need is our leaders in City Hall to step up and do something about it.
No excuses, just results!
Fact: the commenter who keeps asking about the money shows ignorance about capital improvement funds versus the actual money used to paint and buy carpet. Fact: the other offices have department heads who could use grant funding as well to spruce up their offices. At least clean them. Fact: the commenter is jealous of people with a work ethic and sense of pride and cleanliness and respect.
ReplyDeleteFact, there is NO system of spending from the CIPs, GIOs or grants. Believe me it is everyperson for themselves, or professioanlly called, First come first served.
ReplyDeleteFACT: you people are arguing about paint...
ReplyDeleteFACT: Nothing will ever get done in Plainfield.
CONCLUSION: You should all go play in traffic!