Sunday, November 20, 2011

PMUA Nominees To Be Interviewed

Monday's City Council agenda includes interviews of two nominees for the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority's board of commissioners.

One nominee, Cecil Sanders Jr., was interviewed for a commissioner's seat in January, but did not get appointed (see post here). Both Sanders and nominee Malcolm Dunn are longtime advocates of minority enterprise and both are members of the Democratic City Committee. Sanders was part of a group, BOSS Tunnel Vision,  that had hoped to take part in the massive ARC Tunnel project that Gov. Chris Christie rejected. Dunn was on the group's executive board

Dunn is nominated to succeed James Green, who was a holdover in 2009 when he died. The mayor favored former Councilman Don Davis to succeed Green in an unexpired term to Feb. 1, 2014. However, the term is listed on Monday's agenda as ending Feb. 1, 2015. In January, the council rejected Charles Eke as Green's successor, also for a term ending Feb. 1, 2014. This confusion over terms is one of Plaintalker's major peeves about boards and commissions in general, because successions get all mixed up when individuals are given incorrect terms.

Sanders is named this time to succeed Eugene Dudley as an alternate, to Feb. 1, 2014. This contradicts the information posted on the city's web site, unless the appointment will not take effect until Feb. 1, 2012:

"The Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority shall consist of five (5) members, each of which shall be appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council. The term of each regular member is five (5) years.
The Mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council may also appoint two (2) alternate members. The term of each alternate member is two (2) years."

While the council's stated reservations about nominees center on getting "the right person," as stated in January, My concern is also seating people in the darn right terms. Whatever happens Monday, I hope this concern will be taken into account. The City Clerk's own database confirms that Green's vacancy goes to Feb. 1, 2014 and Dudley's to Feb. 1, 2012. So why the discrepancies?

--Bernice

4 comments:

  1. Shut down PMUA and we won't have to deal with the discrepancies. Shut down PMUA and we won't have to pay the freight of an extra bureaucracy with commissioners, lawyers, auditors, and engineers. Shut down PMUA because of its egregious spending habits. Shut it down because it has failed to validate the need for a separate entity in a one municipality service area, and has been incapable of generating customers beyond Plainfield's borders. Shut it down because when given the opportunity for no accountablity and no transparency, that's what is always opted for. Shut it down so the City Council stops passing the buck and takes on the responsibility of oversight it has shunned for years. Shut it down before these two commissioner nominees show once again why it's mostly flim-flammers that want to do business here.

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  2. And shut it down so we can once again pay for these services through our city taxes and deduct them from our income tax!

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  3. Dunn has been nothing but a laggard for Plainfield. Has done nothing...yet because of his large mouth and connections (unlike Eke) the Council will be wimps and approve him.

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  4. Of course this city won't shut the PMUA down. This is how the major players on the dem city committee get their revenue source. Why do you think the council sits idle? Eventually they will just approve these nominees and say their hands were tied. The two names mentioned that are up for consent are no different than the current players who only want what's good for them and their cronies. I fully agree with 9:26, it's time to shut them down for good!!!

    My rates are through the roof and the PMUA could care less.

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