The governing body's selection of First Ward Councilman William Reid as chairman of the whole is having some unintended consequences.
Always talkative and opinionated, Reid has taken to speechifying often when his role is to read from a prepared script that keeps the meeting running along parliamentary guidelines. For example, on Feb. 13 at the point of a roll call vote, Reid broke into a tirade against an attorney hired to investigate the use of $20,000 in public funds for the controversial Aug. 1, 2010 "town meeting" that was broadcast on WBLS.
Saying he was quoting Baptist preachers in South Carolina, Reid said the issue was a case of "Do as I say do, not as I do" and proceeded to condemn the payment of additional funds to attorney Ramon Rivera for the investigation. He insisted the amount of city funding in question was only $5,000 and that the council never agreed to pay the extra $11,014.48 in attorney's fees to Rivera.
During his lengthy commentary, Reid attributed motives to Rivera: "Then this stuff got good to this Rivera, so then he said, 'Oh hell,' ... " and demeaned him as "one attorney who apparently doesn't know much about the operations of the the city."
"I say don't pay him anything, because he don't have a contract at all. Don't accept this report," Reid said, alluding to the conclusions of the investigation.
Reid said the mayor arranged the broadcast, billed as a response to gang violence, "to stop some of the horrible things" that were going on. He said three people were shot near his home and the mayor "was trying to do something."
After calling again for the council not to pay Rivera anything, Reid allowed the meeting to proceed to a roll call vote on the resolution. The vote passed, 4-3, with Reid, Vera Greaves and Bridget Rivers voting "no" and Annie McWilliams, Cory Storch, Rebecca Williams and Council President Adrian Mapp voting "yes."
Reid was the longtime treasurer of the Regular Democratic Organization before his appointment to the council in 2007. He won an unexpired term in 2008 and a full four-year term in 2010. Along the way, he was campaign treasurer for Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs as well as others on the party line. In the longtime split between the RDO faction and the New Democrats, Reid has consistently been a cheerleader for the party and the mayor. The 4-3 vote on Feb. 13 reflected the split.
Last year, when McWilliams was council president, Reid clashed with her frequently, at one point calling her "unethical." Mapp is the chairman of the New Democrats and also came in for many challenges from Reid in the past.
It is said that the two factions came together during last year's general election in November and will be joining forces to work on the re-election of President Barack Obama. Having Mapp as council president and Reid as chairman of the whole may be a reflection of the new rapprochement. However, Mapp had to remind Reid on Feb. 13 of parliamentary procedure which prohibits random commentaries, especially during votes.
Irrepressible, Reid brought up his arguments against paying Rivera again at the end of the meeting, saying, "Not to beat a dead horse to death ...," and repeating his Southern Baptist preacher maxim, "Do as I say do, not as I do."
--Bernice
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So how much would it take to get Reid, Greaves and Rivers attention? It's OK to misappropriate 5k - how about 10K? How about 50K? What about 20K 5 times? They understand that it is the principle (or at least I know Reid does) and the only way they can defend this is to trivialize the amount.
ReplyDeleteAnd, my question to the mayor is -
You have violence in the city. You have a position on staff, a director of saftety, whose job it is to protect the city, and the only solution the mayor can come up with reconciling this situation is to pay Al Sharpton 20K for a less than 5 minute appearance? And the good people of Plainfield think that this will make a difference?
The "the Stooges", as I have called them, need to be removed and I will remember them when their re-election comes up and with the dislike the citizens of Plainfield have for Sharon, it won't take much to have people see them for the snakes they are. Reid should know better and I wonder how much Sharon, or someone is paying Reid to be such a dolt.
ReplyDeleteBob Bolmer
What do you mean, "was the treasurer"? Unless something has changed in the very immediate past, Reid is the treasurer for the PDCC, Jerry Green, SRB, and Vera Greaves.
ReplyDeleteThe self-described "bookkeeper" is up to his ears in conflicts of interest and questionable ethics, voting on city contracts and then collecting the politicians' cut in the form of campaign contributions, some of which is even loaned to slates of school board candidates.
What's truly pathetic is that although it's perfectly obvious and public record, the City Council takes no action to prevent it. The "whole" is as conflicted as its chairman.
Unfortunately Mr. Reid is part of what's wrong with Plainfield politics. He's indebted to anyone and everyone that's ever given him a job in the administration, on their campaign or in a city related agency, something that continually clouds his judgement; and the sad thing is that he truly believes that no one can see that. He should be embarrassed by most of the remarks he makes, but he's been doing it for so long, I think he truly believes the nonsense he utters.
ReplyDeleteWrong is wrong Mr. Reid, no matter how you spell it out, it's wrong -- as you sit and defend missappropriated funds and in the same breath quote a baptist preacher. Stop being such a quack!
Mr. Reid is not interested in moving Plainfield forward as a whole, he's interested in his self-serving agenda that keeps his constituents right where he wants them, backed up against a wall.
The likes of Mr. Reid, Ms. Rivers, Ms. Greeves, Robinson-Briggs and Jerry Green have brainwashed their constituents, mostly from the 1st and 4th wards, to believe that they can't do any better and scare them into thinking that if anyone else comes along they will be worst off. They use scare tactics to keep their constituents in check - - nothing more than smoke and mirrors as they organize their "free" (tax payer funded) picnics and dinners and, oh yes, radio broadcasts. It makes them look oh-so-good.
If these people really are interested in helping Plainfield, they'd just stay home and give others the opportunity to put Plainfield back on track.