Over the objections of Commissioners Harold Mitchell and Carol Brokaw and in the absence of Commissioner Tracey Brown, the triumvirate of Commissioners Malcolm Dunn, Cecil Sanders Jr. and Alex Toliver gave city Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson the job of running the troubled Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority on April 10.
The leadership of the PMUA once consisted of another troika, all from City Hall, to operate and manage the city's sewer system and to provide solid waste services to as many as 16,000 households. Eric Watson was executive director, David Ervin was assistant executive director and Lou Jones was chief of operations. After Jones retired in 2008, no successor was named. More recently, the post of assistant executive director has gone unfilled. I'm told Duane Young is handling both executive roles for one salary.
The stated premise of the $1 million settlement was that Watson and Ervin created the mighty PMUA out of nothing, so retroactively deserved compensation, or one might say, reparation. But now that it is fully formed and functioning, is one person expected to handle the work of two while a new director gets up to speed?
Anyone who has witnessed Dunn's grilling of Young on minute details of the operation may find it hard to picture Dan Williamson giving chapter and verse on solid waste and sewerage issues anytime soon. Nor has Dan managed a workforce of 140, interfaced with PARSA and SWANA or weighed the economics of ventures such as the Tunnel that was or the tunnel that may yet be. More than likely, Young will still be answering the hard questions for some time to come.
The devolution from three top executives to two to one seems curious; to then put the sole remaining person with directorial knowledge and experience in a secondary role to a seeming political figurehead - curiouser and curiouser.
--Bernice
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
PMUA IS THE DEVIL
ReplyDeleteMinority-status based entrepreneurship combined with long-term government contracts in a one-party town is a guarantee of below mediocre performance and way above average costs. These guys are just playas in more conservative dress. They weren't even voted in.
ReplyDeleteNo need for a Zimmerman bogeyman here - we're doing it to ourselves, slowly but surely, every single day.
Nothing curious about it. They're 'lawyering up' as they march with finger-wagging Malcolm Dunn to their inevitable Waterloo.
ReplyDeleteAgain, Dunn and company show us that they can't be trusted and we wonder when the next shoe will drop. I hope the state forces all commissioners to resign and maybe this mayor and council will be more circumspect in who they choose for these positions.
ReplyDeleteIt's doubtful that the city council will ever do anything about this. They don't want to make any tough decisions. This decision couldn't be more clear, the PMUA has and will continue to waste away millions each year.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, they are all Christians.
ReplyDeleteOne former city official has told me that Dunn and Sanders were brought in to approve the settlement and keep Watson & Ervin from spilling their guts. I don't know this to be a fact, but a cursory review of who approved their nomination leads me to believe these 'deciders' may have more to lose than to gain from any toothful investigation.
ReplyDeleteWatson and Ervin from spilling their guts, i would really like to know what they know.
ReplyDeleteHarol Mitchell used to be apart of the good ole boys club. I really wonder what happen. but it don't matter they will all divide eventually.
ReplyDeleteAt 7:37 - Thank you Mr. Toliver. You write just like you speak.
ReplyDelete