The special meeting called Monday by the mayor for four insurance-related items fell through for lack of a quorum. Only council members Bridget Rivers, Vera Greaves and William Reid showed up. After about a 20-minute wait for any sign of Annie McWilliams, Cory Storch, Rebecca Williams or Council President Adrian Mapp, Reid as acting president adjourned the meeting. Each of the four had indicated they would not be attending the meeting.
As previously noted, Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson attempted to add the four resolutions at the May 7 agenda-fixing session, but was rebuffed by Mapp. I was away on May 14, when Williamson sought to add the resolutions as walk-ons and again failed. Now that the mayor's unilateral call for the meeting has met with absence of the council majority, the issue may come up again in June.
Monday was my first chance to see the resolutions and it was surprising to me that two were retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012. One tagged R 209-12 was for an agreement with Inservco Insurance Services for a 12-month agreement to serve as a third-party administrator for $60,000. Another, R 210-12, was for an agreement between the city and two insurance companies, Brown & Brown Metro Inc. and Reliance Insurance Group, to provide risk management consultant services. The companies were to be paid an unspecified amount by the New Jersey Municipal Self-Insurer's Joint Insurance Fund, again for a term of 12 months beginning Jan. 1, 2012.
On May 14, the council was also asked to agree to payment of $75,000 to City Solicitor David Minchello, again retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012.
Before the meeting, Williamson said something about a notion that contracts were to be carried over for the first six months of 2012, which I did not understand. Some contracts were carried over for the six-month "transition year" between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2011, which paved the way for a new calendar year budget process.
The $60,000 contract Monday required certification of funds by the chief finance officer, but no such certification was attached to copies set out for the public. The city is in the process of hiring a full-time CFO and meanwhile is relying on one who works five to eight hours a week.
The other two resolutions authorized the use of competitive contracting for the aforementioned insurance services. All four resolutions were liberally sprinkled with references to state statutes that went over my head.
Despite the seemingly discouraging situation of an aborted meeting, the atmosphere in City Hall Library was rather jovial Monday. Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs swooped down on this blogger to bestow a hug, then took the gavel and played council president for a while. She invited Mapp's Third Ward rival in the June primary, Rasheed Abdul-Haqq, to wield the gavel, but he declined. Also present were "kingmaker" John Campbell and attorney Lucas Phillips of the Corporation Counsel's office, in addition to Minchello and Williamson. Lots of lawyer power! Director Eric Jackson of the Department of Public Works & Urban development stopped in briefly as well.
As corporation counsel, Williamson is supposed to represent both the administration and the governing body, but has found the role problematic as the two bodies have clashed in recent months. Scenarios such as the council approving measures which the mayor then vetoes have occurred. In some cases a super-majority has managed to over-ride the mayoral veto. The council also had to invoke its investigative powers in the city charter to elicit testimony from city officials regarding funding of a controversial town meeting called by the mayor in 2010. The mayor and council each hired special counsel and Williamson declined to testify in public in that matter.
Williamson has served throughout the mayor's two terms starting in 2006, but recently agreed to become executive director of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority as of July 1. A new corporation counsel will then have to be named for the last 18 months of the mayor's current term.
The next agenda-fixing session of the City Council will be 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12 in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave. and the next regular meeting will be 8 p.m. Monday, June 18 in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.
--Bernice
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She "invited" someone unrelated to city government to take the gavel ???
ReplyDeleteLOL.....
Local Democrats at their finest ! I would say it's embarrassing, but you party line voters want people like her in office.
It's really getting old Rob, don't you have something new for a change.
ReplyDeleteOlder than not having enough smarts, ambition or guts to fill out a profile?
DeleteVote your party line and expect change..or worse yet... Like it the way it is.
We have to vote for the best person and it seems that this mayor has not been the best choice for a long time. I applaud the council members who did not attend and rebuke those who did. The ones who attended are consistent Sharon supporters, even when most of their constitutents are not. Her hi-ness needs to get her act together, because we don't care if she is the **** mayor.
ReplyDeleteTo 11am - I believe what is getting old is having an administration that has no idea what they are doing - consistently ignores the law, and is disrespectful of the process of the council meeting.
ReplyDeleteAnd does it not bother you at all that she cannot seem to get her work done in a timely manner?
She ran the meeting as she does city hall, like a circus.
ReplyDeleteAnd, how smart are the 3 council persons who showed up knowing that there would not be a quarum? They obviously have a ton of time on their hands to waste, but not to attend budget meetings.