As head of the city's in-house legal system, Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson is the highest paid cabinet member, earning $134,000 in 2011. When he becomes executive director of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority on July 1, he will see his compensation rise by about 15 percent.
Details of his contract were revealed Tuesday at the PMUA's business meeting. His salary will be $154,613. But while his three-year contract includes a number of handsome perks, they will be far less than what his predecessor, Eric Watson, enjoyed.
Williamson will be allowed 15 sick days, down from Watson's 28; three personal days, down from 8; and 20 vacation days, down from 30. At retirement, compensation for accumulated sick days will be capped at $15,000. He will receive neither a car nor a car allowance and he will have to follow a new travel and reimbursement policy which requires documentation.
Unlike Watson and his assistant, David Ervin, Williamson will receive no severance pay. The pair received a settlement totaling $1 million since their departure last year, to be paid out over four years.
The new stringency is almost certainly the result of a ratepayer backlash that started in 2009 when the authority's board of commissioners voted to raise sewer rates by 14 percent and solid waste rates by 20 percent. Using Open Public Records Act requests, a group called Dump PMUA uncovered examples of lavish spending by PMUA officials and encouraged residents to opt out of PMUA services. The final outrage was the $1 milllion settlement approved in January, which resulted in a petition drive asking Gov. Chris Christie to look into the workings of the authority.
Williamson has served six and a half years in the two-term administration of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and previously served the city in other legal roles. The City Council now favors having a part-time corporation counsel and has reduced funding for the office accordingly for the balance of 2012, a stance challenged by the administration. No successor has yet been named for Williamson.
The council and mayor are also clashing over a proposed study for possible dissolution of the PMUA, a suggestion that came out of a citizen task force that looked into the operations of the authority. To return its functions to city control, a cadre of experts including engineers and attorneys would have to make a case for dissolution and present it to the state Local Finance Board for approval. Opponents of the dissolution say it would put PMUA employees, including otherwise hard-to-employ parolees, out of work and possibly incur a large amount of bonding debt for the city.
But while the fate of the authority is being argued, Williamson will take charge in about three weeks. Commissioners Carol Ann Brokaw, Malcolm Dunn, Alex Toliver and Cecil Sanders approved his contract Tuesday. Chairman Harold Mitchell was absent for medical reasons and Commissioner Tracey Brown left the meeting before the vote.
--Bernice
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Somehow I'm not surprised that Tracey Brown left the meeting early. She does not want to be on record for any key votes. Guess what she will do if she is elected in November??? The PMUA needs to be shut down. There is no reason to have a separate utilities authority. To top it off, their rates are excessive.
ReplyDeleteIf she'll be elected ??? LOL.... SHE'S GOT THE MAGIC "D" with her... Hell .. Watch Mapp, Storch and the other hypocrites stumping for her. She and the Mayor have got to be laughing their asses off every time one of the "NEW" Dems utter... "It's all about Obama in 2012".
DeleteRob man,
DeleteIt's the same comments over and over. Take a break.
absolutely will not...Hypocrites need to be called to the carpet.
DeleteI don't know why PUMA will pay so much. Williamson comes with no experience, but his connections to Sharon and Jerry are what makes the point. Let's close this thing and put this guy out of a job as soon as possible. As far as Tracy Brown, she's just like Sharon and that's not saying anything nice about a minister. I think her moral character is in question. Her performance on the PMUA and BOE don't show much concern for the people of Plainfield. Thanks Jerry. I'm a democrat and voting for a Republican in the fall.
ReplyDeleteThe specter of the Bond Debt keeps emerging. When the PMUA was created the geniuses who made the ground rules created a virtually autonomous entity. The PMUA, as a Municipal Agency, in a large measure is not subject to State Authority. The Governor can not intervene as he did in Passaic. Passaic Sewage is a STATE AGENCY, hence the STATE has jurisdiction. In addition, the PMUA Charter exempts the PMUA from any interference from the Plainfield Municipal government, i.e., the City Council.The only stick the Council can wield is to reject nominations made by the Mayor for Commissioner chairs. This control has been ineffective.
ReplyDeleteThe question was how does an unfunded, inexperienced, start up agency obtain the money to purchase equipment property and make payroll? The answer was to sell Bonds. But who would buy a Bond from an entity with no assets, no track record or credit? The answer was to guarantee the Bonds with the full credit of the City of Plainfield, General Obligation Bonds. If the PMUA defaults the City pays. The City sits harnessed with a $23,000,000 obligation, with interest running, on the money the PMUA has borrowed. And, THE CITY HAD NO CONTROL OVER THE MANNER IN WHICH THE MONEY WAS SPENT OR CAN THEY DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY. WHAT INSANITY.
However, should the PMUA be assimilated by the City, or dissolved, the cost of retiring the Bonds and paying the interest will not cost the population any more than they are currently paying, except if the cost of this obligation is added to the City budget we will pay it as taxes and obtain a significant tax deduction. In the alternative, if the services of the PMUA were contracted to a private hauler the huge saving in the cost of the private company's prices ( an estimated $8,000,000)as contrasted with the current PMUA rates would provide not only an adequate amount to pay the Bond debt,and the private hauler, with money left over which would inure to the taxpayers.
As the new Executive Director takes over he should be asked what his objectives are with regard to rate reduction and within what time frame he intends to accomplish those objectives. Bill Kruse
Once again Tracy Brown was unavailable to go on record and vote in the interest of Plainfield, yet people will vote for her in November because they are afraid to think for themselves and see that she is not right for the council. Attend a meeting and observe the people that sit on these boards and the behaviors they display. Come see for yourself and stop letting others advise you who you should vote for. I am an Independent and vote for the right person for me regardless of their party affilation. I just wish the rest of the voters would do the same. As the late, great Teddy used to sing "WAKE UP EVERYBODY, TIME FOR THINKING AHEAD" and that's what we have to do if Plainfield is to survive and grow into the great place we all know it could be.
ReplyDelete