Taking a Mental Health Day didn't do much for my disposition. My stomach has been tied up in knots for weeks now and I am just wondering how much agita I can deal with from trying to cover council meetings. Monday night sounds like a trial, what with single-digit temperatures, ice underfoot and two meetings crammed into one evening. If you don't see me, I will be home reading Henry James novels and contemplating late 19th century and early 20th century problems.
There could be six to eight separate news stories coming out of Monday's meetings. The top one might be the long-awaited appointment of a permanent, full-time chief financial officer.
A possibly significant one might be the reconstitution of the Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs. Established in 2005, this commission had no members until 2010 (see post here) and then promptly fell apart. The embedded link to a prior post that generated 22 comments makes one think not enough thought went into member selection to launch this potentially crucial body in a city where the Hispanic population grew 67 percent between 2000 and 2010.
A surge in land use applications makes it especially important that the Planning and Zoning boards be fully prepared to hear cases. New member training could not take place at the Jan. 15 Zoning Board reorganization, for lack of appointments.
Given the lack of action on appointments that has left three of five Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority commissioners in holdover position (with another term due to expire Feb. 1), certainly it will be of interest who may be named Monday. Litigation, the authority's bugaboo since its inception, now includes a lawsuit by former Chief Financial Officer James Perry over allegations of racial discrimination as well as contractual issues.
The dreaded (by some) tax lien penalty resolution is on the special meeting agenda. Will Plainfield accept the rules set by nearly all other municipalities, or insist on favoring tax delinquents over those who pay on time?
And then there is the proposed new position of deputy police director. Adding a person and a salary may just thicken the plot in the ongoing saga of public safety leadership.
Whether bloggers can get to Municipal Court by 6 p.m. or at all, the news will out eventually - maybe on YouTube in a few weeks.
--Bernice
This is one blogger who has no intentions of going to any 6pm my 70 year dinner time meeting, especially one that will immediately go into executive session and above all m ost likley will not have a quorum.
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