More on "Manager Motors"

The city's vehicle fleet is worth $7.1 million and employees earning a total of $322,000 are monitoring it.

"We need to centralize this," Personnel Director Karen Dabney told the City Council Monday.

After more from Dabney and other city officials, ordinances that would put one person in charge at a starting salary of $70,887 passed on first reading and the public will have a say before final passage next month.

Dabney said there are a number of vehicles that should have been sold at auction, some dating back to 1977 and still under insurance coverage. Another problem is verifying who was at the wheel of a vehicle in an accident or one that may have 'blown through" EZPass, she said.

Public Works Director Eric Watson backed Dabney up on the need for an inventory and a way to know "who's using what." He said the condition of vehicles must be determined for trade-ins and also in case of a "lemon," for which he used the example of a $1 million fire engine.

Watson said when he headed the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority, he found there were "certain people who always damaged trucks." Noting the state has a central motor pool, he called it "an economic situation."

Mayor Adrian O. Mapp said highly paid public safety staff should not be doing vehicle maintenance.

Giving fleet management to one person, he said, "will more than pay for itself."

Police Director Carl Riley joined the discussion, saying there were 50 vehicles in the police fleet that are over 20 years old. He said a lieutenant is assigned to support services and, along with two mechanics from city yard, came up with a preventive maintenance plan. He pointed out that the city recently acquired surplus military vehicles as well and said he would rather have the lieutenant work on public safety and let a civilian manage the fleet.

Riley also heads the Department of Public Affairs & Safety, which includes the Fire Division. He said a similar situation exists there, with a truck down and a lieutenant spending time getting quotes to replace it.

Among council quotes, Councilwomen Diane Toliver and Tracey Brown asked whether the manager position could just be part-time. Council President Bridget Rivers suggested that secretaries in the different departments could add fleet management to their tasks. Councilman Cory Storch said he was not against the proposal, but didn't think the administration had "done its homework." He had asked for the number of vehicles involved, among other things.

Storch and Rivers voted "no," but the ordinance passed on first reading with Toliver, Brown, Rebecca Williams and Gloria Taylor voting "yes."

The public can speak on the ordinances at the Feb. 2 agenda-fixing session and at a public hearing before the final vote on February 9.

--Bernice