New Look Delights City Hall Staff, Visitors

Public Works Superintendent John Louise calls it "the 'wow' factor."

It's the reaction of visitors to City Hall since restoration of the seal in the rotunda and new paint throughout have given the municipal building a whole new look. Gone are the dusty fake plants, the table full of flyers and the "greeter's desk" that was obscuring two memorial plaques.

The goal of the makeover was to present a "clean, uncluttered environment," Public Works Director Eric Jackson said.

Even necessities such as recycling containers have been integrated into the look by placing them in bins painted to blend in with the cream-colored walls and sand-toned  trim of the interior.

Artist Daniel Krovatin restored the seal in the rotunda, researching the colors and revising the background several times to get it just right, Louise said. The design was created by the Moravian Tile Company for the building, which was opened to the public on Jan. 1, 1919.

The old, scuffed floor and dull seal can be seen in this Feb. 6 photo of residents including bloggers Dan Damon and Dr. Harold Yood waiting to enter the council meeting.

The building's cornerstone was laid on Feb. 17, 1917, but labor troubles delayed construction. Mayor Leighton Calkins was the champion of the project, initially fending off critics who thought the plan was too expensive.

"We shall be criticized by generations hence if we fail now to erect a Municipal building which will, with its beautiful site, reflect credit on Plainfield when it numbers fifty instead of twenty-five thousand people within its borders," Calkins said.

Restoring a welcoming, dignified look projects a message that Plainfield is "really on the upswing," Jackson said.

Besides impressing visitors, the improvements are pleasing city employees.

"The staff reaction has been tremendous," Jackson said.

The World War (it wasn't called World War I until 1939) memorial can now be seen up close, with all the names of those who gave their lives for their country in the Great War.

Jackson called it "a great monument that needs to be viewed by folks."

Visitors are welcome to City Hall, which is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for regular business and at various evening hours for meetings.

--Bernice

Why I Am Waiting for Land Use Boards

I was given an opportunity to meet with the PR people from Muhlenberg and I declined, saying I preferred to wait until there was an application at the Zoning Board of Adjustment or the Planning Board.

That is also the reason why I am not going to try to attend all the various meetings set up by Muhlenberg Moving Forward. It is at these land use board meetings that the bottom line will come out. In my opinion, anything said before testimony at the land use boards is ... what? Hearsay?

The other reason, as many know, is that I decided not to get a new car when the old one died and I can't easily get around to all these meetings. I can walk to City Hall and Municipal Court for City Council meetings and the like.

I set forth my position in August 2008 on this post and it still holds today. The blog is not meant to be a total news outlet. Take it for what it is worth to you and also check the other blogs, newspapers, online information and back-fence gossip as we all try to puzzle out what is going on with the Muhlenberg campus.

--Bernice

City Government a Train Wreck?

One of the basic functions of government is to allocate the taxpayers' money in the best way possible. But when  we hear Council President Adrian Mapp say he can't make heads nor tails of budget information from the administration, it is concerning. Mapp is a state-certified chief financial officer who is well conversant with how municipalities are supposed to order their finances and he is not seeing it in front of his eyes in Plainfield.

The auditors, with their many repeat recommendations to follow basic money-handling procedures, are also bearing witness to the need to shape up.

One reason the City Council started its own Finance Committee was to formally monitor fiscal matters. The governing body is not permitted to take part in day-to-day operations of the city, but it can draw back the veil on how things are being done and invoke the rules that must be followed.

On Monday, nine contracts that were held up last month were offered again for council consideration. The issue last month was that the council did not want to approve Purchasing Agent David Spaulding as the Public Agency Compliance Officer. On Monday, the administration danced around the topic of whether there is a PACO and declined at first to give a name. Chairman of the Whole William Reid alluded to a lack of "trust," but Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said, "I strongly object to my colleague saying we don't trust an employee."

Later, after City Administrator Eric Berry said the PACO is Spaulding and no resolution is needed to designate him, Mapp commented, "Who we don't trust is the administration."

Now the mayor is suing the governing body and attempting to overturn findings of a council investigation that resulted in a reprimand and a $200 fine over the handling of funds for an Aug. 1, 2010 town meeting on gang violence. Her supporters say the money was well-spent and gang violence decreased, a claim not borne out by crime statistics.

All the he-said, she-said behavior aside, the laws on municipal funding are as solid as City Hall itself. Break enough rules on spending and the state will send somebody to run your city instead of those the people elected and those the elected officials appointed to be in charge. Plainfeld is not at that point yet, but the longer these spats hit the headlines, the closer the city gets to outside intercession.

Addressing the 2012 budget process in a truthful, professional way could be a large step toward proving city finances are not the "train wreck" that observers increasingly think they are. What happens this month and next will show whether sound policy or political "sound bites" will prevail.

--Bernice

New Turkey in Town

Walking home from City Hall today, I saw something unusual out of the corner of my eye. Investigating, I soon found myself tracking a turkey that was strutting behind buildings at East Seventh and Cleveland.

Here is the turkey attempting to trot across Cleveland Avenue.

Yikes! Does he know enough to look both ways?

Sanctuary! He reaches the grounds of Grace Episcopal Church.

I didn't see where he went after that. Hope he didn't run into the Cooper's Hawk, although the hawk is more used to dining on pigeons, as witness the feathers all over the place.

We have had deer, raccoons, opossums, skunks and groundhogs in our neighborhood, but this is the first time a wild turkey dropped by.

--Bernice

Muhlenberg Topic of Public Meetings

A reader wants me to remind the public that there will be a public meeting Thursday on Muhlenberg.

From the "Moving Muhlenberg Forward" web site:

March 8 at 6 pm
Public Meeting for Muhlenberg Neighborhood
Muhlenberg Hospital Lobby

March 16 at 6 pm
Public Meeting for Muhlenberg Neighborhood
Muhlenberg Hospital Lobby

Budget Introduction - When?

Those who have watched municipal government closely over the years know that the administration prepares the budget, but the governing body does not get a whack at it until the budget is introduced. It is then said to be the council's budget and deliberations, including hearing from division and department heads on the rationale for their budget requests, can ensue.

Now that the city has switched from a state fiscal year budget beginning July 1 to a calendar year budget, introduction should be imminent. But exchanges at Monday's City Council were not reassuring.

The council was discussing a resolution to adopt temporary budget appropriations for April. The process allows for a three-month temporary appropriation to allow for budget introduction, but then month by month the council must approve enough money to keep the city running until the budget is passed.

City Administrator Eric Berry, when asked about budget introduction, first called Finance Director Al Restaino in front of the council. Restaino said the city's auditing firm was "finalizing revenue numbers."

The budget document outlines anticipated revenues as well as appropriations.

"It's the middle of March and we haven't seen anything," Williams said.

Restaino promised to send the council members the information "electronically."

But Council President Adrian Mapp said, "We need the actual budget."

Mapp said he "can't make heads or tails" of a document he was given.

Councilman Cory Storch said he was "also uncomfortable " with the document, but said, "We need to keep the city running."

Turning to City Administrator Eric Berry, Storch asked, "Can we get some help on what we can expect?"

Berry said he was going to "stick with Al" on the need to get the revenue figures.

Storch asked whether a special meeting would be needed to introduce the budget and Berry said it could be done after a meeting with the Finance Committee.

A discussion then proceeded on how to put more pressure on the administration without causing a stalemate. Storch suggested that the Finance Committee could go through the "other expense" requests for April and reduce any that were not needed.

With that, four members of the council - William Reid, Storch, Annie McWilliams and Bridget Rivers - agreed to move the resolution on April appropriations to the March 12 agenda for a vote. But Williams said "no," saying she has seen "nothing but errors and incompetence" and Mapp joined her in declining.

For those who want to explore the whole process as it is supposed to take place, click here for an overview. The change to a calendar year was, in part, supposed to help avoid the city's chronic scenario of not having an adopted budget until late in the third quarter of the year. By then, most of the funding has been expended through temporary emergency appropriations and there is no leeway for cuts.

--Bernice

Council, Administration Friction Escalates

A damning audit report, a new stab at the PMUA lineup and a lawsuit by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs against the governing body intensified the simmering discontent among elected officials Monday.

Reporter Mark Spivey saved the bloggers from having to deal with the lawsuit story - by the time we got home from the council meeting, he had posted a full report online. The lawsuit comes nearly two months after the mayor was reprimanded and assessed a $200 fine following an investigation of funding for an Aug. 1, 2010 radio broadcast (see Plaintalker's post here).


Monday's agenda fixing session had barely started before Councilwoman Rebecca Williams blasted a newly-released audit report full of repeat findings of fiscal lapses. Williams said the report listed a "huge number of problems" and called it "really infuriating."


The council must sign off on a corrective action plan for audit findings, but Councilman Cory Storch said Monday he wants the auditors present when the plan is on the agenda. 


The city has suffered a high turnover of finance directors and is currently operating with a part-time chief financial officer. For three of the mayor's six years in office, there was no permanent CFO and state officials finally ordered the city to come up with one or the mayor and each council member would be fined $25 daily. The elected officials escaped the penalty when CFO Ron Zilinski was hired by the November 2011 deadline, but he just left at the end of January.


Besides the lawsuit Monday, the mayor surprised the council with last-minute nominations to the PMUA and the Housing Authority. The wrangle over PMUA appointments goes back many months, with stalemates resulting in commissioners staying on as holdovers. Two new commissioners approved by the council in November, Malcolm Dunn and alternate Cecil Sanders Jr, became instrumental in approving a controversial $1 million settlement to two former PMUA executives. Since then, the mayor tried twice to seemingly reward the pair with shifts to better terms, but the council rejected her nominations.


The PMUA reorganized on Feb. 14 with Chairman Harold Mitchell retaining his seat and Commissioner Carol Brokaw staying on a a holdover. Both had voted against the settlement. The mayor's new nominations Monday would reduce Mitchell to an alternate, meaning he would have to step down as chairman, and would remove Brokaw from the board. Sanders, Dunn and Alex Toliver, who also voted for the settlement, would stay on, joined by Wilbert O. Gill.The council vote on the mayor's nominations will take place March 12, the day before the next PMUA meeting.


The Housing Authority nomination is for Rickey Williams, who has been a holdover for several years.


The enmity contrasts sharply with the picture of harmony that Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Green projected on Feb. 24 when he gathered his City Committee members for a show of togetherness to impress Congressman Rush Holt. The mayor and Council President Adrian Mapp, arch rivals in the last mayoral contest, posed separately for photos with Holt and Green. While all pledged to help re-elect President Barack Obama, Monday's announcement of the lawsuit, the ongoing tiff over PMUA seats and the council displeasure with the administration reveal the ongoing rifts among elected officials.


There were many other aspects of the council meeting that will emerge on the blogs in days to come, including Maria Pellum's call for a health needs assessment, Olive Lynch's progress on her "green industry" venture, a Public Works union settlement and activists' call for restoration of an acute care facility at the Muhlenberg site instead of conversion to high-density housing. The council was also upset over the unknown status of the 2012 budget, which should be up for introduction by now.


--Bernice