Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Council, Administration Differ Again

Skirmishes between the executive and legislative branches of city government continued on several fronts Monday.

The City Council approved two ordinances over the objections of the administration, one allowing the governing body to review city bills and another to lower the bidding threshold despite Gov. Chris Christie having recently raised the threshold. On bill review, City Administrator Bibi Taylor said the same results could be achieved through the current process. Lowering the bid threshold when state government just increased it would just cause extra work for city staff, Taylor claimed.

The bills ordinance passed 6-1, with council members Rashid Burney, Cory Storch, Adrian Mapp, Bridget Rivers, Linda Carter and Council President Annie McWilliams voting “yes” and William Reid voting “no.” The bid threshold ordinance passed 5-2, with Burney, Rivers, Storch, Mapp and McWilliams voting "yes" and Carter and Reid voting "no."

The council also continued to probe why Recreation Superintendent Dave Wynn is apparently avoiding cooperation with a newly-formed Recreation Committee. Last week, committee chairman Dwayne Wilkins said Wynn attended only one of the committee’s six meetings so far and imposed rules for how the committee could communicate with officials. Wilkins said the committee’s attempts to get basic information on recreation programs met with resistance, leaving the group stalled in its mission to make recommendations.

On Monday, Wynn was expected to attend the council meeting, but his superior, Public Works Director David Brown II, said Wynn called out sick and did not report for work that day.

The council had withdrawn an ordinance that would have created a Recreation Commission with broader powers than the current committee, but it will be brought back in September.

Another controversy over Housing Authority appointments thickened as new information came out Monday on rules for holdovers. Commissioner Rickey Williams, initially appointed to a three-month unexpired term, has stayed on since 2006 in what the administration calls a “holdover” position.

Throughout the discussion in recent weeks, Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson has insisted that Williams had holdover status, but on Monday McWilliams said his stance, while it does not violate the letter of the law, “violates the spirit of the law.”

Mapp suggested that the council “pursue legal action” to settle the issue of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs’ insistence on the holdover, the mayor claimed the council refused to vote on the candidate she brought forward.

She urged the council to “go ahead and review” the issue.

But then City Clerk Laddie Wyatt informed the council that Williams’ name was withdrawn after being submitted in 2006, so the council had no chance to give advice and consent to the appointment. In public comment later, former Housing Authority Commissioner Robert Wilson said that state rules limit holdovers to two years, raising the question of whether Williams’ votes were null and void after the first two years.

Williamson said he would research the issues. Reid spoke against taking legal action, calling for the branches to settle the matter among themselves.

A further question arose over the submission and withdrawal of the name of Ken Scott as a Housing Authority commissioner on the same resolution with Williams in 2006. Scott was subsequently approved, but Storch asked which one of the two was the mayoral appointment. Robinson-Briggs had left the meeting by then.

The confusion pointed up the reason for the recent clashes between the two branches, as the council has pushed for greater fiscal oversight and resolution of outstanding issues such as holdovers on boards and commissions. But the administration has claimed the governing body is usurping powers of the executive branch. Council watchers are expecting more of the same in coming weeks.

--Bernice Paglia

7 comments:

  1. Bernice, I see no confusion...I finally see the council nailing Sharon to the wall and showing everyone what a hot mess her administration truly is...Kudo's to them for putting her feet to the fire collectively..with of course, the normal hold out.

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  2. You've really got to wonder about this Administration. Article 3:4 of the City Charter states as clear as can be "The mayor shall make available to any councilman, upon request, any departmental report, official record or document", so it shouldn't take a resolution for the Council to get to see the bills.

    Meanwhile, Councilman Reid should be noted for his vote. If he's not voting for delay, he's running interference. Ward 1 residents should consider whether delay and putting a lid on transparency is in their best interest. I don't think so. You almost get the feeling the object is to keep the city as discombobulated as possible so the Big Chief can then deliver manna from Trenton. Like Anthony Quinn said in the movie 'Lawrence of Arabia', "I am a river to my people", but this river is running dry.

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  3. Isn't the mayor's position part time? What in the heck is she doing putting her face in the workings of the city all the time.

    Mayor - you are PART TIME!!! Do PART TIME STUFF!!!

    The one decent thing you have done is putting Bibi Taylor in the City Admin position. She is bright and undeniably capable. Leave her alone and let her do her job.

    All those in favor of a PART TIME MAYOR?

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  4. This is really a bad situation the Mayor really has no clue and it is time for a recall.

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  5. Good for you City Council!! Keep up the good work.

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  6. We need to recall this mayor and I hope it happens soon. Does anyone know how this is done. I applaud the City Council for doing its job, but there are some on the Council who need to go, since it is obvious that they are Jerry and Sharon people and are up to no good. Let's recall the bunch and get more people in there like Annie and Adrian who will make Plainfield a nice place to live again.

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  7. Regarding Reid, what else would you expect from the mayor's campaign manager?????

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