Thursday, December 19, 2013

About the Cabinet

In 2006, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs appointed cabinet members who came from Jersey City, Nutley and Rahway, among other locations. Little was known about them, other than what could be gleaned from online sources.

Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp has chosen several cabinet members who live locally and have history in Plainfield. People are looking up their credentials and giving anecdotal information as well, based on their prior service.

Plaintalker has received several comments about the nominees, some of which remain unpublished. At this point, readers certainly are free to share their opinions about these individuals with members of the City Council, who will have to vote on them, but there does not seem to be any point in putting these anonymous comments up on the blog. If you feel strongly enough, submit comments with your name.

Mapp declared on Dec. 16s, "I will have a staff from day one," after someone questioned the gap between Jan. 1 and the annual reorganization on Jan. 6, at which time the governing body will vote on his nominees. So he is committed to these individuals, regardless of any history, and he can name them in acting capacity for 90 days, with another 90 days if the council approves.

If his chosen cabinet members are not up to the job, it will soon become evident. If they prove to be effective and competent regardless of past issues, Mapp will be vindicated in selecting them. On this one, "wait and see" appears to be the operative stance. Plainfield has been waiting for good governance for some time now. Let's hope it will be manifest in 2014.

--Bernice

3 comments:

  1. I think what is getting to people upset is the illusion of cronyism with the cabinet members namely the city administrator and especially the chief of staff job which was created for someone in particular.
    If a job was to be created it should have been for some kind of economic delvelopment postion which the City desperately needs and not for some flunky who schedules the mayors appointments. After eight years of gross mismanagement the City needs people who has experience with running a municipality, experienced people can hit the ground running with no learning curve. I think Plainfield has had too many "wait and see's".

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  2. It is not unusual in the private sector for a Manager to bring in people with whom they know. It is not an unusual practice and serves several things -

    1 - The appointed person can be trusted and has a relationship with their boss. This means that there can be honest discussions with hard issues

    2 - The Manager knows the capabilities of the person they are hiring.

    3 - Probably most important is that the Manager feels that they can work with the person to get things done.

    I wish people were this involved in the education, or lack thereof, in this city. Our kids' lives are down the toilet, and this is what we worry about. At least the people nominated have a leader who will let them do their job, instead of terrorizing them.

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  3. Well put Bernice. I always think of Presidnet John F Kennedy who appointed his brother [Robert] as U.S. Attorney General. He knew from day one what to expect.

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