A couple of readers complained this week that I did not print their remarks at public meetings.
If I published every word from a meeting, it would be a transcript. Seeing me in the audience with my notebook and pen is no guarantee of having your remarks published on the blog.
In chiding me for not reporting her husband's entire speech, the wife said he was speaking on behalf of his ailing mother and CBAC members.
"I'm sure at some point in your life you had a Mother," the wife wrote. "I'm also sure you cared for her and valued your time with her."
Why yes, I did have a mother. She was born on March 15, 1910 and became my mother on May 12, 1938. She continued to be my mother until she passed away on February 23, 1992.
Her father was a coal miner in a small town in Pennsylvania and her mother cared for their four children. At the age of nine, she lost her mother to aftereffects of the Spanish Influenza. Her father remarried and raised his new wife's children, giving my mother and her siblings to a relative who raised them. As the oldest, she had to do many household chores and help out with the younger ones. Her life was not easy and she made her way as a young woman to Philadelphia, where she met my father and had four children of her own, of which I was the eldest.
Getting back to the 2016 budget process, the wife of the CBAC chairman writes, "If the Administration and City Council has made up there minds on the Property tax increase then why put on a show and waste the time of the CBAC...."
Actually, the administration's budget was introduced in March and then became the council's budget, to amend as the governing body sees fit. The CBAC is supposed to help with that phase of the process, though it is the council's final decision on any amendments. If the CBAC chairman does not understand that, it is unfortunate. Perhaps his time would be better spent with his "ailing Mother."
Also please be aware that if I "failed to properly reveal" the chairman's entire speech on my blog, it was recorded for broadcast on the local cable channels. So all was not lost! The letter says "Remember people are watching and reading and you need to be more responsible with the whole story." So let them watch and remember, it's a blog, not a transcript.
--Bernice
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
LOL! Awesome reply Bernice and thank you for sharing interesting family history.
ReplyDeleteJeffrey Dunn the typical angry black man supported by republican John Campbell took the opportunity to announce he was running for 3rd ward council. What a joke.
ReplyDeleteDoes he even live in the third ward or did he move in with his daddy?
DeleteAs a former CBAC member, and taxpayer, I am more than troubled at the comment - "If the Administration and City Council has made up there minds on the Property tax increase then why put on a show and waste the time of the CBAC...."
ReplyDeleteWho put this person on the CBAC to begin with? Are the members not vetted so they understand their responsibility? And, you think that deciding on how much to pay in taxes is a "show". My taxes are upwards of 15K, and the last thing I want is for a group of people to look at what my taxes will be with the "let's get this over with" attitude.
If this person believes that the CBAC is a waste of time, they do not understand what they are to do and should resign. The reason to have this committee is to thoughtfully review the budget, understand the services required for the citizens of this city, and present to the council a meaningful review of how the citizens view the services provided and their associated cost. I fear this is the last thing that will happen.
Does this person not care about how their money is spent? I shudder to think that the council would approve a 10% tax increase and it would be OK with that person.
I hope that next year's CBAC members are better informed regarding their duty and what being a CBAC member entails.
Jeanette
Too much politics! When I was on the CBAC in 2009 and 2010 the membership wasn't particularly diverse, but now its become really just a representation of the political schisms on display at your typical Council meeting. And it's also rush, rush, rush. CBAC members should be chosen near the beginning of the fiscal year so members have some time to speak with officials (and anyone else) to get a better sense of what's going on. You can't fully appreciate the budget from a single document or a one-shot department hearing, then whip up a report a week later that carries much weight and insight. Previous partisan political activity should probably be a disqualification for membership (TIC).
DeleteIt appears that the CBAC chair does not understand that the CBAC chairman and the CBAC members do not have any inherent power. They are volunteers and asked by the council to make recommendations from the public perspective. Maybe the chair thought or was told the position would be more grandiose than it is. The attitude of the chair and wife appears to be that it’s the city’s privilege for him to serve as chair instead of it’s the chair’s privilege to serve the city. No one elected the CBAC chair so why would he honestly believe that his say would have any significant weight on matters he was only exposed to for a few weeks out the month.
ReplyDeleteAs a former CBAC member and CBAC chairman it was clear early on that the questions and recommendations would not move mountains but hopefully put the spotlight on certain issues that may otherwise be neglected. The task was taken seriously and I enjoyed the work we did. But I knew somethings would not change regardless of what was said. Just because we couldn’t take on the big issues didn’t mean that we couldn’t change something. It was definitely not a waste of time but I also did not take it so seriously that I needed to lash out at people who were not listening.
Richard Stewart
Bernice,
ReplyDeleteYou are a blessing to Plainfield. Your unfailing willingness to attend the many and varied City meetings and to use your wealth of experience and talent as a journalist to report about the meetings is a tremendous gift to all of us. I look forward to reading your blog every day. In addition, with your wealth of experience reporting on Plainfield, you frequently can put present day issues in their proper historical context. I can't count the number of times while blogging about an issue you have included a link to a piece you wrote years ago about the very same issue.
Please accept my sincerest thanks for writing your blog and giving all us the gift of accurate information about the goings on in our City.
Tom Kaercher
Because the chair of CBAC takes his responsibility serious there is no reason to kick his back in. Richard I am surprised that you would be so negative towards this man.Maybe you should help him or offer some suggestions instead of throwing him under the bus.Oh never mind, I forgot the people in this God forsaken town would rather hate,hold grudges, and seek revenge rather than help,or try to heal.This town is cursed and will never be anything but a place of pilot apartments, gang violence, severe racism, total discord, and the have and the have nots.This town is doomed. The smart thing to do is put your house on the market like I am doing and run like Forrest Gump.There is no hope for a people who could careless, and an administration who cheats, lies,steal, and will do whatever to gain and not be held accountable.It is a dangerous thing when a person governs based on revenge.People wake up great strides has not been made just pilot apartments.
ReplyDeleteRichard's comments were insightful, and I thought his remarks were very helpful to the current CBAC chair, who does not seem to understand his role (I also served as a Chair). I think perhaps it is the reader's perspective rather than Richard's comments that were negative. Jeanette
DeleteIt's a blog, not good reporting. It would be nice if the videos taken were posted on the YouTube channel, Plainfield Community Television. But as corrupt as this city is, that won't be happening. Bernice's reporting can not be trusted.
ReplyDeleteMs. Faraone perhaps you should consider starting a blog of your own and stop trolling this one since it's not providing your interpretation of the truth.
DeleteWhile you're at it, imagine me lifting up a very heavy rock under which you can crawl and continue sleeping for another 40 years.
Here's a link to which you may relate: it's a youtube video, "sounds of a cuckoo bird": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmyucZa6wD0
Yes, it's a blog. I happen to appreciate having it and will continue to do so. I have a functioning mind and will use it to evaluate what I read. Too bad it doesn't meet your approval, but then again, it doesn't have to.
Deletemmmmm... I do believe she commented she's not REPORTING as she is no longer a REPORTER... but, as always great to welcome the slow and late comers to the game. I'd trust her half crazed drug induced alcohol laced delirium over you poster child of "ethical and good" Sharon Robinson Briggs, Jerry Green and Gloria Trump any day, Lizzie.
DeleteElizabeth I really admire you,but you are not correct about Bernice she is the best blogger in Plainfield and will aim for the truth,she may not always hit it, but she aims for it.Unlike Dan Damon who will just lie for the sake of lying. He does not care who he hurts, he does not care that the very same people he is lying on an accusing unjustly has a family and feelings. He could careless, he just does or writes whatever he is told by mapp. He has no intergrity, as David said I don't know how he looks in the mirror and lives with himself. Bernice is not like that at all. Elizabeth you will get beat up by all of the haters for your bold stand, but at least you put your name behind it.Freedom of speech only applies in this city to people who you agree with. Lee Evans
ReplyDeleteI learned a long time ago at City Hall:
ReplyDelete"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"
The negativity about the CBAC members is despicable. I served in the past and currently do. I take offense to anyone who is trying to make it seem as though we are not intelligent or not doing what we were instructed to do. We are VOLUNTEERS and doing our best to assist the City Council and represent the residents. However, politics always raises its ugly head. We can get so much more done if we work together and leave politics out of it. But at times that's impossible. It comes down to whose side you're on. As for me, I'm on the right side of truth. I have a 85 year-old mother paying nearly $10K in taxes on a fixed income. I volunteer to bring awareness to how our tax dollars are spent. It is every resident's right to know this truth, like it or not. In this city you're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't. People prefer politics over humanity. Shameful.
ReplyDeleteDee Dameron
Dear Bernice. As I have said many times before, you are a gift to all that love Plainfield and it's hope for a better future. To Tom's point, you provide an amazing service and for this we should all be grateful. Thank goodness for you and your time and talents. You are the best. Peter
ReplyDeleteWell said, Dee. -Jeanette
ReplyDeleteBernice,
ReplyDeleteI was honored to serve last year on the CBAC alongside both Dee Dameron and Richard Stewart among others. Our team did its best to provide the Council with solid recommendations of the budget and the budget review process after having less than three weeks to review the budget. The City budget is over 500 pages and for at least the last several years the CBAC has recommended a much longer and more comprehensive budget review. As evidenced by this year’s 15 day budget review, that request is still unaddressed.
Below is the purpose and goals for the CBAC when our team was charted by City Council last year. With less than three weeks to review the budget, we were scarcely able to complete Goal 5 and had no time to work on Goals 1,2, 3, or 4. For a CBAC to complete all the goals it’s assigned, it should be a standing committee that could work all year long. In addition, it would need access to underlying documents such as the City’s union contracts, so they would understand the contractual limitations on personnel, overtime, and pensions
Tom Kaercher
--------------------------------------
CBAC Purpose:
Plainfield City Council called the CBAC to seek out a broad cross-section of citizen input into the City’s critical budgeting process
Specific Goals:
1.Compare Plainfield to similar municipalities
2.Identify possibilities for shared services
3.Identify and rank core services
4.Identify budget imbalances & recommend strategies to eliminate them
5.Make recommendations for 2015 Budget