Reading yesterday's Plainfield blogs related to the Council's first budget meeting, there seem to be a common thread which I hope that I too have echoed. The presentations to date have exactly resembled every Council Budget process in the past 2 decades. The presenter defends his/hers division/department's request for funds and staffing. The Council asks questions and usually the answers are prompt, no "get back to you."
What is missing is what I consider the key focus of this year's budget hearings. Council President Burney should ask promptly at the beginning of the session; "Tell us what you have done to reduce expenditures in your department?. What plans do you have for a 10%( this figure I have pulled out of the air). If you have no plans, why not? Do you have any suggestions as an alternative to the loss of "x" number of positions.? If the answers are negative then the cold fact that there will be no alternative to a job reduction and reassignment of work loads. Job reduction should included any supervisory persons who are incapable of dealing with cost reducing solutions.
If the department offers some plan let that be the basis for "negotiations" with the understanding that the city has to have a bottom line.
This may be Draconian but I do not believe that there is any other alternative for Plainfield's survival. One Department/division that must be retained is economic planning/redevelopment. Their job should be vital for the city's future and will be made easier if we have a solid economic program in place.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There seems to be this universal call for the retention of the planning dept, except for the Mayor. There is no doubt about its stated goals to assist in local development, however while the function should be retained the people in the function must also be challenged. While the charge to other departments may be 'how are you going to reduce your costs by 10%' the charge to the planning group must also be in terms of concrete gains and not just broad long range plans. In private industry typically people in these types of positions would be judged on how much new business, both in the short term and the long term, that they bring to the enterprise. The net gain to a private business would be measured in some multiple of their costs. Local governments must do the same. The current people may be smart, they may be nice but unless they can draw a plan with clearly defined specific goals, that are measurable they should be replaced.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:59 am: you may not understand the function of a municipal planning division. There is an appointed Planning Board which draws up a Master Plan and develops zoning ordinances, all of which must be approved by the Council. The City's planning division reviews proposals for consistency with the Master Plan and zoning requirements and advises the Planning Board, Zoning Board, and Historic Preservation Commission as to appropriateness and works with developers and homeowners to insure the rules are followed. In addition members of the planning division are involved with maintaining Plainfield's historic districts, improving the city's landscape, and enforcing the zoning laws.
ReplyDeleteThe division's function is not at all the kind of "strategic planning" that businesses do. You need to focus on the Department of
which the planning division is just one part--Public Works & Economic Development. That's where the kind of "planning" you're talking about belongs.