October 31 I posted an open letter that was emailed to Governor Christie and DCA Commissioner Lori Grifa on November 1. Allowing for Tuesday's elections one would think that I would have an acknowledgement of receipt by the 5th. No I would not expect a reply until each official had time to check on the validity of my complaint. I will keep readers posted when a reply is received.
Yesterday a commentary from Alan Goldstein was posted to Plainfield Plaintalker's blog of the day.
His remarks are pertinent to Palinfield's fiscal problems. There has never been an adequate accounting of the process which the grant to the "Incubator" was arrived at. There has been persistent doubts as to the experience of the vendor relating to the involved project. Except for a breif comment at a "Public Commentary" period which was devoted to another subject, there has been no accounting of fund expenses or results.
Since there were many question from the public about this grant including the inclusion of $75,000.00 for a van for the vendors use at the Council meetings and by bloggers starting when the awarding resolution was first introduced this item merits complete scrutiny. Mr Goldstein's complaints of the stonewalling of OPRA requests is most disturbing.
With that in mind, I would open my blog to Mr. Goldstein if he so wishes to a guest summary of the entire subject.
Our Council meets only twice a month, one agenda setting session the second one the business session. Both meetings have become tiring marathons for the public and the Councilors. This month and in December for unknown reasons the meetings have been pushed back one week each.
I admit that the budget hearing sessions the past month have taken more time than allotted.That may be a burden on the elected officials' time. However I will point out that when one seeks and accepts positions of responsibility there are obligations that must be met. Nobody forced anyone of the Councilor's to be public servants. The present schedule is unworkable and to continue it next year will be a disgrace.
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ReplyDeleteI have followed the Incubator grant debacle since its' awarding of the grant in collaboration with PAS. I informed Cory about another more qualified proposal, which included all requirement under the RFQ. There was never an RFP issued. I have given a copy of the other proposal to the Counsel and had hoped that they would table and/or resubmit the bid with open discussion before the City and Counsel to decide which proposal met the needs of the City. As yet, nothing has been done. Mr. Goldstein is leading a very important effort in transparency in local awarding of grants which support the City. I hope to have an open and honest discussion with him.