When I wrote my blog “Transparency’ Wednesday evening for posting Thursday (today) morning I had not read Dr. Margaret Lewis’ comments posted in Maria's blog.
7:44 AM is right, I do make “ASSumptions” from what I read written by those who I trust to be factual and who attend meetings that I have been to and no longer have a desire to attend because there is too much show and garbage and too little acceptance of public input.
Be that as it may; Dr. Margaret Lewis, wrote;
“The Plainfield BOE did not vote on the 3 to 5 million dollar Hub Stine proposal and Board members indicated that last night (3/27/12) was the first time that they had seen the proposal”
And later, “An application was already submitted to the Planning Board prior to last night’s meeting and the Planning Board was scheduled to have a presentation made to it in and around April 5th or 6th 2012. The first phase of construction was scheduled to take place between May 21 and August 13 which means that the track should be available after that time. The second phase was scheduled to be completed by October 15th with all “loose ends” tied up by mid November.”
Does it disturb any one but I that an application for a multi-million dollar project has reach the state of an application to the Planning Board without BOE approval, must less knowledge?
Who gave the OK to proceed on this project at the level which it has obviously reached? Was it the Interim System Superintendent? If so that would once again be an example of the “tail wagging the dog”. Or a complete disregard of the fiduciary role of the BOE who is acting for the people of Plainfield as the employer of the administrative personnel in the school system
Or could it be another Dunn/Sanders type maneuver by a small Board group to present a fait accompli situation for Board action?
Both situations are unconscionable, and I would trust that the Planning Board will refuse to take action as this seems to be at this time an unauthorized project.
Perhaps since one of the items of this projects calls for “ seventeen (17) stadium lights, mounted on 70 feet poles and with up to 1500 Watts each.” that the entire thing is a subtle plan to negate the attractiveness of the JFK proposal for 600 apartments across Randolph Road where the hospital buildings now stand? Or am I giving too much credit?
Even if the Cory Storch planning board object the project for the the Hub-Stein field project the show still will go on.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you continue writing about Councilmatic items the council meetings are the only ones you attend.
3:35 pm. I am a resident and taxpayer in Plainfield for many many more years than I expect you are.
ReplyDeleteIt is every citizens right.
to be able to comment on all that involves the community. Attendance at a meeting is immaterial,it only permits first hand knowledge, but absence dos not preclude third person information.
@3:35 The "Cory Storch" planning board? Is that the same as the "white" planning board? Or did we miss the renaming ceremony?
ReplyDeleteolddoc, your 3:35 post is correct however, having first hand knowledge is the best. I was at the board meeting and I am 100% sure that the board members had no knowledge of the massive project proposed by by the athletic director and the board secretary and the interim superintendent. For lack of a better word they tried to bamboozle or pull one over on the public as well as the board members. The board members and the public did an excellent job of questioning the board secretary and the gentleman who gave the turf presentation. I was very proud of the way the board members responded to being blindsided by the interim superintendent, the board secretary and the athletic director. If you read Ms. Pellums most recent post , the board only gave approval for two turf fields, but were surprised to see a diagram that would change at least 80% of the entire facility. They did not give approval for the above mentioned...Hope you are getting better
ReplyDeleteI am going to guess that the BOE received a complete package on the proposal that Marie found they approved in Sept that indicated what the total project was for.
ReplyDeleteThe resolution most likely condensed it down to two turf fields.
Seems like the BOE is clueless to what they vote for. Guess if you give them a follow up item more than an hour apart you need to include that it is the result of prior submittals.
You are right 9:23, you are guessing. belief is the absence of knowledge, to know is an actual fact. The board did not know about the complete project and they stated so publicly. What occurred here is a mis-adventure by some overzealous administrators who thought nobody would be paying attention, especially the public and that the board would approve this without asking a whole lot of questions or objecting to it entirely as some did on 3-27 at the business meeting. You are also right that the board needs to do a much better job of oversight and get out to all the facilities in the school system. They probably didn't even go to the facility and see for themselves whether the district even needed two turf fields and why?
ReplyDeleteHey...It's Abbott Money...WHO CARES RIGHT ???
ReplyDeleteCome on.... This is a Democratic Party Freebie...We're not paying for it...WHO CARES?!?!?!
Text books ?? Teachers ?? Phooey...who needs em!
SPEND SPEND SPEND That Abbott Money...got to make sure the state sends more next year!
Who should be pissed off??? The taxpayers in the 500+ school districts who are paying for this "educational need" in Plainfield.
I think some people need to be pulled in front of the board for this.
ReplyDeleteThis is insubordination. The board (the people) are the boss. You clear things with the boss before you run off and spend money.
All these lights -- in a residential neighborhood? Do you think people would go for that? Absolutely not.
I think some administrators need to be fired for trying to sneak something like this through, making plans, etc. -- before asking what the boss (people) think.
It appears that the September resolution approved by the BOE the employment of a firm to "design" the Hub Stine project. It really did seem (I attended the meeting) that BOE members had not previously seen the completed proposal until they viewed it on 3/27/12.Obviously, there were no periodic updates given to BOE members. That in itself speaks "volumes" as to who is in charge and who is running the district.
ReplyDeleteMargaret