CHARTER REPRISE

Today without the supporting documentation I will revisit my suggestions as to needed changes in Plainfield’s Charter.

1)   First; revising the number of names needed for a recall vote petition from 331/3% of residents to 25% or less than the number who voted at the last general election. That will result in approximately 2500 instead of an impossible 16,000 names.

2)      Restructure the Council to 9 members. There should be 6 wards 3 above the Mason/Dixon line and 3 below. By law they shoals have approximately equal numbers of residents and hopefully equal numbers qualified to vote. The smaller wards would perhaps by concentrations of economic and ethnic groups give “minorities a better voice on the Council. Certainly six wards will afford greater diversification on the Council.

3)         Council should have 1 representative from each ward and three city wide at large. The three being city wide provide a better representation of the population than the present  two Councilors representing only two wards each; wards that may have nothing in common.

4)          With 9 Councilors 3 year terms with a third being elected each year would be equitable. This would mean three year terms. One at large would be up for election each year. I favor term limits of 3 consecutive terms.

5)           The Mayor would still serve a 4year term. I would also support term limits.

6)            Our present 3 Department structure for all practical purposes        consists of two department that are unwieldy with many divisions that have no relationship with each other. The third Department; Public Safety contains only Police and Fire divisions. Both of which should be “stand alone”. see #7
Four smaller Departments; such as Administration, Finance, Public Works, Urban Development could be more effective. If Public Safety is retained it should also include the Health Care Divisions. Administration might need to be divided into Social Services and those that fit nowhere else. A restructuring of the various divisions might be needed.

7)           The Police Division must be headed by a chief to whom the various 6 or 7 bureau heads would report rather than a civilian Department director. I now believe that under a "chief" both Police and Fire should not be under a Department head but instead each should report directly to the City Administrator.That would eliminate Public Safety as a Department and Health would become again part of "administration.

8)            The City Clerk by State formats and our Charter works for the Council as its secretary. He/she should be appointed by the Council

9)             The present Charter provides for the Mayor to appoint the Corporation Counsel. He is supposed to represent both the Mayor/Administration and the Council. He cannot represent two bodies that may be in conflict with each other. Additionally in the past while he is at the Council meetings supposedly to give legal advice; he has acted as spokesman for the Administration. There should be separate legal resource for each body; Administration and Council appointed by the faction represented.

    None of the above is cast in cement. They are just recommendations which I believe to be logical in resulting in a better functioning municipality. Your suggestions would be most welcomed.

    I would hope someone would take an in depth look at the various divisions since some could be combined with others. For instance Community Development which just administers a million dollar Block Grant doesn’t belong in Public Works and may just be part of Social Services. The CFO could oversee Purchasing, Audit. Tax Assessor, Tax Collection, etc.