ABOUT DEPARTMENT STRUCTURE

For what it may be worth my blog in which I pointed out the many hats of Director Restaino reminded me that I was given the privilege to have the first appearance before the Charter Study Commission. 

Like all who have done so; I was presented with a series of about 20 stock subject questions. One was if I thought the present three (3) Department structure should be changed?

As a lay person I felt that it was unworkable; in two departments the number of divisions was not only excessive but too diversified to be properly supervised. The third Department “Public Affairs and Safety” is a misnomer that contains only two “divisions”; Police and Fire. My comments were:

“The administrative TO provides for just three departments who headed by Directors who report to the city administrator. These departments are unwieldy and contain multiple divisions that have no relationship to each other.  It is unlikely to find a Department director who is knowledgeable in all the Divisions in the present set up.  By Faulkner act; the number divisions can be revised to up to seven. I would suggest five.

1.       Administration;

1.1.    Municipal Court

1.2.    Personnel Division

1.3.    Senior Citizen Center

1.4.    Social Services

1.4.1.  WIC

1.4.2. Bilingual Program

1.5.    IT

1.6.    PCTV

1.7.    Recreation

1.8.    Plainfield Action Services

1.9.    Vital Statistics.

2.       Finance

2.1.    Tax Collector

2.2.    Tax Assessments

2.3.    Purchasing

2.4.    Audit and Control

3.       Public Affairs and Safety (Health-disease control is a Safety issue)

3.1.    Police Department-headed by a Chief

3.2.    Fire Department

3.3.    Health

3.3.1. Communicable Disease

3.3.2. Animal Control
3.3.3Food Vendor’s Inspections

3.4.    Emergency Management

4.       Public Works

4.1.    Inspections

4.2.    Public Works

4.3.    City Yard

4.4.    Buildings

4.5.    Engineering

5.       Urban Development

5.1.    Planning

5.2.    Economic Development

5.3.    Community Development.”

It is irrational that the Fire Department (Division) is headed by a professional Chief whereas the Police Division is lead by a civilian. The political coup d’état that abolished the Chief’s position should be reversed.

A Public Affairs and Safety Department so organized should have a lay person with strong organizational skills as its head.

The “con” to this setup is that with more Department heads the salary expenses will increase. The “pro” is more efficient administration which will lead to a better bang for our bucks.

This represents only one person’s opinion but I am convinced that it merits consideration.