I was unable to find parking space as I had feared near the
Senior Center and was forced to miss a meeting that I wanted to attend. Bernice
was also unable to attend and when I checked David’s blog there was no mention
of the meeting. Perhaps Dan will have an in depth account. If not we will have
to wait until we can see the video.
I, too, would appreciate any comments that are not obviously
biased about the meeting. I had a minimum of 10, some multiple, questions that
I had hoped would be answered.
According to Councilwoman Willians; Councilors Taylor, Greaves, and Rivers did not attend the meeting.
According to Councilwoman Willians; Councilors Taylor, Greaves, and Rivers did not attend the meeting.
If anyone has a signed detail report that they wish me to
post as a “blog” I will gladly do so.
This is going to be another black tragic weekend in the Near
East. The 72 hour “Humanitarian Cease Fire” agreed to by both Hamas and Israel
was to start at 9:00 AM local time. At about 10:30 AM Hamas fighters emerged
from a tunnel near Rafah, at the strip’s southern tip, killing two Israel
soldiers and kidnapping a third.
In the ensuing firefight almost all of the Hamas militants
were killed and in the subsequent Israel shelling response more than 30 Palestinians
were killed.
Once again Hamas has shown its callous disregard for Gazans safety
knowing that the world will condemn Israel and disregard not only Hamas’s use
of civilians to shield their actions but that its word is dishonest.
The terms of the Truce permitted Israel to continue to
destroy all the tunnels it had found.
Hi Doc.
ReplyDeleteMy takeaway from the meeting:
1. Plainfield's financial house is being put in order. A forensic accounting is in the works. A settlement has been reached with Monarch.
2. Economic development appears to be primarily focused on building retail/apartments.
3. The street situation is a mess. There were monies to fix streets, no one appears to know the real status on when/where things will be done. Mayor Mapp said they had to deternine Plainfield's debt-carrying capacity for more repair borrowing. But, no one answered about the monies already borrowed for work that has not been done, or the priorities that were set and funds allocated from years ago.
4. They have requests out for resumes for Director of Public Works, Inspection Director. They will close them shortly, start interviews.
5. Health Inspections -- I think I heard 96 establishments have been inspected. They are hiring another part-time person. A commitment was made by spring to have every food facility inspected.
6. Communication. Mayor Mapp is setting up different ways to 'get the word out' via email and phone on meetings and other important events. The website is going to be reworked and made more user friendly, with forms online.
7. Police -- I think director said there has been a significant reduction in violent crime in first 6 months. The division being certified. Nothing was said about Shotspotter. Police dept did a problem with kids that was successful.
8. Recreation. All the pools were opened on time. The open land resolution will be a referendum vote in Nov to primarily benefit recreation opportunities. I think I heard kids will be given an id card, so recreation can track use of the facilities/programs.
9. Muhlenberg. They have the draft report. It will get reviewed by government and a public meeting will be set up to present to citizens.
I'm sure I haven't mentioned everything.
The meeting was 1.5 hours long, with 1/2 hour for public comments.
The space was packed, people standing. Next time it should be where there is more room and parking. The sound system was horrible.
Overall I thought the meeting was a success and appeared to accomplish what the administration intended. Judging by the presentations submitted by department heads, the city is moving in a positive direction.
ReplyDeleteViolent crime is down, but no mention of crime overall being down. Police department was able to removed 36 guns off the street recently, but didn’t say how this was accomplish.
One good note, youth based program initiatives by our police department have been very successful thus far. This will go a long way in preventing future criminals. Kudu’s to our new Police Director, he seems to be moving the department in the right direction.
Recreation department reported all pools was open on time and the water quality of the pools could be compared to any 5 star hotel pool. Crystal clear!. They also hired approximately 152 youths for summer jobs. Sounds like a lot of good stuff coming out of this department. Next year should bring some great programs for our handicap and senior citizens.
Some really interesting remarks from our finance director – one being, all pilot programs are under review, they are either hiring or in discussion to hire an outside auditor to go over the finances for the last 8 years. There was a lot of laughter to the remark that we only have 149 dogs and cats in Plainfield (according to our license register).
There was a fair amount of discussion on road repair – nothing surprising here, it will happen when it happens.
Economic development- apparently we have several projects in the works, mostly being apartments with some having retail space. To me, this is very concerning and should be to all homeowners. Every new project in Plainfield cannot and should not consist of apartments. With all these new apartments we will have more renters than homeowners. This will definitely create a new dynamic in the city. I was told by Mr. Sanchez, that out of all the new apartment projects in the works, only one is being granted a pilot, of course it happens to be the largest apartment rental development. He did say they were trying to bring a large grocery store into the city; let’s hope it’s truly a mainstream grocery store. Bottom line, we need more jobs and less apartment rentals. Contrary to what the Mayor said about homeownership, people are still buying and I believe if some of this new development was for new single family homes or townhouses (not condos), they would sell and bring a wave of new residents to Plainfield.
Code enforcement – I think they said they had some key position to fill. My opinion, the sooner the better because we have way to many vacate homes with lawns over grown and debris litter front lawns. Someone brought up about being notified when the street sweepers were coming to your neighborhood. Honestly, I didn’t realize we still had street sweepers. My neighbor and I usually walk up and down the street with a garbage bag picking up litter.
Looking forward to hearing what the study on the Muhlenberg property will reveal.
The emphasis of the night was ‘One Plainfield’ and ‘We All Need To Work Together’.
Robin B