Mayor Mapp, HOW COULD YOU? I am outraged!!!
Eric Watson the new Director of Public Works!!??. Yes he is a Plainfielder and that would be ideal; but his years as Director of PMUA does make a difference. A $110000 salary should have been sufficient to find another near Eric Jackson, not a person who has been the subject of enough local criticism resulting from his management of the PMUA. A person about whom we the people were never given the answers to multiple allegations.
Even if you wish to appease Councilor Taylor to make your life easier by appointing a Plainfield resident to a key post; how under heaven could you consider an individual who resigned from his last position under a cloud and was subsequently awarded an abomination terminal payout to which by any concept of law he would not be entitled to? An individual who used his position as a mandate for a luxurious life especially at meetings that may or may not have been beneficial to his job, but were in ideal resorts.
You have remarked that the PMUA is separate from the City, yet we taxpayers and land owners are obligated to pay for sewer usage to the PMUA. The City posts for sale Tax liens on unpaid sewer bills, those charges that used to be included in our taxes but are no longer income tax exempt.
No, as you wrote, this appointment is not about the PMUA. Instead it is about something more important; morality and honesty in Plainfield Government. It is about your promise to the public for an administration that would not be corrupt and would be transparent. An administration that would be working for the people and not one based on patronage nor on an exchange of political favorites.
Yes all things being equal we should appoint qualified local residents to jobs, since they also by taxes support the economy. There are at least two exceptions to this rule; one would be a far superior outsider who would better benefit the city. The other is the demonstrated moral character of the person.
Mayor Mapp, you won the primary election not because of your wonderful accomplishments or political connections; but because people hoped for something better than the incumbent administration which abetted by a same faction Council showed no desire for fiscal or fiduciary integrity.
With this appointment you have lost all credibility. The end does not justify the means. Politics as usual has been Plainfield's curse for the past twenty years.
Mayor, if you ask the Council for approval of this appoint or even use it on a Temporary basis I will hope that all the good Democrats in Plainfield vote at this election and subsequent for candidates from the opposition party or as write ins until you and all other semblance of this entrenched self-serving political gang of parasites is eliminated.
This was sent by anonymous at 8;55am to the originial but deleted posting:An impressive way to commit political suicide. Now he will not only have no support from the Green crew (they aren't going to repay this favor), but he has lost all support from his own progressive wing.
ReplyDeleteWhat OldDoc says is true. The Green Team does not feel any responsibility towards the people of Plainfield. Jackson is a great surprise. Makes one wonder why this choice.
ReplyDeleteWhile I believe Mayor Mapp did what he thought was best, I think some vetting of the decision before hand would have been wise.
ReplyDeleteWhile I do not believe people who are progressive Democrats will run to align with Jerry, I do believe many of them will throw up their hands and bow out of the Plainfield political process.
And I agree with Doc. This is not about separating yourself from PMUA, it is about hiring someone whose ethics are in question. I don't think the mayor thought this one through enough. Too bad.
Please if he can bring back Ron West who sat on the board and allowed Muhlenberg Hospital to close then what's wrong with this appointment.
ReplyDeleteRon West doesn't have an undeserved million dollars from you or me. Watson does.
DeleteLet us pray that the citizens of Plainfield will remember in November to VOTE for change by voting for the local Republican candidates. It will be the only way to send a message to King Green that he no longer is running this " fuc#ing city "
ReplyDeletePARTY BEFORE THE PEOPLE....
ReplyDeletePeople stop trying to place the blame elsewhere because you guys are sitting with egg in your face. Your master Adrian Mapp who said he have come to rule Plainfield made the decision to hire Eric Watson so deal with it.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone identify a better candidate? Remember, "anyone!", or "there's got to be someone!" are not the names or actual people.
ReplyDeleteEric Watson can do the job.
ReplyDeleteHe can also steal, lie and cheat with the best of them, Green, SRB, Mapp, City Council, West and all the others(list is too long).
DeleteIt could be Mapp couldn't find anyone else willing to come to the political cess pool called Plainfield.
ReplyDeleteWell, Mapp should take his little cess pool out of Plainfield. I am sure Orange would love to have all of them
DeleteWhat message is sent to the men and women at the DPW when a man with political connections and openly questionable character is made their Director? Promotion should come from within. Certainly Eric Jackson has trained the DPW managers. Mapp has insulted them by implying that none of them is qualified to head the Department. I would like to know their opinion of this appointment.
ReplyDeletePerhaps Watson's employees will get a free lunch!
ReplyDeleteEvery day score of competent men are discharged from or retire from the military. Men who have experience organizing and managing subordinates. Men who have had experience working with heavy equipment. Men who have no entrenched loyalty or pay back obligations to a political party. This is only one source of many to find a competent person to head up the department. In our underemployed country with hundreds of thousands of people seeking employment it should not be too much of a challenge to find a candidate. Did any one try....really try, not just make a perfunctory attempt? I doubt it.
ReplyDeleteThe PMUA started with I believe about 60 employees. The staff grew in number over the years and exploded around 2006-2008 to approximately 180 at the high water mark. The number of employees has now shrunk to about 130. Who were those 50 people? Why were they there? They were there because someone from "The Hall' would call Mr. Watson and tell him to give jobs to them. The purported checks and balances were corrupted. The Board of Commissioners were intended to oversee the management of the PMUA and correct any imprudent conduct. The Mayor was supposed to nominate competent people to be Commissioners. The City Council was supposed to vet the nominated candidates. In theory it would appear that there were sufficient safeguards to insure that the Agency was administered competently. The reality was that EVERYONE was waltzing together. The PMUA became a loadstone for patronage. The City officials, the Commissioners, God know who else, were getting people employed. The fact that when the public outcry got loud enough after the Draconian rate increases in 2008 the payroll was reduced by around 50 people. This makes a prima facie case that all those bodied were superfluous. The million dollar payout was contrived. For reasons that remain unclear Mr. Watson received a substantial bonus at about the time of his retirement. It was awarded notwithstanding the fact that Mr. Watson had already given notice that he felt entitled to a vastly larger sum. Who gives anyone prepayment when a dispute is brewing? Common sense says that you withhold any payment until the dispute is settled. Not our PMUA, no sir ( no Mam) . They paid out about $250,000 to the retires and then proceeded to Arbitration in which the retirees CALIMED UPWARDS OF ANOTHER $2,000,000. When it became apparent that the claim had no validity, in order to salvage something, the claimants offered a settlement of $1,000,000. The Commissioners, rather that waiting for the decision of the Arbitrator voted approval of the settlement thus removing if from the Arbitration.
It is easy to understand how Mr. Watson rolled with the punches. His bosses were part of the program. The bosses, bosses, were part of the program. Why rock the boat? Particularly when the same bosses awarded you periodic pay increases and extraordinary benefits in your employment contract. Mr. Watson put the organization on the map. He faced a great many challenges which he successfully dealt with. The mission of the PMUA to collect the wastes and operate the sewer system was reasonably well done. The problem arose in that it came at a exorbitant cost to the community. If the Commissioners had done their job, and not steered the Authority down a corrupt path, Mr. Watson would probably still be there and doing a fine job. Sad.. Given the background it is incomprehensible how Mayor Mapp made this decision. Bill Kruse
I’m in a state of stock like everyone else. The betrayal I feel is unbelievable. For all the obvious reasons, the Mayor appointing Watson to this position or any position in the city seems like political suicide and a slap in the face to all his supporters. We all know that Watson was not hired because he was the best man for the job, no one is indispensable. The Mayor is a very intelligent man and surly he has to know what this move will do for his career. For this reason, I don’t believe he did this to try and mend fences with the council or to show the county that he can be a team player. The more I think about this, the more I’m convinced that Green must have something extremely damaging against the Mayor. Why else would he put his career on the line like this? Mayor please fix this before it’s too late. Having Watson over the Planning department…. need I go there??
ReplyDeleteRobin
All you haters, give the man a chance. You will out S____, cast the first stone.
ReplyDeleteDifference between being without sin, and creating the sin.
ReplyDeleteHow you like him now? Don't worry in three years, and four months you all will forget about this and vote for him again.
ReplyDelete