OCTOBER AGENDA FIXING SESSION #2

Claimer:  I have frequently be accused by some anonymous commentators of being biased against the Council and favoring Mayor Mapp and the New Democrats to the detriment of the Green Democrat faction.

That may seem to be true; but perhaps it is because the Council and some of its members have been so much more egregious in reprehensible action than the Mayor and his cohorts.

I can assure you that this administration has been the subject of many a castigating blog, the most recent one this past Monday and several in September relating to the appointment of Eric Watson as Acting Director of Public Works and Urban Development. 

I cannot condone Council President Rivers condescending to   Councilor Reid’s blatant political blindsiding of the Administration in opening the floor, for a discussion that was not on the agenda by Rev. Jason Greer about this past summer’s youth baseball program.

A little background: for several years the only organized youth baseball program was that of the Queen City Baseball League which received permission to use the City’s facilities.

In 2012 under Roland Muhammad’s leadership the Recreation Division also sponsored a youth baseball program. That program supported by Recreation’s control over available playing sites, did its best to sabotage the independent long established Queen City Baseball League.

This year shortly after being installed in office instead of continuing Recreation’s sponsorship and operating youth baseball; Mapp’s administration arranged for the principles of the two factions to amalgamate their resources into a new and independent Plainfield Baseball League which had permission to use the city’s facilities. 

It became obvious that this was a counter attack by supporters of the last administration’s Recreation Division’s past two years youth baseball program based on (a) money—all registration money went to Karen Glencamp-Daniel, who had been head of the Queen City Baseball League. (b) leadership-there was supposed to be a nine member board with equal membership from the defunct leagues.

There were claims made of fiscal irregularities and the lack of any Treasurer’s reports. Mayor Mapp noted that Recreation had nothing to do with this league’s finances.

Reminiscent of Muhammad’s defenses of his management and allocation of the baseball fields, Greer issued this threat "I need to know where our money went. If this problem is not corrected, we will fill this house and turn it inside out."

When Glencamp-Daniel sitting in the audience verbally objected to some of the allegations; Rivers had her ejected from the Court Room.

When Councilwoman Taylor commented on this year's Baseball league she called it a “takeover” of the Recreation’s program not an agreed upon merger.  

Greer’s attack on the Recreation Director Veronica Taylor continued with statements that she was planning to convert Seidler Field from a football/baseball field into a soccer field. That there was not going to be any Recreation sponsored youth programs except soccer, swimming and one other minor sport that I cannot remember. Greer warned that the administration was "cutting back programs which would lead to an increase in crime.

Greer called for Veronica Taylor’s removal if she if was not willing to work with all youth.

Any explanatory clarifying attempts by the Mayor or Administration seemed to fall upon deaf ears.

The 10 minutes requested last nearer to 45 minutes.

This was not an emergency matter and could have well been given a schedule time at the next meeting, this coming Monday.

Could the fact that there is an election in less than a month have had some part in bringing forward a complaint about baseball at this time of the year?

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