Thomas Kaercher Comments

This is a commentary that Thomas Kaercher sent to my blog  but was too long to accept and [post as a comment. I am taking the liberty to use it as a "guest blog"  since it fixes on three areas that I too find disturbing.

It was a dark and snowy night, a backroom deal was struck, and by all appearances Plainfield taxpayers got screwed again! 

First let’s consider the PMUA.  Is it a good thing that Dunn and sanders were removed as Commissioners? After their actions subvert the arbitration process that the PMUA was winning against Watson and Ervin’s frivolous settlement claim and along with Toliver to give them $1 Million of taxpayer dollars when they weren’t owed any money except their normal retirement benefits, Absolutely! BUT, their removal alone doesn’t guarantee and changes to the waste, abuse, corruption and fraud the PMUA has been perpetrating on its customers since its inception. To make any real change of the PMUA requires three reform-minded commissioners. Clearly the Council has been unwilling to support any of the reform-minded commissioner nominees Mayor Mapp put forth last year. The reasons for his are multifold from their having personal ties to people who benefit from the PMUA being run as it is today to that fact that Jerry Green has many politically connected special interests that have been rewarded with PMUA contracts. I sincerely hope the new commissioners will be willing to step up and work to change the on-going PMUA abuse of rate payers. But. looking at the new PMUA Board change is doubtful. Here’s why. Commissioners Brokaw and Mitchell have been taking illegal medical benefits from the PMUA since at least 2008. Based on the PMUA charter Commissioners are limited to $4,500 compensation a year. In 2013 Ms. Brokaw received $16,878 in medical benefits for herself and her husband. For the same year Mr. Mitchell received $22,826 in medical benefits for himself and his family. These benefits were in addition to their $4,500 in compensation. There is no chance they want to change how the PMUA is being run. Commissioner Tyndale, who is coming up on his first anniversary on the board commented after a recent meeting that he didn’t see any big problems at the PMUA. Mr. Tyndale, THE BIG PROBLEM IS: THE PMUA CHARGES ITS CUSTOMERS TWICE THE MARKET RATE FOR TRASH SERVICES AND ALMOST THREE TIMES THE MARKET RATE FOR SEWER SERVICES AND IN ADDITION TO THOSE OUTRAGEOUS RATES IT ALSO HAS INCURRED $20 MILLION DOLLARS IN BOND DEBT WHICH PLAINFIELD TAXPAYERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR! Aside from that things at the PMUA are fine. Hopefully Commissioners Graham-Lyons and Robinson will be committed to making major reforms at the PMUA, but they don’t have a track record as change advocates and it is unlikely the Council would have approved them if they suspected they would bring about change. And since they appoints go until 2019 and 2020 respectively and Ms. Brokaw’s goes until 2019 as well, these appointments Mayor Mapp will have to change the direction of the PMUA before his term ends in 2018.

Now let’s consider Mr. Watson’s appointment at Public Works.  It’s not only that he was the primary beneficiary of $1 Million Dollar theft of tax payer money that Dunn, Sanders, and Toliver orchestrated. It is that as Executive Director of the PMUA Mr. Watson was the primary architect of the abusive, corrupt, and wasteful organization it became. (See “BIG PROBLEM” above) As such he did not demonstrate that he was a very competent executive. Between the money he wasted as PMUA Executve Director on such things as $300 business lunches, the outrageous contract he had when he retired ($160K salary, 70 paid days off a year, a car allowance, an education allowance, medical benefits, and pension benefits) and the lion’s share of the $1Million dollar parting gift, I for one think the City of Plainfield has already paid him enough money to last a lifetime.

And finally to Mr. Mapp, who despite stiff opposition from the Jerry Green dominated Council, needs to be congratulated for bringing improved levels of professionalism and responsiveness to City Government. However, considering the compromises he has made in his appointments on the PMUA and in Public Works, the givebacks he has received from Council in return seem too small. Seeing as how in all likelihood with its current board the PMUA will be able to continue its corrupt, abusive and wasteful practices for at least another five years and we’ll have Eric Watson running Public Works for the next three years, I would have expected that he would have at least gotten funding for the forensic audit in return. Sadly no. We get a Vehicle Fleet Manager, which will get to pay for too and the same old Plainfield corruption which favors the politically connected at the expense of the citizens.