COUNCIL MEETIMG AGENDA

Monday night's agenda as posted contains 3 Ordinances for second reading, 1 Ordinance for first reading. and 42 Resolutions of which 26 are on the consent agenda.

One wonders if we are truly living in the city of Oz , or perhaps in Helium on Barsoon. However, when my cat scolds me for being 15 minutes late with his food I realize that I am really in Plainfield ,N.J. the quintessence of political and ethical decorum.

Where else would the mayor submit for the third time the same two recommendations for appointments to the Housing Authority, and the PMUA. Perhaps she feels that she can wear the Council down by her tenacity in seeking her way. Or perhaps a little nepotistic carrot will carry the day.

There will be a failure vote to over ride her veto of a silly Ordinance with at the maximum only 4 votes for overriding.

According to the Agenda the "Consent Agenda consists of "All matters considered to be routine and non controversial by the Council". Only in Oz would this be applicable to 7 Resolutions awarding a total of nearly 2 million dollars in contracts.

It matters not whether these contracts were awarded to State Approved Vendors or by Bids; the funds involved should require the 2 minutes it takes to approve each one individually. What makes it more unusual is the fact that these seven were tabled last month, so their reappearance is not routine.

To be considered before any legislative action is an item under "Unfinished Business" referred to as the "Audit Report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30,2011". The Council will have to acknowledge reading the report and perhaps finding out what corrective actions have been taken by Administration. Since most of the noted negative comments have been repeated for many years ; I suppose that the answer will be "none".

There was to be a report on the 2012 FY budget status as a result of last Monday's meeting's discussion however I have failed to see it listed.

All the agenda items have been discussed in detail this past Monday and so reported. There probably be no need for a blog reviewing the Agenda items.

Don't forget to jump tonight.

BLANK BLOG

March Madness has commenced (College Basketball that is) so there will be delays in posting this blog. Of course in Plainfield March Madness (city affairs not basketball) is a 12 month affair.

Tomorrow eve I shall have the agenda for Monday's meeing and if the material is in the Library Saturday am I will report on what will be supposed to take place in a Sunday blog.

Don't for get to jump forward Saturday nigh. At least the TV and smartphone clocks are corrected automatically.

"RIGHTS"

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. That is the exact wording of the First Amendment.

I am posting it because of the controversy raging in the world outside of our beautiful city of Oz about the mandatory coverage provisions relating to abortions, prophylactics, and end of life decisions. .

Cardinal Dolan is right in insisting that Catholic Hospitals cannot be forced to perform abortions or disconnect life support systems in terminal patients.

To force a person who feels that it is prohibited by his/her religion by law to perform abortions is in my view a clear violation of the 1^st amendment. (See underlined text).

To force an institution (hospital/surgical center) to provide the service may be questionable. This is the basic area where Cardinal Dolan could be wrong if the facility is accepting public supplied funds. It then has a contract with the PEOPLE and cannot ignore portions of its obligations.

By preventing individuals through an exemption in the laws to seek a desired and legal service in a public supported facility because of one’s religious convictions is a violation of the first portion of this Amendment. The only acceptable alternate is to have readily available alternate providers and institutions easily available.

Abortions were once illegal .That did not stop women from seeking and having one done under in most cases dangerous condition s. Too many died from post-abortion sepsis; a horrible death that even in this day of antibiotics occurs too frequently under similar situations. That is an unacceptable alternate for a procedure done under sanitary conditions by a trained practitioner.

The 18^th Amendment not only did not prevent the consumption of alcohol. It also produced a violent criminal class. Legislation to prohibit surgical abortion procedures under aseptic conditions will have similar result with a marked increase in deaths.

The Singers of the Declaration of Independence wrote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ".

To deny someone the right to make a health decision is a violation of the principle

To try to eliminate by law what one group considers to be a sin and creating instead a potential tragic outcome is a reason we must resist any effort by the religious right or specific religious leaders to insert their position into the law.

(Editorial corrections/changes post posting are in blue)

QUEEN SHARON- COURIER EDITORIAL

Since returning home to my family on Jan. 2 1946 I have been a subscriber to the Courier News. I have remained so though its many incarnations because it has retained a degree of interest in Plainfield despite decreased circulation.

I am sharing today’s editorial albeit without permission because it has a message that too many Plainfielders will never see. The Editorial”

Mayor hurting Plainfield yet again

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs is at it again, damaging her city through her own arrogance. It has been a common theme during more than six years in office; after all, she doesn’t like playing by the rules when they get in her way.

The latest case in point comes in a lawsuit the mayor has filed against the City Council over a $200 fine and reprimand she received after orchestrating an anti-violence radio broadcast featuring the Rev. Al Sharpton in 2010.

Sharpton’s appearance cost a grand total of $20,000, and much of that was covered by a local donor. But council members were so enraged by the mayor’s unilateral spending decision that they launched an independent investigation into the entire affair. They decided that Robinson-Briggs willfully broke laws, directed staffers to do the same, and lied about it, while falsely claiming a “state of emergency” had existed after the outbreak of violence that prompted the broadcast idea.

The resolution reprimanding the mayor was unanimously approved, even by the mayor’s council allies. But Robinson-Briggs, who wouldn’t acknowledge any missteps in the beginning of all of this, is still resisting this challenge to her authority. Her lawsuit claims, among other things, that the Sharpton broadcast helped reduce gun and gang violence in the city “almost immediately.” In fact, there were at least six shootings in the three weeks following the broadcast — and none in the 10 days preceding it.

This is all, of course, only the latest salvo in the constant City Hall bickering that is hurting the community at every turn — financially and emotionally. And the mayor deserves the lion’s share of the blame.

From her first day in office, Robinson-Briggs has run the city with an imperious air suggesting that she envisions herself — and would like to be viewed by the masses — not so much as mayor but “queen” of the Queen City. Her public expressions of warmth and civility stand in marked contrast to a much harder edge behind closed doors, according to many people who have experienced the mayor’s private wrath.

Big egos and personality conflicts are hardly uncommon among politicians. But in Robinson-Briggs’ case they’ve proven to be an enormous detriment. The list of her transgressions is a long and varied one, as the mayor time after time seems to do what she feels like doing and damn the consequences.

She dragged her feet interminably over the hiring of permanent financial officers for the city — in defiance of state regulations — seemingly determined to put in place someone who wouldn’t look too closely at her financial bungling. She did nothing to spur reforms of the wildly mismanaged Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority, her objectivity perhaps compromised by too-cozy relationships with agency commissioners. She spent untold taxpayer dollars for several years surrounding herself with bodyguards/chauffeurs accompanying her wherever she went – even to such non-threatening locales as editorial board meetings with this newspaper.

We would urge the mayor to drop the lawsuit and accept the slap on her wrist with grace and a sense of responsibility. But nothing in her mayoral tenure suggests she’d consider such a thing. So instead we’ll simply root for her to lose, which would save taxpayers a few dollars, at least. It is the residents, after all, being hurt most of all by this.

Aside from the shenanigans mentioned yesterday the meat of the Council Meeting was not in the Resolutions and Ordinances but in the discussion items including some not on the agenda.

The first was the R&V's City Engineer 's report on the review of the city streets and plans for repavement this year. The South Ave project will b e resumed when warmer weather becomes the norm.Watchung Ave should be next as soon as the program is approved. Not until then can bids be requested. It was noted that work will be done in all 4 quarters. There should be some action next Monday.

Maria Pellum presented her concept for a Community Health Citizen's Task Force which although received with interest may not have been completely understood by the Council since there seemed to be some confusion with the function of the newly Health Department created Health Consortium.

Ms Pellum envisions starting with a core lay group of about 9 to 15 supported by Council and Administration to develop an assessment of all of Plainfield's health resources and determining what additional ones would be needed and proceeding to implement and coordinate those needs. The determination of what can be done with the Muhlenberg property would be also a charged to this group. We will see if and how it plays out.

Councilor Williams brought the Councils attention to the fact it is well into the end of the first quarter of the fiscal year and there is no indication when the draft would be ready for the Council's approval. Administration stated that they were waiting for a needed report from the Auditors,and upon receipt will be able to finalize their draft. The estimate was mid month or not before April.

The Audit Report with it many negative findings and recommendations was briefly discussed:It was suggested that there be a meeting with the Auditors and that a corrective action plan be established

OZMANIA

I must have been about 11 years old when I discovered “The Princess of Mars” by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first of many books by the author of Tarzan set in an imaginary Mars. In those days when little was known about the planets and it was believed that there were canals visible on Mars; meaning water and life.

These glorified “Westerners” greatly appealed to the imagination of youngsters in an age where there was no TV and ones imagination could run rapid.

It mattered not that among other things there were four different types of “humans” living there; that they were colored Red, Green, Black and White. That some had four arms or six legs and that babies were hatched from eggs that were incubated for years in a communal incubator. It seemed logical that John Carter a Civil War Veteran who is the hero could mate with the Princess of Helium and have a son. It all seemed logical and this Friday a movie “John Carter” derived from those near century old novels will hit the screen.

What does this have to do with last night’s Council meeting? Only that in this day and age, in our fair city of OZ ludicrous fantasy still exists.

I will not dwell on the news that I learned first late last night reading Dan’s “Plainfield Today” blog and in detail this morning that our dedicated civil oriented Mayor is suing the Council for investigating her actions related to the WBLS incident. That is meat for another blog.

Nor will I report in detail about the good things that happened last night. Instead believe or not the Charade of responsible municipal government included;

The Mayor submitted just before the meeting started three sets for appointments that have been twice rejected for approval by the Council.

This included Commissioners for the PMUA; Rewarding newly appointed Commissioner Dunn and Alternate Sanders for bypassing the Board and the arbitrator and make a deal which the PMUA approved by a split vote giving Watson and Ervin 1 million dollars for resigning as top executives of the PMUA. At the same time she would punish PMUA Chairman Mitchel by only reappointing him as an alternate. The other two recommendations have also been controversial.

On the agenda were 9 contracts awarding resolutions that had been tabled last month due to the absence of a Public Compliance Officer’s OK. That this time there were no certifications of the approval did not seem to concern the Council.

The Compliance Officer whose duty is among other things is to certify that there was n o discrimination in awarding contracts and that procedures in awarding the contract were followed Had been David Spaulding the Purchasing Agent

His reappointment had been rejected by the Council earlier this year. City Administrator Berry in response to repeated questioning by Councilor Williams after evading the issue finally admitted that Spaulding was again acting as the Compliance Officer and that there was nothing in the regulations or City Charter that noted this position had to have Council approval.

Council President Mapp has promised to research the requirements.

During the Public comments at the end of the meeting Citizen Campbell pointedly brought up the question of nepotism in the appointments to city jobs. His reference may be directed at the PMUA nominations. Again there may be an ulterior motive cloaked in “public interest”.

I do not have space for the good especially Maria’s Pellum’s discussion on a Citizens Health Task Force. This too should be subject for several blogs.

Who needs to go to see a 3D fantasy extravaganza about Barsoon (Burrough’s Mars) when we have Plainfield politics? Then again if I went to the movies it might be just as much fun as the first “Star Wars”.

TONIGHT'S MEETING

Two presentations may take time tonight. The first is Maria Pellum's 10 minutes to propose a Citizen's task force to investigate a replacement for MRMC. The second is by Remington & Vernick to discuss their Road Management report originally sent to the Council early last fall.

To the best of my knowledge there are only two projects scheduled at this time for 2012. The South Ave replacement will be increased to include the short Pacific and Atlantic streets at an additional cost of including engineering fees of approximately $142,200.00. There is also a resolution for an additional $146,556.03 to cover increased costs of material for the South Avenue Project. Administrations procrastination continues to be costly and take funds that could be used elsewhere.

The Status of the delayed Watchung Ave project is still unclear. I do not believe that even the engineering work has been done. In the mean time the cost of asphalt continues to rise.

Also on the agenda are the 7 contracts to be awarded to " State approved vendors" for a total that is less than $100,000.00 under @ million dollars. None of these contracts appear to be a result of seeking bids. I thin in the past. that Councilor Storch has protested this routine.

In one contract a bid of $63 K won over one of $62K. There is no explanation why the lowest bid won except a statement that the vendor was the most qualified. However in the little support data present there is no difference.between the two bidders.

That is not a great amount of money however to paraphrase Dennis Byrne;s Blog "The Barbershop" instead of trillions in Oz a thousand here and a thousand there pretty soon you are talking real money.

I was planning to post a blog on the 'abortion/contraceptive Catholic facilities issue but have not finished it. That blog will take a back seat for several days. The Council and Super Tuesday will have priority.