Charter Study Commission Final Report is now available!

CSC filed its original signed copy of the Final Report on Monday, August 5, 2013 in the City Clerk’s Office. The Final Report is available as a PDF file on the City website. Check the scrolling items on the left hand side of the homepage, or go to the Plainfield Charter Commission pages from the City Clerk page. Citizens who subscribe to Clerk Blast have already received an electronic copy via email. Hard copies were delivered to the City Clerk’s Office, the Plainfield Senior Center on Front Street, the Public Works City Yard on South Avenue and to the Plainfield Public Library. A counterpart signed and dated original was delivered to the Plainfield Public Library on August 6, 2013 for filing in the Plainfield Room, along with copies of historical charter study records from the 1970’s to the 1990’s that CSC obtained from the City Clerk. 
Any citizen who would like to obtain a copy of the report can go to one of the live or virtual locations described above, or can obtain a copy via email. Send an email to meburgwinkle@comcast.net, with a subject line message “Please send me a PDF of the Charter Study Commission Final Report”.
We will post updates concerning action by City Council on the Commission recommendations as that information becomes available this fall.

CSC Study Winding Down

CSC met on 7-18-13 in the City Hall Planning Conference Room, to continue deliberating over proposed changes to the charter. The Final Report is in the drafting process, and will be finally reviewed and edited by the Commissioners at the 8-1-13 meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Planning Conference Room. Any last minute deliberations will also be conducted at that meeting.

Time has flown, and the 8-1-13 meeting is our final scheduled meeting. Our Final Report is due on 8-6-13 in the City Clerk's office, and will be available to all interested citizens shortly after that, check the blog next week for details. 

CSC Holds Public Forum and Deliberates

At the July 11th meeting, CSC held a public forum during the first hour of the meeting, and deliberated during the second half of the meeting.

Commissioner Criscione prepared and presented a slide presentation reviewing the activities of the Commission to date. Thank you to the members of the public who came to watch and participate. The entire presentation can be downloaded from the City Clerk's website.

Deliberations regarding amendments to our special charter will continue at our next to last meeting on Thursday, July 18, 2013 in the Planning Conference Room. The Commission's final meeting will be held on August 1, 2013, and our Final Report is due on August 6th.   

Charter Study Commission announces Public Forum

The first hour of the Charter Study Commission July 11th meeting will be devoted to a Public Forum. A PowerPoint presentation will outline the work that we have done since our organizational meeting on 12/11/12, and we will seek comment and feedback from citizens.

The Commission has welcomed public participation at all of our meetings and participation will be encouraged at this meeting as well. We will answer charter study related questions from any citizen who wishes to attend. 

If you cannot attend, but have been following our meetings by reading minutes, email your charter related questions to meburgwinkle@comcast.net. We will deal with as many questions as time permits at the meeting, and will answer the others on the blog.

The meeting will be on July 11, 2013, starting at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall Library.  All Charter Study Commission meetings are open to the public.
 

Thanks to all after a busy week for CSC

Thanks to former 4^th Ward City Councilor Elliott Simmons for taking the time to give us an interview on 6/18. Marie Davis and Mary Burgwinkle conducted the interview at a subcommittee meeting that was also attended by Mr. Robert Edwards. Mr. Simmons had interesting thoughts about qualifications for office seekers, and he observed that “politics should not be personal, even though they both begin with “P””. 

 At the regular meeting on 6/20, three officials gave us interviews.  Mr. Al Restaino, Director of the Department of Administration, Finance, Health and Human Services, Mr. Eric Berry, City Administrator and Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs appeared. We thank them for their time, and it is fitting that CSC ended the series of interviews that we started in January with three of our highest ranking city officials.

After the interviews on 6/20, the Commissioners turned to deliberations, which they will continue at the 6/27 meeting.  Summaries of all of the interviews described earlier will be attached to the 6/20 minutes.

Thank you to Councilor Mapp for his 6/13 interview

CSC schedule this week
Charter Study Commission met on 6/13 with an agenda that included interviews and preparation for deliberation. Our thanks to Councilor Adrian Mapp for his thoughtful interview and for bringing typed answers to the questions, making the secretary’s job easier!

This week we are interviewing Councilor Brown, former Councilor Elliott Simmons and Council President Bridget Rivers on 6/18 beginning at 5:30. This will be a subcommittee meeting (Mary Burgwinkle and Marie Davis) in the Planning Conference Room on the Second Floor of City Hall. The meeting is open to the public and interview minutes will be posted on the blog and on the City Website.

The entire Commission will meet on 6/20, also in the Planning Conference Room, beginning at 6:30. The agenda will include interviews that we are in the process of confirming, as well as pre-deliberation and planning for the Public Forum portion of the 6/27 meeting. The meeting is open to the public.

CSC Thanks our 5/30 Phase II Guests!

At our meeting on 5/30, we welcomed Mr. Jim White, the Township Administrator of East Brunswick (Mayor-Council form) and Mr. Christopher Raths, the Town Manager of Roxbury (Council-Manager). Mr. White and Mr. Raths accepted invitations to speak to us about their Faulkner Act forms of government, and about others they have experienced.  Both gentlemen are very long term managers in their municipalities (Mr. White-16 years; Mr. Raths-12 years) and they gave us insight into how their municipalities work. Mr. Raths is an enthusiastic proponent of Council-Manager form. One of the takeaways for us from Mr. White was the impression that any form of government can work. The form does not matter as much as having a strong administrator and elected officials who learn to work well together under whatever the form of government. Both believe that a strong administrator can be a big help to part time mayors and city councilors who learn to work with their administrator.
Both gentlemen are very experienced City Managers, excellent speakers and natural teachers with sense of humor thrown in. We were pleased that 6 college students who are members of the Plainfield Youth Organization for Unity joined us at the meeting, and our speakers were equally happy to see young people taking an interest in civics and their government.
All in all it was a wonderful meeting. We cannot thank Mr. White and Mr. Raths enough for making the trek from their towns for an evening meeting. Our other guests, Robert Edwards, Dan Damon, Roni Taylor, former city administrator Larry Bashe, and the members of the Plainfield Youth Organization for Unity made the meeting interesting for their participation as well.
CSC will meet next on Thursday, June 13, 2013 in the City Hall Library at 6:30-this is one hour earlier than usual. We are expecting City Council Members Adrian Mapp and Bridget Rivers, as well as Assemblyman Green as our guests.  All meetings are open to the public.

Thank you to Dr. Ernest Reock, Speaker at CSC meeting on May 23, 2013

CSC’s  May 23rd meeting was headlined by the return visit of Dr. Ernest Reock, Professor Emeritus and retired Director of the Rutgers Center for Government Services.  Dr. Reock is an acknowledged expert on New Jersey State Government. After speaking at our Organizational Meeting on December 11, 2012, he has been available to us and answered our questions during our study. At the May 23rd meeting, he gave us a fascinating thumbnail sketch of the history of municipal government forms in New Jersey. He also gave us a synopsis of the forms of government that Charter Study Commission has the power to send to referendum, the forms that we could recommend in an advisory opinion only, and we discussed amending or suggesting special charters. Our minutes (8 pages) are attached to the blog and contain a reasonably detailed summary of the meeting material for citizens who could not attend.
At our May 30th meeting, Mr. James White, Township Administrator of East Brunswick and Mr. Christopher Raths, Town Manager of Roxbury, will attend to discuss their respective Faulkner Act forms of government, the Mayor-Council form and the Council-Manager form, respectively.
All of our meetings are open to the public with ample opportunity for public participation.  The May 23rd meeting will be in City Hall Library, starting at 7:30 pm.

Dr. Ernest Reock to Speak at Charter Study Commission on May 23, 2013

On May 16th, Charter Study Commission held a working meeting in the Planning Conference Room at City Hall. The Commissioners reviewed materials to prepare for their Faulkner Act meetings to be held on May 23rd and May 30th, and continued reviewing the provisions of the Plainfield Charter (1968).

We are pleased to announce that the May 23rd meeting will feature a return visit by Dr. Ernest Reock, Professor Emeritus and retired Director of the Rutgers Center for Government Services.  Dr. Reock is an acknowledged expert on New Jersey State Government. After speaking at our Organizational Meeting on December 11, 2012, he has been available to us and answered our questions during our study. He will give the Commissioners and citizens an overview of the Faulkner Act forms of government.

All of our meetings are open to the public with ample opportunity for public participation. We hope that Plainfielders will take this opportunity to hear Dr. Reock speak. The May 23rd meeting will be in City Hall Library, starting at 7:30 pm.

Charter Study Commission adds May 16th Meeting

CSC met on May 9th in the City Hall Library, where Mr. William Reid, City Council, Ward 1 and Mrs. Vera Greaves, City Council, Wards 1-4, were interviewed. We thank them for taking the time to address our questions and for being our guests. Summaries of their interviews are attached as Exhibit A to the meeting minutes.

At the May 9th meeting, the Commissioners voted to add a meeting on Thursday, May 16th in the Planning Conference Room on the Second Floor of City Hall This meeting will be a working meeting devoted to completing the line by line review of the Plainfield Charter (1968) that was started at our May 2nd meeting. The remainder of the month of May will be devoted to discussion of other forms of government under the Faulkner Act. Our meetings will feature a return visit by Dr. Ernest Reock of Rutgers Center for Government Services on May 23rd, and May 30th interviews of Mr. James White, Township Administrator of East Brunswick, a Faulkner Act Mayor-Council form municipality and Mr. Christopher Raths,Township Manager of Roxbury, a Faulkner Act Council-Manager form Municipality.

All meetings are open to the public.

Charter Study Commission prepares to Study Faulkner Act Forms of Government

Charter Study Commission entered its sixth month of study with a work and planning session on May 2nd. At the meeting, the Commissioners looked at the reports of charter study groups in two other communities for planning purposes and had some preliminary discussion of the three forms of goverment that Plainfield could be eligible to choose under the Optional Municipal Charter Law, commonly known as the Faulkner Act. The Commissioners then reviewed the first four articles of the Plainfield Charter (1968) line by line, comparing them to the Mayor-Council form of government.

During May and June, the Commissioners will mix Phase I and Phase II meeting topics and will:
- complete interviews of current elected and appointed individuals;
- hear from speakers from outside Plainfield who are well versed in the Faulkner Act; and
- have working meetings to complete review and comparison of our charter with the Faulkner Act and prepare for Phase III deliberations.

On May 9th, Councilors Reid and Greaves will be our guests for interviews, and we will continue our review of the charter provisions.

The meeting will be held in City Hall Library and is open to the public.

Thank you to Councilors Storch and Williams, Director Hellwig and former City Administrator Bonaparte

On Thursday, April 25, 2013, CSC conducted its first interviews of current elected and appointed officials. Our thanks to Director Martin Hellwig and Councilors Cory Storch and Rebecca Williams. We appreciated their candor and their very specific ideas for us to consider.

In a Subcommittee meeting on April 30, 2013,  Mr. Norton Bonaparte was interviewed via telephone. Mr. Bonaparte was City Administrator in Plainfield and is now City Manager in Sanford, Florida. He gave us insight from the perspective of a City Manager working under the Counci-Manager form that was interesting to us.

If you are a citizen who is following us via minutes, we have posted the minutes of our April 25 meeting that contain interview notes for Mr. Hellwig, Mr. Storch and Ms. Williams, and we have separately posted the summary of Mr. Bonaparte's interview.

All of our meetings are open to the public and all citizens are welcome to attend.

The next Charter Study Commission meeting is Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.  in the City Hall Planning Conference Room on the Second Floor, as we added this meeting to our original list and the Library was not available. No interviews will be conducted in this meeting, which we will use to review our charter provisions with the insight that we have gained in the last several months, and for planning.

Agenda for April 25th Meeting

Click here for the April 25 Meeting Agenda!

CSC Minutes from 4-11-13 meeting posted; with transcripts of four interviews!

CSC has posted the minutes of its 4/11 meeting. The minutes contain summary transcripts of the interviews of former Corporation Counsel Rowand Clark and Former City Administrator Hank Kita. Former City Administrator Jewel Thompson-Chin was interviewed in a subcommittee interview prior to the meeting, and the transcript of her interview is included as Exhibit B to the meeting minutes. In addition, former City Councilor Donna Vose submitted her interview responses via email, and her interview is included as Exhibit C.

Thanks to all four of these former City officials for the time and effort that they devoted to the interviews.

April 11th Agenda

Click here for April 11th Agenda

Thank you from Charter Study Commission to Laddie Wyatt, Dan Williamson and Ron West

Thank you from Charter Study Commission to Laddie Wyatt, Dan Williamson and Ron West

On Thursday, March 28, 2013, CSC interviewed former City Clerk Laddie Wyatt, Former Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson, and former Director of Finance, Ron West.  Ms. Wyatt and Mr. Williamson were interviewed at CSC’s scheduled 7:30 meeting and Mr. West was interviewed by a subcommittee directly before the scheduled meeting. All of the interviewees gave us interesting insights that will help us in our later deliberations. We are grateful for the time and effort that they put into their interviews and we were happy to have them as our guests. 

All of our meetings are open to the public and all citizens are welcome to attend. If you are a citizen who  cannot attend meetings but would like to follow our proceedings, our minutes are extensive and are posted on this blog and on the City website. All of the minutes contain lists all of our interview questions and a summary of the interviewee’s answers.  Recordings of each meeting are also available. 

The next Charter Study Commission meeting is Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.  in the City Hall Library.   Mr. Rowand Clark, former Corporation Counsel, Mr. Hank Kita, former City Administrator and Ms. Sandy Spector, Republican City Chair.  In addition, the interview of former City Administrator Jewel Thompson-Chin, will be conducted in a subcommittee interview at 6:00 p.m. on 4/11. We hope that you will join us!  

March 28, 2013 Agenda

Click Here to View the March 28th Agenda

Thank you to Rashid Burney and Mark Fury

Upcoming Schedule:
The Plainfield Charter Study Commission is continuing to interview former elected and appointed officials for their insights into the Plainfield Charter (1968). 
Former City Councilor and City Council President Rashid Burney and former Mayor Mark Fury gave compelling interviews at our 3/14/13 meeting. We are grateful for the time and effort that they put into their interviews and we were happy to have them as our guests. For citizens who could not attend, the minutes of all of CSC’s meetings contain lists all of the questions posed to our interviewees, and the substance of their answers.  The minutes of the meeting of 3/14/13 contain four pages of questions and answers, so a citizen who cannot attend can get a really good idea of the substance of the interview.  Minutes are posted on this blog and on the City website.
The next Charter Study Commission meeting is Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.  in the City Hall Library.   Ms. Laddie Wyatt, former City Clerk and former Corporation Counsel Daniel A. Williamson will be interviewed.  In addition, the interview of former Director of Finance Ronald West will be conducted in a subcommittee interview at 6:00 p.m. on 3/28. All Charter Study Commission meetings are open to the public, with opportunity for public comment.  We invite you to join us on Thursday evening.

Charter Commission to address FOSH and NHN at Upcoming Meetings!

CSC thanks Friends of Sleepy Hollow (FOSH) and Netherwood Heights Neighbors (NHN) for responding to our requests for time on community association agendas to discuss charter study.  If you are a member of an association or group in Plainfield, contact us on the blog to request that a Commission representative attend your event and give you a briefing.   

Interiew Schedule Change

Our interview schedule has changed for 3/14 Meeting! 
CDC Secretary Mary Burgwinkle has reported that she inadvertently mixed up the date of Ms. Laddie Wyatt's interview with CSC. Ms. Wyatt was invited to the 3/28 meeting, not the 3/14 meeting as reported in the agenda for that meeting. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused! Interviews of Mr. Rashid Burney and Mr. Mark Fury will be conducted at the 3/14 meeting. Meetings are open to the public, and we hope to see you on 3/14.

Invite a Charter Study Commissioner to your Meeting!

If you are a representative of a neighborhood association, neighborhood watch or other community association, please invite a charter study commissioner to attend your next meeting! We will provide a short description of charter study’s task and will answer questions within the time that you have available.  If you are a book club, consider reading some charter related materials that we will suggest, followed by our attendance at your next meeting. Charter Study is designed for community wide dialogue on our form of government, and we want to spread the word! Email us at plainfieldcsc@gmail.com.

Thank you to Mr. Harold Gibson, Mr. Larry Bashe and Mr. Don Davis!

Thank you to Mr. Harold Gibson, Mr. Larry Bashe and Mr. Don Davis!
The Charter Study Commission is continuing with Phase I of its study, and is in the process of interviewing former city elected and appointed officials. Our sincere thanks to Mr. Harold Gibson (former City Administrator, City Councilor and City Council President, among other positions), Mr. Larry Bashe (former City Administrator during the early days of the present charter) and Mr. Don Davis (former City Councilor) for the interviews that they gave at the February 28th meeting.  It was a thought provoking evening and we appreciate the effort that they put into their presentations.

For citizens who could not attend but are interested in the content of the interviews, go to the minutes of the meeting posted on this blog. Each set of minutes contains a brief summary of each of the interviewee’s remarks.  For access to a complete recorded copy of the entire meeting, please email us at plainfieldcsc@gmail.com.

The next Charter Study Commission meeting is Thursday, March 14, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.  in the City Hall Library.   Ms. Laddie Wyatt, longtime former City Clerk, Mr. Mark Fury, former Mayor and Chair of the 1990 Charter Study Committee and Mr. Rashid Burney, former City Councilor and City Council President will be interviewed.  All Charter Study Commission meetings are open to the public, with opportunity for public comment.  We invite you to join us on Thursday evening.

Charter Study Commission Phase I

Thank you to Charter Study Commission Phase I Interviewees!
The Charter Study Commission is well into Phase I of its study. Phase I involves study of the existing form of government, the Plainfield Charter (1968). In order to learn about Plainfield’s Charter, the Commissioners are reading it, comparing it to other similar charters and conducting interviews.  Interviewees are former and present elected and appointed officials as well as other members of the community. 
 
We thank Dr. Harold Yood, who has written extensively about Charter in his widely read blog, Ms. Elizabeth Urquhart, former City Councilor and City Council President, and Mr. Harold Mitchell, former Mayor, City Councilor and City Council President for sitting for interviews.  We are grateful for the time and effort that they put into their interviews and we were happy to have them as our guests.
 
The next Charter Study Commission meeting is Thursday, February 28, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.  in the City Hall Library.   Mr. Harold Gibson, former City Administrator, City Councilor and City Council President, Mr. Lawrence Bashe, former City Administrator, and Mr. Donald Davis, former City Councilor, will be interviewed.  All Charter Study Commission meetings are open to the public, with opportunity for public comment.  We invite you to join us on Thursday evening.

February 28th Meeting Agenda

Click here to view the February 28th Meeting Agenda.

Urquhart, Mitchell Give Charter Views

You can read a summary of the Urquhart and Mitchell interviews at Plaintalker II:

"The Charter Study Commission launched its interviews of past officials Thursday with former 16-year First Ward Councilwoman Elizabeth Urquhart and former Mayor Harold Mitchell, who also served terms on the City Council."

Dr. Yood Interview

You can read Dr. Harold Yood's content from his Charter Commission interview:

Charter Reprise

About the Budget

Thank you to Plaintalker II for covering Charter Study Commission and for the report on the 1/8 meeting.  Regarding the estimated cost and number of copies of the final report of CSC reported above,  I would like to note for readers that the budget request submitted to the City in mid December  included an explanatory footnote regarding the final report. The footnote explained that the statute that governs final reports of Charter Study Commissions, N.J.S.A. 40:69A-10, provides that commissions must deliver to the city clerk sufficient copies of the final report to permit distribution to any interested citizen. That obligation can be interpreted in many ways, so, CSC obtained an estimate for copying and mailing to every Plainfield household, with additional copies to post in the city.  The footnote explained that the estimate was the highest possible cost, that there would be much deliberation on interpreting the statute to arrive at a distribution plan that would satisfy the statute and be as cost effective as possible.  Since submitting the budget request, the City Solicitor has given an opinion that the statute does not require mailing to every household, that  we can rely on dropping copies at various locations in Plainfield. Our consultant from Rutgers Center for Government Services indicated that we could rely on email as one mode of distribution when questioned. So, the number of reports and the amount required for printing will continue to be discussed and will likely be less than the amount of the budget request. All readers are invited to our meetings, schedule for the year on our blog, and on the City website.     

Mary Burgwinkle, CSC Secretary and Budget Subcommittee Member

January 8, 2013 Agenda

City of Plainfield, New Jersey
Charter Study Commission

Agenda for Meeting of Tuesday, January 8, 2013, 7:30 p.m.
Plainfield City Hall Library


1. Call Meeting to Order

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3.  Read Open Public Meeting Act Compliance Statement

4. Roll Call Attendance of Commissioners

5. Review and approve minutes of Meeting of December 11, 2012

6. Review of any Correspondence to Commission

7. Review of any current Treasurer Report

8. Report of Committee on meeting dates assigned at 12-11 meeting

9. Report of Budget Committee assigned at 12-11 meeting

10. Brief discussion of first phase of study

11. Commissioners discussion on persons to invite to speak with commission

12. Commissioners discussion of questions for interviewees

13. Announce date and time of next meeting

14. Public Participation

15. Adjourn