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.