|
Do bits of shell mean they're the real thing? |
Plainfield's City
Council met in a special session Monday evening to set the agenda for
the Council's 2012 reorganization meeting, which will be Tuesday,
January 3, at 8:00 PM in the Courthouse/Council Chambers.
I was reminded of a perpetual debate from my Air Force days.
I enlisted at the height of the Cold War, before the Bay of Pigs or
Vietnam. While we were engaged in no active wars, America still had
about 1.5 million men and women in uniform.
This meant bases with large numbers of servicemen and women being fed in
huge dining halls. Our constant debate was about the endless large pans of bland
scrambled eggs found at every morning's breakfast.
Rumor was they were made from powdered eggs, not the real things. And to
fool us, it was said the cooks would crush real eggshells into fine
pieces and stir them into the eggs. Whenever anyone got a little piece
of shell in a mouthful, they would instinctively stop chewing and put
the little speck on the edge of the all-in-one tray.
A few such hard little bits came up last night amid the generally bland
but pleasantly relaxed routine of setting the reorg meeting's agenda.
Herewith some 'eggshells' --
CFO QUESTIONS?
When the Administration advised the expected financial reports were not
being provided (check register, budget status, revenue report, overtime
and vendor activity), Director of Administration and Finance Al Restaino
apologized, said they would be on hand 'tomorrow morning' and that
there were 'continuing issues'.
Later, Restaino advised
the Administration would be bringing a resolution forward at the reorg
to appoint Mr. Zilinski as Treasurer for calendar year 2012. There was
no mention of appointing him Chief Financial Officer. (He has been
holding two positions as a way of not endangering his retirement
benefits, I have been told.) There has been grumbling from both the
Council and the Administration about the amount of time Zilinski puts in
(said to be two days per week) and overall progress in straightening
out purchasing and audit and control, which are in his bailiwick.
Is Zilinski being eased out? Is Mayor Robinson-Briggs on the hunt for a new CFO? Maybe we'll learn more at the reorg meeting.
GETTING AGENDA-SETTING PACKETS TO COUNCIL MEMBERS
During a discussion of the 'standing rules of order', Councilor Storch
made a plea for the Administration to get the packets for the monthly
agenda-setting session to the Council earlier than late Friday evening,
which leaves members only Saturday and Sunday to digest the material and
part of Monday for the Administration to get answers together.
The discussion brought
out that while Mayor Robinson-Briggs has weekly day-long cabinet
meetings on Wednesdays, only the one immediately before the Council's
agenda-session is used to set up resolutions. This leaves departments
Thursday to get materials to the Clerk and the Clerk's office with a
crush of work on Friday to get packets ready.
Councilor Mapp finally
suggested that perhaps the Administration could move its cabinet meeting
for that one week up to Monday or Tuesday instead, giving everyone down
the chain more time and hopefully getting packets to Councilors by
Wednesday night or Thursday.
Anything in this regard
would be a benefit to everyone, including the Robinson-Briggs
administration. Will we see a change in 2012?
TEMPORARY BUDGET APPROPRIATIONS AND BUDGET PROCESS
Pending
the adoption of a budget for Calendar Year 2012, the city's first on the
new calendar cycle, there will need to be a temporary appropriation to
keep city government functioning.
The Robinson-Briggs administration proposed a three-month funding, which the state allows at 26.25% of the preceding
year's budget. Councilor Mapp helped Director Restaino over a little
rough patch here, explaining that the amount would be calculated based
on the last half of the previous FY2012 budget, plus the total of the
six-month interim budget. Mapp also noted that state law gave the
governing body the prerogative of authorizing the temporary
appropriations on a month-by-month basis. This has the effect of keeping
an administration's toes to the fire, so to speak.
Mapp also asked City
Administrator Berry if the Robinson-Briggs administration would
cooperate in having the traditional defense by departments at Council
budget hearings. The answer to both that question and the question of
whether the budget would be delivered 'on time' was given in the
affirmative by Mr. Berry. If 'on time' means on the state's stipulated
deadline, we'll have to see about that as very few municipalities make
that cut.
'MISSING' RESOLUTIONS
Those following along with the printed order of discussion could notice
that several items traditionally found in the annual reorganization were
missing --
No items for Administration/Executive Branch, usually an extensive list;
No items for Corporation
Counsel (Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson advised verbally there
would be resolutions for 3 prosecutors and 3 public defenders, per
correspondence received from the Mayor).
NAMING DEPOSITORIES, ETC.
Councilor Mapp noted that there was no resolution for adoption of a CORRECTION: CASH management plan tax management plan and that he wanted to see one presented as a matter of
good form.
A discussion of
depositories also ensued. These are the bank(s) that the governing body
designates to hold the city's funds. Mr. Restaino said several had
responded to requests for proposals and that the Administration was busy
trying to align the services offered, the interest rates offered, and
other factors to make the best proposals.
Everyone gingerly
skirted around the elephant in the room -- that Mayor Robinson-Briggs
had on her own initiative transferred all city accounts to Investor
Savings when other banks decided they would no longer offer municipal
depository services in New Jersey.
This will be another item of interest at the reorg meeting.
So, with all these pieces
of 'eggshell' pushed to the edge of the tray, the question remains: Are
the eggs powdered or the real McCoy?
View
today's CLIPS
here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily?
Click here
to subscribe.