On Real Economic Development for the 21st Century

I have published this post as well on my mayoral candidate blog. Working together with the city council, we can make my long-term vision for a stronger, healthier Plainfield community a reality. It can only be done through partnership with you, my fellow residents of Plainfield. Today, I will focus on economic development in the 21st Century.

I will create a plan for economic development that is not developer driven, and for the first time in this city’s history I will develop and implement an aggressive marketing plan using the mass media to enhance Plainfield’s image, making it more desirable to targeted investors who will want to make Plainfield a business destination.

But I will not focus solely on attracting new businesses; I want to retain the ones that are already here. I want to give them a reason to stay and to expand. So, I am proposing the creation of a Commercial Tax Abatement Program that will not alter the underlying assessment, yet will provide a very attractive incentive over a five-year period to encourage existing businesses to expand, thus creating jobs and expanding the city’s commercial tax base to enhance its tax revenues.

Transit Village Initiative
I strongly believe that the Transit Village initiative can be the lynchpin for downtown revitalization and consequently the revitalization of Plainfield. The Transit Village will allow us to increase the density of housing and businesses in areas already well-served by public transportation.

Couple this with a long-term initiative to encourage artists, crafts people, and small businesses to make use of the under-utilized loft-type structures already existing within the proximity of Plainfield’s downtown transit zone, and we have the makings of a critical mass of self-sustaining activities and development that will restore vitality to Plainfield’s downtown while at the same time providing the city with an ever-increasing tax base of new ratables.

Brownfields
I will initiate a new study of all Brownfield structures within the city, using grant funds, and establish a plan that rehabilitates and converts all of the Brownfield structures, mainly concentrated in the 4th Ward, into retail shopping outlets. I recognize that these are very challenging fiscal times for all municipalities, but I also believe that we as a community can and must take every step necessary to position Plainfield for success when the nation comes out of this difficult time.

The city should not, and I will not, place all of our eggs in one development basket. As a city, we must broaden our approach and our outreach. This I plan to do. I will focus as much of the city’s resources to rebuilding, improving and enhancing our infrastructure—our roads, IT network, and aging buildings, and I will aggressively seek and demand funding from the County, State and Federal governments to assist us in this effort.

Information Technology
Moving forward, I will work to modernize Information Technology (IT); it must be brought into the 21st century, it has to be made more efficient and citizen friendly. By automating the city records and putting them on-line, using wireless, the Web and GPS, we can make doing the city’s business, easier, faster, and less expensive for citizens, businesses and employees.

Renewables
By embracing renewables, Plainfield will be able to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. My colleague Cory Storch has long been an advocate for hybrid vehicles. Well, Cory, I’ve got a plan for you. My plan, where feasible, will be to migrate the city’s fleet of vehicles to hybrid gas and electric, all electric and biodiesel; install solar panels on city buildings; encourage citizens through the use of targeted initiatives to embrace renewables, thus reducing their carbon footprint. We can partner with the school system to make sure our kids learn the technology that will enable them to take advantage of the new jobs created in the renewable industry. This is a serious commitment, one that will ultimately drive down costs and result in more citizens embracing their environmental stewardship.

Regards,

Adrian

On Good Government and Ethical Leadership

Plainfield is blessed with having highly capable employees who are seriously interested and committed to moving the City forward through their daily efforts. However, due to the lack of leadership, they are not being heard. This has hurt the city tremendously, because it is the frontline employees who are often in the best position to identify cost savings and to suggest changes that can benefit the City.

As Mayor, my administration will utilize the employees of the City as partners in Government. My administration will empower the city employees to implement changes that are beneficial to the city and will create faster response times to addressing issues plaguing the city. My administration will not be the dictatorial form of government that is practiced by the current mayor in Plainfield today; my government will be inclusive of ALL people.

A strong and effective government is one that is built on CONSENSUS. Great leaders, from Abraham Lincoln to President Barack Obama, believed in the involvement of the ordinary citizen and worker towards the creation of a more sound and responsive government.

That is what Good leadership and good government looks like. That is what I will be as the Mayor. Real change can come to Plainfield, but it requires REAL leadership. I will provide that leadership with you as my partner, as my team member, and certainly as my check and balance.

Regards, Adrian

On Crime and Public Safety: A Clarification

Captain El-Amin's comment on my previous post regarding the mayor's inaction on crime and public safety deserves clarification. It turns out that the very competitive COPS grant I referred to in an earlier post was applied for by the administration by the deadline, but without council knowledge or approval. This means that the administration failed once again in its fiduciary and legal responsibility to keep the governing body informed about all significant grants that will be applied for.

This instance highlights the continued failure of this mayor to communicate with the council except in a rushed, haphazard, and last-minute way. The governing body is supposed to approve grant applications before they are sent out—failure to communicate with us about this grant is par for the course of this administration, which clearly feels it does not have to be transparent and accountable to the people or the governing body of Plainfield.

The resolution the captain is referring to is a blanket resolution that I proposed—one that would enable the police to apply for significant grants through President Obama’s Stimulus Plan in a timely fashion without the city having to suffer from waiting until the last minute. The reason I proposed this resolution was to ensure that the administration would not wait until the last minute (as is their standard operating procedure) to file for certain grants.

It is the ethical responsibility of the mayor to fully and openly communicate with the governing body about all grants. To say that “The application was submitted on-line electronically by the deadline” WITHOUT council approval just highlights the lack of accountability on the part of the administration.

That said, our police force deserves the full support of the governing body, the administration, and our community. A Mapp administration would ensure that all grants are applied for and that the city council and the public remain informed about all crime fighting efforts in a timely fashion.


Regards,


Adrian

On Crime and Public Safety

This post is also published on my mayoral candidate blog. I felt, however, that it deserved posting here as well. The issue of crime in the 3rd Ward has not been publicly discussed by the current mayor at all--yet, I am hearing about it from the 3rd Ward residents, whose concerns for their children are not being addressed. Many of you have expressed frustration about the lack of communication from the mayor as well as outrage about her attempt to govern with "hugs" and "kisses," but no meaningful action.

Statistics produced by the Union County Prosecutor's Office just last month show that crime is UP 12.4% in Plainfield.* This is shameful, and speaks to the current administration's empty talk on crime and safety.

I know first-hand how crime affects us all. As I walk through the streets of Plainfield, listening to you, the voters, it is clear that the current administration under Sharon is deaf to your serious concerns about your own safety.

There is a misconception being perpetrated by my opponent that my goal is to reduce the police department. Nothing could be further from the truth. The truth is, we have less police on the force than 3 ½ years ago, when this mayor came into office. In addition, more losses were caused by the fact that the mayor had officers personally assigned to her for her use for 3 years—meaning even less officers available for crime-fighting!

As your mayor, I will fight crime like never before! My goal is to add additional police officers to city streets by bringing the complement of officers up to 160. I will use the savings that will result from attrition and retirements and funds available under President Obama’s Federal Stimulus program to accomplish this goal.

For example, up to $1 billion in funding from President Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 was made available through the COPS (Community Oriented Policing Services) to address the personnel needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement. The funding, through COPS Hiring Recovery Program (CHRP) goes directly to law enforcement agencies to create and preserve jobs and to increase community policing capacity and crime-prevention efforts through the hiring and rehiring of law enforcement officers. The grant would have provided 100 percent funding for salaries and benefits for 3 years for newly-hired, full-time sworn officer positions (including filling existing unfunded vacancies) or for rehired officers who have been laid off, or are scheduled to be laid off on a future date, as a result of local budget cuts.

Unfortunately, the current administration dropped the ball and did not apply for this competitive grant; the deadline, April 14, 2009, has passed! This is truly unfortunate, because there was no local matching fund requirement, meaning no additional tax burden on you, the taxpayer. In addition, no cap was placed on the number of positions we could have requested for funding!

Under a Mapp administration, we will apply for ALL available funding to increase safety and improve crime prevention! We will make sure that every dollar allocated for crime fighting is spent on crime fighting. Working with our police, we must tackle drug dealing, assaults, home invasions, car break-ins, and all other criminal activity. We must be vigilant.

We’ve had enough empty talk from the current administration about crime. We will not drop the ball and ignore the needs of our residents as the current mayor has done. We will not place our heads in the sand. Under Sharon, crime has steadily increased.

It’s time for action! It’s time for change!

*Source: Star-Ledger, 4/21/09 “New statistics show crime surge in Union County last year”: In Plainfield, second in the county to Elizabeth in total number of crimes...crime rose 12.4% percent.” Statistics provided by the Uniform Police Report to the Union County Prosecutor's Office.

New Dems Campaign Headquarters Now Open!

Hello, Friends, I would like to invite you to the opening of our Campaign Headquarters this afternoon. I will be laying out my vision for Plainfield's Future, and you will be able to meet me and my running mates Rick Smiley (for Assembly), and the Democratic City Committee candidates from YOUR neighborhoods. Be a part of the positive change Plainfield needs!

Plainfield's Grassroots Democratic Movement
Invites You to Get Involved!

Meet the Candidates
Share Our Vision for the Future

Today, April 18th
2:00 - 4:00 PM
New Democrats Campaign Headquarters
117 Watchung Avenue (bet. 2nd & Front Streets)
Refreshments - Music - Voter Registration

Passing the Budget: Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Of the 51 municipalities in the state of New Jersey operating on a fiscal year (July 1st – June 30th), only seven have already passed their budgets as of last week; the others are awaiting a decision on the pension deferral legislation and extraordinary aid. The reason most, if not all, the other 44 municipalities have not adopted their budgets is because they all have levy cap problems, and municipalities with levy cap problems have to apply to the Local Finance Board (LFB) for a waiver. If a waiver is not granted, municipalities would have to reduce their budgets by the amount by which the budget exceeds the levy cap. In the case of Plainfield, that number is just over $3 million. Currently, the LFB will not hear any applications for waivers until a decision is made on the pension deferral legislation and on extraordinary aid.

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs has been urging the council to accept the 50% pension deferral, suggesting that this is the only feasible way to ease the property tax burden on our residents. This "urging" is misplaced, however, because based on the way the legislation is currently written, municipalities will not have a choice to defer or not to defer--deferral will be mandatory.

A 50% deferral for Plainfield will equate to $2.7 million, leaving Plainfield with a need for approximately $300,000 to get below the levy cap and avoid the need to go before the LFB for a waiver. It is likely that Plainfield will receive extraordinary aid to the tune of at least $300,000.

So, as it stands, Plainfield and other municipalities are between a rock and a hard place: they are over the levy cap and they need a waiver from the LFB. They can’t get a hearing for a waiver from the LFB because of the pending pension deferral legislation and a decision on extraordinary aid. Therefore, Plainfield cannot adopt its budget in its present form; the budget would have to be cut by a minimum of the amount by which it exceeds the levy cap, which is just over $3 million.

Between a rock and a hard place is not a good place to be, especially in these harsh economic times. However, tough times call for tough decisions and tough love.

It’s time for the mayor and council to make the tough decisions.

Regards,
Adrian

Plainfield Residents Need a CAR

Much has been made about the twenty-four hour use of city-owned cars by City Administrator Marc Dashield and Public Safety/Police Director Martin Hellwig. I am in total agreement with all who view the twenty-four hour use of city cars by certain department heads as an unnecessary perk. I voted “No” on twenty-four hour city car use by Messrs. Dashield and Hellwig. I believe that my vote was reflective of the views of most Plainfield residents, who, from the comments I have received thus far, feel that these officials should commute from their homes in their own vehicles.

However, although I remain opposed the twenty-four hour car use by municipal employees whom I feel don't need it, I am in favor of Plainfield residents having a CAR 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

The CAR I am referring to is an online tool that I am proposing, which I call a Citizen’s Assistance Request (CAR). Citizens would use it to request services from the city and as a vehicle to grade the performance of elected officials and department heads. It would be available on the city’s website to every Plainfield resident who has access to the Internet (there is free Internet access at the library).

Such a CAR would require the mayor and council to be more responsive to citizens’ requests for services. Plainfield residents using a CAR on a 24/7 basis would be able to do the following:

· Request city services
· Grade the performance of elected officials
· Grade the performance of department heads and staff
· Provide constructive feedback and suggestions
· Register as a volunteer

The City Administrator would be responsible for monitoring all CARs and for providing swift responses to citizens requesting city services.

In the interest of transparency, the grades assigned by citizens to the performance of their elected officials would be published on a regular basis. This would be one sure way of making Plainfield’s government more accountable and responsive to the needs of its citizens.

Let's provide all Plainfield residents with a 24/7 CAR!

Regards, Adrian