Below is some information about an event that Plainfield PAL's Youth Exposure is holding tomorrow (Saturday). Alrick Brown, a Film Director and rising star in the film industry, will be addressing Plainfield youth to talk about the challenges he faced growing up, his goals and his success. Alrick attended NYU Film School and his short films have been recognized internationally. Alrick was raised in Plainfield and has even filmed some of his work here. He is about to release his first feature length film called Kinyarwanda. This movie tells the story of Muslims that protected Christians during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Not only is this a timely film, but it's an inspiring story.

Alrick has shown his support of Plainfield by taking time out of his worldwide promotional tour to speak with our kids. It's critical that our community take the time to support him. One way to do that is by attending this event. The more attention that is brought to this event, the more coverage his film will receive.

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Contact: Lucy Sanchez-Abreu
Tel: (732) 397-4693
Email: youthexposure@gmail.com


FILM DIRECTOR ALRICK BROWN TO SPEAK AT PLAINFIELD PAL YOUTH EXPOSURE EVENT

“Plainfield’s Promise” Speaker Series to be held Oct. 30, 2010 at 11 a.m. at Washington School

Plainfield PAL’s Youth Exposure will host the first annual “Plainfield’s Promise” Speaker Series with Film Director Alrick Brown on Saturday, October 30 at 11:00 a.m. at Washington Community School in Plainfield, NJ. Alrick will show clips from his soon-to-be released movie Kinyarwanda, a tale about the complexities in Rwanda during the era of war and genocide. He will also share his insight regarding his journey to success. This event is co-sponsored by Wazito Freestyle and Omega Psi Phi Omicron Chapter. Performances will be made by En Pointe School of Dance and the Wazito Freestyle karate school as well. Local residents and film enthusiasts are invited to attend this exclusive and FREE event.

This event is geared to showcase success stories with Plainfield roots that have, and continue to make an impact on the community locally and globally. In addition, an invitation has been extended to local youth and community organizations to collectively “protect our youth, provide for our youth and prepare our youth.” Hence, on the stage and in the audience, organizations will be partnering to make a difference for the youth in Plainfield with our combined resources and wealth of knowledge.

Alrick Brown’s collective work has screened in over forty film festivals, national and international, and received numerous awards. He has written, directed, and produced narrative films and documentaries often focusing on social issues affecting the world at large. He and his co-producer, received the HBO Life Through Your Lens Emerging Filmmaker Award to produce their critically acclaimed documentary Death of Two Sons. In 2004, he was one of four NYU students featured in the IFC Documentary series Film School, produced by Academy award nominee Nannette Burstein.In 2007 he addressed the Motion Picture Association of America on C-SPAN. In 2009, he directed his first stage play “A Raisin in the Sun,” which was featured in Plainfield, NJ. At present, he is in post-production on his first feature film, Kinyarwanda shot on location in Rwanda and writing a feature thriller titled, The Shadows.
Alrick is a native of Kingston, Jamaica and was raised in Plainfield, New Jersey where he graduated from Plainfield High School in 1994. A fluent French speaker, he graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in English and a Masters in Education. He also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Cote d’Ivoire. He has a MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Plainfield PAL’s Youth Exposure is a mentoring and enrichment program for middle school students established in Plainfield, NJ. Founded in 2007, Youth Exposure’s mission is to empower middle school students, encouraging them to strive for high levels of success through pursuit of education, leadership development and community service. Mentees are youth, ages 11-14, enrolled in the Plainfield School District. Mentors are young professionals who are dedicated to their community. Youth Exposure’s vision is to create a village of supporters for these students by organizing a locally-based network of mentors and like-minded peers. Through mentoring, tutoring, exposure to new activities, and support for scholarships and job opportunities, Youth Exposure provides a wide net of guidance and avenues for personal enhancement.

Youth Exposure is able to offer this program at minimal cost to community members through Plainfield Police Athletic League (PAL). Plainfield PAL is proud to announce a grant award in the amount of $20,580.00 in support of the Youth Exposure Program for the 2010-2011 program period. Funding has been made possible in part by a sub-grant from the Police Athletic League of New Jersey Afterschool Initiatives, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Washington Community School is a key partner with Youth Exposure, offering space and support for our activities.

Youth Exposure meets every other Saturday at Washington Community School from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., unless there is a scheduled trip. There is a one-time fee of $50.00 for participating, however scholarships are available. Transportation and admission fees for all trips are free-of-cost. Breakfast and lunch is provided. There is limited enrollment.

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For more information please contact Nancy Jordan of Plainfield PAL (908) 753-9281 or visit our website at http://www.youthexposure.org/.

To learn more about Alrick Brown’s upcoming movie Kinyarwanda please visit the site at http://www.kinyarwandamovie.com/ .



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Budget Deliberations: Logistics + Structure

LOGISTICS

Budget Deliberations will begin this week. Dates were advertised this weekend. Here is some additional information:

Tuesday, October 26th, 7:00 PM, City Hall Library
Public Safety (Police & Fire), Signals, Traffic

Thursday, October 28th, 7:00 PM, City Hall Library
Inspections, Municipal Court, Corporation Counsel, Engineering

Wednesday, November 3rd
Public Works & Recreation

Thursday, November 4th
Social Services (Plainfield Action Services, WIC, Bilingual Daycare), Health

Monday, November 8th
Tax Assessor, Collector, Audit & Control, Purchasing

Tuesday, November 9th
Library, City Clerk, IT/Media

Thursday, November 11th
Capital Budget, Planning, Economic Development

**Times and locations for deliberations to be held after October 28th, will be announced shortly


STRUCTURE

I was not satisfied with last year's budget deliberations. The focus of the deliberations should be on goals and numbers. Poorly articulated goals, unavailable performance measurements and missing data are unacceptable. While I understand the effect that shrunken resources has had on City Hall, the Administration must be prepared so that the Council can make informed budget decisions.

I have requested that presentations be organized differently. Each division head has been asked to address a specified set of questions (see below) at the beginning of their presentation. I believe the answers to these questions will provide the Council with the data they need to make decisions and open up a dialogue on how we can do more with less in these economic times. I will grant an additional 5 minutes for any other information to be shared. Councilors and CBAC members will then have an opportunity to ask their questions. The public will also have an opportunity to address the Council.

1) Overview
What services do you deliver to the residents of Plainfield? What are your responsibilities within City Hall?

2) Performance Measurements
What quantifiable data can you provide that will give the Council meaningful information on how well you have delivered services?

3) Goals, Objectives
What are your priorities for the coming year? What are your short-term and long-term goals? What additional personnel or resources will be needed to achieve these goals. Please provide corresponding dollar amounts (estimates are fine).

4) Shared Services
What opportunities for shared services exist?

5) Grant Opportunities
What opportunities for grants exist?

6) Costs
What are your major costs? What opportunities exist to cut these costs?

7) Revenues
Do you generate any revenues for the City? What opportunities exist to increase revenues?

8) Lay-off Plan
How will the recently approved lay-off plan affect your productivity? Be specific.

9) Improved Productivity
How can the Council empower you to deliver better results?

.**minor grammatical changes made at 9:40am

Revisiting Positive Change

The blogosphere has been abuzz with views on what the Council's authority is, what the Administration's authority is and whether we are using our respective power appropriately. The underlying concern is whether we are working together and the implication is that we are not. I want to address that here.

When I ran for public office in 2008 my message was Positive Change. This message was chosen intentionally. I wanted to bring hope back to Plainfield and help move us in the right direction. I wanted to be part of a collective effort to ensure a brighter future for our community. I ran because the residents of Plainfield wanted solutions instead of promises and action instead of talk. At the beginning of this year, I was honored when my peers unanimously selected me to serve as Council President. At the first meeting, I spoke about putting Plainfield First, above political careers and above political agendas.

These messages - Positive Change & Plainfield First - have as much meaning for me today as they did at the beginning, and I hope they still have meaning for you. Today I continue to serve the residents of Plainfield, guided by these original intentions. Today I continue to carry out my responsibility as Council President, always staying true to these values and ensuring that the 2010 Council focuses on key policy issues, not petty politics.

Economic Development, Financial Management and Oversight and Quality-of-Life issues are crucial to the success of this City. Are there some residents who would rather the Council accept the status quo and just leave things as they are? Perhaps. But the vast majority have supported the priorities I identified for this year such as improving fiscal oversight, focusing on economic development and investing in our roads, IT infrastructure and youth. As the legislative branch, the Council has a responsibility and a right to pass resolutions and ordinances for the betterment of the community. As the leader of the executive branch, the Mayor has a responsibility and a right to veto items she disagrees with. This process is born out of a system of checks and balances created by America's Founding Fathers and documented in the Constitution and the Federalist Papers.

Yes, the Administration and Council have disagreed on some items, specifically Financial Oversight and Management. The Mayor has made it clear that she does not believe the Council needs anymore oversight. Some Councilors agree with her and others don't. And that's to be expected because it is a controversial, but necessary, conversation. And there will be more disagreements, especially as we move through the budget process.

This topic aside, we have worked together on most things. In fact, it is under the 2010 Council that the Visioning Study (a joint effort) was approved and took place. It is under the 2010 Council that both branches of government started real discussion on how to fund our IT improvements. It is under the 2010 Council that recent downtown development is moving forward. Even more recently, the Council and Administration have resumed discussion on how to best formulate and fill citizen committees with positive results. None of this was accomplished last year. So there have been improvements. In fact, of the 396 resolutions and 36 ordinances considered this year, 376 resolutions and 26 ordinances passed. And nearly all of those were put forth by the Administration. I believe this represents a healthy balance - a push and pull from both branches of government that steadily progresses the City at a speed we collectively determine.

I take my oath as Councilwoman At-Large and as Council President very seriously and have always considered myself a public servant, never a politician. I agree that we must continue to stray away from the blame game and strive for a more harmonious relationship. But our job is not to get along. Our job is to represent the people. The question is not, "Does the Council and Administration agree?" - we do that most of the time anyway. The question is, "Are we discussing and dealing with the critical issues that are facing our community?" I believe the answer to that question is yes. And that answer must always be yes if we are to make Plainfield the kind of City we know it can be.

Joe Black Field Dedication

Several residents asked that I post the words I shared at the Joe Black Field Dedication, a wonderful event that really unified the City:

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Good morning,

On behalf of the Plainfield City Council, I welcome you to the dedication of the Joe Black Baseball Field.

To the friends, family and supporters of Joe Black, thank you for being here.

Today is a great day for the City of Plainfield. Today we honor one man – a baseball legend and an inspiration. Although Joe Black was before my time and I never had the opportunity to meet him, I feel as though I know him from the stories that have been shared about him. That is the sign of a great man – he touched so many lives that everywhere you go you gain understanding about who he was.

Joe Black is truly an example of what success looks like. During a much darker period in American history, when African-Americans heard “no” and “you can’t” or “not allowed” much more often than “yes” or “we believe in you”, Joe Black proved that hard work, dedication and raw talent can’t be stopped, even when facing what seem to be insurmountable odds. It is so fitting that this field – the very place where Joe Black the young player with potential was told he could never play in the Major Leagues– is now being dedicated to Joe Black the World Series Champion.

So, when our young people step on this field let them not only play the game as Joe Black would have, but let them remember what this day and this dedication is really about. Let this field represent the ability to break barriers and defy the odds. Let this field remind us of the power of focus, passion and drive. Let this field be symbolize greatness that has already come from Plainfield and greatness that is yet to come.

Thank you.

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Overdue Minutes - Taking Responsibility and Proposing a Plan

Responsibility
At last night's meeting a resident brought to the forefront a very important issue - the proper submittal and approval of minutes from Council meetings which are handled by the Clerk's office. Her point was well made - the Council has not received and approved minutes in many months. There is simply no excuse for this error on the Council's part. As Council President I accept full responsibility for not dealing with this matter sooner and intend to mend the situation by the November meeting.

Background
The Clerk's office is the hub of the City and is responsible for a myriad of responsibilities. It serves as the licensing bureau for the entire City, dealing with chauffeurs (i.e. limo/taxi licenses) and establishments with alcoholic beverage control licenses among others. It is also charged with overseeing local elections and maintaining public documents. It is responsible for research of and response to all City OPRA requests which can require many hours of effort at any given time. In addition, this office bears the extra weight of working with the Council to pull together agenda items, write resolutions, update the City's code book and keep minutes of Council meetings.

Following last year's budget cuts, the Clerk's office suffered severely with the loss of 4 long-time employees that were either laid off or displaced from the office. For the past 15 years, a consultant wrote and submitted minutes to the Council. The memorandum of understanding signed by the City in exchange for receipt of state extraordinary aide prevented the reinstatement of that consultant. Low on staff, the Clerk's office has been unable to submit proper minutes to the Council for many months. Thus, the Council has not had minutes to approve for many months. While this is not the way to conduct government business, to my knowledge there has been no request by the public of Council documentation that has gone unanswered.

Plan
This situation is completely unacceptable and must be rectified as soon as possible. I will be recommending to the Council that we hire a consultant to do the following:

1) Immediately write and submit for approval bare bones minutes.
According to state statute, minutes are only required to reflect the time that the meeting opened and closed, who was in attendance, items that were discussed, and a record of the votes. In the past our minutes have reflected more detail and included statements from Councilors on why they voted as they did. In order to meet our legal requirement as soon as possible, we should move quickly to meet the minimum.

2) Amend basic minutes to add details
Once we meet the minimum, we should amend these minutes to reflect the dialogue and statements made by Council. Although this is not required by law, in the interest of transparency it is important to include the reasoning for decisions made. This is beneficial not only for the public who can better understand the often complex nature of our decisions, but also for future Councils that may rely on minutes to understand why decisions with long term impact were made.

3) Require the consultant to maintain a complete log of minutes going forward
This is not a position that we should be in ever again. Minutes should be submitted for approval at each Regular Business Meeting so that we stay up-to-date.

Neither the situation nor the solution is ideal. However, I believe that the entire Council will support this effort and that this matter will be adequately addressed by the next meeting. In the meantime, videotape of all public meetings continue to remain available in the Clerk's office for viewing by any resident. In addition, minutes of Committee meetings that have been submitted are also available in the Clerk's office. These minutes often reflect a deeper level discussion of items that are eventually brought to agenda fixing sessions.

I will provide a status of this matter at the next Agenda Fixing meeting.

**I will be blogging about the budget shortly.

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Monday's Agenda, the Shotspotter Bond Ordinance and A New Policy

I have received numerous phone calls and emails from residents concerning the budget and the Shotspotter bond ordinance. I want to clarify some facts before Monday's meeting.

On The Budget:
Earlier in the week it seemed prudent to re-advertise Monday's meeting as a special meeting so that we could take action on the long-awaited budget. This was a planning and precautionary measure taken due to certain expectations. It became clear to me later in the week that the budget might not be introduced on Monday as hoped. As the public well knows, the Council has asked for a timely budget introduction all year, going as far as passing a resolution setting a budget timeline. The Administration has not adhered to this request; however, I do expect a budget introduction earlier this year than last year.

On the City’s Finances & the Spotter Bond Ordinance
At Thursday's Administration & Finance Committee meeting, the City's auditors reviewed the AFS documents with the Council committee. As expected, the City's financial situation has not improved. In fact, it has gotten worse. Based on this new information, it became clear that the Council could not responsibly move forward with Shotspotter at this time. At that committee meeting, I alerted the City Administrator, Corporation Counsel and auditors that I would urge the entire Council to table the Shotspotter bond ordinance indefinitely.

Yesterday the City Administrator informed the Council that the Administration wishes to withdraw the bond ordinance. This ordinance cannot be removed from the agenda by either the Council President or the Administration after being approved on first reading. The majority of the Council must agree not to move forward. I believe this will be the case on Monday.

On the "New Policy"
Given the information from the AFS documents, the still vacant CFO and Director of Administration & Finance positions, and the lingering concerns regarding internal financial procedures, the Council should no longer consider any Administrative item that is not essential to the day-to-day operation of the City.

As Council President, I am responsible for setting the agenda. Until the City is on a corrective course towards financial responsibility, I will not put any non-essential items on the agenda. I do not believe it is prudent for the Council to allow any additional expenses* to be made unless they are obligatory.

Furthermore, as you will recall, one of the FAIR ordinances voted down by four Councilors last month would have lowered the bid threshold to the pay-to-play level of $17,500. This would have ultimately meant that the Council would have had greater financial oversight. This month the Mayor proposed a resolution INCREASING the bid threshold which would DECREASE our financial oversight. I did not and will not place this item on the agenda for consideration. This proposal illustrates a flagrant lack of respect for the authority of the governing body and the officials elected by the public. It highlights a dangerous mindset that threatens the balance of power in this City which was created to protect the public. This makes the FAIR legislation package even more important to consider.

*word added at 7:45pm...it was inadvertantly left out
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