Layoff A Standoff

In July, the City Council rejected a $92,000 allocation of Urban Enterprise Zone funds to pay for staff to run the Office of Economic Development. But on Monday, a vote to authorize a layoff plan failed. A standoff ensued as the administration and governing body dickered fruitlessly over what to do next, as the employees cannot stay on without pay.

Only five of seven council members were present Monday. An initial vote to submit the layoff plan to the state Civil Service Commission failed, 3-2, with Tracey Brown, William Reid and Vera Greaves voting "no" and Rebecca Williams and Adrian Mapp voting "yes." Four votes were needed to pass.

"By not adopting the layoff plan, you are not in compliance with law," Corporation Counsel David Minchello said. "The council now has to decide which way to go."

Either the funds had to be reinserted as revenues or the layoff plan had to go forward, he said.

Greaves asked how much was in the UEZ fund. When told it was $3 million, she said $92,000 was "a pittance."

But then a motion to restore the UEZ funds failed, with Mapp and Williams voting "no" and Brown, Reid and Greaves voting "yes."

"So that leaves us in the same position," Reid said.

"If the positions are not funded, there is no other recourse but to submit the layoff plan," Minchello said

But a motion to reconsider the layoff plan failed, with Mapp and Williams voting "yes" and the others voting "no."

Given the need for state review of a layoff plan and for the affected employees to receive notice, a layoff would not happen until sometime in November, Minchello said.

"The problem is, there is no direction."

"Come up with some direction," Reid said.

Brown said, "Find some funds."

"That cannot happen," Minchello said.

The 2013 budget was finalized and passed in June. The layoff issue remained unresolved Monday.

The Urban Enterprise Zone program dates back to 1985 and for at least 10 years funds for the program were used to pay administrative costs. See Plaintalker's July post here. Gov. Chris Christie disbanded the program in 2011 and turned fund balances back to municipalities. As noted, Plainfield has a balance of about $3 million.

At the Aug. 12 agenda-fixing session, Plainfield Municipal Employees Association President Cynthia Smith asked the council to reconsider the layoff plan, saying it would only save a couple of months in the salary and wage line. She reminded the council that the city was about to have a change in administrations and would "lose people with information" in a layoff.

"You may do yourself a disservice,"she said.

--Bernice

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