Appointments Put Off For Details

Numerous appointments proposed by outgoing Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs failed to gain City Council consensus to be moved for action at the Dec. 9 regular meeting.

With only six members present (Councilman William Reid was in South Carolina), most instances found three members (Vera Greaves, Tracey Brown, Council President Bridget Rivers) in favor of moving nominations and three not in favor (Cory Storch, Rebecca Williams, Adrian Mapp).

As Plaintalker pointed out in this post, many of the mayor's nominations lacked necessary details, such as terms. Williams also noted that candidates for boards and commissions have in the past been interviewed by the council prior to a vote, but none on the list were interviewed nor were applications available for review.

All the nominations for the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority failed to get a consensus. Most consisted of rearranging current commissioners to realign terms, with Malcolm Dunn and Cecil Sanders favored for the longest terms.

Shade Tree Commission names also failed to get consensus.

Eight names were offered for the new Community Emergency Response Team, formed by ordinance in September, but on advice of Corporation Counsel David Minchello, Greaves removed herself from nomination rather than give up her council seat due to the city's prohibition on dual office-holding. Williams pointed out there were no terms indicated for the nominees and City Clerk Abubakar Jalloh confirmed that he received only names with no dates.

"So this won't get this group off to a good start," Storch said.

Mapp said the nominations should not be moved until the terms were spelled out.

"Let's do it right," he said.

Formation of the African Caribbean Commission was proposed in August and passed in September. The ordinance provided for nine members, with initially staggered terms of three members each for one-, two-, or three-year terms. Eight names were offered, but the one-year terms were misstated as ending on Dec. 31, 2015.

Although Williams and Mapp called for a delay until nominees could be interviewed or at least have their applications reviewed, Rivers objected, saying the group had already held a celebration and swearing-in.

"Which makes it all the more egregious," Williams said.

A bit of confusion ensued, with the council attempting a vote to table the matter and Jalloh saying it failed, but Mapp pointed out the council can't actually vote at an agenda-fixing session. It was unclear whether the names will be up for a vote on Dec. 9, but at any rate nominee Charles Eke will have to make a choice between having a seat on the commission or keeping his current alternate's seat on the PMUA.

--Bernice

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