H.I.T.S.: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .
Is anything going on at City Hall these days an argument for Intelligent Design?
Lots of new furniture being assembled when I dropped by on Wednesday. Then I noticed that my old office was jammed full of boxes and files from someone's overflow. I mean jammed, as in you can't get around. And what was the outer office of the old DPWUD offices in the basement is also jammed full of boxes, piled willy-nilly, left behind from the Director's move to the second floor. Add to that the copiers waiting to be picked up by the old vendor (that's another story), and you have a royal mess. The kind of mess fire officials would never let you have if it were YOUR business. Hmmmmmmmmm........
There is more to be said about the Inspections Division and I'll be getting to that over time, but what I was pointing out last week was the treatment of employees. If there is a plan of action, why not make it known to all instead of letting things look like they're capricious and mean-spirited? Unless of course either there is no plan, or the times have become capricious and mean-spirited...
In any event, morale has sagged throughout both City Hall and the Annex. The institutional memory is being unplugged. Everyone is keeping their head down. Engines fire up in the parking lot at 4:59:59 as it if were a NASCAR event.
But there was a meeting of the Managers' union (PMMA) on Monday, and it looks like some actions will be emerging from that. Stay tuned.
Word has it that a lot of the middle level employees who worked so actively to get the new Administration in place are now having second thoughts. The bloom, as they say, is off the rose. Or in the words of the old saw, "Marry in haste, repent at leisure..."
While I was at City Hall, word arrived of the daytime shooting on the steps of the Public Library. When I dropped by the Library later in the afternoon, I got a lot of feedback about an apparent lack of truant officers attending to the students who get out of the High School building and gather at the rear of the Library on the College Place side. Library employees report lots of stop-and-go vehicle traffic. . .the kind of thing you would expect with drug dealing.
To be fair, I have often enough seen police in the area, but it seems to be an enduring problem (we had it when I was working at the Library ten years ago) that is still in search of a solution. So what is the Administration's plan?
...As mentioned last week, work on the roof at City Hall is moving along. And you can see Star of The Sea trucks working away over at Pemberton Avenue and Lakeside Terrace. The pools are on schedule for being finished in plenty of time for this year's swim season. Trees have been planted. And next week, work will get under way on the renovation of the City Hall parking lot.
This is a bit more complicated than you might guess, since there are drainage problems to be resolved. The lot is expected to be off-limits for three weeks while the work is being done. Question for you: How will handicapped taxpayers get in the building if they cannot park in the back, where the accessibility elevator is?
Once these projects are done, all the work in the pipeline from the McWilliams administration will be completed.
Next up? There don't seem to be any new projects.
I hear there is a lot of guessing over who is feeding me tidbits, with some individuals being singled out for special mention (or suspicion). The initials of my informant? N.E.**
The score on the 3-part communications quiz? 33%. Which is still a flunk, far as I know. You can now get a real voicemail message on PCTV-74's number (753-3301). After five rings, which is reasonable. But a peek at the website (www.plainfield.com) and the cable channel itself show that the message seems still not to have been received. Realtors, you have been warned! Again.
Is anything going on at City Hall these days an argument for Intelligent Design? You tell me.
DISCLAIMER: In the interest of fairness, any person identified in a HITS post who believes he/she has been portrayed unfairly or that the information about him/her is untrue will have the opportunity to respond in this space.
.
.
.
.
.
**N. E. = Nearly Everyone
-- Dan Damon
Keyword: HITS
1 comment:
As a plainfield resident, I am concerned about the approach that the inspections division is taking on city residents. It's one thing to enforce code; HOWEVER, when the same inspectors also hand out business cards or ask residents if they need someone to do the work, I QUESTION THE VIOLATION! This is a perfect example of city corruption.
Post a Comment