Cameras, Web Site Among Council Items
The City Council’s third agenda session under new meeting rules brought out only a few citizens Monday (May 15, 2006). Attendance has also dropped off at regular meetings, now that they are on Wednesdays after first and third Mondays.
Among the big topics: Council members don’t mind committing almost $800,000 in Urban Enterprise funds to install 18 closed circuit television cameras for public safety, but some want more emphasis on the West End rather than business districts. On Wednesday, the council will vote on whether to apply for the funding.
The funding includes purchase of equipment, monitoring and construction. The proposal is to expand the present 911 center in the police station to monitor the cameras, using civilian staff instead of police. Five thousand feet of fiber-optic cable would be snaked through conduits built as part of a downtown streetscape.
Council members dickered over what was most important, crime prevention in general or the perception of downtown shopper safety.
City Council President Ray Blanco said outsiders don’t distinguish between the downtown and the West End.
“They hear about a murder in the West End, to them it’s Plainfield,” he said.
Police officials said future phases could be done in several ways, but the fiber-optic cable had to be in place.
On hearing that the Housing Authority had a camera system at its location west of the downtown, Councilwoman Linda Carter called for collaboration between the agency and the city for crime prevention.
Blanco rejected a notion that the next phase of surveillance should be the South Avenue business district, calling it “wrong-headed” if it meant ignoring the West End.
Council members also worried that the Urban Enterprise Zone funds were being used up too quickly.
Asked to approve a proposal to use $160,000 for administrative costs for the zone, Councilman Don Davis said the fund was “dwindling down.”
The fund consists of sales tax revenues from certified retailers in the zone, who are allowed to charge only half the state sales tax. The state holds the money and the city can apply for its use for projects that must gain approval of the Urban Enterprise Zone Authority.
According to documents given to the council, 700 businesses are eligible to join, but only 118, or 16.9 percent, have been certified.
One document states that the current total available working balance is $877,892, but Jacques Howard of the Economic Development office said last week the city has about $3 million in the fund.
A resolution to continue and encourage transparency in government won support of the council. The resolution calls for publication of the city budget, council minutes and other information on the city’s web site.
But after City Administrator Carlton McGee complained that the city has no information technology staff to keep up the web site and other resources, council members tried to pin him down to a deadline for getting the work done.
“Basically, you want us to go from the Stone Ages to the Jet Ages,” McGee said.
The city lacks servers, software and staff to match other municipal web sites, he said.
But Blanco chided him, saying the new administration can no longer keep saying, “We’re new in town.”
“My friend, we need a deadline,” Blanco told McGee.
Davis said the city should partner with the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority and the Housing Authority to get its web site up to speed. Outside agencies have already helped the city “just out of the goodness of their heart,” he said.
Blanco and other council members suggested trying to find outside contractors to help maintain the web site.
“The web site is part of the face of our city,” Carter said.
The regular council meeting is 8 p.m. Wednesday in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave. The past two regular meetings have been very sparsely attended, even though that is where the council actually votes on matters discussed at the agenda sessions.
--Bernice Paglia
Among the big topics: Council members don’t mind committing almost $800,000 in Urban Enterprise funds to install 18 closed circuit television cameras for public safety, but some want more emphasis on the West End rather than business districts. On Wednesday, the council will vote on whether to apply for the funding.
The funding includes purchase of equipment, monitoring and construction. The proposal is to expand the present 911 center in the police station to monitor the cameras, using civilian staff instead of police. Five thousand feet of fiber-optic cable would be snaked through conduits built as part of a downtown streetscape.
Council members dickered over what was most important, crime prevention in general or the perception of downtown shopper safety.
City Council President Ray Blanco said outsiders don’t distinguish between the downtown and the West End.
“They hear about a murder in the West End, to them it’s Plainfield,” he said.
Police officials said future phases could be done in several ways, but the fiber-optic cable had to be in place.
On hearing that the Housing Authority had a camera system at its location west of the downtown, Councilwoman Linda Carter called for collaboration between the agency and the city for crime prevention.
Blanco rejected a notion that the next phase of surveillance should be the South Avenue business district, calling it “wrong-headed” if it meant ignoring the West End.
Council members also worried that the Urban Enterprise Zone funds were being used up too quickly.
Asked to approve a proposal to use $160,000 for administrative costs for the zone, Councilman Don Davis said the fund was “dwindling down.”
The fund consists of sales tax revenues from certified retailers in the zone, who are allowed to charge only half the state sales tax. The state holds the money and the city can apply for its use for projects that must gain approval of the Urban Enterprise Zone Authority.
According to documents given to the council, 700 businesses are eligible to join, but only 118, or 16.9 percent, have been certified.
One document states that the current total available working balance is $877,892, but Jacques Howard of the Economic Development office said last week the city has about $3 million in the fund.
A resolution to continue and encourage transparency in government won support of the council. The resolution calls for publication of the city budget, council minutes and other information on the city’s web site.
But after City Administrator Carlton McGee complained that the city has no information technology staff to keep up the web site and other resources, council members tried to pin him down to a deadline for getting the work done.
“Basically, you want us to go from the Stone Ages to the Jet Ages,” McGee said.
The city lacks servers, software and staff to match other municipal web sites, he said.
But Blanco chided him, saying the new administration can no longer keep saying, “We’re new in town.”
“My friend, we need a deadline,” Blanco told McGee.
Davis said the city should partner with the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority and the Housing Authority to get its web site up to speed. Outside agencies have already helped the city “just out of the goodness of their heart,” he said.
Blanco and other council members suggested trying to find outside contractors to help maintain the web site.
“The web site is part of the face of our city,” Carter said.
The regular council meeting is 8 p.m. Wednesday in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave. The past two regular meetings have been very sparsely attended, even though that is where the council actually votes on matters discussed at the agenda sessions.
--Bernice Paglia
posted by Bernice at 12:11 AM
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