OK, so the paper-whites don’t have anything to do with the topic of city government, but aren’t they a fine sight in mid-winter?

The lack of a permanent City Council calendar for 2007 and the frozen status of the city’s web site are causing Plaintalker to fret. How can residents take part in civic life when information is so hard to get?

The calendar issue may be resolved this month. The web site is another matter. It must be annoying for new City Administrator Marc Dashield to be without an up-to-date web site. His name isn’t even on it. And “Confidential Aide A. Jalloh,” who is listed, has relocated to the City Clerk’s office.

And even though Ray Daniels has been director of Administration, Finance, Health and Social Services, for weeks now, Carlton McGee is still listed as acting director.

It is not just residents who are inconvenienced by the faulty web site. A business owner or developer who might want to speak to the city administrator will find neither a name or phone number.

It is almost a reflex nowadays to look things up online as the first way to gather information. Though attractive, the web site is not useful as Plainfield’s “game face” to the world. Please, City Hall folks, make it a priority to fix it.

--Bernice Paglia