My Vision for Plainfield

Friends, below is the text of the remarks I made at the grand opening of Plainfield's New Democrats for Plainfield Headquarters last Saturday, April 18, 2009.

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for coming out this afternoon. I realize that your time is precious and I feel blessed that you took the time to be with me at this important juncture in the history of the city of Plainfield.

Many of you in this room have asked me why I have decided to run for the position of Mayor. And I say to you that I am running for mayor of Plainfield because the city is in crisis. It needs a leader with the experience, qualification, track record and vision to lead it out of the dark days of a failed leadership under the current administration: a failed leadership that has brought the city three years of economic stagnation, three years of benign neglect of its infrastructure, and three years of bad personnel choices incapable of managing the fiscal affairs of this city, incapable of delivering quality core services, and incapable of responding to the needs of citizens in these very harsh economic times.

I am running for mayor to address these and other issues affecting Plainfield. I have the experience and expertise to do so—I hold an M.B.A. in International Business, a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, and I am a Certified Municipal Finance Officer.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a vision for Plainfield that will be built from the ground up—not from the top down. So, I would like to take some time today to highlight where I, as Mayor, will take the city of Plainfield.

Plainfield is blessed with having highly capable employees who are seriously interested and committed to moving the City forward through their daily efforts. However, due to the lack of leadership, they are not being heard. This has hurt the city tremendously, because it is the frontline employees who are often in the best position to identify cost savings and to suggest changes that can benefit the City.

As Mayor, my administration will utilize the employees of the City as partners in Government, for many of them are also residents of Plainfield, and they truly wish to see a more prosperous city. This is where their primary investment, their homes, will appreciate in value.

My administration will empower the city employees to implement changes that are beneficial to the city and will create faster response times to addressing issues plaguing the city.

My administration will not be the dictatorial form of government that is practiced by the current Mayor in Plainfield today; my government will be inclusive of ALL people. A strong and effective government is one that is built on CONSENSUS. Great leaders, from Abraham Lincoln to President Barack Obama, believed in the involvement of the ordinary citizen and worker towards the creation of a more sound and responsive government.

That is what Good leadership and good government looks like. That is what I will be as the Mayor. Real change can come to Plainfield, but it requires REAL leadership. I will provide that leadership with you as my partner, as my team member, and certainly as my check and balance.

I will create a plan for economic development that is not developer driven, and for the first time in this city’s history I will develop and implement an aggressive marketing plan using the mass media to enhance Plainfield’s image, making it more desirable to targeted investors who will want to make Plainfield a business destination.

But I will not focus solely on attracting new businesses; I want to retain the ones that are already here. I want to give them a reason to stay and to expand. So, I am proposing the creation of a Commercial Tax Abatement Program that will not alter the underlying assessment, yet will provide a very attractive incentive over a five year period that will encourage existing businesses to expand, thus creating jobs and expanding the city’s commercial tax base to enhance its tax revenues.

I strongly believe that the Transit Village initiative can be the lynchpin for downtown revitalization and consequently the revitalization of Plainfield. The Transit Village will allow us to increase the density of housing and businesses in areas already well-served by public transportation.

Couple this with a long term initiative to encourage artists, crafts people and small businesses to make use of the under-utilized loft-type structures already existing within the proximity of Plainfield’s downtown transit zone, and we have the makings of a critical mass of self-sustaining activities and development that will restore vitality to Plainfield’s downtown while at the same time providing the city with an ever-increasing tax base of new ratables.

I will initiate a new study of all Brownfield structures within the city, using grant funds, and establish a plan that rehabilitates and converts all of the Brownfield structures, mainly concentrated in the 4th Ward, into retail shopping outlets.

I recognize that these are very challenging fiscal times for all municipalities, but I also believe that we as a community can and must take every step necessary to position the City for success when the nation comes out of this difficult time.
The city should not and I will not place all of our eggs in one development basket, as a city we must broaden our approach and our outreach. This I plan to do.

I will focus as much of the city’s resources to rebuilding, improving and enhancing our infrastructure—our roads, IT network, and aging buildings, and I will aggressively seek and demand funding from the County, State and Federal governments to assist us in this effort.

Moving forward, I will work to modernize Information Technology (IT); it must be brought into the 21st century, it has to be made more efficient and citizen friendly. By automating the city records and putting them on-line, using wireless, the Web and GPS, we can make doing the city’s business, easier, faster, and less expensive for citizens, businesses and employees.

By embracing renewables, Plainfield will be able to significantly reduce its carbon footprint. My colleague Cory Storch has long been an advocate for hybrid vehicles. Well, Cory, I’ve got a plan for you. My plan, where feasible, will be to migrate the city’s fleet of vehicles to hybrid gas and electric, all electric and biodiesel; install solar panels on city buildings; encourage citizens through the use of targeted initiatives to embrace renewables, thus reducing their carbon footprint.

We can partner with the school system to make sure our kids learn the technology that will enable them to take advantage of the new jobs created in the renewable industry. This is a serious commitment, one that will ultimately drive down costs and result in more citizens embracing their environmental stewardship.

There is a misconception out there being perpetrated that my goal is to reduce the police department. Well, nothing could be further from the truth. My goal is to add additional police officers to city streets by bringing the complement of officers up to 160. I will use the savings that will result from attrition and retirements and funds available under President Obama’s Federal Stimulus program to accomplish this goal.

My administration will focus on quality of life issues such as drugs and crime, traffic safety, enforcement of property maintenance codes, and neighborhood safety and appearance.

The PMUA is an issue that is on many peoples’ minds, as it should be. Higher assessments mean less money in your pocket. I am not here to attack the PMUA or its great employees. However, as your Mayor, I will appoint a commission to explore the feasibility of bringing the PMUA under the umbrella of city government. My goal is to utilize economies of scale that would help to reduce operating costs, provide additional tax deductions to property owners, and protect frontline employees.

Across America, cities are finding ways to save money, and they are doing this by identifying city services best suited for shared service partnerships, shared services that will seek out balanced partnerships with local governmental entities, neighboring municipalities and with the county.

For example, the city’s Municipal Court, its 9-1-1 dispatch system, its regular phone system, and the Tax Collector’s office are some of the areas where opportunities for shared services exist.

It doesn’t mean that people will lose their jobs. What it means is that we are using the resources of this city in a more thoughtful and efficient manner, and perhaps opening up a long neglected opportunity to bring in money to the city.

Here’s where everyone can get involved in moving Plainfield forward. In my first one hundred days, I will establish focus groups that will be charged with the responsibility of reaching across the city to hear what all the citizens of Plainfield envision in their city. I will ask them about their vision for the city and their assistance to move Plainfield forward.

Secondly, I will appoint a Census Commission to work on getting an accurate count of our city’s population. The goal would be to exceed 50,000 citizens – I know that we have that many Plainfielders; we just have to make sure that they are counted.

By exceeding the 50,000 mark, we, as a city, control the funding that Plainfield is rightly due, as a city we would no longer be beholden to any outside forces. The phrase that comes to mind is Plainfield for Plainfield.

The residents of Plainfield are homeowners and renters. Some of our residents work in the city of Plainfield while others travel great distances to earn their wages. What every resident of Plainfield wants is a well-functioning city that understands the value of the hard earned dollar that they make and, as such, treat the taxes raised through property taxes and the taxes receive in the form of municipal aid as a sacred trust that should be expended with discipline and in a fiduciary manner.

I will use my financial background to restore fiscal stability, integrity and accountability to the city’s finances.

As a fellow resident of Plainfield, I appreciate the great potential of this City. However, I believe it is time we make that great potential a reality.

We deserve a progressive, forward-thinking government that understands how to make smart financial decisions that benefit of the City.

My experience as a Certified Public Accountant, as an Associate Director of Finance, and as a Municipal Finance Officer has taught me how to analyze the financial conditions of both cities and businesses to provide financial solutions to help them attain their goals while adhering to their budgets.

As Mayor, my administration will create a budget that incorporates the pressing needs of the city, such as road repairs, and address those needs in the budget that prepared by the administration.

We will prioritize expenditures, based on the benefits they provide to citizens, and not be afraid to make the hard choices.

As mayor, I will seek out and take advantage of all available resources at the county, state and federal levels to benefit the people of Plainfield.

I will surround myself with competent local talent and I will work to create a culture of volunteerism and responsibility on the part of city employees and citizens all across the city.

As mayor, I will work to make courtesy, professionalism and respect the hallmarks of my administration.

I will work to eliminate waste wherever it exists at the local level, and I will constantly strive to reduce the cost of government through partnerships, austerity measures, and a disciplined approach based on accountability, transparency and responsibility to the people of Plainfield.

I will listen to you, the people!

Plainfield, the time has come for us to live up to our ideals, for us to realize the tremendous potential of our great City.

I am prepared and ready to be YOUR Mayor, a Mayor who will strive for the attainment of Plainfield’s great purpose.

We will become a city with a stable housing market. Our city will be a highly desirable place to live in, because we have clean streets and well paved roads, and our crime will be greatly reduced.

We will become a City that focuses on the so-called small incidents, such as someone throwing garbage from a car window, or a pedestrian discarding refuse on the streets, or someone speeding through our streets. It has to stop; it’s the small things that become big things.

We will become the City that says NO to these incidents, and one that enforces its litter laws, because we know that if we prevent others from destroying and defacing our City, we would in turn reduce our costs of operation, restore a greater sense of pride in our community and, more importantly, create a deterrent to other situations that can be more costly.

I know first hand the challenges that one must work to overcome in order to be successful.

Many of you may not know that I was raised in a one-parent household in extreme poverty. I know the hard work, dedication, and sacrifices that are essential to move forward in extremely difficult circumstances.

I know firsthand how to overcome a crisis during very difficult and stressful times. Folks, we are in a crisis here in Plainfield.

My vision is that we will become a city that demands of the County, State and Federal Governments all that is owed to us. We, in turn, guarantee that their assets in our community will be properly cared for. We will become a city that understands we are all connected, regardless of economic circumstances that we have shared values.

We will become a city of action, a city that strives for the attainment of its true place as wonderful places to live, work, play and raise our children.

Plainfield is the city I have called home for thirty years. Plainfield is the city where my wonderful partner in life of 30 years, my wife, Amelia, and I raised two wonderful, beautiful daughters, both of whom were born at Muhlenberg Hospital.

Plainfield is the city where I have worshipped for thirty years as a faithful member of St. Mark’s Church.

And Plainfield is the city which I have come to love for its diversity and strong sense of community.

The vision that I have outlined for you today will be cultivated with care, concern, and compassion for your safety and well being; it will be nurtured by the bright rays of sunshine that will pierce the veil of secrecy, to shine the light of transparency on all that we do; it will be watered by the competence and skill of experienced professionals, and it will flourish with the steady hands of my leadership.

But I can’t do it alone; I will need your help. Will you help me? Will you help me take back our city from a failed leadership? Will you help me move our city forward? Will you help me shed the idea that we as a city should not be respected and given our fair share of equitable funding?

I need your help, Plainfield – each and every one of you in this room. I will need you to walk with me in your neighborhoods, to make phone calls and to reach out to everyone that you know. I am ready to lead as your Mayor with you all as my partners.

Thank you for coming out this afternoon and joining me as we get Plainfield back on track. May God bless you and may God bless Plainfield.