Letter to Editor - Courier- Plainfield mayor deserves no praise

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Published in the Courier News, Monday, March 5, 2007

[Letter to editor]
Plainfield mayor deserves no praise

I thought I had to take 24 hours to digest the content of the letter to the editor that Alex Toliver had printed in a recent issue of the Courier News.

But then I realized, much like a huge pile of cotton candy, there wasn't much substance to digest regarding the supposed accomplishments of our mayor here in Plainfield.

The entire letter listed all these "great" things about Plainfield and some things we are going to be seeing in the future, supposedly. No real actual accomplishment was listed, such as, say, "She got a traffic light installed at that terrible intersection." No, in fact the entire letter was a glossed over press release minus any real filler.

The writer mentioned some "dark clouds and many obstacles placed in her path." Would this be what the bodyguards are for? To help move these "obstacles"? Or are the body guards a knee-jerk response to someone mentioning a rumor that might have been heard.

Give me a list; that's all I ask. I want a list of tangible accomplishments that had nothing to do with the previous administration before I would waste the effort of turning one, much less two, thumbs up for a figurehead for the county Democratic Party.

The only unity I see that is present in Plainfield -- yes still the Queen City -- is the absolute shame half this city had walking in like sheep and pulling the lever that Jerry Green told them to pull.

You want a thumb up -- impress me. Start acting like a mayor. Make some decisions like enforcing zoning issues downtown, coming up with real ideas to improve the looks of the business district, getting some grants to increase green spaces inside the city, improving some of the parks, fixing a couple of the pothole-ridden streets (say, like Eighth Street right in front of the library), moving on making rental properties inspected and safer and maybe getting rid of some of the trash downtown (litter and people). This is just a list -- now, pick one, two or a few and start making a difference.

I think it would be great if the Courier News penned an article asking all the citizens of Plainfield for their ideas on improving Plainfield. Then, hand that list to the mayor and City Council.

Trust me, I have nothing personal against the mayor. But she most definitely does not deserve overwhelming praise for merely keeping the boat from sinking while docked at port. When walking through Plainfield as a whole, there is very little to be impressed about. Can someone explain the broken window theory to our mayor? Maybe Al McWilliams wasn't the best mayor, but he actually got things done.

Now, like I said, get a couple of the above things done and tell the paper to report it. We will all at least praise you for that. Remember, less fluff, more filler.

ROB MCCONNELL
Plainfield

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