History was in the making on September 13th of this year for our great city of Plainfield and our nearby surrounding communities. A peaceful and exciting gathering of roughly 700 people came together at our new Barack Obama headquarters in downtown Plainfield in support of Democratic Presidential Elect, Barack Obama. We all came together to discuss the future of our city, our state, and our country. People from different ethnic backgrounds, races, and creeds rallied together in support of a presidential elect who would move the United States in the right direction; this was an awesome experience.
With all the feelings of kinship, community, and togetherness, I was rather surprised to get a phone call from Councilman Rashid Burney with some disturbing news. It was brought to my attention that the city inspector is demanding us to take out and show all of the proper paperwork on the building in order to keep the Obama Headquarters open. Here we are, Plainfield and our neighbors, moving in support for the election of Barack Obama, establishing a building in the downtown area of the city, registering those able to vote, empowering you, the individual, in this nationwide electoral process, and we have a man whose central focus is me, Gerald B. Green, as opposed to doing his job. He made it very clear that his double-standardized work ethic of deciding which building will be inspected and which one will not, is the way he fulfills his city job, a job that is meant to serve and support us, the community of Plainfield.
Here is a man, the city inspector, who has a reputable job; his duty is to examine, check, and make sure that buildings in the Queen City are livable, functional, and conducive to the owner(s) of the property. No quarrels there. The problem however, is that his job, which is supposed to foster community growth and wellness, he uses to his own liking, and to the liking of his fellow cohorts, those he conspires with. For some reason or another, he has decided to badger, harass, and hassle not only me, but the support network behind the driving force of the Obama campaign. The game of ‘favorites’ is being played out right before our eyes. For example, a few years back, the Republican/New Democrats used the SAME building that our administration is using for the Obama Headquarters. When they were in the building, Mr. City Inspector was nowhere to be found in relation to inspecting the building. I asked the previous owners if they ever had to go through the same process that we are going through, and they said ‘No.” This comes to no surprise to me because, like I’ve acknowledged in previous issues, the Republican/New Democratic administration played politics, and lobbied in the ‘you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours’ mentality.
The Olive Lynch ordeal is a prime example of how a wayward inspection agent can ruin a person. The blame for these serious mishaps does not fall upon the past administration, nor does the blame fall upon this current administration. The blame should fall rather on those inspection agents who have grown complacent and abuse their protection from what the Civil Service and Union organizations offers them. Their tenure, it seems, creates the same affects eating a big meal invokes. After you take in the last bite of a hefty meal, you become comfortable, and feel like moving only to satisfy your own needs. Unfortunately, some of those who have been awarded tenure, like this city official, become weary in well doing, in doing their jobs in preserving and ensuring the betterment of our city.
So now, where does this game of favoritism, and instituting a malicious double-standardized way of working, lead? Well, it led me to seek out the Prosecutor’s office, as well as the Mayor and Council’s office. All of the paperwork pertaining to the Obama building has every ‘I’ dotted, and every ‘T’ crossed, and that information has been presented under countless instances of badgering from this city inspector. Instead of harassing the Obama campaign in this area, with a building that has sound documentation and paperwork, I believe the city would rather have its inspector take care of buildings that have become eyesores to our community, which in turn lower our property values. Larry’s Deli on South Avenue in Plainfield suffered from an explosion about six months ago; nothing has been done to rectify the situation. Yet, the inspector has the time on his hands to repeatedly pester those at the legitimate Obama Headquarters’ building.
Take a drive downtown and see for yourself, handfuls of buildings that are suffering from the neglect of inspection, but, the fine-tuned, good-standing Obama building is hounded over and over again. Over half of the storefront owners have shared with me that this city inspector’s standard operating procedures includes that of bullying and intimidation. Which is why as a team, WE should voice issues that detract from community growth and fellowship, and take ACTION against it… TOGETHER!
The light at the end of this tunnel is that the bullying this city inspector does will come to an end. The playing of favorites will also, come to an end. He will not be able to bully storefronts downtown anymore, or any building owner for that matter, when this issue is resolved. Just as resolve was found with the Plainfield Police Department when issues of favoritism where affecting the livelihood of our community, so too will this issue be resolved; taken care of from the root. The city of Plainfield is a community that has been striving TOGETHER to better itself in every facet of life. The practice of teamwork fosters unity, trust, and community. The great thing about teamwork is that Together, EVERYONE, Achieves, MORE!
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