CITY OF PLAINFIELD. January 9, Mr. John Paff Re: Opra Request. Dear Mr. Paff:

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1 CITY OF PLAINFIELD OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK 515 WATCHUNG AVENUE PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY (908) FAX (908) aialloh.elerk@plainfield.com Abubakar Jalloh, RMC Municipal Clerk January 9, 2013 Mr. John Paff paff@pobox.com Re: Opra Request Dear Mr. Paff: I am in receipt of your request for access to public records sent via electronic mail to the City Clerk on Friday, January 4, 2013, and read by the Clerk on Monday, January 7, It is my understanding that you wish to be provided with any all documentation from the City of Plainfield relative to the reasoning surrounding the termination of Mrs. Bibi Taylor, former City Administrator for the City of Plainfield. While you have failed to identify any specific documents, I will try to accommodate your request to the best of my ability with the information on file in the office of the City Clerk. Be advised that on December 15, 2010 the Mayor filed notice notifying the Clerk of the removal of Mrs. Bibi Taylor effective ten (10) days from date of letter. Please note that Plainfield's Special Charter, specifically section 3.5(b) grants the Mayor the authority to remove a department head or city administrator whenever, in his discretion, the public interest so requires. As such, no reason was needed nor given in the letter filed with the Clerk (see letter attached), Be further advised that the Plainfield City Charter allows for the governing body to disapprove of such removal by way of resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the entire membership. The City Council convened in Executive Session to discuss the termination of Mrs. Bibi Taylor on December 20, 2010 (see executive session minutes attached). The Council then at its Regular Meeting of December 20, 2010, unanimously voted to reinstate Mrs. Bibi Taylor to the position of City Administrator (see resolution attached). Subsequently, Mrs. Taylor willfully resigned from the position of City Administrator effective March 18, Should you require any additional information please try and be as specific as possibly so that I may further assist in satisfying your request. Abt tla, ar J Munikal_clerk

2 CITY OF PLAINFIELD 515. WATCHUNG AVENUE PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY ) m FAX (908) Mrs. Bibi Taylor December 15, 2010 CONFIDENTIAL DEC 1 6 IV Sharon Robinson - Briggs _,-Mayor, Dear Mrs. Taylor: Pursuant to the discretion provided and enumerated in Section 3.5(b) of the Plainfield City Charter, this letter shall serve as your official notice of removal from the position of City Administrator for the City of Plainfield. In accordance with said section, such removal shall be effective ten (10) days after notice is filed with the City Clerk. Please be informed that said notification will be served on the City Clerk today. Kindly make all appropriate arrangements to return city owned property of any kind to the Division of Personnel on or before the effective date of removal. ry truly yours, Sharon Robinson-Briggs Mayor City of Plainfield On behalf of the City of Plainfield cc: City Clerk Corporation Counsel Personnel (Approved as to form by Counsel)

3 COUNCILMANIC RESOLUTION REINSTATING BIBI TAYLOR TO THE POST OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR WHEREAS, on December 15, 2010 the office of the City Clerk received notification from the Mayor, Sharon Robinson-Briggs, removing Bibi Taylor from the post of City Administrator; and WHEREAS, in accordance with section 3.5(b) of the Plainfield City Charter any such removal shall take effect 10 days after the mayor files notice of removal with the city c i lerk unless prior thereto the council shall at a regular or special meeting disapprove of such removal by resolution adopted by the affirmative vote of 2/3 of the entire membership; and WHEREAS, this Governing Body disapproves with the Mayor's removal of the City Administrator as it is not within the publics best interest; now, therefore, be it RESOLVED, That this Governing Body of the City of Plainfield by 2/3 of its entire membership does hereby reinstate Bibi Taylor to the post of City Administrator; be it further FURTHER RESOLVED, that consistent with the City Charter the City Administrator shall be restored to office without loss of pay. ADOPTED BY THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL December 20, 2010 carigtv u lz A A 1P geing is a vile copyl " ts

4 EXECUTIVE SESSI N-NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION Plainfield, New Jersey December 20, :25 p.m. MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PLAINFIELD Plainfield, New Jersey MINUTES OF THE EXECUTIVE SESSION OF THE PLAINFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2010 CITY HALL LIBRARY 515 WATCHUNG AVENUE PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY PRESENT: Councilman Rashid Burney, Councilwoman Linda Carter, Councilman William Reid, Councilwoman Bridget Rivers, Councilman Cory Storch, Chairman Adrian Mapp, Council President Annie McWilliams. ALSO PRESENT: Honorable Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Acting City Administrator, Daniel A. Williamson, Acting City Attorney David L. Minchello, Abubakar Jalloh, Deputy Clerk Bibi Taylor was also present accompanied by her husband Mr. Lester Taylor who served as her legal Counsel. NOTICE OF COMPLIANCE AND CONVENING OF EXECUTIVE SESSION During the Regular Meeting of December 20, 2010, Council President Annie C. McWilliams moved to convene into executive session for the purpose of discussing pending personnel matters. The Council then left the Municipal Court-Council Chambers and convened in Executive Session in the conference room located on the 2nd floor of the Plainfield Police Division. BACKGROUND The purpose of tonight's Executive Session was to discuss the recent layoff of Bibi Taylor who was removed from the position of City Administrator by the Mayor effective December 15, In accordance with Plainfield's City Code, the City Administrator may be reinstated by the City Council by a 2/3rds vote. A resolution reinstating Mrs. Taylor has been placed on tonight's Regular Meeting Agenda for Council Consideration.

5 DISCUSSION Several Members of the Municipal Council questioned the Mayor as to her specific reasoning for the recent termination of Mrs. Taylor. In short the Mayor had represented that Mrs. Taylor in her capacity of City Administrator consistently excluding Department Director's with pertinent day to day information, she specifically brought up the lay off list and how certain department heads were unaware of staff who were ultimately effected. The Mayor then spoke of the lack of trust and confidentially with Mrs. Taylor, citing an individual who approached the Mayor as his name appeared on the layoff list. This information was not made public and only cabinet members were made privy. Lastly, the Mayor stressed the most important reason being $500,000.00, which was omitted erroneously from the budget, which was submitted to the City Council. Mrs. Bibi Taylor disputed each of these accusations. In regards to withholding personnel information from Department Heads, Mrs. Taylor stated that every member of the cabinet and the personnel director made themselves available to discuss the lay-off plan. Regarding confidentiality, Mrs. Taylor stated she in fact did not disclose any confidential information regarding the FY 2011 Executive Budget and/or the contemplated Lay-off Plan. Regarding the 500, error in the budget. Mrs. Taylor had discussed her previously ed response to this accusation which was forwarded to members of the Governing Body Which is herein enclosed. (see attached) The Council raised concerns as to who was qualified to run the day to day operations of the City should Bibi Taylor not be reinstated. The Mayor assured Councilmembers that their were in fact qualified cabinet members who could handle this. The Council during its executive session did not verbally come to any consensus as to whether or not Mrs. Taylor should be reinstated. The Council President move to adjourn the Executive Session and have the matter be voted upon during the Regular Meeting. Annie. McWilliams City Council President

6 CITY OF PLAINFIELD 515 WATCHUNG AVENUE PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY (908) FAX (908) Sharon Robinson - Briggs Mayor To: Fr: Bibi Taylor, City Administrator December 1, 2:110 Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Mayor, City of Plainfield C-) RECEpir:D 0. -,;,, 4. ' - 41, (..) ISTRATo?, ') Re: $500, which was omitted erroneously from our Budget to the City Council You were previously urged, on more than one occasion, at the start of the budget cycle to hire a Consultant, for a short timeframe, to assist you with the preparation of the budget. You indicated that you didn't need help and that we did not have the money to hire someone. You have been able to identify money for other purposes, yet you did not want to identify funds or speak with the Finance Committee for the City Council about this. You unilaterally made decisions that could be harmful to this city. Confirmation of same is when you advised that you "didn't know what happened", but you accidentally "omitted $500, that should have been denoted on the budget" that was provided to me, the Cabinet Members and the City Council. You further indicated that there was some sort of glitch while working between home and your city office. Now, we are unfortunately forced to try and identify half a million dollars. Where are we going to obtain that money in our budget? Does that mean that your action will, cost taxpayers additional tax money on this budget? Does this mean that your actions could cost employees their jobs? I want a copy of what you forwarded to the City Council as notification and 11 want a written, detailed explanation as to how you propose to resolve this situation, what will be the funding source(s) to make up for this error, and what effect that will have on the taxpayers in Plainfield. Please provide this list to me, hard copy in a sealed confidential envelopeby 3:00pm, Wednesday, December 15, You are hereby notified that this behavior was unacceptable, the directive was not adhered to, the Employee Handbook, city policies and other sources will be reviewed for recommendations for resolution (same could include punishment, suspension or termination).

7 MEMORANDUM TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Mayor Bibi Taylor, City Administrator FY11 Introduced Budget: Formula Error DATE: December 19, 2010 This memorandum shall confirm receipt, via hand delivery by Leah Morgan, Senior Center Receptionist, on December 14, 2010 at approximately 1:47 p.m., of your memorandum dated December 1, 2010 regarding "S which was omitted erroneously from our Budget to the City Council." In an effort to comply with your request for documents/information within the established timeframe of 3:00 p.m. December 15, 2010 as outlined in your memorandum, please accept my response via instead of "hard copy in a sealed confidential envelope" given my medical restrictions/maternity leave as noted in my original physician's certification dated December 7, 2010 and updated on December 14, 2010, which was communicated and delivered to your office yesterday. In response to your memorandum please accept the following chronology of previously submitted documents and communications: September 22, During Cabinet you inquired about the possibility of utilizing a budget consultant to assist in preparing the FY11 Executive Budget. It was discussed however, given our financial constraints and the timing associated with introducing the budget on October 4, 2010, it wouldn't be practical to seek a consultant at this time. Specifically, bringing a consultant up to speed on the budget position as it relates to the budget CAPS, policy decisions that were/are needed for incorporation into the final budget document, not to mention the RFQ process of engaging a consultant, would only retard your goal of introducing the budget on October 4, After sharing the aforementioned rationale with you, no further discussions were had regarding a budget consultant nor did you issue a directive to hire a budget consultant to assist in

8 preparing the FY11 Executive Budget. (See Attached: Dated September 30, 2010 at 3:08 p.m.) Please Note: At no time during my tenure as City Administrator or in the process of assisting with the preparation of the FY11 Executive Budget did I ever indicate that I didn't need help. What I have continuously maintained is my willingness to put in whatever time is needed to fulfill the City's operational goals despite the absence of a Chief Municipal Financial Officer and Director of Administration & Finance. 2. October 12, City Council Introduces the FY11 Executive Budget and approves two Civil Service Plans which are incorporated in the FY11 Executive Budget: a lay-off plan calling for the reduction of work hours for several employees and a mandatory 10 day furlough for employees in the Department of Public Works and Urban Development. 3. October 18, At approximately 10:15 a.m. I contacted your office to request a meeting with you to discuss urgent budget matters. My request for a meeting was granted at approximately 4:50 p.m. During said meeting, communicated my findings of a formula based calculation error in the FY11 Introduced Budget and the Municipal Auditor's confirmation of same. I further outlined a proposed resolution to address the formula based errors without affecting Salary and Wage categories and ensuring the In-CAP Appropriations were neutral. During our meeting, I asked when you wished to share my findings with the City Council because their action, adoption of a resolution to amend the FY11 Introduced Budget, would be required to resolve my findings. You advised that you wished to have a written explanation of the formula based error and an explanation from the Auditors prior to disclosing the aforementioned information. 4. October 19, Consistent with our meeting and your request on October 18, 2010, I requested a memorandum from the Municipal Auditor's regarding the formula based error and budget process. That same day, I forwarded a memorandum dated October 19, 2010 to you regarding the FY11 Introduced Budget and a copy of the memorandum from the Municipal Auditor regarding the budget process. It's important to note, as referenced in the memorandum received from the Municipal Auditor, due to the numerous adjustments that were made to the SW spreadsheets, right up to the final introduced version, it would be a difficult task to re-verify all formulas. (See Attached) For example: Your text message of October 8, 2010 at 12:25 p.m. directed that I amend the

9 FY11 Executive Budget to include staff in Information Technology whereas during a meeting convened the evening prior on October 7, 2010 at approximately 6:30 p.m. you directed that the budget reflect the elimination of staff in Information Technology. (See Attached) Please Note: Any change to the proposed FY11 Executive Budget requires reconciliation between the SW Detail, Appropriations Detail, and State Budget Book and coordination with the Municipal Auditors prior to rendering a final document. In this case, my office was given less than 3 hours after being notified of the latest change to the proposed FY11 Executive Budget per your direction, via text message, to accomplish the aforementioned reconciliation prior to delivering the final Budget documents to the Clerk's Office for inclusion in the Council's packets. S. October 26, We spoke via telephone in the morning at approximately 11:00 a.m. regarding the Department of Public Affairs & Safety's Budget Deliberation Session scheduled that night. You asked that I coordinate with Director Hellwig to provide assistance with his presentation to alleviate some of the same criticisms (i.e. Council's perception/comments that Director Hellwig was ill prepared to answer questions regarding operations) engendered during last year's budget deliberation session during which Mr. Dashield served as City Administrator, During our telephone conversation, I asked if I had your permission to disclose to the Council the formula based spreadsheet error during the Budget Deliberation Session since the Council would be discussing the Fire Division's Budget that evening. My request was denied as you wished to first discuss the formula based error in Cabinet on October 27, November 10, In the absence of any interim communications regarding the formula based error in the FY11 Executive Budget, I asked to speak with you at the conclusion of Cabinet. During our discussion, I shared a draft memorandum I prepared for the Council disclosing the formula based error, reviewed the proposed adjustments and renewed my request to disclose the formula based error with the Council. You advised that authorization was granted; however, you directed me to first speak with Corporation Counsel prior to sending out the memorandum and to adjust the date on the memorandum from November 10, 2010 to November 12, November 15, Consistent with your direction, I was able to speak with Corporation Counsel on November 12, 2010 at the conclusion of the business day regarding the formula based error, its impact on workers compensation

10 settlements, and the budget process As a result, my office ed all Council Members with a copy to you the memorandum regarding the FY11 Introduced Budget and the formula based error contained therein. A fax of said memorandum was also sent to your attention at 4:09 p.m. (See Attached) Upon review of the above coupled with a copy of previously submitted documents, you will note that each of the questions posed in your December 1, 2010 memorandum were previously addressed prior to December 1, As always, I will be happy to provide supplemental information should same be required. In closing, I am at a loss as to the reference to disciplinary measures contemplated in your memorandum specifically as it relates to the failure to follow a directive and/or other unacceptable behavior. I do not believe that should "punishment, suspension or termination" or other disciplinary measures be issued that I am deserving of same since every directive issued by you has been carried out fully and my behavior has always been consistent with professional standards.