PT learned some interesting things at the Chamber of Commerce meeting Tuesday morning.
One mystery was solved, but another stepped in to take its place.
The Mayor and two of her department heads, as well as representatives of the Courier News and Comcast talked about the state of affairs in the City as we enter 2007.
The Comcast presentation solved a mystery that some readers had set me: What is that Plainfield 'commercial' several have reported seeing on cable TV?
Turns out it was a spot produced for the Plainfield SID (Special Improvement District) by Comcast in both English and Spanish and run across several programs.
PT is working on getting a copy to post to the Web. You'll hear about it as soon as it is available.
Charlie Nutt, publisher of the Courier, is an old Plainfield hand -- he started with the paper in 1972 and his beat was business. He covered the -- sad -- closing of the Tepper's department store. But I think he is genuinely pleased to see how far Plainfield has come in those intervening years -- he remarked on how many new businesses there were up and down Front Street.
Jenny Wenson-Maier, the Director of Public Works and Urban Development touched briefly on some of the development activities that are getting under way or are planned. Some were of particular interest to the business community -- such as a proposal to knock down a building on the lot referred to as Tepper's II -- and build condos.
At least as interesting to PT was her announcement that the lot known as Arlington Heights II, on the corner of Arlington Avenue and Randolph Road would NOT see townhouse development, but rather two-family dwellings.
This could be very encouraging for the neighborhood. No one has ever been happy with the townhouses built on the first portion (catty-corner) -- with a difficult parking situation in the rear and steps in the front so steep that they threaten to pitch the residents headlong over the narrow sidewalk and into the middle of Arlington Avenue. What was built bore little resemblance to the beautiful renderings used to the pitch the project to the City. (Warning to those with ears to hear and eyes to see.)
Marty Hellwig, the Director of Public Safety, presented about public safety concerns as they affect businesses. He noted that 'security is a lot about perception' and that he will be delivering a strategic plan on public safety issues to the Mayor in February.
He highlighted plans to retool community-oriented policing program which has been so much welcomed by the business community over the last several years. He painted a picture of more cops being on the street in the business districts -- on foot, at fixed stations, on bikes, motorcycles and the famed and much-awaited Segways.
Hellwig noted that having extra officers on foot in the business districts for extended hours during the holidays had positively impacted the usual surge of robberies that ALL communities face at that time of year.
Redeployment seems to have to be the key, as the net increase in the total number of police officers as reported at the end of 2006 (152) and at the end of 2005 (151) is ONE. There was no discussion of the use of Auxiliary police -- volunteers who are trained and sworn, and are often used in traffic and crowd control -- to bolster any of the security experience in the business districts. PT finds that curious since so much effort had gone into recruiting and training them in the past -- and in working out a modus vivendi between them and the Police Division.
As I have said before, Marty Hellwig seems to be a standup guy, with a real grasp of what is needed. He is also an excellent presenter, with a nice light touch -- and he got a laugh out of the crowd when he evoked that Newark-kid-turned-New-York-Mayor Ed Koch with a "How'm I doin'" line.
Missing were Marc Dashield, the new City Administrator, and Raiford Daniels, the new Director of Finance and Administration. Hopefully, they'll be out and about in the business community shortly.
Oh. And the Council. Not a one was present. What's that about? Were they invited? Did they pass? Surely they care about the state of the business community? Another mystery.
In all my years at City Hall, there was never a public gathering at which at least one or two Councilors was not present. We need to work on that.
FOOTNOTE: There was one bit of lack of 'hand-eye coordination' on the part of the Administration. At a certain point, PT spotted a Parking Authority person writing tickets for attendees' cars out in the street. By the time one of the Mayor's security detail got the message and went outside, she had finished ticketing everyone who was overtime. Would it have been appropriate to alert the meter person BEFORE the meeting to cut the business people a little slack? (PT, who has been burnt before, parked on Depot Place and pumped his meter FULL of quarters.)
View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.
http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment