Plainfielders will find this morning's Courier has a story titled "Blogs question motives behind shooting of Plainfield employee".
Because the story is more complicated than can be gotten at in a 583-word article, I am including the background materials below, including links to all the blog posts, the PMUA's complete press release and my email to the Courier in response.
One of the advantages of blogging is that there is no one looking over our shoulder and telling us that we have a word limit; bloggers can write and publish as much as needed to explain a point or an issue. Newspaper reporters generally do not get that liberty.
One of the other advantages is that bloggers also write their own headlines. Once you read this story and the backup materials, you may wonder how the Courier arrived at the headline for today's story (headlines are NOT written by the reporters), and whether it accurately reflects the whole story. But that would be the subject of another post.
Printed in full below the horizontal line --
- The PMUA press release of 10/25
- My email to the Courier of 10/25
- Today's Courier: "Blogs question motives behind shooting of Plainfield employee"
- PT's 10/23 post: "Does the PMUA have a problem?"
- Plaintalker's 10/23 post: "Garbage Truck vs. Flowers"
- Plaintalker's Labor Day post: "Labor Day Wake-Up" -- Detailing the odd hours of PMUA truck visits.
- Courier, 10/24: "City man charged with truck shooting" -- Mentioning the 'assassination attempt'.
- Ledger, 10/24: "Plainfield shooting suspect arrested"
THE PMUA PRESS RELEASE
PMUA PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Public Information
Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority 908.226.2518 ext.223
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Does the PMUA have a problem??
A seemingly innocuous question, until you read further and find that the blogger, without a shred of evidence, attempts to connect two unfortunate, totally unrelated events to a broader national issue related to gangs, guns, drugs and criminal activities.
From the tone of the article, it appears that the writer wants to link PMUA services and employees with the issues of illegal drug activity and gang turf violence. The majority of PMUA employees, especially those in the field, are hard working sanitation workers who are providing valuable solid waste collection services to the City.
The unfortunate shooting of a new PMUA employee/trainee, while on duty, was and continues to be an active and ongoing police investigation, even though a suspect has been arrested. Speculation and rumor concerning the shooting will not help the police investigation. However, the shooting had nothing whatsoever to do with the frequent collections the blogger observed for a neighboring multi-family unit. The owner of the multi-family unit, mentioned in the articles, has requested and is being serviced by an enhanced collection schedule.
In general, the frequency of collection is determined by several factors, including number of units, the volume of garbage being collected, the size of container that can fit in the allotted space, accessibility, and the number of days required for collection of solid waste and recycling. Unlike residential households, which PMUA services on a three times per week schedule, multi-family units usually require more frequent collection - precisely the situation that the blogger observed but misinterpreted. The PMUA is a modern operation, and our collection fleet is routed, dispatched, and outfitted with GPS tracking units. Our philosophy is to know where our trucks are at all times.
DAN'S EMAIL TO THE COURIER
Thanks for forwarding the PMUA press release.
First, let me say I have no bone to pick with the PMUA. I have been a staunch defender of its existence and performance (both of which have been widely and bitterly attacked in the past) ever since its creation, including the years I dealt with it professionally as the city's public information officer.
It is a well-run organization with an essential mission that executes the same pretty much without fuss or bother. If anything, it has itself been a victim of recent political events when its plans for developing a new headquarters facility were thwarted by a redevelopment plan (which I would characterize as a 'land grab') naming [a developer] who has not been heard from in months.
A little background on my blog post is in order.
On Labor Day, the Plaintalker noted the increased frequency and unseemly hours at which PMUA trucks were backing up the driveway between her building and the apartment complex next door. On that day, she particularly mentioned trucks at 1 a.m. and another at 2:30 a.m.
Trucks are not allowed to make pickups at those hours in Plainfield.
What my post of October 23 mentioned was not only the frequency, but the unseemly hours, as noted above. The press release only speaks to the frequency of pickups, not the hours at which they are made.
It is perfectly within the landlord's prerogative -- and the PMUA's -- to arrange for more frequent pickups. But the question remains -- at the kind of hours cited in the Plaintalker post?
If, as the PMUA press release states, their equipment is outfitted with GPS tracking units so they can "know where our trucks are at all times," they ought presumably to be able to answer the question of whether their trucks were out at the hours about which Bernice complained -- hours at which they simply are not allowed to make collections.
As for the shooting of the PMUA employee, I was simply repeating what is being heard in the street: that there are rumors the man shot was a target in an ongoing battle over drug turf between two gangs. The turf battle is no secret. The three shootings in the West End, including this one, have been tied to it by none other than the city's public safety director. I merely said there were rumors the man was targeted.
The next day, the Courier referred to it as an "assassination attempt" -- in quote marks -- citing the police as the source of the assertion. Has the Courier compromised the police investigation? Heavens to Betsy!
What would be good to hear from the PMUA is that they know their trucks are going down Bernice's driveway at 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. in the morning -- on the same day -- and that it is part of the service the landlord has requested and is part of the PMUA workers' normal routine, even if city ordinances do not permit such activity at those hours.
When Bernice inquired, as noted in her Labor Day post, about these hours of pickup, her inquiry "did not yield any reason why this is happening." When she inquired of a supervisor, she was referred to as a "problem child" for asking.
Is there a connection between the untimely pickups that Bernice cites and a shooting in a drug turf battle? It's not an unfair question if the PMUA doesn't clarify why the trucks are there at those hours. They hadn't answered them when I wrote the post, and I don't think they have answered them yet, in spite of the press release.
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1 comments:
Dan,
Has the PMUA director Watson answered the question about why they have been violating the city ordinance by picking garbage in the middle of the night? If they have the GPS tracking, Watson should be able to conduct an investigation and let the public (which pays HIS SALARY and thus makes him ACCOUNTABLE to US) know what happened in those instances. He answers to the PMUA board of directors so they should be asking him and WE THE PUBLIC should be asking THEM! The city council and the administration should be FINING entities which violate our ordinances. If a resident decides to sue the PMUA for violating the ordinance, who pays? We pay ultimately with RAISED RATES! I can't believe the PMUA had the nerve to get mad at you and Bernice Paglia when THEY are the ones in the wrong. Who signed the press release? Have you spoken to individuals on the board about their thoughts and concerns regarding this? It is highly insulting for a supervisor who represents the PMUA to call Paglia a problem child for bringing a violation to their attention. Who is the supervisor and how is he or she allowed to treat the public in such an offensive manner instead of getting to the bottom of the situation. They should know who is driving their trucks and that person should explain why he or she was driving at 1:00 in the morning. Is it possible that there are PMUA workers who are making EXTRA CASH by doing ILLEGAL PICKUPS? What if a worker got injured while doing a pickup that violates the city ordinance? Do we the taxpayers have to pay workers compensation? Who is minding the store here?
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