Dem City Committee meeting: No Friday night fever here

...except when Chairman Green slipped the shiv to the Mayor...

Friday night's meeting of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee was a rambling and amicable get-together except for Chairman Jerry Green slipping a shiv to the Mayor. Even so, it never reached the fever pitch of a Friday night high school football game.

After learning from treasurer (and Councilor) Bill Reid that the committee's bank balance stands at $262.47, chairman Green moved along to business, which included acknowledging Freeholder Linda Carter, introducing the Democratic Freeholder candidates and hearing from Councilor Mapp, who brought greetings from Council President Annie McWilliams who was unable to attend.

Chairman Green talked about --

• Solaris' financial difficulties;
• The prospects for the sale of the Muhlenberg property;
• Questions about the continuation of the Satellite Emergency Department;
• The fate of the Urban Enterprise Zone program;
• Noted that he is staying out of this year's Board of Ed races altogether;
• Explained his daylaborer center idea; and
• Noted he is not supporting the school voucher plan or any more charter schools.

Though he worried aloud that some of the details he divulged would be spread 'all over town', it seems he worried in vain (you can read Tony Rucker's two posts on the meeting here).

Two replacements were made to the City Committee for persons who have moved away.

The real interest of the evening to me was when Green slipped the shiv to Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Green invited Robinson-Briggs to say a few words.

The Mayor chose to promote her scheme for the City to get involved in a project for what she repeatedly referred to as 'the Amory' (meaning the ARMORY, at East 7th Street and Leland Avenue). In a mostly fact-free presentation, Her Honor gushed over having the building renovated to house an unnamed charter school (the Obama Green Charter HS) which would use it in the daytime, leaving it 'free for community uses in the evening'.

To questions from Committee member Frank D'Aversa about who would pay for remediation, renovations, ADA-compliance, etc., Mayor Robinson-Briggs said that the management company she was touting would get a loan to do the work.

Cost to the City? Nothing, she said. Would the City be on the hook? No, she said. (But what does it mean the City would be this company's 'guarantor' as everyone is saying, if not that we would be on the hook?)

Then it got interesting.

After Mayor Robinson-Briggs had finished and while she was still standing in place, chairman Green allowed as how he had spoken with Council President McWilliams and had been told the Council was NOT IN FAVOR OF ANY CITY INVOLVEMENT IN AN ARMORY PROJECT, and he was not pushing for the Mayor's proposal. Furthermore, he said, it was no secret he was opposed to charter schools.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs stood there, mouth agape, looking like she had been slapped across the face.

It was not a pretty sight; there was scarcely a ripple in the water, though blood was everywhere.

When all was said and done, there was friendly banter as we shuffled out of the hall into the night.

Another Friday night in Plainfield.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Asm Green calls for Dem City Committee meeting on Friday

Making good on his promise to hold more frequent meetings, Plainfield Democratic City Committee chairperson Assemblyman Jerry Green has set a committee meeting for Friday, March 11.

With the decennial redistricting process well under way and the primary election season gearing up, the Committee is expected to discuss both topics, as well as filling committee vacancies.

As for redistricting, the legislative map is currently being worked out and must be agreed to and filed with the state by April 4, in anticipation of the April 11 filing date for legislative candidates, including Assemblyman Green.

Redrawing the lines for Plainfield's four wards will be taken up subsequently by the statutorily-mandated Board of Ward Commissioners (the County Board of Elections plus the Municipal Clerk), and after that is finished, local voting district lines will be redrawn.

Dennis Kobitz, the county's election administrator, explained the particulars of the three-level redistricting at Monday's Council meeting (see my notes here).

Guests are always welcome, though the privilege of the floor is reserved to committee members and those who are given permission to speak by Chairperson Green in advance of the meeting.

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Plainfield Democratic City Committee

Friday · March 11 · 7:00 PM

HeardOne Complex
210 Church Street
(Across from Union County College, parking on the street)

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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CityCommittee reorg tonight. Obama rules, or Jerry's?

President Barack Obama	Assemblyman Jerry Green

Plainfield's Democratic City Committee reorganizes tonight, and there is already a tussle over whether the rules of play will be those of President Barack Obama or of Assemblyman Jerry Green.

At issue are procedural matters that can determine whether the committee will be truly small-d democratic, or whether it will be run by one person to suit that person. And those are --

• voting by secret ballot,
• having multiple nominations for offices; and
• voting for officers one by one and not by slate.

Assemblyman Jerry Green who as chair of the City Committee faces re-election tonight has already let it be known that he will do whatever he can to prevent committee members' voting by secret ballot.

Will this turn off the Obama supporters who have looked forward to being active in the city committee? One would expect so, since a bullying my-way-or-the-highway attitude is hardly what we have learned from America's first African American president.

The New Democrats, with 28 seats on the 68-member committee, are holding out for Obama-style openness and sharing of committee leadership and responsibilities, arguing that Democrats across the city have tried to send a message to the established leadership that same-old same-old just won't cut it any more.

It is the same sort of message that the Democratic party is facing around the state: new and younger voters view the Democratic party as in need of new blood, fresh vision and a commitment to openness, transparency and reform in party and public matters.

In our area, this is percolating up through the ranks very noticeably everywhere from Plainfield to Elizabeth, from Hillside to Roselle, from Edison to New Brunswick -- and state Democratic leadership is aware they have a problem.

It can also be seen in the abysmal poll numbers for Jon Corzine, a sitting Democratic governor in a largely Democratic state whose re-election is his to lose.

Which style will better mobilize and reassure Democrats as they gird their loins for the fall campaign season? The old style of bullying and one-man rule or the Obama style of openness, with everyone invited to the table and to share leadership and responsibility?

You tell me.

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Visitors are welcome at the

Plainfield Democratic City Committee
Reorganization Meeting

Tonight, 7:00 PM
YWCA
232 East Front Street
(corner of Church Street)

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-- Dan Damon

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Poll Results: Democratic City Committee

Unofficial results for seats on the Plainfield Democratic City Committee are below.

Slates fielded by New Democrats for Plainfield and the Regular Democratic Organization of Union County are listed by Ward and District, with unofficial vote totals. Those elected to the City Committee are shown in underlined boldface.

Candidates for PDCC, 2009
Ward 1
District	New Dems	RDO of UC
1	Trevor Barrow - 27 Carolyn Barrow - 25	Ellis Hester - 48 Liz Urquhart - 50
2	Derek Young - 29 Wanda Jones - 29	Darwin Rosario - 34 Veronica Gay-Brown - 37
3	---------- ----------	Bernard Horner - 43 Hattie Williams - 49
4	Frank D'Aversa - 31 Liz D'Aversa - 31	James Darby - 25 Shari Darby - 18 Barbara James - 14 (Real Dem)
5	Andrew Mayorga - 16 Ethel Coleman - 16	George Rivera - 20 Judy Ramos - 19
6	---------- ----------	Alex Toliver - 36 Gwendolyn LeGrand - 31
7	Noel Pyne - 17 Chaunte Hackett - 12	Christopher Awobue - 46 Marie Davis - 55
8	Terry Belle - 25 Gaynell Belle - 25	Harold Malone - 50 Lillian Jamar - 48
Ward 2
District	New Dems	RDO of UC
1	John Vignoe - 21 Maria Pellum - 24	Ken Robertson - 30 Brenda Pryor - 31
2	Michael Pyne - 55 Mari Bonini - 50	Roger Politt - 26 Joan Hervey - 29
3	Shep Brown - 55 Joanne Macaluso - 54	Joseph Wallace - 25 Vivia Henry - 27
4	Joseph Stuczynski - 21 ----------	Rashid Burney - 27 Wendy Burney - 34
5	Donald Van Blake - 92 Carol Bicket - 89	Allen McPherson - 15 Karen McPherson - 17
6	Kieran Anderson - 123 Jeanette Criscione - 125	Charles Eke - 27 Danielle Fletcher - 24
7	---------- Dorothy Henry - 43	Hugh Smith - 41 Geraldine Smith - 33
8	Rick Smiley - 59 Belinda Smiley - 51	Jeff Dunn - 17 Wilma Lee - 22
9	Greg Haworth - 68 Rebecca Williams - 66	Sidney Jackson - 17 Janice Jackson - 18
10	Dave Beck - 54 Lois Mattson - 55	Jacques Howard - 24 Sally Benjamin - 27
11	---------- ----------	David Ervin - 59 Brenda Gibbons - 58
Ward 3
District	New Dems	RDO of UC
1	Jerry Gainey - 31 Jeanette Edghill - 29	Joe Gutenkauf - 36 Dottie Gutenkauf - 38
2	Rodney Marino - 52 Barbara Kerr - 51	Cary Palmer - 29 Cora Palmer - 29
3	Bill Collins - 39 Marion Fowler	Wajid Abdur-Razzaq - 26 Barbara Abdur-Razzaq - 37
4	Christian Estevez - 41 Rosa Salinas - 38	Andy Apu - 30 Margaret Florence - 36
5	Leroy Canady - 33 Barbara Wallace - 44	Cecil Sanders - 57 Sharon Robinson-Briggs - 75
6	Linden Barratt - 36 Sandra Govan - 38	Calvin Hale - 50 Pamela Dunn-Hale - 57
7	Joe Ruffin, Sr. - 49 Ursula Liebowitz - 48	Kaliym Islam - 41 Brenda Gilbert - 46
8	Nat Bender - 24 Shirley Ayers - 24	Sylvester Palin - 18 Marva Palin - 16
9	Adrian Mapp - 49 Amelia Mapp - 50	Jesus Colazzo, Jr. - 30 Cynthia Crawford - 33
10	Cristobal Sanchez - 17 Veronica Taylor - 22	Rashad Shabazz - 51 Julia Porterfield - 49
Ward 4
District	New Dems	RDO of UC
1	---------- ----------	Agurs Cathcart - 81 Rose Marie Cathcart - 79
2	Elvis Belle - 40 Yvonne Belle - 41	Winston Lewis - 55 Ivy Joyner - 54
3	Gabriel Atehortua - 13 Luz Atehortua - 17	Neville Greaves - 44 Vera Greaves - 47
4	---------- ----------	Harold Mitchell - 36 Mazie Wormley - 35
5	---------- ----------	Murray Brister - 22 Mary Ann Fulmore - 23

The City Committee's reorganization is expected to take place Monday, June 8 at 7:00 PM in the Garden Room of the YWCA, 232 East Front Street (at Church Street).

Longstanding policy is that guests are welcome.

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Plainfield Democratic City Committee
Reorganization Meeting
Monday, June 8
7:00 PM
YWCA
232 East Front Street (corner of Church Street)

-- Dan Damon

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City Committee: Overlooked key to Jerry's power

Voters in Plainfield's Democratic primary should not fail to voter for their City Committee representatives as these are an OVERLOOKED KEY to Jerry Green's power.

Besides attending to the internal affairs of the local Democratic party, the City Committee nominates replacements when a vacancy occurs in a Democratic City Council seat.

This will happen if Adrian Mapp wins the primary election on June 2.

As a sitting Council member, Mapp would have to resign upon taking office as Mayor on January 1st.

And that is where the City Committee comes in: It has the responsibility of nominating three people to fill the vacant seat until the next general election (at which time the public would elect a replacement for the balance of the term).

The Council then votes on one of the three nominees.

Problem is that in the past Jerry has simply dictated who the nominees will be, with the City Committee playing only Jerry's favorite role -- that of rubberstamping his choices.

The process reached a comedic high point a number of years ago, when Jerry wanted to put Joe Scott on the Council. His nominees? Joe Scott, Joe Scott's wife and his son, Joe Scott Jr. And Jerry's handpicked City Committee rubberstamped the names.

Word in the street is that Jerry has already promised Carol Ann Brokaw-Boles Mapp's seat on the Council as a consolation prize if she loses in the mayoral primary, thus bringing the PMUA management style to the City Council.

But it doesn't have to be that way.

The New Democrats have enlisted 54 candidates to run for seats on the City Committee (for complete list, see here), each of them sworn to give Jerry a migraine if he tries to bully or circumvent the Committee.

But in order for them to work for you and the larger interest of Plainfield's Democrats, they must first be elected.

So on Tuesday, after you vote for Adrian Mapp for Mayor and Rick Smiley for Assembly, continue on down COLUMN F and vote for the male and female representatives for your district.

You'll be glad you did.

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• "Candidates for Democratic City Committee".

-- Dan Damon

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Did Jerry Green intimidate employees to run for City Committee?

At least three Plainfielders who are city employees are being run by Democratic Party chair Jerry Green for seats on the City Committee, to be voted on in the June 2 Primary.

I wonder whether they are being intimidated by Chairman Green into running.

As many know, Edison mayor Jung Choi is facing a life-and-death struggle in his race against the powerful Democratic machine for a second term.

Currently, he is being beaten up over alleged contacts with police officers -- off duty and at home -- about running on his line for seats on the Democratic committee. Today's Courier (see here) picks up the story line that was first put out yesterday by the Ledger (see here).

The PBA is calling it 'intimidation' --

... [the PBA spokesman] said the visits occurred in the weeks leading up to the April 6 deadline for candidates to enter the race for the township's 167-seat Democratic committee... Choi, who is running for a second term as mayor, fielded a slate of 120 candidates on his ticket.

Choi visited at least five off-duty Edison police officers at home, [he] said...

"This puts (the officers) in a bad position: 'Either I say no to the guy and shoot my career in the foot, or I do something I don't want to do,'"... [he] said the officers themselves would not comment because "they're afraid of retaliation."

Several questions occur to me --

• Were these candidates solicited by the Assemblyman after hours or while they were working?
  
  
• Was there any implied threat to their careers if they didn't say yes?
  
  
• Would they really have been free to run with the New Democrats (as some had before) if they wanted to?

Silly Dan!

Plainfield is NOT Soviet Russia or Communist China!

Everyone KNOWS The Chairman is above reproach and would never use intimidation!

Stop smirking.

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• Courier: "Edison PBA files complaint, alleging intimidation"
• Ledger: "Edison PBA accuses Choi of visiting homes"

-- Dan Damon

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Mapp: Let's end Green's secretly picking City Committee members

Adrian Mapp kicks off his campaign for Plainfield's Democratic mayoral nomination at a 'friendraiser' event this evening, to which all supporters are invited.

Mapp will speak to guests this evening about his efforts to end Democratic City Committee chairperson Jerry Green's longtime habit of secretly hand-picking members of the committee.

In a post on his campaign blog (see here), Mapp asks interested Plainfield Democrats to contact him about running for a City Committee seat on a slate the New Democrats are putting together.

'Jerry Green just doesn't get it,' Mapp says in opening the piece, continuing --

...under Green's chairmanship ... [City Committee] members are given no active role, little advance notice of meetings, and are usually asked to simply rubber stamp decisions made by Green without their input.

He then contrasts Green's methods with Obama's, after which Mapp models his own --

I think [Green's style] is a miserable way to do business, and want to offer an alternative, one that is consistent with Barack Obama's commitment to openness and transparency and one that looks to involve new people with new ideas in the political process.

Mapp outlines the role of the Democratic City Committee and what is expected of candidates who want to run on the New Democrats line.

Mapp and other City Committee candidates will be available this evening to discuss the City Committee and the attempt to open it to rank-and-file Plainfield Democrats.

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Mapp For Mayor 'Friendraiser' Reception

Tonight
5:30 - 7:30 PM
At the Home of Bobby & Jennifer Gregory
1010 Rahway Road

Suggested Donation: $25

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• Mapp For Mayor: "An open invitation to Democrats in Plainfield"
  

-- Dan Damon

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What Jerry Green could teach Linden's Gregorio

Local politics in New Jersey, as we all know, is a blood sport. While Union County may not be quite as rough as the legendary Hudson County, we are still no slouches.

Take, for instance, Linden. In November, 30-year mayor John Gregorio was unseated in a close race by his once-pal, now-adversary Richard Gerbounka. It was bad enough for Gregorio to lose the powerful mayor's job (think contracts, jobs, vendor contributions) -- he also lost his kingpin standing in the Democratic City Committee because he was no longer an elected official and, according to the bylaws, could not be an officer (read more here...).

Not to worry. The Committee, oblingly, was prepared to rewrite the bylaws so the diselected ex-Mayor could continue to have a political life. And, the pliant chairperson announced she was ready to step aside in favor of the ex (read more here...)

Someone dropped a dime and the Ledger found the situation of enough interest to write it up as two stories. And that's where Jerry Green could teach the old pro a thing or two.

For years, Green had represented his neighborhood (Ward 2, District 6) as an elected member of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, and the Committee had elected him chair at each biannual reorganization.

Until Peter Janis ran a write-in campaign in 2001 and successfully unseated Green as the district's male committee member.

Though committee insiders were shocked -- and even fought the results in court -- when push came to shove, Green was re-elected chairperson at the subsequent committee reorganization. How could that be? The bylaws allow it:

"Article 3. Section 1. Persons eligible to run for or to hold an officer position in the Plainfield Democratic City Committee must be bona fide residents of the City of Plainfield and registered Democratic Party voters."

Whether or not the Comittee's bylaws were prescient, Green was rescued from being removed from the levers of power (which, in Plainfield, really reside in the Democratic City Committee).

Gregorio certainly could have benefitted from Green's experience and planned in advance. But extended periods of having absolute control can breed a certain arrogance -- as if nothing could ever unseat those in power. Which led to a certain sense of agita when the tide turned.

Agita that Green has never had.

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BACKGROUND: New Jersey provides that members of the local political party committees -- both Democrat and Republican -- are elected at the Primary Election, one male and one female per district, for a term of two years. The parties alternate years -- Plainfield Republicans elected their committee in 2006, and all 68 seats (one male and one female for 34 districts) of the Democratic committee will be up in 2007. Leeway is left to the parties to design their own bylaws covering who qualifies to serve as an officer. Party committee members are technically elected to the COUNTY party committee -- a fact which is often not of importance except when there is a local contest. Plainfield witnessed such an intervention last year, when County Democratic chairperson Charlotte deFilippo engineered the denial of the mayoral line to then-mayor and city committee chairperson Al McWilliams. What surprises will there be in this year's primary season -- which will feature Council seats in the 2nd Ward and Wards 1/4 at-large as well as the complete City Committee? Stay tuned.


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