Jerry will have competition in race for Assembly seat

 
Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green will have competition in the race for the 22nd District Assembly seat, after all.

When I picked up the PolitickerNJ story on candidate filings on Tuesday (see here), there was no indication whether Plainfield resident the Rev. Shannon Wright had gotten her petition straightened out before the 4:00 PM Monday deadline.

I was informed by way of a comment on the post that in fact she had, and that there is a full Republican slate for the 22nd Legislative District, meaning Jerry, Linda Stender and Nick Scutari will have competition in the November general election.

Here are the lineups as per the Ledger's complete filings (see here)

22nd DISTRICT (Assembly)

• Jerry Green * (D) Plainfield
• Linda Stender * (D) Scotch Plains
• Joan Van Pelt (R) Plainfield
• Jeffrey D. First (R) Middlesex

22nd DISTRICT (Senate)

• Nicholas P. Scutari* (D) Linden
• Shannon Wright (R) Plainfield
  
  *Incumbent

Besides Wright, Plainfielder Joan Van Pelt (who sent me the comment) is running for one of the Assembly seats. Joan, of course, is Jim Pivnichny's wife, and a practicing attorney. The other Assembly candidate, Jeffrey First, is a council member for Middlesex Boro.

This will make for an interesting election season!

---

• Plainfield Today:  "Record 130 petitions filed"
• Ledger:  "Complete legislative races filings"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Legislative Redistricting: District 22 Outcome

The 22nd District remains unchanged for another decade.

With the vote of Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal, the tie between the Democratic and Republican versions of the legislative redistricting map for the next decade was decided Sunday at noon.

Plainfield's legislative district, the 22nd, remains unchanged for another ten years (see map above and breakout below).

Screen shot of actual Excel spreadsheet
put out by state (tallies added by DD).

While there are changes around the state that will make many districts more competitive and increase the chances for more minority representation, District 22 seems to be a quiet backwater.

But it would be a mistake to consider this a completely safe district for Democrats.

As Assemblyman Jerry Green can tell you, his Republican opponents came within a very respectable striking distance in the last Assembly race. With new faces expected after the current go-round, it will be up to the Dems to put up a credible candidate against a resurgent GOP.

Political life could prove quite interesting in the next few years.

As for those pundits saying Rosenthal 'chose the Dem map', I prefer to think of it as his choosing the map of the party that took his brief on what a 'fair' redistricting would look like seriously, and proposing a plan that met his criteria (if not 100%, certainly better than the GOP did).

See the media's takes on the story via the links at the end of the post.

---

• Websites --
• PolNJ:  "Official map and breakdown of towns" -- PDF file and Excel spreadsheet.
• Ledger:  "Commission approves Dem-proposed legislative map"
• Gannett:  "New districts to reconfigure delegations"
• NJ Spotlight:  "Redistricting map preserves incumbent advantage"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Would District 22 reshuffle put Green in jeopardy?

map

One of the interesting redistricting rumors making the rounds is that the 22nd Legislative District, where Plainfield's Dem chair Jerry Green is also an Assemblyman, may be reshuffled as part of the redistricting process now under way.

Today is the day that the Redistricting Commission must either announce that a compromise between the GOP and Democratic versions of a redrawn legislative has been reached -- or that things are at an impasse and an 11th member will have to be appointed by Chief Justice Rabner (see more here).

I'm opting for impasse, just as the last time ten years ago.

There is talk this time around, reinforced by Tea Party activists, of making more competitive districts. Given that we have a Republican governor and the GOP has its best chance now of shaping the Legislative makeup for the next decade, the question is whether making more districts truly competitive would end up working in the favor of the GOP.

The 22nd District is the subject of rumors noted in a recent PolitickerNJ story (see here), but also confirmed to me by an individual who keeps up with Trenton goings-on.

Reconfiguring the 22nd District by stripping heavily-Democratic Linden and adding two heavily GOP Somerset County towns (Watchung and Warren), could put both Assembly seats -- Jerry Green's and Linda Stender's -- in jeopardy. Additionally, severing Linden would mean scuttling Nick Scutari as the district's senator, opening up the question of a contested Senate race.

A review of the 2009 race shows Green bested Marks by only 2,046 votes. A reconfigured district could turn a race into a real contest.

If the 11th member is added after today, the Redistricting Commission will have until April 4 to get the new map in place.

Interesting times, indeed.

---

• PolitickerNJ --
• "Today is redistricting D-Day"
• "22nd District: Marks in wait-and-see mode"
• Plainfield Today:  "District 22: 2005 and 2009 compared"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Jerry and Plainfield cable subscribers. What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture?

Plainfield 'cable' subscribers appear about to get the shock of their lives, if a bill passed by the Assembly yesterday is also OK'ed by the Senate, as seems likely.

And what have you heard from Assemblyman Jerry Green about this? Nada.

I say 'cable' in quote marks because the bill will impact not only traditional COMCAST cable subscribers, but also VERIZON customers, as well as LANDLINE PHONE COMPANY customers (see NJ Spotlight coverage here, and Ledger coverage here).

The bill, which passed the Assembly 66-7 with 4 abstentions and three not present, will relieve Plainfield and NJ subscribers of the following consumer protections --

• OUTAGES: Credit to consumers for outages over four hours would be abolished;
• BILLING ERRORS: Law requiring correction of billing errors is lifted;
• DISCRIMINATION: Law ensuring against discrimination or refusal of service is lifted;
• SLAMMING: The prohibition against switching a consumer's phone company without permission would be lifted;
• RATES: Cable and phone companies would be free to raise rates on basic services at will (they must currently be approved by the BPU).

The state's Ratepayer Advocate, who opposes the legislation, holds that 3 million households with basic cable and 1.4 million with basic phone service (local area and emergency calls only) will be left to the tender mercies of the telecom companies (see here statement here, in PDF; and video of an NJN interview here).

And there's a special kicker for MUNICIPALITIES: telecom companies would no longer be MANDATED to provide PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNELS, such as our Comcast and Verizon ones, to local communities.

I don't know if Assemblyman Green voted FOR the measure (the roll call wasn't posted yet when I looked online; see the bill here). If he did, he owes his constituents a full explanation of his support for killing these consumer protections; if he didn't support the bill, why hasn't he been crowing from the rooftops?

Approval by the Senate is the last step to the stripping of these consumer protections.

Here is contact information for the 22nd District's legislative team --

• Sen. Nick Scutari
  1514 E. Saint Georges Ave., 2nd Floor, Linden, NJ 07036
  Phone: (908) 587-0404
  Fax: (908) 587-9312
  
  
• Assemblyman Jerry Green
  17 Watchung Ave., Plainfield, NJ 07060
  Phone: (908) 561-5757
  
  
• Assemblywoman Linda Stender
  1801 East Second St., 2nd Floor, Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
  Phone: (908) 668-1900
  Fax: (908) 668-9962
  

---

• Legislature:  "A3766: Marketing competition and consumer choice act"
• Ratepayer Advocate:  "Statement on S2664" | "YouTube: NJN Interview"
  
• LNJ Spotlight:  "Legislature looks to deregulate telecom, cable companies"
• Ledger --
• 2/17/2011:  "NJ Assembly passes bill to deregulate telecomm industry"
• 1/31/2011:  "NJ Senate panel clears bill decreasing telecom regulation"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Online bid notices: A path to more corruption?

Council and legislation rowing in opposite directions?**

Just as Plainfield's City Council tries to introduce a little 'sunshine' into its contracting procedures by reducing the bid threshold (as it is allowed by law to do), along comes a piece of countervailing legislation that would negate any benefit and perhaps lead to even more corrupt bidding practices.

And ironically, it's sponsored by a Plainfield native -- Westfield Assemblyman Jon Bramnick.

It was actually introduced a year ago and has meandered along without much notice until recently.

I had actually spotted it and thought (geeky me) that posting legal notices online was a good idea.

I have been disabused of that notion, at least in any simple form.

In the past few weeks, debate has raged over whether the bill -- which allows governments and individuals to post required legal notices to websites instead of newspapers -- is an attack on a free press (as questioned by the Ledger's Tom Moran here, and Gannett's Courier Post of Cherry Hill here and here) or just a money-saving option for cash-strapped municipalities. You can download a copy of the bill from the Legislature's website (see here; enter 'A2082' without quotes in the search window on the right top of the page).

It might seem at first glance that it would save towns money. However, the New Jersey Press Association submitted documents that question the cost savings in light of added expenses to the towns to prepare secure websites for the public notices. And then there the towns that don't even have a website.

I think all of us who think open public bidding on municipal contracts is a good thing should give this  proposed legislation serious thought.

If a governing body is interested in getting its bids before the most potential bidders, which would be a better deal: Publishing in a widely circulated newspaper along with everyone else's notices, or on your town's website?

This would mean contractors looking to bid on public jobs would have to check...ummmm...more than five hundred individual website in New Jersey?

What would be the chances that instead a couple of phone calls would be made to favored vendors alerting them a job was up for bid?

To my mind that is a recipe for MORE CORRUPTION and LESS TRANSPARENCY.

Tell me again why we want to go there?

Plainfield Today readers know I am hardly a Luddite, but I have a suggestion for this legislation: It should be rethought and retooled to set up a central repository of legal notices with standard formatting of the data.

And a suggestion to the Ledger and others: You want to keep the legal notice business? Then put up a legal notice website, where all your contracts, sheriff's sales and individual notices can be searched online AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO PRINT THEM.

It ought to be obvious to everyone by now that information wants to be online.

Getting it there is just a matter of time...and tweaking.


**Art is from an interesting art website in the Australian state of Victoria (see here).

---

• Ledger:  "Tom Moran: They want lapdogs in the press, not watchdogs"
• Courier Post:  "Debate rages on legal notices" | "Jeremy Rosen: Bill needs 2.0 revision"
• Legislature:  "NJ Legislature" -- Search for 'A2082' without quote marks in top search box.
• PolitickerNJ:  "As bill sponsors waver, Christie/Norcross axis may lose battle with papers"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Jerry needs to stop being a crybaby

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green needs to stop being a crybaby. The sooner, the better.

On Friday, Jerry made a totally unwarranted and unintelligible attack on Councilors Cory Storch and Rebecca Williams in the context of a 'P.S.' added to the end of a letter of support he received from the Coalition on Affordable Housing and the Environment (CAHE) -- see here.

The attack comes in the context of Gov. Christ Christie's conditional veto of the affordable housing bill Jerry has been working on since last spring. A version influenced by Jerry's attempts to address affordable housing needs (including fees on developers to build a kitty for rehabbing existing properties in older, poorer communities like Plainfield) and that Jerry feels would pass constitutional muster was passed by both houses after back-and-forth in which Sen. Ray Lesniak acceded to some of Jerry's proposals.

Now, however, the Legislature will have to top a higher hurdle to overturn the veto.

And that is what Jerry should be working on and talking about -- not local elected officials who have no pull with Jerry's peers.

It is time for 'the third most powerful person in the Assembly' (as Jerry is always reminding us he is) to show his mojo and get the votes needed to pass his legislation DESPITE Christie's veto and any lingering ill will the governor may feel after Jerry insulted him during Christie's campaign stop in Plainfield the summer before his election.

Jerry has been in the Assembly a long time, and has patiently worked his way up the ladder, now chairing an important committee (Housing and Local Government) as well as having a role in the leadership structure.

Why, then, go into a tantrum like a 2-year-old in the checkout line at the A&P?

The voters of the 22nd District hardly thought they were sending a crybaby to the Assembly.

Jerry needs to get to work and get the votes he needs.

All the letters of support and editorials in favor he posts to his blog can't make up for having votes in his pocket.

I have written before that I believe this affordable housing bill could become Jerry's legacy legislation (see my three posts on the matter here).

Longtime readers of this blog will have noticed that the bones I have to pick with Jerry have to do with THE SITUATION IN PLAINFIELD (where he has habitually made poor choices and advocated unwise, wasteful and abusive policies for years) -- and not in Trenton, where he serves under the watchful eye of others.

If Jerry can't -- or won't -- act like a mensch and show us how he can get this housing bill signed and his legacy secured, he should seriously think of getting out of politics. And that includes whining about others when it's HIS RESPONSIBILITY to get the deed done.

We don't need any whiners representing the 22nd District.

---

• Blog:  "Jerry Green's Page"

• Plainfield Today:  "Three posts on Jerry Green and affordable housing legislation"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Assemblyman Green, Gov. Christie on affordable housing merry-go-round?

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green just ain't gettin' nothin' but disrespect from Gov. Chris Christie, who yesterday conditionally vetoed the affordable housing bill over which the Assemblyman has labored so mightily since last Spring.

In his veto memo, Christie said --

If the goal of this legislation is to replace an already broken system for providing affordable housing with a common sense, predictable and achievable process, then this bill sorely misses the mark...

Each of the three news reports cited below gives a good summary of the legislation's progress so far, though I think the NJ Newsroom version is ahead by a nose.

Will the legislation, which I think will be seen as Jerry's enduring legislative legacy after a long career in the Assembly, ever get signed? Sen. Lesniak thinks so.

Maybe.

But as far as Jerry and 'respect' go, I cannot help but notice that every time the bill is in trouble or being dumped on, it is Jerry's bill, and when folks are lining up for the celebratory photo opportunity, it is Sen. Lesniak's bill.

What kind of 'respect' is that?

---

• NJ Newsroom:  "Displeased with Dem amendments, Christie vetoes housing bill"
• PolitickerNJ:  "Christie vetoes COAH bill"
  
• Ledger:  "Christie rejects bill's affordable housing minimum requirement"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Will Christie sign housing bill, sealing Jerry's legacy?

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green.
Will housing bill become capstone of longtime legislator's career?

Will Gov. Chris Christie sign Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green's career-capping affordable housing legislation (S1/A3447, see here)?

That is the only question remaining now that both the Senate and Assembly have approved the third revision of the bill, now known as S1, a nod to the legislative clout of Union County Sen. Ray Lesniak.

I reported back in October (see here) on the status of the bills (at that time there were two, Jerry's and Lesniak's), pointing out that Jerry had publicly taken on Lesniak over both his ramrod style and in reaching out to all the various constituencies involved.

Jerry took the higher road, in the eyes of many, irking an easily vexed Gov. Christie.

Particularly objectionable to Christie was any sort of developer fees, which Jerry's proposal included in a phased-in fashion designed to build up a reserve that would help poorer communities to carry out rehabbing of existing housing in lieu of new affordable housing construction.

That appears to have disappeared in the final version of the bill, with a much weaker and more restricted 1.5% fee covering only those projects that would not provide for ANY low- or moderate-income housing. (See Jerry's blog post here, citing the Ledger story on the bill's passage.)

As it now stands, 71 poorer communities would be completely exempted from affordable housing obligations. Would that mean that parts of some towns like Plainfield would grow increasingly seedier for want of rehabbing funds? We would have to see how that plays out.

No one will weep over the disappearance of COAH, but a whole lot of compromisin' has gone into the journey to this horizon -- consider that the original 27-page bill ballooned to 107 pages in its final iteration. Such is sausage-making and New Jersey is hardly unique in this regard.

If Christie DOES sign the bill, will Jerry's name be on it and will he be in the photo next to the governor, or will he be crowded out of the picture by Lesniak?

As Jerry has to be contemplating the end of a long legislative career, it's all about respect.

Will Jerry finally get some?

---

• NJ Legislature:  "S1/A3447 Affordable Housing Bill, final version" (PDF)
• Plainfield Today:  "Will affordable housing reform be Jerry's legacy?"
• Jerry's Green's Page:  "Great news for housing reform in our state"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Plainfield meeting touches on minority concerns with redistricting

Plainfield was the location of a little-publicized meeting this past Saturday to discuss minority concerns with the upcoming legislative redistricting that is mandated to take place after the release of the Census 2010 population numbers next month.

I am told about thirty attendees gathered at the Mohawk Lodge on West 3rd Street at 10 AM in a meeting that featured leadership from the NJ State Conference of the NAACP, the Garden State Bar Association and the NJ Black Issues Convention (see links to websites at end of post). Representatives of some statewide Latino organizations were also invited.

Though Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs was a participant, several Council members told me they were unaware of the meeting at all, and one Council member said an email notice was received from Robinson-Briggs' confidential aide Barbara James just ten minutes before the scheduled starting time of the meeting.

Assemblyman Jerry Green was also said to be in attendance, though making a late appearance, and said to offer not entirely helpful remarks with regard to Hispanics, noting that he 'likes' Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Paterson) but is suspicious of the motives of most Hispanics.

The state's legislative districts are to be redrawn by a bipartisan commission evenly split between Republicans and Democrats and with an independent tie-breaking member selected by the commissioners (or appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court if they cannot agree). That commission will have to work in haste to have its map approved in time for the April 11 filing deadline for the June primary election.

Minority voters are likely to be a bone of contention between the Republican and Democratic sides as each tries to shape the district lines to maximize the chances for 'safe' districts returning members of one or the other party on a regular basis.

PolitickerNJ, the website of all things political in New Jersey, took up the issue in a post yesterday (see here), but for the most part the public's attention has yet to focus on the matter.

While participants said the Saturday meeting was useful for bringing concerns about the fate of minority voters in the redistricting to the fore, it is not clear exactly what strategies will emerge as the process unfolds.

The email from James indicated that further meetings are scheduled for Newark (today), Jersey City (tomorrow), Glassboro on January 18th and Toms River on January 20th.

All of this takes place in the context of both the redrawing of New Jersey's Congressional districts (which will surely be contentious as we are losing one Congressional seat) and local wards and voting districts (which must also meet the April 11 deadline).

More on the implications for Plainfield of all of this later.

---

• Politicker NJ:  "Race to play major role in redistricting effort"
  
• Websites --
•  "Garden State Bar Association"
•  "NJ Black Issues Convention"
•  "New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Will affordable housing reform be Jerry's legislative legacy?

Jerry's bill targets affordable housing.

When I told Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green at last week's cocktail fundraiser for City Council candidates Rebecca Williams and Bill Reid that plenty of folks thought he was crazy to pick such a public fight with Sen. Ray Lesniak last spring over affordable housing reform, Jerry quickly said, "Well you see who the Senator has lined up with now, don't you?"

And he is right.

Back in June, Jerry vowed not to take the Lesniak road of railroading the bill through, but to give all sides an opportunity to be heard, as he was quoted in a Ledger story at the time (see here) --

"We we will do this right, with input from everyone," said Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union), chairman of the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee. "I don’t want to be back here next year debating yet another affordable-housing bill. I don’t want an endless court fight. I want a system that works, and if that means taking time to do it right, then that’s what we’re going to do.

"With that in mind, the committee will not be moving legislation during Thursday’s hearing," Green continued. "We will discuss the bill and all our options, and I an assure everyone that their opinions will be welcomed and heard."

The June 30 deadline that Lesniak and Gov. Christie wanted came and passed. Without Jerry's committee signing off on the Lesniak bill.

Over the summer, Jerry reworked the bill (Lesniak tells the Philadelphia Inquirer -- see here -- he had a big hand in it) which his Housing and Local Government Services committee is preparing to report out to the Assembly.

The bill will abolish COAH (the Council on Affordable Housing), which is universally despised for turning the quest for affordable housing into a bureaucratic quagmire -- hated by towns, developers and elected officials in equal measure.

Jerry's version of the bill addresses an issue that has been on my mind for a long time -- what to do about cities like Plainfield, mostly built up and with little vacant land and with a sizeable population eligible for free school lunches, but with great swaths of housing that need to be upgraded or rehabbed to make their neighborhoods more attractive to residents and those looking to buy in the Queen City.

Jerry's bill excuse these communities from providing more affordable housing, but would require them to adopt a rehabilitation plan and would provide a channel for funds to help get the rehabbing done.

Jerry's bill would also phase back in over five years fees for developers to fund these rehab plans in the poorer cities.

Those are the good parts.

I worry that the formula for funding affordable housing in more upscale communities will not provide many -- or any -- units and will instead be a big loophole for developers to drive through.

However, the bill makes steps in the right direction. We will see if there are further adjustments as a result of hearings in Jerry's committee.

In the meantime, this may well become Jerry's legacy contribution capping a long legislative career.

None of us is getting any younger -- myself and Jerry included.

Wouldn't it be nice to cap a long legislative career not only with the gavel of the speaker pro-tempore, but with legislation that will affect -- and improve -- New Jersey's housing situation for decades to come?

---

• Ledger, 6/16/10:  "No vote planned as Assembly committee schedules hearing on housing"
  
• Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/26/10:  "State Sen. Lesniak targets affordable housing"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green shows two faces on affordable housing

Assemblyman Green is not to be confused
with the Roman god Janus, who had good reason to have two faces.

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green is showing two faces on affordable housing as his Housing and Local Government Services committee considers the Assembly version of the COAH-killer housing bill Gov. Christie wants passed before June 30.

Facing pressure from both the governor and Union County Dem powerhouse Sen. Ray Lesniak, whose Senate committee held no public hearing on the bill before kicking it to the full Senate, Green says he will not be rushed (see Christie demand here; Green pushback here).

Kevin Walsh, associate director of the Fair Share Housing Center, one of the groups advocating on behalf of affordable housing, saw Green's pushback as a 'fresh start' (full story here) --

..."Speaker Oliver and Assemblyman Green have stood up for working families and people with special needs," Walsh said. "People have been opposing this all along, and finally someone listened. We look forward to drafting a bill that gets housing near transit and jobs..."

Walsh and other affordable housing supporters would be well advised to check out Assemblyman Green's own words on affordable housing before thinking they are going to get a serious consideration of the matter by Green.

On June 15, Assemblyman Green took up the matter of the affordable housing bill on his blog, Jerry Green's Page (see here) --

As Chair of Housing and Local Government, I will be having a committee meeting wherein S-1 will be on the agenda. I have been working with Governor's Office, housing groups throughout the State, as well as Senator Lesniak to construct an effective bill. My approach has been to have everyone sit at the table, which will allow me to gain cohesive support.

Not everyone will be happy of course, but we must do something to ease the pain of this crippling issue of affordable housing within New Jersey. I hope to have a conscious bill drafted within the next 48 hours that deals directly with the issue at hand. I am aiming for it to be fair and hit the target of taking the first big steps of shaping an effective bill...

So far, so good. However, Walsh might not feel very reassured if he just reads a little further on --

"In the last four years, I have been able to stop, what I consider, how Plainfield has been taken advantage of ... Plainfield being a dumping ground for low-income housing ... A prime example ... the Teppers site was converted into a low-income housing facility within one of our prime locations of our downtown area."

Now, Mr. Walsh would probably need some background here. Teppers was a former Plainfield department store that had sat empty -- despite many efforts to redevelop the property -- for nearly thirty years when it was finally successfully converted into a mixed-use retail and residential project nearly ten years ago.

The developer and the mayor at the time, Al McWilliams, had high hopes that the project would be market-rate, but the only financing available through the state's Mortgage and Home Finance Authority at the time was for affordable housing.

While Assemblyman Green refers to it as 'low-income housing', it is in fact the same sort of AFFORDABLE HOUSING his committee is taking up and which Mr. Walsh seems to believe Mr. Green supports.

Far from it.

As for the 'people with special needs' that Walsh cites Green as supporting, the Assemblyman continues --

"I do not have a problem with initiating housing for individuals with social disabilities, but I do have a problem with the fact that Cory converts these buildings for personal gain, thus disarming the quality of Plainfield. Once these houses are purchased by non-profit agencies, they are taken off the tax rolls." [The reference to Cory Storch's 'personal gain' is simply untrue. -- DD]

Green supports 'special needs' but complains that when nonprofits buy properties for these uses, they come off the tax rolls. Does he propose to change that? Hardly.

So, Jerry is showing two faces on the affordable housing question, leading folks like Walsh to believe he is supportive, while to Plainfield he presents another face altogether, quite at odds with his Trenton persona.

Following Assemblyman Green's thought processes has always been tortuous, but it seems in recent months that things have taken a turn for the worse, not only with the invective and prevarications in his blog post cited here, but in the language used by Green in reference to the affordable housing bill.

The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, the first paper to report on Green's Assembly committee hearings, cites him as saying '[w]e are committed to blowing up COAH' (Green's own words), decidedly provocative and unstatesmanlike language.

I will take up Assemblyman Green's malicious attack on Councilman Storch in a separate post, as well as begining to keep a close eye on Green's language and whether it indicates anything about his mental well-being.

---

• Ledger --
• 6/16/2010: "No vote planned as Assembly committee schedules hearing on housing bill"
• 6/17/2010: "Christie administration wants housing bill by end of month"
• 6/17/2010: "Assemblyman Green says he will not rush housing bill despite deadline"
• Jerry Green's Page: "June 15, 2010: Affordable Housing"
• Courier-Post: "COAH safe for now"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Assemblyman Green's turn coming to be on affordable housing hot seat

.

Plainfielders can be forgiven if they don't spend much time focused on Assemblyman Jerry Green's SUPPOSEDLY REAL JOB as chair of the Assembly's Housing and Local Government Services committee.

Forgiven for two reasons: on the one hand, Jerry's fulminations and missteps in matters to do with Plainfield are constantly entertaining and diverting its denizens and on the other hand, Jerry never calls attention to his Assembly role if it's the least bit controversial.

Take the current situation: Jerry's blog calls attention to his bill (A-444) which would bar a person from being elected to a school board if, because of a past conviction, they would be unable to serve as a teacher in the district (see here). There are those who see this as a thinly-veiled quasi-bill of attainder aimed at longtime Plainfield community activist and BOE member Rasheed Abdul-Haqq, who has made no secret of not seeing eye-to-eye with the Assemblyman on many occasions.

What goes with scant mention is that Sen. Lesniak's bill to dismantle the existing affordable housing settlement in New Jersey and replace it with one more to Gov. Christie's liking is coming before Assemblyman Green's Assembly committee soon as it wends its way to (inevitable?) legislative approval. Jerry only refers to the matter obliquely, posting a 'statement' from Gov. Chris Christie (see here), who says he is 'looking forward to working with Assemblyman Green'.

The Lesniak bill (S-1) was moved from committee to the floor of the Senate WITHOUT A CHANCE FOR PUBLIC INPUT (see story here), where it was subsequently passed, despite considerable opposition from a wide range of groups -- not just affordable housing advocates, I might add! -- (see story, including details of bill here). Though Lesniak touts it as a better solution, you will get a headache trying to understand the ins and outs of the bill.

But the bottom line is that many (including brave Senators Loretta Weinberg, Ron Rice and Shirley Turner) are questioning the fine points of the Lesniak proposal, including the Star-Ledger, which has editorialized TWICE in recent days -- once on the failure to have any public hearings (see here), and today in an editorial entitled 'Rehab this' (see here), that the bill needs much more work.

One of the provisions that caught my eye in the bill is that developers would be allowed to fulfill their affordable housing obligations by RENOVATING OTHER ALREADY-EXISITNG BUILDINGS IN A MUNICIPALITY instead of including new affordable housing units in the projects they are building. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to see where this is going.

That, plus the continuation of the practice of allowing towns to sell their affordable housing obligations to other communities, and you note a distinct aroma emanating from the new legislation, in my humble opinion.

Besides this, the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services suggests in a letter of April 13 that the bill will not pass constitutional muster because the Legislature lacks statutory authority to amend the Fair Housing Act (see here).

So, as Assemblyman Green prepares to take up the legislation, there are a couple of germane questions for him to answer --

• Will he schedule hearings on the bill and thus allow public input?
  
  
• Will he consider the constitutionality of the bill?

Or will he simply, 'team player' that he is, move the bill out of committee and onto the Assembly floor?

---

• Jerry Green's Page: "Green et al bill tightening requirements for serving on BOEs advances"
• Jerry Green's Page: "Statement of Gov. Christie" -- 'looking forward to working with Assemblyman Green...'
  
• Ledger: "Senate committee approves controversial housing bill without public input"
• NJ Newsroom: "Senate votes to abolish affordable housing council, move control" -- An in-depth look at the bill's details.
  
• Ledger Editorial, 6/7/10: "Major shift in housing policy deserves public airing"
• Ledger Editorial, 7/13/10: "Rehab this: Affordable housing bill needs much more work"
• Asbury Park Press: "OLS questions constitutionality of housing bill"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Was Corzine sealing a deal with referendum non-veto?

Plainfielders following the story of the last-minute switcheroo by Jon Corzine on the anti-referendum bill get another piece of the puzzle this morning.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), lobbied her November running mate not to sign the bill, and thought she had made her case, only to discover -- 13 minutes before Chris Christie was sworn in -- that Corzine had moved the bill out of the 'vetoed' column, according to a story on PolitickerNJ (see here).

'It's bad public policy, it's bad government, it's bad politics ... to change the law to take democratic action away from the citizens is to me a rather serious step,' Weinberg said.

I'll second that.

This being New Jersey, one has to wonder whether there was some sort of deal at stake here, some quid-pro-quo between Corzine and the Democratic power structure.

What could he have wanted that was in their gift?

Perhaps we shall see soon.

(Hey, Auditor! You lookin' at me?)

---

• PolitickerNJ: "Weinberg upset Corzine did not veto referendum bill"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

I take that back, Corzine had no testicular fortitude after all

It seems like only yesterday that Plainfield Today credited former Gov. Jon Corzine with unusual testicular fortitude for vetoing the Legislature's rush job bill that would set a 10-year interval between referendum votes on structuring local governing bodies (see here).

Actually, it was only yesterday.

My post was based on a story that appeared on the Courier's website (see here), filed as a 'staff report', a story without a reporter's byline.

I had been happy to find the online item, as I was stymied in trying to find out the fate of the bill on the Legislature's website, since I didn't have the bill number and couldn't find my way through the maze.

Turns out that Gannett's statehouse reporter Michael Symons posted an item to the 'Capitol Quickies' blog at 1:27 PM yesterday afternoon REVERSING THE STORY (see here).

Corzine did NOT veto the bill, he signed it. Take back that 'testicular fortitude' stuff. Not only that, it is RETROACTIVE to 2009, meaning the New Brunswick folks are 'grandfathered out', so to speak.

Which also means that Assemblyman Jerry Green, the 'team player', voted with the winning side -- guaranteeing that New Brunswick's voters would not enjoy a chance at the same sort of governing body representation that his hometown Plainfielders do for another ten years.

If you want to see how quickly the Legislature can move when it has a mind to (check THIS out, good government advocates), consider the history of the bill --

1/4/2010 Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government Committee
1/4/2010 Reported from Senate Committee, 2nd Reading
1/7/2010 Passed by the Senate (21-15)
1/7/2010 Received in the Assembly without Reference, 2nd Reading
1/11/2010 Substituted for A4264
1/11/2010 Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (41-34-2)
1/18/2010 Approved P.L.2009, c.339.

-- ONE WEEK FROM INTRODUCTION TO PASSAGE. You can also read the bill as introduced in full here (PDF).

It should come as no surprise that the 'big D' Democrats would stack the cards against 'small d' democracy if exercising that democracy impinges on their preponderance.

That doesn't make it right.

Do you suppose that the moral dunces in our Legislature will draw the appropriate conclusion from the loss of Sen. Ted Kennedy's seat to a Republican in yesterday's Massachusetts election, that voters -- across the board -- are tired of being taken for granted?

I wouldn't bet on it.

---

• Plainfield Today: "Corzine veto was the right thing to do"
  
• Courier: "Corzine vetoes bill restricting government-reform ballot questions"
• APP's Capital Quickies Blog: "Strike that, reverse it"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

Corzine veto was the right thing to do

Plainfielders who followed the epic struggle of New Brunswick activists to bring to their city the kind of ward representation that we take for granted in our community will be heartened to learn of Gov. Corzine's veto on his last full day in office of a bill restricting referendums on just that kind of question to once per decade (see story here).

The veto was something of a cliff-hanger as the governor had been silent on what he was going to do with regard to the bill, which had been sponsored by Plainfield's State Senator Nick Scutari and rushed through both houses of the Legislature, with the support of our very own Assemblyman Jerry Green, a 'team player' if ever there was one.

Those who recall first-year Latin will remember that 'veto' is the first-person singular of the verb 'vetare', and means, literally, 'I forbid'. In practice, the word is either stamped or written across the document.

Too bad that Gov. Corzine didn't show more of this testicular fortitude earlier in his term.

---

• Courier: "Corzine vetoes referendum restriction bill"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.

One for Assemblyman Green to vote AGAINST

I normally don't comment on Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green's votes in the Legislature, but there is a bill to be taken up tomorrow on which I believe the Assemblyman should vote a resounding 'NO'.

For those who followed the epic grassroots struggle in New Brunswick last year to change its form of Council elections from entirely at-large to one where there was Ward representation in addition to at-large seats, the bill now being considered in the Assembly looks like a mean-spirited attempt by those in power to shut down the democratic process.

Grassroots activists were able to get a question on the ballot only after months of maneuvering and court challenges. Then, at the last minute, the powers-that-be mounted a phony 'grassroots' counter-campaign designed to confuse the public.

The net result was the proposal to go to Ward representation went down to a narrow defeat.

The activists have been planning to bring the question up again in two years, but the bill before the Assembly tomorrow would make it impossible to bring another public question on the matter before a decade has lapsed.

Plainfielders who think this is someone else's problem should reflect for a moment.

Given the much higher voter turnout numbers in Plainfield in Ward 2 and Ward 3, a totally at-large Council such as New Brunswick has would stand a good chance of leaving Ward 4 and Ward 1 with little or no voice in city government.

All they want in New Brunswick is a chance to have what Plainfield already has: some representation by Wards to guarantee no one gets left out.

This alone should suggest that Assemblyman Green would stand on the side of disenfranchised voters.

But will he?

I certainly hope so.

---

• PolitickerNJ: "Bill would block new referendum votes for a decade"
• Courier: "Bill would lengthen time between votes on changes in government"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe.