State's two sets of books: Close Muhlenberg, reopen Pascack Valley

Westwood, NJ (click on map to enlarge).

As if you didn't suspect it already, it appears the state may be keeping two sets of books about hospitals.

The Bergen Record reports that in 'overbedded' North Jersey, the former Pascack Valley Hospital, which was closed earlier this year, is opening under the new ownership of Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC) in a TWO-STEP plan.

Phase 1 is the opening of a standalone Emergency Room in the former hospital complex. It sounds very similar to the Solaris plan for Muhlenberg -- except better:

The free-standing E.R. will have a laboratory and imaging facilities, with radiology, CT scan and sonography. Food service will be transported from Hackensack, with vending machines on site. The medical-imaging department also will be open for outpatient visits.

To my knowledge, there are no imaging plans for the satellite ER at Muhlenberg.

But here's the kicker, in the second phase, HUMC expects state approval to open a NEW 120-bed community hospital at the former Pascack Valley Hospital campus --

Hackensack will submit an application by month's end for state approval to open a 120-bed community hospital on the site, Ferguson said. Despite anticipated opposition from competing hospitals - and the recommendations of a governor's commission that fewer, rather than more, hospital beds are needed in North Jersey - Ferguson said he was "totally confident" the community hospital would open.

The story says HUMC expects the first beds of the new community hospital to open in February, 2009.

How's that for a 'fair and rational' system?

If Assemblyman Green or Mayor Robinson-Briggs really had any clout, don't you think Muhlenberg's outcome would be different?

Read more here:

• "E.R. to reopen at former Pascack Valley site"
• "Census: Westwood, NJ"
• "Census: Plainfield, NJ"
  
  

Bank robbers beware!

When I wrote a few days ago about the snarling of downtown traffic with the water main repairs (the snarls continue), I DIDN'T mention a bit of banter that passed between a cop and myself over the situation.

While talking about how many cop cars were tied up in monitoring the street openings and resultant traffic flow issues, I surmised bank robbers might have an advantage.

Not to worry, I was told, they'd wouldn't get away because they'd get stuck in traffic.

Think not? Read this interesting story of the outcome of a bank robbery in Edison yesterday.

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-- Dan Damon

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Putting the blogs up on the lift

After more than two and a half years, it is time to put the blogs into the shop for a tune-up. Much has changed in blogging and there are tons of new tools available to improve your reading experience -- and make my blogging efforts easier.

Tweaking takes time, so for the next two weeks or so, both Plainfield Today and CLIPS are going into 'lite' mode so I can devote the necessary hours to getting under the hood.

Summer is supposed to be the 'slow news' season anyway, right? Hah!

Stay tuned.

-- Dan

Damn the scammers!

Every few days, a well-meaning warning is forwarded by a friend or reader about everything from a computer virus to a rape scheme involving elderly co-conspirators.

The most recent virus warning was real -- though the virus was dealt with over a year ago, and most of us should be well-protected. (If you don't have anti-virus software installed -- often offered free by your internet service provider -- you need to get it.)

The rape scheme was less so, though have a senior as an accomplice was at least an anti-ageist twist.

Here's what I do every time I get such a message: Check it out against one of these online rumor and scam monitors. Each has a search box, just type in the keywords and check it out.

• "Snopes"
• "Hoax-Slayer"
• "Scambusters"

And of course, we never divulge personal information to anyone online, right?

Browse safely -- and stay out of the sun today.

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-- Dan Damon

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Glock retires from YWCA, Ludlow assumes responsibilities

The YWCA's historic building was opened in 1927.

The YWCA of Central New Jersey's longtime executive director, Jackie Glock, has retired.

In a letter to friends of the YWCA, board president Pat Fleming, Esq., announced that her retirement, which had been planned for some time, was effective immediately.

Cathleen Ludlow will become Acting Executive Director, effective July 21. Ms. Ludlow, who served as director of the YWCA's fitness center for ten years, will focus on developing relationships and programs that serve the community and carry out the mission of the organization.

Under Glock's tenure, the YWCA, which marked its 100th anniversary last year, underwent significant changes, both with regard to programs and the facilities.

One of her first efforts was to conduct a capital campaign which allowed the YWCA to upgrade its facilities with the establishment of the fitness center and the construction of the new early childhood learning center annex.

During Glock's tenure, the board studied its marketing area, and subsequently changed its name from the YWCA of Plainfield and North Plainfield to the YWCA of Central New Jersey, signifying reaching out to serve the needs of women and children throughout a broader geographic area. At the same time, the YWCA also intensified its outreach to youngsters of the community with after-school and summer activities.

Glock, who has a masters degree in planning and administration from Rutgers, is returning to her private consulting practice in organizational management and fund development.

Ludlow, whose family has long associations with the YWCA, is a graduate of the University of Maryland with a degree in community health education, and has held positions in marketing and proposal development prior to coming to the YWCA.

For more information about the YWCA of Central New Jersey and its programs, call (908) 756-3500 or visit their website here.

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-- Dan Damon

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Restoring City Hall

Mystery solved. Somewhat.

Today's Courier carries a story about the restoration/renovation of Plainfield's City Hall (see more here).

Those who are attentive may have noticed that there has been a very large plywood sign out front declaring same since Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs came into office in 2006. Every time I noticed it, I wondered when the project would ever get under way.

Staff members from architectural consultants Page Ayres Cowley took measurements of the windows in preparation for the project in the fall of 2005. Yup.

And the urns atop City Hall graced it until the cupola restoration of 2000-01 (not the early 1990s as stated in the story -- not the reporter's fault, he writes what he's told).

The restoration work to be done now is the second part of a two-part project laid out nearly ten years ago. The first part, completed in November 2001, was the complete replacement and refabrication of the 8-columned terra cotta cupola atop the building.

During that phase, the urns were removed for safekeeping, at which time it was discovered they were deteriorated so badly that they would need to be copied and the copies installed in their place. As there were insufficient funds for this unexpected development in the first round, the urns were put off until the second phase. Who knew it would take so long?

At any rate, the Courier story got me digging up copies of pictures from that first project.

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Rendering to scale of the City Hall cupola.

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The urns, which will be replaced with copies.

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Workers mount the lightning rod atop the rebuilt cupola.

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The finished cupola, with netting to foil pigeons.

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View of the completed cupola,
urns still in place, November 2001.

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The 'halls of ivy' look once considered de rigeur
led to damage to the building's stone and brick exterior.

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The text of the inscription on the entablature shown above reads as follows --

ERECTED BY THE PEOPLE

TO INSPIRE ZEAL FOR THE COMMON WELFARE

AND DEDICATED BY THEM TO THE CAUSE OF

JUSTICE AND CAPABLE GOVERNMENT

Once upon a time we believed buildings could do all that.

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• Courier: "Plainfield's historic City Hall to be renovated"

-- Dan Damon

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Traffic snafus? Get used to it.

Yesterday was a lollapalooza in the ongoing work on the city's water mains.

Drivers at midday found it nearly impossible to navigate northbound or southbound in downtown, faced with the following obstacles --

• Southbound traffic on Central Avenue was blocked at West 2nd Street;
• Northbound and southbound traffic on Park Avenue was blocked between 2nd Street and North Avenue; and
• Northbound traffic on Watchung Avenue was blocked at East 5th Street

Hopefully no expectant mother in labor was waiting for a bus to Trinitas to deliver.

So many police cars were seen tied up at these and various other intersections that I noticed a street opening by the same crews at Madison and Stelle Avenues was being covered by a shiny black unmarked police car.

"Get used to it," I was advised by one officer I stopped to chat with, "looks like it will continue at least through next month."

The ubiquitous crews in the tan trucks of J. Fletcher Creamer & Son are working on contract for New Jersey American Water (formerly the locally-owned Elizabethtown Water, whose foreign ownership is disguised by the new corporate name).

Monday was the first I noticed any kind of a public sign about the work that has been going on for about two months now -- at the selfsame corner of Stelle and Madison, where the sign above was neatly stapled to a utility pole.

What are they doing? Now you know.

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-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg and the Council: Sue who?

At this point in the struggle to keep Muhlenberg open, it seems inconceivable the Council has no proactive position of its own.

I have written earlier that it has done just as it was allowed to do and no more, by which I mean: Nothing that would more proactively upstage Assemblyman Jerry Green.

That being said, did they actually expect that the townspeople would not at some point come, metaphorical torches in hand, to demand an accounting?

Such a moment has come and the Council -- whether because of its own lack of imagination and thoughtful engagement, or because of a lack of imagination on the part of the City Counsel who advises it -- has muffed it. At least for now.

Whether or not to sign on to POP attorney Zurofsky's appeal -- and accept the attendant longterm costs -- is a valid question. And Councilor Simmons' idea that the voters should have the final say would be a worthy notion were it not for the fact that Solaris plans to have it all over but the weeping well before a referendum could be held in November.

What the Council could do, however, is bring a breath of fresh air to the campaign by suing the State to show why it is not following the recommendations of its own 'fairness and rationalization' study.

This is the line of attack that Annie McWilliams, Democratic candidate for the citywide at-large seat, opened in her testimony before the State Health Advisory Board.

It would be a courageous thing for the Council to do.

Unless, of course, Assemblyman Jerry Green and Mayor Robinson-Briggs object.

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• The City Council meets at 8 PM next Monday at the Courhouse. You may expect they have not heard the last of the Muhlenberg business. The public may comment. All are welcome.

-- Dan Damon

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Gallon's K-8 move: Best thing since sliced bread?

My K-8 experience took place in rooms much like this.

Could Plainfield's Board of Ed have hit one out of the park in the selection of Steve Gallon III as schools superintendent?

Only time will tell, but I am impressed by the way he is setting out on his Plainfield tenure.

First off, that he held retreats for the Board and his administrative team right away. Feedback I got from the staff retreat is positive, and the idea of having staffers submit written proposals for how to improve the district -- with bullet points on implementation -- only helps reinforce the sense we are stepping off on the right foot. After all, who better to give input on how to make improvements than those in the trenches?

Secondly, I am impressed that Dr. Gallon intends to develop K-8 schools in the system -- for two reasons.

First, that he is addressing head on a problem that I have been aware of since getting into real estate over twenty years ago: people feel quite comfortable about buying a home in Plainfield and using the elementary schools, but many search for alternatives as their kids approach middle school years.

Secondly, I am the product of a K-8 school, and think the model has a lot of upside benefits -- though perhaps some of what I experienced would not be allowed in these more politically correct days (would it be allowed for a 14-year-old to tend to stoking and removing the ashes of a coal-fired furnace?).

K-8s are a very old idea, and at one time were the norm throughout the country. Middle schools (or, as I knew them, 'Junior highs') were an invention of the 1920s. I may write more on my K-8 experiences some other time, but curious readers can check out my post on life lessons learned from penmanship instruction ("Can u rd this?").

For now, he and Board President Bridget Rivers are on the money as far as I am concerned. I was long ago told by a former school board member that 'people in Trenton' knew how many Plainfield kids attended non-public schools and where they went -- but good luck getting the information.

A quick unscientific glance at the numbers still suggests Gallon is attacking a real problem: with approximately 9,000 kids of school age residing in the city and somewhat around 7,000 enrolled in the public schools, we are looking at upwards of 23% of kids whose parents are making other choices.

Time to address the issue.

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• The Board of Education meets at 7:00 tonight, Washington School Cafetorium, 427 Darrow Avenue. Parking is available in the Spooner Avenue lot. The public may comment. All are welcome.

-- Dan Damon

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Council discusses troublesome South Avenue zoning changes tonight

View Larger Map

Note: Click on a colored area to see some of the proposed changes.
Mapping required giving each segment a unique name (West, Center, East),
which is not part of the zoning proposal language.

Plainfield's City Council will take up proposed zoning changes this evening, designed to designate a 'transit-oriented development' (TOD) area bracketing the Netherwood train station between South Avenue and the railroad. On the west, the zone would start with the property line bounding the City Yard (which is NOT included) and extend eastward to include the KFC property just past the point where Pacific Street enters South Avenue.

The map above is an approximation based on the official documents. Clicking on any one of the colored segments brings up a memo box with SOME of the changes the proposal will make (with the current requirements in parentheses).

Why is it troublesome?

It is troublesome because it gives the game away before it is even played.

The heart and soul of development is the negotiation of the conditions between the parties: the City and the developer.

Proposals like the one that will be discussed tonight do the community a disservice by giving up all the points on which the City could negotiate and setting the stage for developers to make even more intrusive or unpalatable stipulations ... 'or we'll walk'.

I am not opposed to 'transit-oriented development' (TOD) in principle, and this proposal actually makes much more sense than previous ones backed by the Robinson-Briggs administration which didn't meet the minimum specification in terms of distance to a train station. Who says people can't learn from experience?

(The earlier South Avenue project on the Carfaro property was denied by the zoning board; the Capodagli proposal for the currrent PMUA property on the north side of the railroad has since collapsed -- it never met the requirements for distance from a train station.)

In fact, the conditions proposed in the zoning changes might actually be (at least mostly -- I am eternally suspicious of providing insufficient parking) ones that the City would be willing to arrive at AFTER A SUCCESSFUL NEGOTIATION WITH A DEVELOPER.

One also has to ask 'why now'?

Market conditions are not particularly conducive to mixed-use residential/commercial projects at this time. The New York Times yesterday provided an overview of a number of high-profile New Jersey development projects, including the Esperanza at Asbury Park, that have stumbled (see more here). In Cranford, the upscale TOD Cranford Crossing is having difficulty get all its units sold.

Closer to home, Dornoch's project for a combination Senior Center and condos ('they'll be just as nice as Cranford Crossing,' Assemblyman Green once told the Seniors at a meeting I attended) has ground almost to a halt -- as even Mayor Robinson-Briggs admitted. There is no sales trailer on the vacant city-owned lot the Council agreed to let Dornoch use, and all the talk now is of the units being rentals instead of sales. Just what we need, more renters and fewer taxpayers. What a comedown that would be after all the promises made by the Assemblyman and Robinson-Briggs!

If, as rumored, Commerce Bank (and its new owner, Toronto Dominion Bancorp) were to move forward in developing the G.O. Keller property at South and Leland, the question would still remain about whether and when the market for CONDOS as opposed to rentals will recover. Especially after you digest the news about mortgage guarantors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac coming out today.

Is the Administration anxious to make the zoning change now because it feels the Council may have more spine after new members take their seats next January?

Development has a lot in common with poker -- including bluffing, calling and winning the pot.

A poker player would never show you his hand.

Adopting the proposed zoning changes for a Netherwood TOD would be the equivalent of a poker player laying all their cards face up on the table.

Would you want such a player gambling with YOUR chips?

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• City Council meets for its agenda-setting session at 7:30 tonight, City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Avenue. The public may comment. All are welcome.

-- Dan Damon

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Quick! Where does our leadership team live?

By my fridge calendar, this past Friday would have been the expiration date of Plainfield Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig's acting appointment (if it followed the ordinance put in place by the Council a few years ago).

I wasn't going to write about it, but then the news came through that a three-judge appeals panel gave Trenton's police director, Joe Santiago, 75 days to pack his desk and vacate his job -- because he doesn't live in Trenton as is required.

Hmmm...

Come to think of it, none of Mayor Robinson-Briggs' leadership team lives in Plainfield, and we have the same sort of requirement as Trenton -- a waiver would have to be granted by the Council.

What's up with that?

Martin Hellwig told me at one point that he was moving into an apartment on Watchung Avenue, but that seems not to have ever materialized.

Jennifer Wenson-Maier lives in Rahway, where she is on the City Council, but was a waiver ever granted?

Marc Dashield, the City Administrator, has not moved to Plainfield and commutes back and forth to work in a city-issued vehicle.

The newest team member, Douglas Peck, Director of Administration and Finance, has yet to move to Plainfield from Ohio since his April appointment, though he was given a relocation allowance. (Should I mention that some city employees are fuming that he is in line for a cost-of-living increase though he is said not to have worked a full five-day week in Plainfield yet?)

City Hall has buzzed with rumors for weeks that Mr. Peck's situation may be tenuous as it is said he cannot be bonded. Perhaps that's what's behind the discussion of reviving the 'Deputy City Administrator' position?

As the Robinson-Briggs administration moves toward its final year, one has to wonder whether any of the leadership will become Plainfielders.

If not, shouldn't we do the waiver thing?

Unless it's just a quibble.

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• Trenton: "Court gives Santiago 75 days to vacate Trenton job"

-- Dan Damon

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Ad praising Jerry part of plan to embarrass Council?

Full-page ad thanks the Assemblyman.

The full-page feel-good ad (see image HERE) in this past Tuesday's Ledger thanking Assemblyman Green has raised quite a few eyebrows.

The first question on readers' minds is: Where did the money come from to pay for the ad?

With this size ad running upwards of $7,000, it's a good question indeed -- especially since the signers include Muhlenberg, JFK and the NHSC Plainfield Health Center. So, for all the poormouthing, Solaris can still dredge up money for this kind of ephemeral nonsense? The Neighborhood Health Services Corp. (PHC) is also rumored to be feeling the financial pinch, but they have money for a throwaway piece like this?

Are the city's coffers so flush that Mayor Robinson-Briggs can chip in -- or did she get a free ride? If she did chip in, where did her money come from and who authorized the payment?

Word in the street, however, is that the ad is not a freewill love offering by the signers, but that they were solicited to chip in $1000 or more apiece for the puff piece. The Assemblyman owes it to his constituents to verify the truth or falsity of the rumor -- maybe with another full page ad?

Secondly, the ad cites Assemblyman Green's "strong leadership and steadfast advocacy in the fight to preserve access to affordable, quality health care for residents of the greater Plainfield communities". One reader notes that all the Assemblyman ever had was 'a Plan B' (smoothing the closing of Muhlenberg) instead of a 'Plan A' to fight for keeping it open.

Lastly, in an email currently being circulated by Dottie Gutenkauf, she writes

Monday's meeting (6:30 pm at duCret) will be brief ... at 7:30 pm we are going to the Plainfield City Council agenda-fixing meeting in the City Hall Library to demand that they show some leadership in the struggle to save our hospital. It's long past time for them to take action!

Is the full-page ad thanking Jerry Green part of a coordinated effort to paint the Council as unsupportive, with Dottie G. leading the charge?

Readers should understand that the Council has done and said exactly what it has been allowed to do and say -- by Assemblyman Jerry Green. All the growling by the Council President at the State's hearing at PHS on June 6 was strictly per the Assemblyman.

Whether or not the Council could have taken any effective action, the reason they didn't act was they were told not to upstage the Assemblyman by looking more pro-active than he. Not even by passing a resolution of support for the universal health care bill then working its way through the Legislature.

So, Monday night's Council meeting will be, like the full-page ad, just another piece of political theater -- designed, not to save Muhlenberg, but to leave the Assemblyman positioned as the statesman who smoothed the way for the shutdown of Muhlenberg Hospital.

Which is at least half true.

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-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield Foreclosures: Maps tell the tale

Pushpin view of SOME of Plainfield's foreclosures.

For those who think I'm just whining (see more about whining here) about Plainfield's foreclosure situation, a little news.

From the real world.

Things in New Jersey are not as bad -- on the whole -- as things in other parts of the country. But that does not mean that things are not bad in parts of New Jersey.

And with more than forty percent of Plainfield mortgages issued from 2004-2006 being subprime, Plainfield is exposed to the dangers in the mortgage meltdown, especially as these subprime mortgages with teaser introductory rates start to reset to higher levels, and many buyers find themselves unable to keep up.

The Ledger posted a foreclosure story on its business blog yesterday, which did not appear in today's online or print editions, but which you can read here. The neat thing is that it includes a link to a map of the county-by-county picture in the state. And if you click on a county in that map, you get a detailed breakdown of the foreclosures by community in that county. Are you sitting down? The numbers are for the month of May ONLY.

Foreclosures by County, May 2008.

Plainfield foreclosures, by ZIP code, for May 2008.

Note that this is a special free peek at a PAY-TO-VIEW site, but you can get an eyeful nonetheless, even with partial functionality.

Check it out.

With 239 new foreclosure items in May and a total, per the Census, of 6,508 owner-occupied homes, the raw figure for Plainfield looks like 37% are in trouble. Or am I whining? [Feedback: "'Anonymous Tom' points out 239/6508 = 3.67% -- still alarming." -- now you know the reason I'm not Secretary of the Treasury -- Dan]

While you are waiting to see if the Robinson-Briggs administration has a clue about what the impact might be, you can ponder what it means for your investment in your own home if foreclosures start peppering your neighborhood.

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• Ledger: "NJ foreclosure filings grow, but slower than nation"

-- Dan Damon

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Solaris hopes for success of final insult to Muhlenberg today

Image: therahealthpro.com.

In what may be a final insult to Muhlenberg, Solaris hopes today to have the state's Health Planning Board recommend that JFK get a license to conduct elective angioplasties at its Edison campus.

Muhlenberg, of course, is nationally-recognized as having operated one of the best programs in the country in a nationwide study being conducted by Johns Hopkins University.

Though Muhlenberg supporters are to be at today's meeting, you can bet your bottom dollar the vote will be to recommend in JFK's favor.

Getting that 'done deal' feeling? I've had it for a while.

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• Ledger: "State revises list of hospitals cleared for angioplasty"
  

-- Dan Damon

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WashPost brings national attention to Muhlenberg

Muhlenberg's plight really was put on the national map with the Washington Post story.

Daniel Schorr, NPR's respected senior correspondent (who began his career as part of the legendary Edward R. Murrow team), used the Muhlenberg situation in his All Things Considered piece on Tuesday to lead into a discussion of healthcare funding issues nationwide. Listen here.

After posting to the blog yesterday, I hopped over to the Washington Post and logged a comment on the story (story is here, comments section here), where I noticed that the Hall Institute, a NJ think tank, had posted a thoughtful comment next before mine.

I also fired off a letter to the editor and an email to the reporter who wrote the story. Will update on that later.

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• NPR: "Daniel Schorr on Muhlenberg and the national healthcare crisis"
  
• Washington Post: "Without funds, N.J. hospitals face crisis"

-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg: The Washington Post gets it right...mostly

In making the front page of the Washington Post (see here), Muhlenberg has become the national poster child for the vexed questions of charity care and hospital closures.

There is a reason the Washington Post is considered one of the country's two national newspapers and the story does not disappoint: the writing is crisp, well-researched, and covers much of the breadth of the story. But not all, or -- in my humble opinion -- even the most important point.

But first, the good parts.

All those who have labored mightily in the 'Save Muhlenberg' struggle deserve a tremendous amount of credit for bringing Muhlenberg's crisis -- and the plight of similar hospitals -- to national attention. Without the weekly meetings, the planning, the rallying, the posters in store and home and car windows, the letters to the editor, all the thousands of little details and efforts, this heroic story would have been lost in the buzz.

And it cannot have hurt that the Courier News, Gannett's local paper, has devoted copious ink to the story -- both by its award-winning writer Brandon Lausch and (before he took early retirement) its health beat reporter Clem Fiorentino, as well as heavy play on the editorial page (I count EIGHT editorials in 2008 alone). All of which provided invaluable background and context for the Post's reporter if he checked it. [The Courier contrasts sharply with the Ledger (O Ledger! Our Ledger! Where are you?!), where the editorial decision from on high appears to have been to limit coverage (not the fault of Plainfield's beat reporter, Alexi Friedman).]

Keith Richburg, the WashPost reporter, covers the bases: the financial costs to Solaris, the impact on the poor and uninsured, the alarm among the state's hospitals over deteriorating finances, and interviews with hospital users and local activists. Huzzah!

But the story suffers from TWO GLARING WEAKNESSES.

First, the RACISM.

We only have to get as far as the fourth paragraph to find --

The situation has come to a head in this city of 48,000 people -- majority black, largely poor and with many new immigrants moving in. (Emphasis added.)

Here we go again. Majority minority communities must be 'largely poor', right?

This common racist assumption just doesn't stand the light of day. Take a look at the 2000 United States Census and see for yourself --

Median household income: Plainfield - $46,683 | US - $41,994
Median family income: Plainfield - $50,774 | US - $50,046
Families below poverty level: Plainfield - 12.2% | US - 9.2%
Individuals below poverty level: Plainfield - 15.9% | US - 12.4%
Plainfield families making between $50,000 and $99,999 - 33.8%
Plainfield families making over $100,000 - 17.0%

Data are from the Census' American FactFinder pages (more here).

Plainfield does NOT compare shabbily with the rest of the country in either family income or household income. And, while the number of families and individuals below the poverty level is above the national medians, it is hardly by a margin such as to earn the term 'largely poor'. Even the harshest statistic, that nearly one in six residents is below the poverty level hardly means 'largely', and is only 3.5% above the NATIONAL median. Plainfield is NOT Camden, or East St. Louis, or Oakland. Or, may I dare say, Washington, D.C.

The Washington Post's bias only echoes that I once found as the city's public information officer -- ranging everywhere from my contacts with the New York Times and the AP to the cable and TV news channels back in 2005, our annus horribilis with 15 homicides.

Isn't it time the media grew up and moved on? Does a largely white-dominated media STILL need to assert its superiority by defining majority minority communities as 'mostly poor'? Where we are looking at the high probability of having an African American president, I certainly hope not. And the Washington Post is just as good a place to begin as any other.

Second, the ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

One simply cannot discuss public policy and public policy decisions in New Jersey without putting POLITICS in the picture.

As City Council candidate Annie McWilliams so eloquently put it in her testimony to the Health Advisory Commission in June, Muhlenberg simply does NOT meet the criteria set out by the state's own commission appointed to 'rationalize' hospital closings. To wit, we are not in an area that is 'overbedded' and by every measure, we ARE in an area serving an underserved and indigent population.

The problem, as always, is the spinelessness of our political leaders in the face of difficult decisions that might anger voters. Far safer to close Muhlenberg, in a reliably Democratic stronghold like Plainfield, than to discuss closing other hospitals where voters might go to the GOP if angered. After all, next year will feature both gubernatorial and legislative races.

Having intently followed Muhlenberg's application a number of years ago for a cardiac surgery license, it was illustrative to see that though Muhlenberg's application was deemed masterful, compelling and accurate, the licenses would instead go to hospitals in Hudson and Essex counties and South Jersey. Three years later, the Hudson County hospital had yet to fund the program or build a facility. But they had the license, which is what counts. In New Jersey, compelling can't trump clout.

At the time, that license was projected to be a lifesaver for Muhlenberg, for which the clouds were already on the horizon. Assemblyman Jerry Green proved to be powerless against the mightier pols of Hudson and Essex.

For those of us who were paying attention, it seemed that only a concerted effort on behalf of Muhlenberg by both Solaris and the city could save the day. Mayor McWilliams proposed a 'medical enterprise zone' which would have brought the financial and other advantages of the state's Enterprise Zone program to the Muhlenberg/Park Avenue corridor. Alas, Mayor Robinson-Briggs never picked up on the concept and it was apparently abandoned.

Solaris seems to have calculated that it was better to try and save JFK than to have both hospitals go under (the April 2007 subdivision of the Muhlenberg property should have been a warning).

Of course, this is background that would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for a reporter writing on deadline to ferret out -- especially if players like Solaris or political figures were loath to cast themselves in anything but the best light.

Nevertheless, the lack of this angle leaves the promise of this story unfulfilled, making it merely good as opposed to outstanding.

Richburg's closing quote from Jim Colvin, UCC pastor and Muhlenberg activist, that "from a 'survival of the fittest' standpoint, it makes sense" evoked what has been my experience of the politics of health care in New Jersey all along, that it is remarkably evocative of Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous lines --

Who trusted God was love indeed
And love Creation's final law
Tho' Nature, red in tooth and claw
With ravine*, shriek'd against his creed

where, in our experience, political expediency trumps all else.

And is it wrong to conclude that what Plainfield is facing is 'genocide lite'?

*'Ravine' is a variant of 'rapine' -- see here.

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• Washington Post: "Without funds, N.J. hospitals face crisis"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Stalking Plainfield foreclosures

If God made Thursdays for choir practice (an old church joke), He must have made Mondays for foreclosures.

Monday's are when the Sheriff's sale notices are published in the Courier, and today three new properties are added to the 19 that were advertised last Monday.

Given that we are hardly at the worst part of the mortgage crisis yet, I have decided to pay more attention to the Plainfield situation, especially since a Realtor^® friend pointed out the alarming number of properties in 'pre-foreclosure' status in town (see more here), and the questions of speculation, abuse and/or fraud that come to mind when some of the dollar amounts are considered (see more on that here).

Recently, a house in the 700-block of Berkeley Avenue that was noted last November as having an upset amount of $996,000 (!), was sold by the bank and closed. Though the sale price is not yet published, I am told it went for about A THIRD of what the banks were into it for. What does that do to the value of other properties in the neighborhood?

Also in the 2nd Ward, a resident noticed a neighbor loading furnishings up into a U-Haul and learned the family was giving up on the home and the mortgage and 'handing the keys back to the bank'. Which means another vacant property, and another sign of our mortgage troubles.

I'm going out with the camera today to take pictures of more properties, but am still not quite sure about whether to post them or not.

It's embarrassing to those caught in the web to have the legal notice pinpoint their property and their name; on the other hand, if the wave of foreclosures mounts (as I fear it will), the whole community will be affected. And shouldn't people have a right to know? And shouldn't public officials have their attention called to a 'quality of life' (how they love that term!) issue -- especially one that can impact the public purse as well as a property owner's?

While I mull whether or not to put the pix on a Google map, I'm lugging out the old digital camera.

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• June 17, 2008: "How bad is Plainfield's subprime mortgage picture?"
• November 11, 2007: "Plainfield Foreclosures"

-- Dan Damon

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What have they done to our Ledger?

Slug for the Ledger's 'The Auditor' column.
What has happened to it?

In putting up CLIPS, links to online stories of interest to Plainfielders, I don't just rely on the website versions, but check over the print editions to point readers to stuff that doesn't always see the light of pixels, as in two items from today's print editions not online (a FOSH story in the Ledger, and a Literacy Volunteers of UC item in the Courier).

When I pulled apart the Ledger, it seemed that the 'Perpectives' section was missing. That's the Sunday section with the editorials, OpEds and regular columnists The Auditor, Paul Mulshine, Fran Wood and (occasionally) John Farmer, as well as the long-running conversation between former governors Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne.

Yup. It was missing.

And online, the front-page lead story about a failed -- and costly -- housing project in Newark was nowhere to be found. And there were NO stories from any of the county bureaus, though they appeared in the print edition.

To my surprise, the editorials popped up on page 2 of the 'New Jersey' print section, in the regular weekday slot. With an OpEd and Fran Wood on the opposite page. No Auditor column.

What is going on?

In the far right bottom corner of page 3, I spotted the following notice, under the spot illustration used for 'The Auditor' --

To our readers

The Auditor appears today on page 18.

Letters to the editor, which appear under the heading Reader Forum, will run Monday through Saturday on the editorial page, and may be found here (evidently OpEd's) and here (letters).

Paul Mulshine's column will rotate on Sundays with Fran Wood's column.

The Byrne-Kean Dialogue, which used to appear every other Sunday, will now appear every other Monday on the op-ed page.

What is going on? Did I miss some important -- but tiny -- previous notice? Perhaps.

But this probably goes hand-in-hand with other changes at newspapers of which the Ledger is only the largest local incarnation. (By the way, the book reviews seem to have been moved to the 'Sunday' section, where they appear in a decidedly LITE form.)

Is the dispersal of the 'Perspectives' section to the four winds another sign of cost control?

There is plenty of talk about costs at both local papers, including constant staff turnover, increased reliance on AP feeds instead of reporters on the ground, and tinkering with layouts and page placement.

The real story is that advertising revenue at both Gannett (parent of the Courier) and Advance (which publishes the Ledger) continues its downward spiral.

At least it seems that we can now find letters to the editor online (something that always stumped me in the past; you may want to bookmark the links above).

Progress?

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-- Dan Damon

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July 4 Parade: A Slideshow

The 4th of July parade always recharges my batteries.

Not because of the pols on parade, but because ordinary folks of every kind come out to parade their causes, celebrate their pride in America's promise, and renew their hopes for her better future. And the kids, who take it all in with wide and eager eyes, are the ones who will see it when it comes. Herewith, a selection of sights from yesterday's parade...

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-- Dan Damon

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Independence: A momentous fork in the road

What did it mean that these representatives of the rebellious colonies -- already de facto at war for a year -- resolved to declare independence of Great Britain and that 'a decent respect to the opinions of mankind' required them to detail the causes for their course of action?

And what has it meant for the world and us that they did so?

Enjoy the Sousa, the parades, the music and the fireworks.

And find some time to reflect on the beginnings.

PHS players carry giant flag in 2004 parade.

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• Library of Congress: "Declaration of Independence Resources"
• See also "U.S. History.org" and "Wikipedia" -- which has an excellent overview.
  

-- Dan Damon

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Davis acquitted in DWI

Justice has been wrought.

Councilor Don Davis, as reported in today's Ledger, Courier and by Bernice at the Plaintalker, has been acquitted of the March, 2007 DWI charge (see links at end of story).

Did the long-unresolved charge affect the outcome in the June 3 Democratic primary?

Hard to tell, but I certainly got an earful from residents about the fact that the case went unresolved for so long.

In fact, Davis and I discussed the postponement way back in May. At the time, I suggested that the electorate was really quite resilient about matters that were IN THE PAST, and that if the charge had been resolved earlier, all the whispering during the primary might never have taken place, with a possibility that his race would have been won.

I coulda been right. I coulda been wrong.

And Councilor Davis mighta been looking at a second term.

We'll never know.

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• Davis DWI Case: "Councilman acquitted" -- Ledger | Courier | Plaintalker

-- Dan Damon

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Perth Amboy: Any lessons for Plainfield?

Perth Amboy got its first female mayor yesterday, just as Plainfield did in 2006.

There the similarity ends, notwithstanding the fact that Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs motored to the 'City By The Bay' for the ceremonies.

Wilda Diaz, who won a stunning upset victory over 18-year incumbent (and Assemblyman) Joe Vas, started her term by announcing she would take a $20,000 salary cut immediately, would propose term limits and new, tough pay-to-play ordinance. Among the guests at her swearing-in was U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.

Taking a salary cut is unheard of in political circles and certainly an attention-getter; only time will tell whether her other initiatives will get approval and make a long-term difference in Perth Amboy.

More importantly, and here is where there could be a REAL lesson for Plainfield, the Ledger takes note of her support among high school youth, who formed an organization and registered about 100 voters in her cause this past spring, even though some of the activist students were not themselves old enough to vote.

Plainfield pols take note.

As an aside, it is noted that borough attorney Frank Capece was immediately replaced.

Perth Amboy is one of several New Jersey communities with nonpartisan municipal elections, which are held in May; the newly-elected officials are sworn in on July 1.

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• Ledger: "New mayor has busy first day"
• HNT: "Diaz sworn in as city's first female mayor"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Yes, Plainfielders, Chris Christie does want to hear from you

Yes, Plainfielders, U.S. Attorney Chris Christie DOES want to hear from YOU.

And I think you can take him at his word that he will not tape your conversation.

I was unprepared for the number of city employees who pulled me aside on a visit to City Hall yesterday, saying they wanted to call the U.S. Attorney about all sorts of practices, but were worried that word might get out.

If there are messes to be cleaned up, as many of us believe, it will only happen when those with knowledge of them pass it along to someone who can do something about it.

Christie is already looking into the Union County scene, and you can bet those lumps in Plainfield's carpet are covering plenty of stuff shoved under.

U.S. Attorney Chris Christie is asking anyone with a complaint about suspecting wrongdoing by government actors (elected and appointed officials, holders of contracts, etc.) to call him directly or, if they prefer, the FBI. Christie says in the interview he likes to talk with people directly and does not record his phone calls, so people need not be concerned on that score.

Contact numbers:

U.S. Attorney Chris Christie - (973)645-2700
FBI's Newark office - (973) 792-3000

Go ahead, make the call.

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• Countywatchers: "Nervous? I'd say"
• Westfield Leader: "Sharpe James going to jail, Christie says" (PDF) -- Where Christie discusses Union County pols and invites complaints.
• Westfield Leader: "Video of Christ Christie interview"

-- Dan Damon

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