"JERRY ... you sold us out"

Detail from a piece circulating in the 22nd District.

Plainfielders can hardly be surprised to learn of last minute 'dirty tricks' in political campaigns.

Remember the phony 'endorsement letter' mailer in which then-Senator Jon Corzine supposedly supported Sharon Robinson-Briggs for mayor in 2005?

Corzine's signature was misappropriated by Assemblyman Jerry Green & Co. and pasted onto a letter jerry-rigged to look like official U.S. Senate stationery. When contacted by the McWilliams campaign, Corzine's staff was astonished and said that Corzine had not authorized any such letter.

Whatever words were exchanged between Corzine and Jerry Green, Corzine never publicly repudiated the letter. Robinson-Briggs was elected and Corzine subsequently didn't show his face in Plainfield for years.

(It was, for Plainfielders, a first glimpse at Corzine's style under pressure, and entirely indicative of why he is in such a tight race for re-election.)

Now, it seems, payback time is here.

An anonymous postcard-type piece, in stark black-and-white except for the word 'CLOSED' in bright red, targets Assemblyman Jerry Green for the closure of Muhlenberg Hospital.

The piece surfaced this past weekend, stuck under windshield wipers throughout Plainfield, North Plainfield, Fanwood and Dunellen, according to readers, one of whom snagged me a copy. I don't know if it appeared in other District 22 communities, but it seems likely thousands were spread around in the Muhlenberg service area.

It shows a young woman of color, apparently reading a pregnancy test result, adding 'now she'll have to take the bus to have her baby' -- a reference to the fact that Plainfield mothers-to-be who would normally have delivered at Muhlenberg must now go to Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth.

(Readers may recall that a baby was recently delivered in the back seat of a cab at the North Avenue train station, after the mother had to wait for the cab to come from Metuchen -- the ONLY cab company authorized by Solaris Health System to transport delivering women to Trinitas. Yes, with FIVE cab companies in Plainfield, Solaris approved one from Metuchen.)

Republicans have denied having anything to do with the piece, as have Muhlenberg supporters.

Whoever is behind the piece, it is clearly designed to tap into voter resentment over Assemblyman Green's role in the closure of Muhlenberg.

Here is a scan of the piece --

---

Jerry Sold Us Out

---

While we are on the subject of 'dirty tricks', the Democratic State Committee has been identified as being behind the pro-Daggett robocalls reported in the media (see here) -- despite an initial flat-out denial by Dem state chairman Joe Cryan.

At least we have the comfort of knowing it will all be over at 8:00 PM tonight.

Whatever else you do today, don't forget to vote -- for the best person by your lights.

---

• PolitickerNJ: "Democrats admit paying for pro-Daggett robocall"

-- Dan Damon

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

10 reasons to vote for Mayor Sharon

Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Here are ten reasons to give Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs a second term. (Follow the links if your memory needs refreshing.)

10. She's a MATH WHIZ.

• Defying the laws of mathematics and gravity, Mayor Sharon singlehandedly reduced Plainfield's murder rate by 300% (see here).

9. She understands the importance of TIMELINESS.

• By failing to use the 2-year window to renegotiate the Comcast cable franchise, she insured Plainfield customers are locked in without any further benefit to the community (see here);

• Don't forget she was flown by helicopter to a must-attend Trenton meeting -- at taxpayer expense -- because state officials wanted her there ON TIME (see here).

8. Her use of CITIZEN VOLUNTEERS.

• Boards and commissions have languished awaiting appointments by Her Honor. Resumés are submitted, 'lost', resubmitted and 'lost' again. Longtime appointees are summarily dropped if they don't see eye-to-eye with Her Honor (see here).

• Mayor Sharon has never implemented the Civic Participation ordinance championed by the late Councilor Ray Blanco which required posting details about all Boards and Commissions online, as well as downloadable information on how to volunteer.

7. She is a MASTER OF COMMUNICATION.

• Mostly by not taking or returning phone calls, as reported publicly by Jay Jefferson Cooke in the Courier News, but also privately by elected officials from other towns (see here).

• And let's not forget, Mayor Sharon singlehandedly took down a working City website and left Plainfield without a viable online presence for months on end (see here).

6. She is a PERSONNEL EXPERT.

• Consider that in one term, Mayor Robinson-Briggs is now on her -- hmmm, 5th? -- Director of Administration and Finance, her third City Administrator, and is now in VERY HOT WATER with the State for not having appointed a Chief Financial Officer for nearly two years, despite the position being consitutionally mandated (see here and here).

• Oh, and let's not forget the hundreds of thousand of dollars spent on hiring political operative Nagy Sileem for a low-show job with the DPW, and, of course, her personal bodyguard detail, which served for three years before it was finally admitted there was no credible threat to Her Honor's personal safety (see here).

5. She is TOUGH ON CRIME --

• Except when it comes to insiders. For instance, she has never prosecuted the person responsible for pocketing more than $4,000 in cash missing from a Tax Collector's deposit (see here).

• Nor did Her Honor prosecute a former City Administrator for paying $135,000 in city funds -- without City Council approval -- to an IT consultant firm in which he failed to disclose he had a personal interest, not to mention other financial shenanigans (see here).

4. Her record on DEVELOPMENT and REDEVELOPMENT.

• With pliant Zoning and Planning Boards and nearly two dozen projects on the books, Robinson-Briggs managed to deliver ONLY ONE in her entire first term, the ill-fated Monarch condos and Senior Center. Delays have frustrated the Seniors and veterans who still await their promised quarters, and the public has been outraged by Robinson-Briggs' proposal for tax abatements for condo buyers (see here).

3. She is sensitive to HOME FORECLOSURE AND TENANT ISSUES.

• Robinson-Briggs is so sensitive to the plight of HOMEOWNERS losing their homes through foreclosure that she organized a bus tour for POTENTIAL BUYERS of the homes of those in trouble with their mortgages. And brags about it! (see here).

• As for TENANTS, Robinson-Briggs targeted the 'Safe Homes' initiative for elimination within months of taking office. Through regular inspections, the program would have guaranteed City awareness of the deteriorating conditions at Connolly Properties long before they hit the headlines. Then, after hosting Connolly tenant meetings, she fails to get back to them (see item 7 above) (see here).

2. She understands President Obama's STIMULUS MONEY is to be used wisely, not wastefully.

• So, instead of using Stimulus money to repave Somerset Street from Front to the North Plainfield line, one of the projects on her list (see here), the money is used instead on Geraud Avenue, a road-to-nowhere (see here).

1. MUHLENBERG.

• Both Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Assemblyman Jerry Green proved lacking in both vision and leadership by coming too late and with too little gumption to the struggle to save Muhlenberg. Robinson-Briggs has never to this day taken up her proper role as a member of the Muhlenberg Board, deflecting any questions or criticism by saying she prefers to 'deal with Trenton directly'. You will find no footage of Mayor Sharon chained to the front door of Muhlenberg Hospital on Channel 74. When you look closely, you will see that what she really did was SMOOTH THE WAY for Solaris to close Muhlenberg (see here).

So, there are the ten reasons to vote a second term for Mayor Robinson-Briggs.

Tuesday is Election Day.

I certainly hope you exercise your right to vote, and that you urge your friends to do likewise.

And, in the privacy of your heart and the voting booth, vote for the person you believe will best serve the people of Plainfield.

---

-- Dan Damon

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

Corzine must do better the second time around

The promise Jon Corzine showed in 2005 has proven illusory.
(Shown here in 2005 with Mayor Al McWilliams and Councilor Rashid Burney.)

Jon Corzine must do better as governor the second time around.

And thoughtful Plainfielders must put aside their anger and disappointment with him in order to maximize the chances that things will ever get better for our community.

There is no denying that by failing to implement his own standards on 'rationalizing' New Jersey's hospital situation, the closure of Muhlenberg Hospital -- with the deterioration of healthcare services delivery it has brought and the economic hardship wrought on the community by the loss of 1,100 jobs -- is a blot on Corzine's reputation that can only be healed by the hospital's restoration, if at all.

Assemblyman Jerry Green and Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs proved lacking in both vision and leadership by coming too late and with too little gumption to the struggle to save Muhlenberg.

There is also no denying that the dismantling of the Abbott v. Burke decision is going to cost Plainfield taxpayers severely over the long haul. The crux of the Abbott settlement was that the Supreme Court put an obligation on the state to ensure that students in the 'Abbott' districts received a 'thorough and efficient' education as guaranteed by the State constitution, and provide the financial resources necessary.

While there is a three-year review period for the new funding scheme, no one was predicting the severe recession the country is passing through and it does not seem realistic to assume the new formula will be overturned -- or that any extra aid for the Abbott districts (including Plainfield) will be available beyond the review period.

This means that Plainfield taxpayers will be faced with an increased burden for the schools. It is worth remembering that Assemblyman Jerry Green cast the deciding vote in the Assembly for this new funding formula.

So, Plainfielders have much to be angry and disappointed about with Gov. Jon Corzine.

What are the options?

Some folks think that Chris Daggett offers a breath of fresh air as an outsider. Others think that Chris Christie's tough stance on public corruption means that he will clean the muck from Trenton's Augean stables.

Given that Democrats are not going to lose control of the Assembly, all of whose seats are up for election Tuesday, GOVERNING with a Democratic legislature is a key consideration.

For anything useful and beneficial to get done, we will need Corzine in the governor's office.

But there is another, and I think more important, reason Corzine must be re-elected.

Nationally, Republicans are viewing the two governors' races this year -- New Jersey and Virginia -- as a proving ground for whether President Obama's initiatives can be derailed, the GOP hand strengthened in advance of the 2010 midterm elections, and Obama effectively rendered a lame duck before the end of his first year in office.

For those who believed in Barack Obama and voted for him last year, this is a decisive moment.

If Jon Corzine loses in New Jersey, Barack Obama will be wounded and the ability of his administration to deliver on key fronts such as healthcare reform and leading the country out of the deepest recession since the Great Depression will be severely compromised.

For this reason, I think Plainfielders must put aside their anger and disappointment in his lackluster performance and cast their vote for Jon Corzine and his running mate, Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who will become New Jersey's first lieutenant governor.

Corzine must do better in a second term. He must show some spine and take on the issues of tackling the nation's highest property tax burden and cleaning up the worst public corruption anywhere in the country.

If he does not, he will fail not just Plainfield, but President Obama, New Jersey and the entire country.

---

-- Dan Damon

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

The soon-to-be-former BUF?

Plainfield's 'BUF' has been identified by this sign in recent years.

Reading an article in The Positive Community magazine on the National Black United Fund's recent launch of a campaign to increase donors and donations (see here), I kept waiting for mention of Plainfield's BUF facility. To no avail.

Puzzled, I asked a reader who knows New Jersey's social services scene if there was a reason Plainfield wasn't mentioned.

Seems there is.

I remember the sign, which used to say 'Black United Fund', changed a few years ago, and simply assigned it to the design of the new sign, which designates the Plainfield building as 'BUF Health and Human Services' (the AANJ's headquarters facility is the Ambrose/Ward Mansion in East Orange -- see here).

But, I was told, there was a court ruling in favor of NBUF that AANJ may not used 'BUF' in its marketing or signage. Good luck finding any mention of it by Googling.

So, is the snap a picture of another soon-to-be-vanishing piece of Plainfieldiana?

Keep an eye on the corner of West 7th Street and Central Avenue for your answer.

---

• The Positive Community: "National BUF: New Dimensions in Charitable Giving"
• National Black United Fund: "NBUF Homepage" | "NCCS: NBUF stats"
  
• Wikipedia: "National Black United Fund"
• AAFNJ: "The African American Fund of NJ" | "NCCS: AANJ stats" (Still listed as BUF-NJ)
  

-- Dan Damon

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

All Dem 'volunteers' are not actually volunteers

A Plainfield Today reader forwarded the following email they received from Plainfield's Democratic HQ --

Good day,

We only have seven days left until the 2009 Gubernatorial Election and we can still use your help! This is the last stretch of the campaign and we would like to have as much support as possible to ensure that our President gets the right people in office to carry out his mission. In order to make this happen we need you! Governor Corzine, Assembly members Linda Stender and Jerry Green, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, and Bridget Rivers need you.

We are asking for people to help with passing out literature on Monday, November 2nd from 3PM-7PM and on Tuesday, November 3rd from 7AM-8PM (1hr lunch). VOLUNTEERS WHO COME FOR THOSE DAYS/TIMES WILL RECEIVE PAY, $25 for Monday and $75 Tuesday. Spots are filling up quickly, so if you would like to help out please contact Geraldine Smith at 908.405.7620, Keri Baucum at 732.770.2244 or send an email to plfddemhq@gmail.com no later than Friday, October 30th by 5PM.

Thank you,
Plainfield Democratic HQ

So, if someone gets paid to 'volunteer', what is it called when they do it for nothing?

---

-- Dan Damon

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

Are Mapp's Town Hall meetings worthwhile?

A Plainfield Today reader, with whom I was discussing Councilor Adrian Mapp's town hall meeting in advance of last night, expressed some scepticism as to whether this kind of forum was worthwhile, saying they saw no immediate benefit from Mapp's previous Town Hall in August, which focused on the then-proposed tax abatement for buyers of condos at the Monarch project (see report on that meeting here).

Let's review: Residents were both confused about what exactly the abatement was, and why it was restricted to Monarch condo buyers only. Councilor Mapp listened, took notes, and asnwered as well as he could.

Subsequently, when the Robinson-Briggs administration was REPEATEDLY unable to convincingly explain its case for the abatement to the Council, the whole proposal collapsed, with Council President Burney's comment sealing its fate, 'We will not be voting on the tax abatement ordinance.'

That seems to me to be a pretty direct outcome of the Town Hall meeting.

But even if there were no such direct impact, I think that Mapp's Town Hall meetings have great value.

Time and again, researchers point to the lack of trust in elected officials felt by ordinary folks.

In Plainfield, we often hear that lack of trust expressed along the lines of 'the only time we hear from a politician is when they are looking for our votes'.

Councilor Mapp is countering that broken trust in two ways -- first, by having the Town Hall meetings at all, and, secondly, by his style in conducting them, which is to make sure that they are primarily OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESIDENTS TO SOUND OFF, and not for showboating or windbagging by elected officials.

And I would say residents are responding warmly to the opportunity.

It also has an advantage which regular Council meetings (because they are now only held monthly and are weighted down with lengthy agendas) DO NOT HAVE: those wishing to speak do not have to wait until near the midnight hour to say what's on their mind.

One can sense the ease with which folks talk to Mapp, and I think that indicates the building up of a level of trust that those who do not reach out to their constituents should envy.

As I said to my reader, recalling my farm upbringing: 'It's like plowing a field. That's only the first step in a long process that leads to the harvest. But a necessary first step.'

---

• Plainfield Today --
• 8/13/2007: "Town Hall meeting on proposed condo tax abatements tonight"
• 8/14/2007: "Public not crazy about condo tax abatements"
• 3 further posts: "Documents online" | "Monarch wrinkles" | "Mapp hits nerve"
  

-- Dan Damon

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

UPDATE: Mayor Sharon and 'lying bloggers challenge'

Plainfield Mayor Robinson-Briggs said bloggers "dont' always tell the truth".

On October 16, Plainfield Today challenged Mayor Robinson-Briggs to cite chapter and verse to back up her charge that "city bloggers don't always tell the truth" (quoting Bernice, see here).

It is now two weeks since the challenge was issued, and no response from the Mayor -- except to assert at the League of Women Voters forum that residents can't get the facts from the blogs.

Chapter and verse please, Mayor. Readers are waiting.

---

• Plainfield Today: "Challenge to Mayor Sharon on blogger allegations"

-- Dan Damon

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

Town Hall Meeting: Quote of the Night

My nomination for Quote of the Night from Plainfield Councilor Adrian Mapp's town hall meeting at the Plainfield Public Library last evening would be this, from remarks made by Assemblyman Jerry Green to the 40-or so attendees --

"One of the things I have tried to do over the past few years is keep the city out of trouble."

Going on to speak of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) situation, in which the Robinson-Briggs administration has 90 days to find and appoint a CFO (with the possibility of a 90-day extension), Green added that --

"without a CFO in place, [Plainfield] will not qualify for [state] grants."

Just another day in the Robinson-Briggs administration, I guess.

---

-- Dan Damon

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

Muhlenberg a big focus of races

Sign on a Watchung Avenue yard during Muhlenberg closure crisis.

Plainfield's Muhlenberg Hospital is the gift that keeps on giving -- headaches, that is -- for incumbent candidates Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Assembly incumbents Jerry Green and Linda Stender.

Though taxes, crime and development were among the issues focused on in the League of Women Voters' mayoral forum Wednesday evening, attendees were plenty vexed over the loss of Muhlenberg Hospital and the role of incumbent politicians in same.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs totally ducked a question asking what she had done BY WORKING THROUGH HER MEMBERSHIP ON THE MUHLENBEG BOARD to save or reopen the hospital. Avoiding any mention that she has NEVER TAKEN UP HER SEAT ON THE BOARD, she said she and Assemblyman Green had chosen instead to 'deal directly with Trenton'.

To what effect we can all see.

Assemblyman Green was at pains, as he has been throughout the campaign, to point out that he had done 'nothing illegal' in being a vice president with the Alman Group, which lobbies on behalf of hospitals throughout the state according to Green.

Green's relationship with Alman was previously undisclosed until an article appeared in the Courier in October, 2007 (see here), detailing how lawmakers can hide conflicts of interest.

The day after the story appeared, Green announced he had resigned from the lobbying firm (see here).

Ever since, Green has gone out of his way to point out that he did nothing illegal, a point with which his opponent 'Bo' Vastine agreed at Wednesday's League of Women Voters forum. Citing New Jersey's 'culture of corruption', Vastine was careful to say that he was not accusing Green of breaking the law, but that the exact point he was making was how the way ethics have been defined in New Jersey make profiting from abuses of the public trust perfectly acceptable.

Screenshot of Jerry Green's page on the Alman Group website, 10/1/2007.
(Click to enlarge or print.)

It's an old story, but will it make a difference to voters as the go to the polls on Tuesday?

That Muhlenberg is an important issue, on which incumbents Jerry Green and Linda Stender feel vulnerable, can be seen in the expensive, four-color mailer which hit District 22 mailboxes on Tuesday.

The piece, titled 'The TRUTH About Muhlenberg' simply repeats the laundry list of issues with Solaris, asking the reader to 'join [Green and Stender] so that together, we can re-open Muhlenberg hospital'.

The other side reprints a Courier editorial of March 20, 2009, lauding Jerry for saber-rattling against Solaris.

That editorial did Green no good at the LWV forum, where one of his opponents, Marty Marks, read the Courier's endorsement of the Marks-Vastine team over incumbents Green and Stender.

Meanwhile, both Vastine (see here) and independent mayoral candidate Deborah Dowe (see here) posted a letter from GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie promising a top-to-bottom review of the Muhlenberg closure is he is elected.

Muhlenberg is obviously on voters' minds. How much of a difference it will make in Tuesday's elections is an unknown.

But all parties seem to agree it will make some difference.

Why else spend so much time and money on the issue?

---

• Courier --
• 10/1/2007: "Lawmakers still finding ways to hide conflicts"
• 10/3/2007: "Green resigns from lobbying firm"
  

-- Dan Damon

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

Dan was wrong! Do you hear me -- wrong, wrong, wrong!

In my post on Monday that it was about time for Mayor Robinson-Briggs to pull a rabbit out of the hat in regard to Muhlenberg Hospital (see here), I was wrong.

Do you hear me?! Wrong, wrong, wrong!

I predicted that Mayor Sharon would call a meeting of the Community Advisory Group (CAG), of which she is the convenor, to announce that she was in talks with buyers (note the plural 's') for Muhlenberg.

I was wrong.

There was indeed a meeting of the CAG on Tuesday evening.

But neither Mayor Robinson-Briggs nor Assemblyman Jerry Green made an appearance.

Was it perhaps because they might have faced questions about Muhlenberg's Adult Day Care program, which is being moved away from the Plainfield campus to Edison by corporate parent Solaris Health System?

The move, quietly scheduled for this past Saturday -- that's right, you never knew about it! -- was mysteriously cancelled, even though the vans had arrived to make the move, when Edison refused to give a Certificate of Occupancy for the new premises.

A government employee working overtime in Edison on a Saturday to deny a C/O that surely had been worked on for weeks, if not months?

Rumors immediately began circulating whether an unnamed Democratic Assemblyman had pulled strings to avoid a potentially embarrassing incident just days before he faces a voting public upset over the fate of Muhlenberg.

More man-behind-yellow-curtain stuff?

Put that rabbit back in that hat, Dan.

---

• Plainfield Today -- "It's rabbit-out-of-hat time in Plainfield"

-- Dan Damon

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

Town Hall on Plainfield finances, other issues tonight

Plainfielders have an important opportunity to discuss important community issues BEFORE next Tuesday's general election, at which we will vote for Mayor, Council and Assembly seats -- as well as Governor and, for the first time ever, Lt. Governor.

Councilor Adrian Mapp continues his series of Town Hall meetings, with an opportunity this evening for residents to sound off on the state of Plainfield's finances and financial management as well as other topics of interest, expected to include everything from tax increases to roads projects, from the Muhlenberg situation to the Senior Center condos, from a late budget to squelching voluntary sports activities (see Mapp's website here).

---

Councilor Adrian Mapp: Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, October 29
6:30 PM

Councilor Adrian Mapp is sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting
to discuss Plainfield finances and financial situation
and other topics of concern to residents.

Anne Louise Davis Meeting Room
Plainfield Public Library
Park Avenue and 8th Street

---

• Councilor Adrian Mapp: "Town Hall Meeting"
  

-- Dan Damon

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

Somethin' funny with the (PAS) Stimulus money

You'd think with the mayoral election less than a week away, Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs would not want another how-does-she-handle-the-city's-finances matter on her plate.

Yet, here we are.

I got rumbles yesterday that the Plainfield Action Services (PAS) board had forced a meeting with City Administrator Marc Dashield to get to the bottom of what has happened to approximately $93,000 of a $267,909 grant to the agency for a jobs-training program.

At the end of the day, Dashield was not able to tell the Board members exactly where the money has gone.

A little background, first on the agency, then on the grant.

Plainfield Action Services (PAS) is the successor of the original 1960s-era War on Poverty agency that came into existence under President Lyndon B. Johnson as part of his 'Great Society' initiatives.

Those old enough to remember will recall that this was the first time in history that poor and minority people were actually going to have a chance for a direct say in how Federal money was going to be spent to improve their neighborhoods and their lives.

It was a period of intense community engagement, and the interest was reflected in balancing how the boards of the local agencies would be constructed, so as to ensure all stakeholders seats at the table. This meant large -- sometimes even huge -- boards, composed of community representatives as well as elected officials and members from nonprofits and social agencies.

(ASIDE: My SECOND job after college was funded through LBJ's anti-poverty agency, the Office of Economic Opportunity, or OEO, training welfare recipients to organize their own neighborhoods to participate in an agency like PAS; along with my friend Bill T., who later despaired of working within 'the establishment' and became head of the local Black Panther chapter.)

These boards exercised oversight over the agency's activities and expenditure of funds, while the municipality involved often became (as in Plainfield's case) the fiscal agent, since there was mistrust about how careful residents would be with the expenditure of monies.

How ironic in hindsight.

As for the grant Dashield can't explain, don't feel bad if it doesn't jog your memory.

It is meant to fund a job-training program with a start- and end-point, and included a line item for purchase of a van to transport the 'trained' workers to 'warehouses' where they would be employed.

It was never made explicit in any of the ARRA (Stimulus Plan) smoke-and-mirrors presentations by the Robinson-Briggs administration.

If you check the secret City web pages on the Stimulus (see here), you will see on Page 5 a 'Community Development Block Grant' for an unspecified amount on which the City was 'awaiting agency guidance'. Was that the grant in question? Could be, but since the City has never updated those web pages, you would be taking a shot in the dark.

(ANOTHER ASIDE: Would it be mean of me, while we're looking at these pages, to point out that on Page 2 of the Stimulus subsite, you will see a figure for road work for Somerset Street [never commenced], but NOT for Geraud Avenue [never listed, but undertaken as a Stimulus project, see here]? OK, I will NOT be mean.)

Maybe we'll have better luck checking the ARRA update posted by the Robinson-Briggs administration in early August (see here, in PDF). If you check slide 6 of the 9-slide show, you will find an item entitled 'Community Services Block Grant', which at $267,000 is the closest in any city documentation to the actual grant in question. The City does not list its purpose, only that it was a formula-based grant, and has been awarded. I'm guessing that this is the grant in question.

Who is to run the jobs-training program, PAS or another agency, or ... a 'consultant' picked in the slippery 'fair and open' manner so beloved by the Robinson-Briggs administration? Where are the monies kept and who monitors how they are spent?

Unfortunately, the PAS Board has not gotten straight answers to these questions.

Are the funds just missing? Misspent?

If checks were cut, to whom? For what services? Based on what vouchers? And, if contracts were involved, where are the necessary Council resolutions?

The PAS Board should be commended for having the guts to ask for answers to these and other questions.

Let's hope they get them.

Sooner rather than later.

---

• City of Plainfield: "Plainfield's Stimulus Tracking Web Pages"
• Plainfield Today --
• "Plainfield Stimulus money reaches dead end"
• "Plainfield Stimulus $$$ update: Still hokey after all these months"

-- Dan Damon

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

Muhlenberg: The world according to Dottie G.

Protesters at first 'Save Muhlenberg' rally, March, 2008.

Plainfield's inimitable Dottie Gutenkauf has written an election piece attacking Republican candidates 'Bo' Vastine and Marty Marks, which was given prominent display under its 'Guest Commentary' section by the Courier in Sunday's print edition.

The piece was called to my attention by a reader in an email yesterday, which led me to look into how I missed it.

Turns out it was in the PRINT EDITION of the paper on Sunday, but NOT ONLINE. As I have pointed out before, I put the CLIPS blog together early in the AM from online sources (it is, after all, LINKS to online stories).

Since it was not online, I did not catch it, though I did pick up three Courier pieces, including an anti-Chris-Christie letter to the editor by Tiran Billlups.

It was evidently put up by the Courier staff later on Sunday, and can be found here.

Dottie makes a full-throated defense of the notion that only those who personed the barricades have a legitimate right to comment on the Muhlenberg situation.

While her portrayal of the involvement (heroic, she thinks) of Jerry Green and Linda Stender, as well as Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, may be open to other interpretations, she certainly has a right to hers. Just don't mistake it for what journalists like to call 'objective' reporting.

This incident just underscores one of my ongoing peeves with the Courier -- the inconsistent way the online version squares up with the print edition.

For instance, weekend before last there were two items on Parliament Funkadelic founders Ernie Worrell (who has a new group, SociaLybrium) and George Clinton (who has an upcoming gig at the War Memorial in Trenton) -- see the CLIPS page here.

My gridge? The Worrell story, lengthy and worthwhile, covering the less-famous Funkadelic founder and his migration to a new phase, was eminently worth sharing. Unfortunately, it was not online, and an email inquiry to the managing editor got a response that it would not be put up, period. The less noteworthy, and very brief, George Clinton item was, however, available for all online. Go figure.

I am not sure Gutenkauf's rant is anything more than pablum for the preconvinced, but it is your right to read it.

Go ahead.

The march looped along the Park Avenue sidewalk.

---

• Courier: "Republicans didn't help with Muhlenberg"

-- Dan Damon

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

Man accused of sexually assaulting 5-year-old boy

An alarming Ledger story concerning an alleged sexual assault against a 5-year old boy was posted yesterday (see here).

The headline caught my eye as there have been rumors for weeks that a Plainfield man was arrested on September 28 (a month ago) on a similar -- if not identical -- charge.

The difference here is that though it is rumored the local man was charged, removed from Plainfield's jail to the Union County jail, with bail set at $150,000, no information on the case seems to be publicly available; whereas, the subject of the Ledger story was arrested on this past Saturday and the story appeared in Monday's editions.

Does anyone know anything further about this matter and/or why it has not been made public?

---

• Ledger: "Man accused of sexually assaulting 5-year-old boy"

-- Dan Damon

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

Important meetings: LWV Forum Wednesday, Mapp Town Hall Thursday

Plainfielders have two important opportunities to discuss (and hear the candidates discuss) important community issues BEFORE next Tuesday's general election, at which we will vote for Mayor, Council and Assembly seats -- as well as Governor and, for the first time ever, Lt. Governor.

Plainfield's 89-year-old chapter of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters hosts its candidate forum on Wednesday (see the LWV website here).

Councilor Adrian Mapp continues his series of Town Hall meetings, with an opportunity on Thursday to sound off on the state of Plainfield's finances and financial management as well as other topics of interest, expect to include everything from tax increases to roads projects, from the Muhlenberg situation to the Senior Center condos, from a late budget to squelching voluntary sports activities (see Mapp's website here).

See below for event locations and times.

---

Leage of Women Voters Candidates' Forum

Wednesday, October 28
6:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

The Plainfield chapter of the League of Women Voters will present its candidates' forum
in two segments: at 6:30 PM, candidates for the 22nd District Assembly seats;
at 7:30 PM, candidates for Mayor and the Ward 4 Council seat.

At Emerson Community School, East Third Street at Emerson Avenue.

---

Councilor Adrian Mapp: Town Hall Meeting

Thursday, October 29
6:30 PM

Councilor Adrian Mapp is sponsoring a Town Hall Meeting
to discuss Plainfield finances and financial situation
and other topics of concern to residents.

Anne Louise Davis Meeting Room
Plainfield Public Library
Park Avenue and 8th Street

---

• Plainfield League of Women Voters: "LWV website"
• Councilor Adrian Mapp: "Town Hall Meeting"
  

-- Dan Damon

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

It's rabbit-out-of-hat time in Plainfield!

Pols are famous for pulling rabbits out of hats
as Election Day approaches.

As Plainfield's mayoral race comes down to the last week, it's time for Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs to start pulling rabbits out of hats, in the age-old incumbents' dodge.

My nomination for today?

MUHLENBERG.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs, who has never taken up her duties as a member of the Muhlenberg Board in her entire first term, cannot be oblivious to the sentiment among voters that the closure of Muhlenberg has been a disaster for Plainfield and the surrounding communities -- both with regard to the quality of healthcare delivery and the economic impact of the loss of 1,100 jobs (and their purchasing power) from the local economy.

What to do?

How about convening a meeting of the Community Advisory Group, set up to monitor Solaris Health System's compliance with the conditions set by the state in exchange for permission to shut down Muhlenberg?

And use the meeting to announce that Mayor Robinson-Briggs was working hard to find a buyer for Muhlenberg -- in fact, was (breathless gush!) IN TALKS AT THIS VERY MOMENT for a new (but unnamed) buyer for the hospital.

Never mind that the sale of Muhlenberg is NOT PART OF THE CHARTER of the Community Advisory Group (CAG), or that in this economic climate, with financing hard to come by, there is not a likely candidate for PURCHASE. But, given the makeup of the CAG**, Mayor Sharon might be able to flummox them anyway.

And just think of how some voters, upset over the loss of Muhlenberg but not really attentive to Mayor Robinson-Briggs' role in that loss, may be swayed by having THIS RABBIT pulled out of the hat, especially if they read it in the Courier or Ledger.

Or will they?

---

**Community Advisory Group (CAG) Roster

1) Assemblyman Jerry Green
2) Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Mayor
3) Marc Dashield, City Administrator
4) Rashid Burney, Council President
5) Marc Collicchio, Municipal Health Officer
6) Jenny Purnell, Plainfield Rescue Squad
7) B.J. Fleming, Captain – Plainfield Fire Division (alt. Firefighter Sheldon Green)
8) Troy Edwards, Sgt. – Plainfield Police Division (alt. P.O. William Tyler)
9) Colleen Mahr, Mayor (Fanwood)
10) Carmen Salvarrietta, Community Activist
11) Dottie Gutenkauf, Community Activist
12) Jay Jimenez, St. Peters University Hospital
13) Lynn Kearny, Rahway Hospital
14) Dennis McGill, MD, Somerset Regional Medical Center

per Jerry Green's Page, 7/13/2009.

---

Leage of Women Voters Candidates' Forum

Wednesday, October 28 (Correct date!)
6:30 PM and 7:30 PM.

The Plainfield chapter of the League of Women Voters will present its candidates' forum
in two segments: at 6:30 PM, candidates for the 22nd District Assembly seats;
at 7:30 PM, candidates for Mayor and the Ward 4 Council seat.

At Emerson Community School, East Third Street at Emerson Avenue.

---

-- Dan Damon

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

Botánica a window into a changing Plainfield

A Black Madonnia, but which one?

Those who never walk downtown Plainfield's shopping district are missing a ground-level window into the increasing pace of Latinization of the Queen City.

A case in point is the Botánica San Miguel, just steps from Front Street on Somerset Street. I took these snaps the weekend of the Latin American Independence Festival, when I walked past the shop window crowded with interesting statuary.

To me it was interesting.

Take the Black Madonna. Is it a Cuban Virgin of Regla? The Brazilian Our Lady of Aparecida? The Costa Rican La Negrita? The Chilean La Virgen Morena?

And the pierced hand of Jesus, which I am told by some is useful in warding off the power of the Evil Eye.

The pierced hand of Jesus,
protecting from the Evil Eye?

To a Latino, the Botánica probably signals a welcoming place where cultural necessaries could be procured and ties to practices and beliefs from a home country be maintained.

Although there are plenty of Latino-owned businesses downtown, Latinization does not mean ONLY Latino-owned businesses.

Downtown Plainfield has turned out to be a place to make a decent living for a diverse group of merchants -- Asians, Jews, Portuguese and others -- who understand the needs and wants of Plainfield's mushrooming Latino population.

Maybe we should have tours to introduce older Plainfielders to their newer community.

La Ciudad Reina, anyone?

---

-- Dan Damon

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

Monarch sales trailer site put to better use

Playground equipment being assembled on former sales trailer site.
(Yes, that's my finger in the picture.).

The vacant lot formerly housing the Monarch at Plainfield's sales trailer has a new -- and probably better -- use.

Stopping by the condos Thursday after new attention-getting sales signs spinning in the breeze caught my eye, I noticed a group of people assembling what appeared to be a giant plastic space ship on the former site of the sales trailer, at the corner of East Front Street and Westervelt Avenue.

The new playground equipment is for the little ones at the Neighborhood House East center across the corner. (This is especially nice, if you consider that many of the city's daycare/preschool facilities do not have decent -- or, in some cases, ANY -- outdoor play areas.)

Spinning 'Open House' signs in front of the Monarch condos caught my eye.

What had been thought by some to be a city-owned lot loaned to Dornoch Plainfield for the sales trailer was actually bought at auction by a private party who has made arrangements with Neighborhood House for the lot's use.

Seems likely to me the kids are going to have a happier time there than any of the sales agents for the Monarch condos ever did.

The Monarch sales trailer, which formerly occupied the corner site,
being disassembled this past summer.

---

-- Dan Damon

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

What's with the unfinished roads?

Mayor Robinson-Briggs put President Obama's
Stimulus money to work on a road-to-nowhere.

While bumping down one of Plainfield's begun-but-unfinished road projects Thursday evening, I came upon a reader out walking his dog.

'You know, the asphalt plants will be shutting down for the winter in a couple of weeks', he said, as he scuffled some of the gravel lying in the roadway (he knows about this stuff because of his job responsibilities), 'When do you think they're ever gonna finish this street?'

When, indeed.

After the embarrassing false starts on Kensington and Netherwood Avenues in 2008, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' administration tried to get things back on track in the 2009 roadwork season, with less-than-optimal results.

I noticed at the Drake House reopening last weekend that Geraud Avenue, on which I had to park because of the crowds, is STILL UNFINISHED. You may recall this as the road-to-nowhere project on which Robinson-Briggs used President Obama's stimulus money (see my story here), as opposed to say a truly worthwhile project like Somerset Street from Front to the North Plainfield line.

When covering the Vastine meet-and-greet the other night, I had to park in the rut along the new curbing on Kensington Avenue -- another STILL UNFINISHED street.

Checking further, I noted that Cedarbrook Road and Brook Lane are also STILL UNFINISHED, as they were weeks ago, when Gov. Jon Corzine came to campaign in Plainfield (an event for which Mayor Robinson-Briggs was, as they say, 'otherwise engaged'). See my story on the road situation then here.

Weeks after Gov. Corzine's visit,
Cedar Brook Road has yet to be paved.

Seems the ONLY projects to date that are actually finished are West 8th Street and Netherwood Avenue.

Now I know Mayor Sharon has a lot on her plate just now, what with the CFO personnel mess at City Hall and the Seniors unhappy with her over being overdue on moving into the new Senior Center, and Her Honor fretting over how to face the voters in the two upcoming candidate forums, but as far as I know, no one held a gun to her head to make her take this job.

With winter coming on and roadwork season coming to an end, you'd think Mayor Robinson-Briggs wouldn't want voters to be reminded just by driving down the street that she had let them down again.

You'd think, wouldn't you?

---

• Plainfield Today, 9/1/09: "Plainfield's Stimulus money reaches dead end"
• Plainfield Today, 9/19/09: "Welcome to Plainfield, Gov. Corzine"
  

-- Dan Damon

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