Jerry has a golden opportunity tonight. What will he make of it?

President Obama will need every bit of support possible next year.
Will Jerry do everything he can to guarantee it?

Plainfield's Democratic City Committee will reorganize tonight for the next two years.

Assemblyman Jerry Green will control a majority of seats on the 68-member committee, and it may be expected he will be re-elected chairperson.

The question arises in what manner he will conduct the meeting.

Will he be generous in victory and allow committee members -- of whatever persuasion -- to speak freely and to offer nominations from the floor for the various officers to be elected, from chairman on down?

Bearing in mind that a successful re-election campaign for President Barack Obama in New Jersey next year will necessitate the enthusiastic mobilizing of all possible forces, will Jerry graciously accede to some representation of New Democrats among the local organization's officers and committee chairmanships by way of uniting local Democrats?

Doing so would go a long way to uniting the local party for the overarching task of the next year and a half.

Doing so would acknowledge the pivotal role played by the New Democrats as the earliest organized supporters of Barack Obama in Plainfield in the 2008 primary.

Doing so would credit the organization publicly thanked by Rep. Frank Pallone for having made the difference in last year's 6th Congressional District race, delivering key pluralities important in his victory.

It will not be easy, considering the manner in which Assemblyman Green conducted the recent Primary election. There is much bitterness to be overcome.

But it can be done, and it should be done.

So, the question facing Jerry tonight is whether he will be, like Barack Obama, a great uniter and energizer of the Democratic Party, or whether he will play Scipio Africanus, though without anything like the Roman general's prospect of success.

Guests are always welcome at Democratic City Committee meetings, but do not participate in discussions or voting.

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Plainfield Democratic City Committee
Reorganization Meeting

Monday, June 13
7:00 PM

HeardOne Complex
210 Church Street
(across from Union County College)

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Sara Damon Pessa, 1990 - 2011

Sara (left), her sister Avery and their cousin Renee
in a 2002 visit to Plainfield's Shakespeare Garden.

Sara, the older daughter of my sister Barbara and her husband Joe, passed away after suffering a massive heart attack while working out on the treadmill at her university's gym in Manhattan Thursday.

Sara would have been a senior in New York University's theater arts program this fall, where she was studying acting.

Barbara and my other sister, Diane, have lived two doors apart in Cromwell, Connecticut for nearly the whole lifetimes of their four daughters -- Sara and her sister Avery, and Erin and her sister Renee.

Sara's cousin Erin graduated last month from George Washington University, and is planning a career in international relations.

The younger cousins, Avery and Renee, are still in high school in Connecticut.

Sara pulls herself up by her Uncle Dan's hair
at her home in Browns Mills her first Christmas, 1990.

The Damon clan gets together in Connecticut, 2003.
The four cousins are in the front row. My sister Barbara is between my brother Bill and I,
sister Diane is directly in front of me. Mom and grandmom Anne is between Nat and Barb's husband Joe in back row.

A generous and happy spirit, Sara had really blossomed as she set her course on an acting career, working hard at her NYU studies plus a job at a high-profile Manhattan eatery where she made many contacts in the theater.

Her spirit will live on in the lives of her many friends and extended family. In addition, organ and tissue recipients will benefit from her donations on their behalf.

In thinking of her passing at such a young age and with so much promise ahead of her, I recall some lines from the Spanish-American philosopher and poet Jorge Santayana --

I give back to the earth what the earth gave
All to the furrow, nothing to the grave.

There will be no Plainfield Today on Tuesday as I travel to Connecticut for the funeral.

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• Hartford Courant: "Sara Grace Damon Pessa"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Gallery talk at Drake House Sunday

Gallery talk at Drake House will highlight contributions of Tracy family,
whose son Evarts designed the 1903 Muhlenberg buildings.

The Historical Society of Plainfield will host a gallery talk Sunday afternoon, featuring highlights of the contributions of the Tracy family to Plainfield's history and achievements. The talk will cast more light on some of the materials in the current exhibit on Muhlenberg Hospital and the campaign to have the 1903 Muhlenberg buildings included in Preservation New Jersey's 2011 'Most Endangered' list.

Board member Nancy Piwowar will deliver the talk, which will include information about the family, which had New England Puritan roots.

A son, Evarts Tracy, became an architect and designed the 1903 buildings on Randolph Road that were part of the 'new' Muhlenberg campus, as well as the old Plainfield police station at the foot of Cleveland Avenue and East Fourth Street (now being used as a day care center).

Martha Tracy, MD, ca. 1921
from 'Certain Samaritans'.

A daughter, Martha, was a pioneering female physician, medical school administrator and tenacious advocate for women's medical education (see more here).

Historical Society president Eloise Tinley notes that 2011 marks the 90th anniversary of the society's rescue of the Nathan Drake farmstead from demolition. After purchasing the property, it was deeded to the City of Plainfield to provide a museum for its citizens, with the Society as the operating agency.

The society is requesting a $5 donation for the gallery talk.

Evarts Tracy's buildings, outlined in red,
have been obscured by later additions.

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GALLERY TALK:

The Tracy Family, Forgotten Plainfield Historical Figures

Presented by Nancy Piwowar

Sunday
June 12
3:00 PM

The Drake House is at the foot of Plainfield Avenue at West Front Street
Parking in the museum's lot and on the street

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Incidents shake up Primary Election Day

Beemer flipped onto parked car in front of Richmond Towers.

Two incidents shook up Plainfield's Primary Election Day on Tuesday.

Thankfully, neither of them appeared to be attempts to influence the outcome of the election.

Shortly after talking with some of the poll workers at Richmond Towers (where I have been a voluntary, unpaid challenger at most of the primary and general elections for the past ten years) around 8:00 AM, I got a call that there had been an accident directly in front of 510, the tower closer to the Richmond Street traffic light.

The driver of a BMW traveling east on Front Street apparently lost control of the vehicle, ran up on the curb and rode up the guy wire attached to a telephone pole, then flipped over onto a white car parked next to it.

Poll workers later told me the driver got out, apparently dazed but unscathed, fished around in the vehicle for a backpack and fled the scene on foot.

The second event was a 'Code Red' incident at Evergreen School. 'Code Red' means a shooter is in the building.

The building was put into lockdown, with poll workers and voters being kept inside the gymnasium and those coming to vote kept outside. Voters present at the time tell me the situation was resolved within about five minutes, much to everyone's relief.

The real excitement of the day had to wait for 8:00 PM.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Despite 'truce', Plainfield's gang wars continue

Bryant Park is a hub for the East 6th Street Posse.

While thankful for a partial gang truce that seems to be holding, Plainfield's problems with youth violence are far from resolved and, it appears, the gang wars continue.

Amid much fanfare and media attention, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs greeted a recently announced gang 'truce' with a photo opp that included Her Honor hugging the young men who worked out their agreement at the IHOP in North Plainfield before trooping over to Robinson-Briggs' office.

While the 'truce' involving two of Plainfield's many gang sets, the 'Liberty Street gang' and the 'West 3rd Street gang', has apparently held, the 'East 6th Street Posse', a gang that considers the heart of its turf to be along East 6th Street from Franklin Place to Berckman Street, centering on the Bryant Park playground, is engaged in a new war.

This past week alone, I am told, there have been THREE SHOOTING INCIDENTS involving the 'East 6th Street Posse' and the 'West 3rd Street Gang' -- CORRECTION: should read the 'Liberty Street Gang'.

One of these, as I suspected after reading Mark Spivey's report in the Courier (see here) on Election Day, was the drive-by shooting at Canela's convenience store on Liberty Street, where the later-recovered vehicle was described as having been stolen on East 6th Street.

And the long, hot summer is just getting under way.

For those who are interested in a different take from Mayor Robinson-Briggs' on how to address the issue, Newark Mayor Cory Booker offers a constructive alternative with his 'Safe City Task Force' idea (see here, and here).

Among the actions Booker is taking in Newark --

• Flooding the street with cops in uniform;
• Recruiting community organizations as crime-prevention partners;
• 'Community Roll Calls', where cops report for duty and are inspected in the open air;
• Mobile Command Units stationed in neighborhoods; and
• Curfews: Enforcing the 11 PM curfew by taking under-age youth to area churches where clergy and community groups will mentor the youngsters and direct them to summer programs.

---

• Courier:  "Students unharmed in daytime drive-by shooting"
• Ledger --
• "Booker forms 'Safe City Task Force' to address violence"
• "Booker calls for residents' support to reduce violence"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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'Shakespeare in Bloom' Saturday

Plan of Plainfield's Shakespeare Garden,
one of about a hundred worldwide.

Plainfield's Shakespeare Garden, one of a hundred or so on the entire planet, will be celebrated Saturday with a 'Shakespeare In Bloom' gala event, sponsored by the Plainfield Garden Club.

The local chapter of the national gardening organization has, among its other activities, tended the Shakespeare Garden for over 80 years, to the delight of Plainfielders and others.

In recent years, the club has also undertaken outreach efforts that include plantings in the student quadrangle at Plainfield High School.

Visitors to this year's event will find the trumpet vines are beginning to thrive around the new pergola and walkway, and that the stone retaining wall has been rebuilt by the County Parks Department, which partners with the Garden Club in maintaining the Shakespeare Garden. Visitors can also take tours of the garden, with club members explaining the plantings.

Gift items and plants will be offered for sale, and refreshments will be on hand.

Longtime PGC members Jeanne Turner, Barbara Sandford
take a break during recent preparations for Saturday's gala.

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SHAKESPEARE IN BLOOM
Presented by the Plainfield Garden Club

Saturday
June 11
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM

Shakespeare Garden at Cedar Brook Park
(Near the Randolph Road Cricket Pitch)
Parking along the park's drives;
note that the drive nearest the Garden is a one-way EXIT from the Park.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Time for Dems to ponder post-Jerry era

 

Has it really been ten years? Plainfield's New Dems marked a decade of struggle to bring one of New Jersey's last old-fashioned brass-knuckle political machines into the 21st century by ensuring the presence of incumbent 2nd Ward councilor Cory Storch on the November ballot.

The New Dems also made a very respectable showing in the Wards 1/4 at-large race with candidate Dee Dameron, the first new candidate fielded by the organization for that seat in eight years.

As Plainfield Democratic party chair Jerry Green looks to have his leadership of the committee confirmed for yet another two years at next Monday's reorganization meeting, it is time for thoughtful Plainfield Democrats of all persuasions to contemplate the inevitably approaching post-Jerry era.

Word in the street is that Union County Democratic chair Charlotte DeFilippo has quietly let slip that this will be Green's final Assembly term, his 'last hurrah'.

Green will be nearly 75 when his next term ends (the 22nd District is still considered a 'safe' one for Democratic candidates, meaning his re-election in November is all but assured).

Some are also talking openly about the Assemblyman's health as a factor. He is rumored to be seriously unwell, with some even suggesting he may step down from his Assembly seat before his new term would be up, in order for his replacement to be made by the party without having to face a potential Primary challenge (similar to the appointment of Vera Greaves to the Plainfield City Council).

As the Assemblyman's base ages out, a younger generation is coming to the fore which has no great love for Green's addiction to the gutter politics of anonymous flyers, attacks on candidates' family members and 'bloody shirt' assertions that anyone who doesn't see eye-to-eye with the Chairman is 'a Republican'.

Add to that the inevitability of an increased Hispanic political presence. Though Hispanics will probably make up at least half Plainfield's population by the next census, Green has barely acknowledged their existence to this point.

Bearing all this in mind, thoughtful Plainfield Democrats will want to ponder whether they want Plainfield's Democratic future to be determined by outside forces, as it was when Green was transplanted from Roselle to Plainfield to be made party chair by fiat without so much as a by-your-leave from the County Democratic machine.

Then there is the question of whether an Assembly seat will continue to be 'reserved' for a Plainfield candidate.

Altogether, plenty for Plainfield Democrats to mull over.

And sooner, rather than later.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Preliminary results, 2011 Plainfield Democratic primary

Colonial-era ballot box.

Preliminary results in the 2011 Plainfield Democratic primary (number will change with the addition of absentee ballot tallies from the County Clerk's office).

2011 Plainfield Democratic Primary
Ward 2	Tally
Cory STORCH	589
Tony RUCKER	447
Wards 1/4
Dee DAMERON	310
Vera GREAVES	580

The newly elected Democratic City Committee reorganizes next Monday evening, with the election of a chairperson and other officers for the coming two years.

Plainfield City Council meets next Tuesday evening for its June agenda-setting session at 7:30 PM in City Hall Library.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Voter: I support those who support their mommies

Helping elderly parents who are financially overwhelmed is
something to be ashamed of, say Jerry Green and Vera Greaves.

 

A volunteer phoning on behalf of New Democrats for Plainfield candidates reported to me Monday evening that a woman in the First Ward was incensed about the Jerry Green and Vera Greaves mailer attacking Wards 1/4 candidate Dee Dameron for 'living at home with her mommy'.

'Honey,' the voter said, 'I support those who support their mommies'.

The voter went on to say that she herself had to make personal sacrifices so that her elderly parents could stay in their Plainfield home when the taxes became more than they could bear.

Assemblyman Green and his handpicked candidate for Wards 1/4, Vera Greaves, did themselves no favors by attacking Dee Dameron in this way. With taxes as high as they are and elderly people pushed to the limit, it is only praiseworthy to find adult children willing to sacrifice to help their parents.

One more reason to vote for Honest Ethical Leadership for Plainfield.

Vote today for Cory Storch (Ward 2) and Dee Dameron (Wards 1/4) and for your Dem city committee candidates, Column C all the way!

If you live in Ward 3, it is especially important to get out and vote for city committee candidates.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Campaign videos (brief): Cory Storch, Dee Dameron, The Green Team

Ethical...wouldn't that be nice?

Just what we need: Honest Ethical Leadership for Plainfield!

Check out these home-grown brief (about a minute each) vids of the candidates ... and The Green Team.

CORY STORCH

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DEE DAMERON

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THE GREEN TEAM

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Dan gets a flat tire, is it politics?

Two sharp pointy objects may be a coincidence. But three?

 

Are Plainfield politics getting physical?

Friends have teased me over the years that I should check under my car before starting it, especially after those times when I showed Assemblyman Jerry Green and Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs embarrassing themselves and Plainfield.

'Nah', sez I, 'this is America, ain't nobody gonna mess with somebody's right to free speech'.

Should I reconsider?

Sunday afternoon, I parked directly in front of City Hall while spending some time at the New Dems campaign headquarters (508 Watchung, where everyone is invited for the election returns tomorrow night -- it's next door to Blackberry's restaurant).

When I left, I drove to a convenience store to get a soda. Coming out of the store, I noticed my right rear tire seemed to be getting soft. The air pump at the store's gas station was out of service.

By the time I walked back to the car, the tire was flat. So, I pulled out the toy Toyota's dinky but serviceable jack, and exchanged the big flat tire for the tiny spare tire in the trunk.

When I pulled the flat off the axle, there were three perfectly spaced sharp metal objects puncturing the tire. Accidental?

In Plainfield, the weekend of a contested primary?

As I tidied up and started to get in the car to leave, a Union County cop parked next to me and ran into the convenience store briefly. Something about his squad car caught my attention.

Car 54, where were you?

Car 54, where were you when I needed you?

Meanwhile, I guess I have to start checking under my car before starting up the engine.

At least until Wednesday.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Hidden Plainfield: June 5 property ID

This Barcelona fan's home is in the 740-block of West Front Street.

Sunday's Hidden Plainfield home is in the 700-block of West Front Street, just as Mike T says. Actually, it's across the street from the gas station where I had the flat tire that stars in another post today.

And Paco, whom many know from his years of work on the Cultural & Heritage Commission, is right too that the banner is not an official one of the European Cup champs, the Barços, as they are known to true fans.

This computer wallpaper from a fan club
accurately depicts Catalonia's four red bars.

The badge above does show the correct number of Catalan's colored bars.

Where shall we go next week?

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• Hidden Plainfield:  "Celebrating Barcelona over Manchester United" -- Includes all the comments on location.

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Final election push unusually sleazy, even by Green standards

Plainfielders are generally inured to mudslinging by Assemblyman Jerry Green in the final weekend of the primary campaign season.

This year may be an exception, however, as the Democratic City Committee chairperson decided to go after Cory Storch's daughter for having been a summer intern at the PMUA. (Green fails to mention that it was an intern's job, or that Storch was not in public office when his daughter became one of many students taken on for summer youth employment.)

Green's handpicked candidate, Tony Rucker, takes the road of 'plausible deniability' in his blog post today, saying 'it didn't come from my campaign'. (This is similar to the question of the Park Hotel residents urging votes for Rucker four years ago.)

Cory Storch answers Green and Rucker point by point, noting there is time for Rucker and Greaves to repudiate Green's attacks (see here).

Candidate Dee Dameron also addresses the Green mailer as one of desperation, detailing all she had done for Green and other Dem candidates in the past, only to be treated like this (see here).

Coucilor Rebecca Williams notes both Storch and Dameron have been models of poise amid all the savagery (see here).

Candidate Rucker tries to distance himself from the Green mailer (see here).

Nat Singleton's post has been taken down at the request of Councilor Storch (see here).

Meanwhile, the New Dems were chasing down rumors on Saturday that delivery of their mailings was being held up purposely at the Netherwood postal station, which serves  both the First and Second Wards.

For some, Wednesday can't come soon enough.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Motorcycle accident at South and Leland

Accident was at South and Leland. Photo courtesy Cheri Bullock.

 

Plainfield witnessed another serious motorcycle accident Saturday evening at the intersection of South and Leland Avenues.

I was told the motorcyclist was traveling west at a high rate of speed, making a left turn onto Leland Avenue southbound, losing control of the motorcycle and slamming into a car exiting the Shell gas station on the corner.

The photo above is taken from the gas station side of the street, with local restaurant Sugah, No Cream in the background.

Look for details later.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Hidden Plainfield: Celebrating Barcelona over Manchester United

Homeowner was also a fan of Real Madrid, but Barcelona won.

 

I'm not the greatest soccer fan, but today's Hidden Plainfield home caught my eye for the vibrant display of a banner in support of the Barcelona FC, which defeated Manchester United 3-1 in the European Cup championship (see UK press here; YouTube video here).

Insignia of the Barcelona FC.

Do you know where this home is?

Answer tomorrow.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Take a Break Today: R&B By The Brook Concert

 

 

Union Couty's annual 'Rhythm and Blues by the Brook' takes place in Plainfield's Cedar Brook County Park today from Noon to 7:00 PM, rain or shine.

See the County website's schedule here, and Mark Spivey's piece in the Courier here.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Rucker, Green, New Dem mailings coming

From a New Dems mailing.

As Plainfield's Democratic primary careens into its final days (the election is next Tuesday), you can expect your mailbox to fill up with candidate mailings.

The first New Dem mailing, in support -- and giving an overview -- of candidates Cory Storch, 'Dee' Dameron and the fifty-five individuals running for seats on the Plainfield Democratic City hit resident mailboxes beginning Wednesday. A second mailing, contrasting the opposing sets of candidates, will start arriving in mailboxes today.

Assemblyman Jerry Green's mailing will portray New Democrats as 'Republicans', which I find laughable. The piece seems to be the same one Lesniak forces are using in Elizabeth, with some Plainfield-specific language being plugged in.

The Green mailing piece, paid for by his campaign committee, urges the election of Rucker and Greaves as well as Green himself. It appears to be the only mailing piece on which Green's handpicked Wards 1/4 candidate Vera Greaves appears. (For more on Green's selection of Greaves, see the Green video posted here).

Rucker's piece mimics a longstanding New Dems format (yes/no columns), and lists as reasons to vote against Storch the same items found in Mr. Eke's email (see here). Rucker characterizes himself as 'a Democrat with a backbone'.

Instead of a paragraph about himself, Rucker provides a list that includes a couple of items that left me scratching my head --

• 'Banker and Commercial Broker' -- Is this current or past? Just what IS a 'commercial broker'? A little clarity wouldn't hurt; and
  
  
• 'Member of the plainfield Housing Authority Committee' -- What does that mean? Whose committee is that? What does it do?

The real deal is the candidate forum which FOSH, under the leadership of its president Pat Turner Kavanaugh, put together this past Tuesday at Cook School.

The city's public access channel was on hand to tape it, in the person of PCTV Advisory Committee chair Lamar Mackson, and the complete unedited forum will be broadcast several times over the coming days on the city's Channels: Verizon 34 and Comcast 96 (see schedule on the Facebook page here).

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Is Burney author of Eke attack on Storch?

Properties sheet for PDF document details 'author', original title of document
and original date of composition.

 

In an attachment to an email evidently sent to members of Plainfield's Hillside Area Neighborhood Watch on Thursday, resident and Tony Rucker supporter Charles Eke outlined his 'concerns' about candidate Cory Storch and urged recipients to vote for Rucker.

I think Eke's 'concerns' are spurious and part of the usual campaign hyperbole (in which some even say I have engaged!) to be expected in the closing days.

Also intriguing is the peek I took at the information about the PDF document. The image at the top of the page indicates that the letter was composed on May 24, more than a week ago, evidently being held aside for what was considered a 'proper' moment.

It shows the document was composed in Microsoft Word with the original title of 'Charles Eke's personal letter'.

The author is simply listed as: 'Rashid'.

Could that be former Councilor Rashid Burney? Or some other Rashid?

No big deal; this is America, where free speech is a right, and political letters are often written in the name of a sender who is not the true author.

That being said, a number of recipients of the email apparently feel that the community group's email list should not have been used for a partisan political purpose, a sentiment with which I happen to agree.
 

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Jerry Green on how the Plainfield Democratic Party is run [video]

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A Plainfield Today reader has shared the link to a YouTube video of Plainfield Democratic City Committee chairperson Assemblyman Jerry Green chairing the meeting of the committee last January at which three names were selected to be offered to the Council in the process of filling the vacancy caused by the resignation of Councilor Linda Carter, who became a Union County Freeholder January 1st.

Besides Chairman Green, other voices on the video are those of PDCC member (and Councilor) Rebecca Williams, and PDCC member Christian Estevez.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Tony Rucker, thief?

A copyright will protect you from PIRATES.

Tony Rucker, thief?

Seems so.

Rucker, Jerry Green's handpicked candidate for Plainfield's Ward 2 seat, has violated the copyright of a California composer in an attack video prepared for the Internet.

The video, which accuses candidate Cory Storch of being on the take from the PMUA, attacks the New Democrats, and characterizes the Plainfield Democratic City Committee as 'a New Democrats shell organization', features a dramatic and sinister-sounding musical background.

Tony's problem is that the music is lifted from a video by another Plainfielder, who LICENSED THE MUSIC FROM A CALIFORNIA COMPOSER, WHO HOLDS THE COPYRIGHT.

Rucker never sought permission or paid for the use of the copyrighted material.

The composer will file a complaint with the online video service later today (Thursday), demanding that the video be taken down.

What's the lesson in this for Plainfield voters?

Whether the misuse of copyrighted material was done ignorantly or on purpose, it underscores a loosey-goosey relationship Rucker has with facts and a shallow regard for the law.

Hardly characteristics one would endorse in a candidate for public office, don't you agree?

Should Tony's question be turned back on himself? Should Tony be accountable by Plainfield voters?

[NOTE: Anonymous comments have been turned back on. -- Dan]

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Rucker needs to prove he's not lying about PMUA

Today, Rucker shows Storch with PMUA logos.

 

Who knew Tony Rucker, Jerry Green's candidate for the Ward 2 council seat, was such a fan of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler and his propaganda chief Josef Goebbels? Yet it seems that he is.

Goebbels, you will recall, elaborated on Hitler's 'Big Lie' concept, that if one tells a lie big enough and repeats it often enough, people will believe it (see more here).

Last Thursday, Rucker suggested Storch had taken money from the PMUA and that he had family members who had worked for the Authority.

Last night, Rucker said loudly, 'The PMUA gave Storch money...'

Today, he writes in his blog 'if you attended [last night's forum] you would have heard Cory Storch have to admit he took money from the PMUA' (see here).

It ain't so and sayin' so don't make it so, though it is outrageous and could qualify as a Hitler/Goebbels style 'Big Lie'.

So much for the 'high road' that Rucker's campaign manager  Dwayne Wilkins told me in an email the Rucker campaign would adhere to. (For rhetoric hounds, the device by which Rucker indirectly slimes Storch in the Thursday post is known as 'praeteritio' [see here and here], a means of making a subversive ad hominem attack, as in 'I've agreed not to mention that your brother is a serial killer and your sister an ax murderer, so let us focus on the real issues...')

I challenged Rucker immediately following last night's forum in a face-to-face conversation, telling him that his statement COULD NOT BE TRUE ON ITS FACE because the PMUA is prohibited by law from contributing to political candidates; no ethical candidate -- like Storch -- would accept such a contribution; and people who monitor misdeeds by public agencies would surely have found and publicized such a deed by this time (it allegedly happened in 2003, during Storch's first run for Council).

I said to him, 'If you're going to make statements like that, you better have specific facts to back them up.'

So, Mr. Rucker, to prove you are NOT lying about the PMUA contributing to Storch's campaign, produce the documentation, chapter and verse.

If you cannot produce the documentation, then apologize publicly to Storch (through your blog and a letter to the Courier would be nice).

I am disappointed that Rucker has chosen the Jerry Green-style low road, especially since he holds himself out as being a much better sort of candidate.

But then, he did the same thing in his losing run against Storch four years ago.

In that race, he alleged that Storch was trying to close the Park Hotel and throw its clients out in the street, leaving them homeless to shift for themselves.

That lie also wasn't true, but that didn't prevent Rucker from exploiting the Park Hotel's clients by paying them to sit outside polling places all day during the Primary with signs urging voters to cast ballots for Rucker and not Storch.

Rucker exploited Park Hotel residents to sit outside Evergreen School
on Primary Day, 2007 (photos courtesy Maria Pellum).

This exploited Park Hotel resident sat outside Cook School
on Primary Day 2007, urging votes for Rucker (photo courtesy Alexa Storch).

Seems his admiration for Goebbels is of long standing.

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• Wikipedia:  "Big Lie"
• Queen City Progressive --
• "Thursday, May 26, 2011"
• "Storch offers no denial at Cook School debate"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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