Almost no surprises at Plainfield Dem meeting

Former mayor Robinson-Briggs was
circulating a petition, but whose?

Probably much to Assemblyman Jerry Green's relief there were almost no surprises at Friday night's Democratic City Committee meeting.

The evening opened with pitches by Freeholder candidate Chris Hudak and the cndidate for Surrogate (whose name escapes me) as well a CD12 hopefuls Upendra Chivukula and Bonnie Watson Coleman. Watson Coleman has already received the Union County Dem endorsement.

Without discussion or debate, the chairman then introduced 'the candidates I am endorsing' for the June primary: Diane Toliver for Ward 1, Gloria Taylor for the unexpired Ward 3 term, and Charles Eke for Wards 2/3 at-large.

Each made brief stump speeches.

Tolive is the wife of former PMUA Commissioner Alex Toliver. Taylor, widow of the late mayor Rick Taylor, was appointed to Mapp's vacant seat in January. Eke is getting the nod yet again for a try at elected office.

Green graciously gave Councilor Rebecca Williams the floor to make her own pitch for support among the Committee members for her run for re-election to the Wards 2/3 at-large seat -- which will now be off the line.

Williams' running mate for the Ward 3 seat is Charles McRae, longtime neighborhood activist and member of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee.

The New Dems will announce their candidate for the Ward 1 seat being vcated by Bill Reid shortly.

About the only surprising thing I noticed at the meeting was former Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs circulating a petition. Was it for herself or for one of the other candidates?

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Will Green-New Dem 'honeymoon' come to an end tonight?

Those kcik-ass Democrats are at it again...

Will the uneasy year-old alliance between Assemblyman Jerry Green, chair of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, and the New Dems political club come to an end tonight? That is the question on the minds of many who watch the Queen City's political parade.

With a Council majority that seems unwilling to agree to Mayor Adrian Mapp's reform agenda, and three of seven Council seats up this year, Plainfield Democrats and the city's voters at large once again find themselves at a crossroads.

Now that Green and the leaders of the Fanwood and Scotch Plains parties have endorsed Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman in the 12th Congressional District race, attention will focus on the Plainfield races.

Rebecca Williams, the sitting Councilor for the Wards 2/3 at-large seat has announced her bid for re-election and introduced her running mate for the Ward 3 seat, Charles McRae at last week's Cedarbrook Block Association meeting (see my post here).

Word in the street is that Assemblyman Green has been candidate-shopping, offering Williams' at-large seat line to one of the PMUA's fiercest and most consistent critics who, I am told, declined. Smart money seems to think Green will offer PMUA alternate commissioner Charles Eke yet another swing at the piñata.

The assumption all along is that Green will offer the Ward 3 line to Gloria Taylor, widow of the late mayor Rick Taylor. Taylor was hand-picked over other possibilities (including popular Plainfield teacher Veronica Taylor, who Green had previously publicly backed) to fill the vacancy created when Mapp had to give up his Council seat on taking the mayor's chair.

Bill Reid, the Ward 1 incumbent, publicly announced at Tuesday evening's PMUA board meeting that he is stepping aside and will not seek re-election this year. This means that Green will have an opportunity in the First Ward also tonight.

Word in the street is that Diane Toliver, wife of the recently replaced PMUA commissioner Alex Toliver, has the nod. With no political experience, she has nevertheless taken the floor at Council meetings in recent months to defend her husband's role as a PMUA commissioner.

Alex Toliver is one of the three commissioners who engineered the $1.2 million severance giveaway to former PMUA executives Eric Watson and David Ervin, a subject which has rankled ratepayers throughout the city.

Such a move by Green would not sit well with Mayor Mapp, who has made it clear that he believes there needs to be a housecleaning at the solid waste agency -- especially in the light of the nearly-year-long forensic audit being undertaken by the state of the authority's business practices.

Tonight's Democratic City Committee meeting gets under way at 7:00 PM at the YWCA. Arrive early to get a seat.

The Plainfield YWCA is at 232 East Front Street (corner of Church Street). Parking available in the YWCA lot and on the street.

Guests are always welcome, but only members of the Committee may participate in discussions and voting.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Four boards in joint public meeting Saturday AM

A unique opportunity to overview the work and prospects for
four of Plainfield's key boards and commissions.

In an unprecedented move, four of Plainfield's most important boards and commissions will hold a joint public meeting on Saturday morning to discuss their inter-related roles and common concerns. The public is welcome and will have opportunities to comment and ask questions. No formal business will be transacted.

The four groups are the Planning Board, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Historic Preservation Commission and the Shade Tree Commission. Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp will speak briefly to attendees, as will the city's new Deputy City Administrator for Economic Development, Carlos Sanchez.

With Planning Board chair Ron Scott Bey acting as moderator and Planning Director and Zoning Officer Bill Nierstedt as principal resource person, the combined groups will cover the following --

• 2009 Master Plan
• Zoning map and ordinances, including Transit-Oriented Development areas;
• Capital improvements and roads programs;
• Muhlenberg Hospital status and public hearings;
• Downtown Traffic and Planning Study; and
• Redevelopment planning.

Time will also be set aside to brainstorm ways for the boards to provide mutual support, communication and consistency, as well as future planning and zoning initiatives.9:00 AM to Noon on Saturday at the City Hall Library. It's an ambitious schedule, but should be well worth your while if you are interested in Plainfield's future development.

The notice does not mention refreshments, so be sure to eat breakfast before going. And don't dally -- with all those commissioners, there will hardly be any room for the public to sit.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Saturday: Lunch honors Rebecca, Artist reception, 12th Night Dinner

Awards luncehon honoring Councilor Rebecca Williams
is one of three events this Saturday.

If Plainfielders need a sign that winter is coming to an end, consider three big events slated for this Saturday: an awards lunch  honoring Councilor Rebecca Williams, an artist reception at the Library, and the VWB District's Twelfth Night Progressive Dinner.

AWARDS LUNCHEON HONORS REBECCA WILLIAMS

Councilor Rebecca Williams is one of several Plainfielders to be honored for their contributions to the community at a luncheon this Saturday.

The lunch is hosted by the United Plainfield CDC, a nonprofit unit of the United Church of Christ-Congregational. The awards luncheon is from Noon to 3:00 PM Saturday in the parish hall of the church. Tickets are $60 per person and may be reserved by calling the church office at (908) 755-8658.

The United Church of Christ-Congregational is at 220 West 7th Street at the corner of Madison Avenue. Parking available in the church lot on Madison Avenue or on the street.

ARTIST RECEPTION AT LIBRARY

The Friends of the Plainfield Public Library are hosting an artist's reception for photographer Henry F. Kielblock, whose exhibit of photographs from Kenya is currently on display in the Anne Louise Davis Gallery. See my earlier post on the exhibit here.

The reception will be from 1:00 - 3:00 PM in the Gallery. The show is available for viewing during regular library hours and will be on display through March 29.

The Plainfield Public Library is at Park Avenue and West 8th Street and is an accessible facility. Parking is available in the 8th and 9th Street lots.

VAN WYCK BROOKS '12th NIGHT DINNER'

The Van Wyck Brooks Historic District is renowned for its annual Twelfth Night Progressive Dinner, always a sold-out January event. This year, the weather intervened, causing the dinner to be rescheduled to this weekend.

Hosted by members of the District, guests move from house to house to enjoy several courses of a grand dinner, ending at the last home with cordials and conversation. The event is always an opportunity to have fun at a dressy evening.

Though tickets go quickly, you may still be able to make a reservation. Tickets are $30 per person for VWB members, $40 for non-members. To check availability, contact Larry Quirk at QMAN56@comcast.net. The meal begins with appetizers at 6:00 PM at 925 Madison Avenue. Admission with ticket or reservations only; no walk-ins.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Green, District 22 Dems back Watson Coleman

Bonnie Watson Coleman gets the nod from Fanwood,
Scotch Plains and Plainfield Democrats.

A storied Plainfield watering hole, Giovanna's, was the setting for Assemblyman Jerry Green's tête-á-tête with the 'power players' of the other two District 22 towns that are in Rush Holt's congressional district -- Fanwood and Scotch Plains.

As PolitickerNJ's Max Pizarro reports (see here), the three leading candidates -- Bonnie Watson Coleman, Linda Greenstein and Upendra Chivukula -- met in the private dining room behind the bar on Tuesday with Green and the 'power players' of the three towns.

The unanimous endorsement was for Bonnie Watson Coleman, the assemblywoman from Mercer County who also has ties to Plainfield.

With the Union County Dems lined up, attention is now sure to focus on Chivukula and whether the Somerset County Dems can be persuaded to back either Greenstein or Watson Coleman.

If no single candidate emerges with a consensus, the Dems face the prospect of an open primary in June, with no one on the official line and all three slugging it out for the November slot.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Dems meet Friday to select candidates

Assemblyman Green will preside at Friday's Dem City Committee meeting.

Assemblyman Jerry Green has called a meeting of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee for this Friday evening to select candidates in Congressional, county and local races.

Committee members will hear presentations on the three candidates vying for the Democratic primary designation for the seat of Congressman Rush Holt, who has announced he is stepping down.

While Plalinfield mayor Adrian Mapp has already endorsed the Mercer County assembly member Bonnie Watson Coleman (who has Plalinfield connections), Green has not made an endorsement. Fanwood and Scotch Plains Democrats, who are also in the 12th Congressional District must also pick among the three candidates.

The City Committee will also consider candidates for Freeholder and Surrogate at the Union County level.

In Plainfield, Ward 1 and Wards 2/3 at-large are up this year, as well as picking a replacement for the balance of the Ward 3 term caused by Mayor Mapp's resignation from his Council seat. Councilor Williams has already announced her candidacy for re-election to the at-large seat and introduced her running mate for the Ward 3 seat, Charles McRae, at last week's Cebarbrook Block Association meeting.

It should be a lively evening!

The PDCC meeting gets under way at 7:00 PM sharp at the YWCA, 232 East Front Street (corner of Church Street). Parking available in the YWCA lot and on the street.

Guests are always welcome, but only members of the Committee may participate in discussions and voting.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Italian Village benefits youth basketball tonight

Dining at Italian Village tonight benefits youth basketball.

Plainfielders can satisfy their Italian food cravings and benefit Plainfield youth basketball at the same time tonight.

Youth sports advocate and former Board of Ed member Lenny Cathcart has arranged with Italian Village, the popular South Avenue eatery, to donate a portion of the sales of each meal from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM today to Cathcart's Youth Basketball Program.

All you have to do is mention the basketball program when ordering and paying for your meal and the kids will benefit.

Italian Village is at 1304 South Avenue. For more info, contact Lenny Cathcart at (908) 917-7898.

Eat well and do good!

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Mapp administration's first budget trundles along

Plainfield's state aid for 2014. (Chart by NJ Spotlight).

Though the absence of three Plainfield City Council members (Rivers, Greaves and Taylor) means tonight's Council meeting has been rescheduled (to Thursday, March 20), the Mapp administration is moving ahead with its first budget.

The Councilors are at a meeting of the National League of Cities that they decided to attend in January.

While Councilor Bill Reid and Director of Administration & Finance Ron West tangoed at the last Council meeting over the administration's proposal for a one-month temporary budget extension, some of the other necessary pieces are beginning to fall into place.

This is the case even though the Robinson-Briggs administration left office without preparing a budget proposal thus putting Mapp's team at a disadvantage and trying to catch up with the budgeting process. Even so, the city will not be appreciably behind the state's schedule. This can be attributed partly to West's chairing the Transition Team subcommittee that dealt expressly with issues of a timely budget process.

Plainfield's budget situation is complicated by serveral factors that are coming together and making this year unique --

Real reduction in state aid

In a story on Friday, NJ Spotlight posted an interactive map of the 2014 state aid to municipalities, including Plainfield -- from which the chart above is taken (see here). While the state trumpets the fact that aid dollars have not been cut, the story points out that inflation over the period since 2011 amounts to 4%, meaning that Plainfield has seen a real decrease in state aid. Since 2009, its aid amount has decreased 15.9%. This means that Plainfield starts out from behind.

Law capping public safety raises expiring

As the Ledger noted Sunday (see story here), the 2010 law which placed a cap on police and fire contract settlements is set to expire at the end of the month.

While Christie has called on the Legislature to make the cap permanent, there is no guarantee that will be the case. Meanwhile, Plainfield is in the process of negotiating contracts once again.

Energy tax receipts

Hamilton mayor Kelly Yaede recently called on the Legislature to rewrite the energy tax receipt laws to ensure the receipts go to municipalities, as originally intended (see story here).

Yaede's argument echoes that of the NJ League of Municipalities, which published a 'white paper' on the subject in 2010 (see here).

The tax has its origins in the franchise that municipalities granted to utilities to install their poles, wires and other equipment in the public right of way.

According to the NJSLOM paper, the funds generated actually constitute the second largest portion of municipal tax receipts after property taxes. The issue is that under Gov. Christie, these funds -- collected by the state on behalf of the municipalities -- have been siphoned off to help balance the state budget.

This is the hand that Mapp and the city have been dealt.

Nice, huh?

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Crescent Concerts presents a festival of organists today

Today's concert features five organists.

Crescent Concerts presents its annual Festival of Organists this Sunday afternoon at Plainfield's historic Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Under the leadership of F. Allen Artz III, the group's music director, a roster of superb organists from the tri-state area has been assembled to perform in a program entitled 'An Enduring Reformation'.

Those who will be featured include --

• James Little, organist and choirmaster of Calvary Episcopal Church in Summit;
  
  
• Peter Calabro, organist of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Glen Rock;
  
  
• Joseph Arndt, director of music at Grace Church, Newark, one of America's leading Anglo-Catholic parishes;
  
  
• Carol Weber, organist and cantor at Grace Lutheran Church, Teaneck; and
  
  
• Stephen Williams, Director of Music at St. John's Lutheran Church, Allentown, PA.

Each of these organists is outstanding and performs on a regular basis in musically demanding settings. All are involved in concertizing and some are supporters of newer composers as well as the classics.

The afternoon is always well-attended by fans of both organ music and of Crescent Church's capacious G. F. Adams organ.

Check out other programs in Crescent Concerts' 2013-14 season at their website (here). Tickets for the Festival of Organists are $20/person, $15 for seniors and $5 for students, at the door.

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street in Plainfield is an accessible facility. Parking available in the Swain Gallery lot across the street and in the church parking lot on First Place.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Daylight Savings Time returns, is Spring around the corner?

Setting your clock ahead should not be this hard.

Time for Plainfielders to set their clocks ahead!

Daylight Savings Time begins overnight tonight (officially 2:00 AM, but who's up at that hour?).

Does this mean that Spring is not far behind? Temps in the low 50s for the next couple of days suggest it. But there's still plenty of snow to melt at the end of my driveway and in the backyard.

Most downtown streets are clear by now, and even the mountains of snow piled next to the county parking deck are shrinking like the Wicked Witch in 'The Wizard of Oz'.

Anyone's crocuses out yet?

---

\

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Surprise kickoff of campaign season at Cedarbrook meeting

Nearly a hundred people came out to discuss Muhlenberg's future.

About a hundred people crowded into the community room of Cedarbrook Towers Thursday evening in a meeting expected to focus on the future of the Muhlenberg Hospital campus among other neighborhood issues. Knowing that Muhlenberg's future would be a topic of discussion brought residents out from throughout the city as well as the Cedar Brook neighborhood.

After opening remarks from Mayor Adrian Mapp, Councilor Gloria Taylor, widow of the late mayor Rick Taylor, was introduced as the recently-appointed Ward 3 councilor, filling the seat left vacant when Mapp took the mayor's office.

Her remarks seemed to me more of an introduction of herself than a stump speech.

She spoke of her recollections of Plainfield back to the 1960s, but her characterization of the racial and ethnic makeup of the four wards -- which she ticked off one by one -- seemed nostalgic, given the enormous shifts in demographics that have taken place in the last twenty years.

Her bid to identify with 'the hood' as she put it, seemed a bit disingenuous, given that she lives in the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District, just steps away from several of the city's most meticulously restored historic homes and just across the street from Mayor Mapp's backyard neighbor.

Saying she wanted Mayor Mapp to succeed, Taylor added that did not mean they would see eye to eye on everything. Fair enough.

But then she said that among the things on which they disagreed, one was 'carpetbaggers'. This is a code word to designate high-level employees who do not live in Plainfield, and has become part of the political vocabulary in recent months.

It is odd to me that Councilor Taylor would use the term 'carpetbaggers'. She herself spent many years as one of the top administrators in the Paterson public schools -- without living in Paterson. Does that mean she was a 'carpetbagger'? There are plenty of other Plainfielders with excellent professional credentials working today in the public sector -- schools and government -- in other communities. Are they 'carpetbaggers'?

After her husband left office, the Taylors moved away from Plainfield for many years, only returning in the late mayor's final years to the Queen City. Does that make her a 'carpetbagger'?

I think it's time to retire the term.

Councilor Williams spoke next, announcing at once that she was running for re-election to her post as Ward 2/3 at-large councilperson.

Williams spoke briefly but passionately about her concern for the issues the neighborhood feels important -- especially the future of the Muhlenberg campus and resistance to its development as 600 apartments -- before inviting those present to sign her campaign petitions, which were then circulated throughout the room.

The surprise of the evening was Williams' introduction Charles McRae as her running mate for the Ward 3 seat.

McRae is a longtime community activist and has been a motivating force in the Cedarbrook Block Association for years. In addition he has served on the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee and is quite familiar with the city's operations and funding.

His remarks were brief but focused on his support of Mayor Mapp and his interest in finding ways for Plainfielders to work together on solving issues. His remarks drew nods of agreement and were punctuated with applause at a couple of points.

Following all of this, Dan Manson, president of the block association, opened the floor to questions and a discussion of the future of the Muhlenberg Hospital campus ensued.

It was clear from the tone of the questions that the residents do not want to see the property developed as JFK is currently proposing. It was less clear that they understood that the city has hired a consultant of its own to develop a counter-plan to that of JFK. Clearly the Mapp administration needs to do some homework on this front.

Mayor Mapp introduced the city's new economic development director, Carlos Sanchez, who explained that beginning later this month residents would have three opportunities to give input to the consultants.

Community activist Nancy Piwowar noted that the success of such a planning effort would depend also on reaching out to the surrounding communities which served as part of Muhlenberg's market area and not just to Plainfield. Though Sanchez assured her there was a concerted effort to get the word out, he did not specifically address how the City would involve the surrounding communities in the process.

Dottie Gutenkauf spoke briefly and noted that a proposal had been floated by citizens during the previous administration to study the Muhlenberg situation, but that it was never funded.

The appointment of Ron West as Mapp's director of administration and finance drew fire from some members of the audience. West, who served for more than two decades on the boards of Muhlenberg and its parent organization Solaris Health System as well as the Muhlenberg Foundation, stepped down from those positions when he took the job in Mapp's administration.

Mayor Mapp made it clear that West's severing his JFK conditions was a pre-condition for taking the city job and that he would have no role in formulating policy or making decisions on the future of the Muhlenberg facility. It was clear from the tenor of the residents' remarks that this is a message the mayor will have to repeat.

Will the 'carpetbagger' notion, along with the 'dirty politics' charge leveled by Councilor Taylor against Mayor Mapp at Monday's Council meeting become the issues of this year's primary election?

I hope not.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

The Curious Case of the Official's Missing Wallet

Plainfield's Drake House plays a role in the curious case of the missing wallet.

The following story is making the rounds among Plainfield politics watchers. Depending on your point of view, you may either find it amusing or disturbing.

On February 23, the Drake House wrapped up its Black History Month program with a special showing of a video documentary of her travels in Morocco on a Fulbright grant by Plainfield artist Indira Bailey.

The event was well-attended and included among its many guests a former and a current elected Plainfield official, neither of whom is known as an habitué of Plainfield's renowned house museum.

Seems that sometime after the event ended and the Drake House was shut up, one of the officials discovered their wallet had gone missing.

We've all had a similar experience, I am sure.

The first thing one does is try to retrace one's steps in one's mind's eye in the hope we will recall putting the missing item down someplace. That failing, we may turn to someone else to help, embarrassing as that may be.

And the official does -- by asking the Fire Division to help out.

As the story goes, when one official of the Historic Society, which manages the city-owned museum, could not come to open up the Drake House for the official to look for their wallet, the Fire Division was contacted.

While some members of Plainfield's finest went with the official to the Drake House, a truck -- so the story goes -- was dispatched to the home of an Historical Society board member to fetch them to the Drake House.

The board member, however, had already been alerted and drove over on their own -- to find the official and some of Plainfield's bravest pondering whether they might have to force their way into the Drake House to search for the missing wallet.

Board member to the rescue, the Drake House was opened -- and searched, only to come up empty handed.

Word came back later that the elected official had discovered the errant wallet -- at home, on the stairs, where it had been all the time.

Perhaps it's time for the official to consider retiring?

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Cedarbrook Block Association discusses Muhlenberg Thursday evening

Cedarbrook Block Association meets in the community room at 1272 Park Avenue.

Apologies to all: The meeting is THURSDAY evening, not tonight as incorrectly posted earlier.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp and recently-appointed Ward 3 councilor Gloria Taylor will be guests of the Cedarbrook Block Association at its regular meeting THURSDAY evening. Councilor Rebecca Williams, a regular attendee, will also be present. Come out and talk with your elected officials.

The association invites Plainfielders interested in the Muhlenberg Hospital situation to come out, as that will be one of the main topics of discussion. Neighbors keep a sharp eye on the Muhlenberg property and have noticed dumpsters outside the Kenyon building recently.

The meeting will also provide an opportunity to ask any other questions residents have of both Mayor Mapp and Councilor Taylor.

The meeting gets under way at 7:30 PM in the community room of the high-rise apartments at 1272 Park Avenue. Parking and entry in the rear of the building.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Council, Mayor Mapp settling into trench warfare?

Trench warfare in WWI led to devastating casualties and a situation
where there were no winners, only losers.

Are Plainfield's City Council and the administration of Mayor Adrian Mapp settling into trench warfare?

Despite the fact that most of the business presented to the Council by the administration is passed without contention, there are a few flash points that suggest there is a need for more communication between the two sides to prevent a Council majority from falling into becoming a merely obstructionist force.

At Monday's agenda-setting session, three issues revealed the rigid positions indicative of a trench warfare mindset: the LegalShield matter, PMUA appointments and the budget process.

LegalShield

Though the result of previous conversations on the LegalShield matter left the ball with the Mapp administration, Council President Bridget Rivers put it on the agenda again as a discussion item.

LegalShield offers prepaid legal services and its representatives Jilletta Riley and Jeffrey Dunn are seeking a payroll deduction plan they say was promised by former Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

The plan has a checkered past and is the subject of complaints that it fails to deliver expected services (see complaints on the Ripoff Report website here).

The unasked question in all the back-and-forth over the automatic payroll deduction is how LegalShield has fared in all the months since it started offering the plan to municipal employees (which I understand goes back at least to last summer). I may take this up in a separate post.

For now, it's a war of nerves: Council President Rivers can bring it back for discussion any time she wishes and the Mapp administration can withhold any action.

Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA)

Councilor Gloria Taylor alleged that the Mapp administration had offered a quid pro quo by phone: If she would support a Mapp nominee to the PMUA board, the administration would relent on the LegalShield matter.

Taylor previously declined to support a Mapp nominee who would have replaced commissioner Malcolm R. Dunn, who engineered the $1.2 million parting gift for former executives Eric Watson and David Ervin.

Taylor said at a previous meeting where Mapp proposed replacement commissioners that while there may be issues at the PMUA, she wanted to wait until she had more information on which to make a decision. Her wish was expressed in the context of the report of an ongoing forensic audit of the PMUA being performed by the state, but which report may not come until later this year.

One could be forgiven for suspecting Taylor's motive may also be influenced by a relationship with Dunn, since Taylor introduced a resolution honoring Dunn for an award he recently received.

If the Newark watershed investigation report is any indication, the state's report on the PMUA, when it is finally issued, may prove an embarrassment to Taylor and the council majority.

Budget

Councilor Reid immediately objected on several points to the Mapp administration's proposals for fund transfers and for a temporary budget for April alone.

While much of Reid's thrust was nitpicking over minor details -- that the funds being proposed for transfer were unspent from the CY2013 budget and not the CY2014 budget (which has yet to be introduced), and that the proposal was for a one-month only temporary budget instead of three months (which is perfectly acceptable according to state law, and has been done many times by Plainfield in the past) -- he soon zeroed in on his real target.

Reid's main objection was to the administration's proposal to fund the Mayor's office for the entire year and not just a portion of it. This was the item that created such ruckus at the reorganization meeting in January. The unspoken bone of contention is resistance by a Council majority to Mapp's wish to have a Chief of Staff position funded.

Reid has made himself point person on this matter, about which we are sure to hear more.

With three seats up for the June primary race, one has to wonder if the posturing is a precursor to the campaign period and is setting up themes for the races only, or whether we are witnessing the beginnings of a trench warfare mentality that will characterize Mapp's entire term.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

One-seat ride debut appears to be on for Monday

Looks like the debut of the one-seat ride is on!

It looks like Plainfield's debut of the one-seat ride into Manhattan is on for Monday morning after all.

As of 10:30 PM Sunday, New Jersey Transit is reporting that it will cross-honor tickets on Monday on account of the expected storm, but will operate the Raritan Valley Line on its regular daily schedule, according to an updated weather story on MyCentralJersey.com (see here).

City officials announced on Friday that -- weather permitting -- Mayor Adrian Mapp and members of his cabinet would assemble at Plainfield's main station at 8:45 AM on Monday and board the 9:05 AM inaugural one-seat ride train.

Somerset County Freeholder Peter Palmer, who has championed the one-seat ride idea for 15 years, will be on the inaugural run, along with other elected officials from communities serviced by the Raritan Valley Line from High Bridge to Roselle Park.

After a trial run period, New Jersey Transit is to decide on whether the program will continue on a permanent basis. Expansion into the peak commuting hours could only come if other lines give up (or lose) slots, as the tunnels to Manhattan are already at peak occupancy.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Cars on streets make DPW crews' work harder during storms

What to do about vehicles parked on streets during storms?

Plainfield's plow crews' work is not made easier when cars are left parked on busy streets during snow storms.

There are always calls for folks not to leave their cars on the street, but many people -- especially apartment dwellers -- often have no recourse.

In my neighborhood, the large apartment complex at 666 West 7th Street charges tenants for parking in its lots -- a practice under the Connolly ownership -- forcing quite a few to park on the street.

Consequently, these cars can get plowed in, leaving the roadways narrowed. And, in the case of recurrent storms, unmelted snow from earlier storms forces cars to park further and further into the roadway.

Some towns leaflet cars parked in the street, advising them to move -- and then tows those still in the roadway when the storm comes.

Is that a realistic alternative for Plainfield?

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Snow may cause delay of one-seat ride inauguration

The RVC promotional effort includes dropping off
a handful of these informative signs at Mayor Mapp's office.

Plainfield may see winter's final(?) prank played on New Jersey Transit's one-seat ride inauguration, scheduled for Monday.

The Ledger made a passing reference in a weather item posted late Friday evening that the snowstorm, which may drop as many as 10 inches of snow on Plainfield and other communities along the Raritan Valley Line, could force NJT to adopt its 'enhanced weekend schedule' which would scotch plans for the one-seat ride launch.

Mayor Mapp, members of his cabinet and the City Council were to participate in the launch with a photo op as they boarded the 9:05 AM train on Monday morning.

If the schedule is changed, there will be no 9:05 train and no launch.

Stay tuned.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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