Green, McGee: Hopes of Muhlenberg rescue 'grossly misrepresented'

Solaris CEO John McGee has moved to tamp down hopes of a rescue of Plainfield's Muhlenberg hospital through the good offices of the Somerset Medical Center.

In an email that was broadcast on Wednesday, McGee said that he had spoken with both Assemblyman Green and Somerset MC's CEO Ken Bateman and that both had assured him the Courier story (see here) on Bateman's interest in helping was 'grossly misrepresented'.

McGee further cited a retraction issued by Bateman over the article --

Somerset Medical Center has made no announcement to purchase Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center. At the request of State Assemblyman Jerry Green, the center agreed to talk with interested parties to explore partnerships. The headline in Saturday’s Courier News was unclear on this.

The message from James Street appears clear -- All hope abandon ye who enter here.

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-- Dan Damon

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The Mayor and the Muhlenberg Mess

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs asked the state at Tuesday's hearing to keep Muhlenberg open.

It was a great performance, but it made me wonder why she was so late to the party.

The truth appears to be that she never took her responsibilities toward Muhlenberg seriously until the specter of shutting the hospital came to haunt her.

Why do I say that?

Plainfield's mayor becomes an ex-officio member of the Muhlenberg board upon being sworn into office. Except for the 2007 Annual Meeting, I am told Mayor Robinson-Briggs has not attended a single board meeting.

This means that the Mayor did not get the benefit of learning first-hand about the deteriorating situation regarding charity care reimbursement. It also means she did not make an effort to find out what the City could do to be proactive about the increasingly dire situation. Finally, it means she was absent when there was a possibility of using the skills of persuasion to get Solaris to consider other options than the road taken.

And this is the person Assemblyman Jerry Green demanded should replace the current Muhlenberg board president?

Was Mayor Robinson-Briggs derelict in her duties toward the residents -- and voters -- of Plainfield?

You tell me.

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-- Dan Damon

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Health Center medical director terminated

Longtime Neighborhood Health Services Corporation (formerly Plainfield Health Center) medical director Susan Walsh, MD, has been abruptly let go, I learned at the Muhlenberg hearing at PHS on Tuesday evening.

Sources confirm that Walsh was -- literally -- given her walking papers recently. Hand-delivered by a senior staff member, her last day will be June 30.

(And no, I did not learn any of this from Dr. Walsh, who I am told was barred from speaking of the matter until after the Center's impending annual Gala -- guess they didn't want to dampen the festive atmosphere.)

Given all the turmoil surrounding the proposed closure of Muhlenberg by its parent, Solaris Health System, one has to question the wisdom of shedding the Center's medical director when sensitive negotiations must be under way with how to adjust to the new arrangements necessary for care of the Health Center's patients.

Top of the list is likely to be what to do with the annual 700+ births among Health Center clientele.

We were told at the Muhlenberg hearing that JFK will be turning away 90% of these patients. Where will they go? How will it be handled? Who is in charge?

The move comes behind persistent rumors that the Neighborhood Health Services Corporation is in dire financial straits.

The departure of the highly-respected medical director cannot bode well for the willingness of the remaining medical staff to stay on board when the Center's future seems so uncertain to many.

Thinking to check the nonprofit's 990s (the annual filing required by the IRS), I was surprised to find that the last filing was for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006 -- and that the filing was 10 months late, not received by the IRS until 4/2/2007.

Not a very reassuring track record, but it probably explains why FY2007, which ended last June 30, is not available online.

Who will be the Center's new medical director? Or will it try to function without one?

One more issue Plainfielders do NOT need.

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-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg Kabuki

Kabuki was on my mind as the state's Health Advisory Commission conducted its public hearing into closing Plainfield's 131-year old Muhlenberg hospital at the PHS auditorium Tuesday evening. (For the Courier and Ledger reportage, see links at the end of this post.)

The audience which packed the room -- more than 1,000 attendees, I'm estimating -- were impassioned, angry, defiant, persuasive and occasionally funny (one Mr. Smith spelt his name ever-so-slowly for the court stenographer: S. M. I. T. H.) in their 3-minute presentations, which were strictly limited by the hearing's rulemeisters.

The hearing panel -- short of a quorum, as pointed out by BOE member Martin C.O.X. -- sat mostly stone-faced throughout the proceedings. And that is what first put me in mind of kabuki.

Kabuki is the highly stylized form of Japanese theater in which actors are made up in masks representing their characters, playing out scripts that are centuries old in a set number of acts and which often contain battle scenes such as we witnessed last evening. In one famous play, the death of the main character causes calamities to befall the capital city.

So, Plainfield witnessed its own Kabuki last evening --

• Plainfield elected officials, who never paid attention to the developing crisis until it was too late, put on their crocodile tears and thunderously declaimed their 'opposition' to the closing;
• others -- particularly Mayor Allen of North Plainfield and Council President Bencivenga of South Plainfield -- were compelling in both their passion and their citation of facts;
• the audience, crying out against injustice and cruel fate; and
• the state panel, standing in for the traditional Lord High Executioner.

All in all, a complete drama, though in American -- not Japanese -- guise.

Some astonishing things were expressed and learned from last evening's speakers, among them --

• there are 800 children with severe asthma in the Plainfield area, who will face life-threatening delays in getting hospital attention during an attack;
• 90% of pregnant clients of Neighborhood Health Services (formerly PHC) will not be allowed to deliver at JFK;
• minutes crucial to the survival of heart attack and stroke victims will be lost in being transported to another hospital and may lead to the death or permanent impairment of the victims.

Among the hundreds of attendees I recognized, there were a good number of off-duty cops, firefighters and other city workers -- many of them holding the ubiquitous POP 'Save Muhlenberg' placards.

Assemblyman Jerry Green -- who created a ruckus at Monday's City Council meeting by shouting within earshot of all at Councilor Cory Storch outside the Council chamber's (slightly ajar) door: "I've got things under control!" -- was present, as well as Councilor Storch, who was speaking out as a health care professional.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs lugged her four binders of letters of support to the podium when her turn came to speak, rather like a pathetic show-and-tell. Where was she at the beginning of her term, when she could have made a difference? (And then I had to hear her almost literally swipe my laundry list of issues and suggestions in her remarks -- so now I'm her speech writer, too?). She too, disingenuously, thundered out against the closing.

I expect the hearing panel will do what is sought of them and soon enough issue the much-desired execution order.

And so the play will end.

And then the calamities will begin.

---

Read the media reports here--

• Courier: "1,200 attend hearing to keep Muhlenberg open"
• Ledger: "Hearing on closing of hospital is packed"

-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg closing impacts County's emergency preparedness

Plainfielders have understandably been so preoccupied with what Muhlenberg's impending closure means to THEM and the impact the dispersal of its patient population will have on surrounding hospitals that they may have overlooked the problems the closure presents for Union County.

Pat Quatrocchi, of the Countywatchers blog has taken a look at the role the Freeholders have played in Solaris' closure plans and the impact closing Muhlenberg will have on Union County's emergency preparedness. (Read more here.)

In a word, you better pray we never have a large-scale disaster or terrorist attack impacting Plainfield; we can now basically kiss our butts goodbye.

Don't forget to thank all the players.

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Countywatchers: "How will hospital closing affect Union County preparedness?"

-- Dan Damon

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Assembly huffs and puffs over hospital woes

What are Plainfielders to make of an Assembly committee's huffing and puffing over hospitals' ills yesterday?

As far as Muhlenberg is concerned, not much I'm afraid.

The proposed bills would --

• Require training of hospital board trustees;
• Require hospitals to hold at least one annual public meeting to discuss community concerns;
• Prohibit charging uninsured patients more than 15% of the Medicare rate.

The second item -- on annual meetings -- is sponsored by Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green.

You will look in vain for anything that will help save Muhlenberg.

Where were these people when the troubles began?

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• "Lawmakers look at ways to save hospitals" -- Courier | Ledger |

-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg hearing tomorrow is crucial

The state's hearing on Solaris' application to close Plainfield's Muhlenberg hospital is tomorrow -- Tuesday -- evening, 6 PM to 8 PM at Plainfield High School. It is important to have a good turnout, in spite of the fact (as olddoc points out here) that the hearing is PURPOSELY scheduled for normal peoples' dinner hour. Parking is available in both the Stelle and Kenyon Avenue parking lots as well as on the street.

See Dottie Gutenkauf's update and information on registering to speak (or submit written comments) here: "Muhlenberg update from Dottie Gutenkauf".

One good idea that has been put forward by the 'Buy Muhlenberg' group is that Muhlenberg's license be kept active, in reserve for a possible sale.

Meanwhile, the word is that Solaris has refused to schedule ANY activities for Muhlenberg after June 15, and that in-patients will be relocated to other facilities as of that date.

Solaris is doing everything in its power to ensure that a rescue does NOT take place.

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-- Dan Damon

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AOL users of Plainfield, you have nothing to lose but your misery

Emailing to hundreds of AOL users every day, there used to be relatively few problems with delivery of the CLIPS emails.

Occasionally, one would bounce back because the user's mailbox was full.

But in recent months, AOL has more and more frequently been taken over by its evil email twin.

In the past week or two, I have had to resend AOL emails to many readers a second time, which seemed to work OK.

Friday, however, we entered a brave new AOL world -- nearly one third of all AOL readers' emails bounced. Upon resending them (chore!), they bounced again.

Then I started to check out the messages given by AOL as an explanation for the bounce. All said either 'Mailbox not found' or 'Null' (meaning AOL it could not interpret the transmission).

Frustrating for me, and maybe for you -- but of course you won't even realize it was sent and bounced.

Worse for you has to be the worry that OTHER AND MORE IMPORTANT EMAILS TO YOUR AOL ACCOUNT ARE BEING REJECTED BY AOL.

What to do?

Some have added webmail at sites like Yahoo!, Google or Hotmail.

Another hassle, but it might serve you better if AOL is not.

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-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg much in the news today

Local businesses will be heavily impacted by job losses.

With the clock ticking down on Solaris' plan to close Plainfield's Muhlenberg hospital, the media are busy covering steps in the process -- the state's public hearing is next -- as well as the views of those affected by the closure and other observers.

In Sunday's Courier you can find --

• Public Hearing: "State hearing at PHS set for Tuesday"
• State Board: "State rarely rejects hospital applications to close"
• Editorial, CN: "Community needs help from Solaris"
• OpEd: "Need to better diagnose what's killing hospitals" -- By Edison resident Louise Riscalla.

Much tsouris for Plainfield and the surrounding communities. Much heartburn for Assemblyman Green as he faces the consequences of not fighting early enough, hard enough.

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-- Dan Damon

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Sign Justice for Crescent Area Neighbors

Sign justice for C.A.N.

Plainfield's Crescent area residents have noticed the elected officials' sign aggrandizement that has reached their neighborhood. And they are not happy about it.

While Mayors and Councils have always been mentioned on signs for city construction projects, some serious sign aggrandizement has been going on the last couple of years.

When ground was broken on the new Senior Center complex, pols were prominently mentioned, but did not overwhelm the rendering of the project -- which was the point of the sign, after all. And Mayor Robinson-Briggs got equal type size with UCIA chairman Charlotte DeFilippo, as you can see below.

Then there are the new signs at the city's parks and playgrounds, where Mayor Robinson-Briggs' name appears, if somewhat more discreetly than the name of the park or playground. The example from Milt Campbell field gives you an idea.

I won't touch on how unusual it is for the Mayor's name to appear on a PERMANENT sign, except to point out that this is AN ENTIRELY NEW WRINKLE, reminiscent of ideas of personal importance shared by everyone from the ancient Pharaohs to such modern figures as Stalin and Saddam.

But then there was the demolition in the 500-block of South Avenue, funded by a state bond issue. The Mayor's name took a sudden leap in significance, as you can see below. And remains framing the vacant (are there toxic substances like asbestos in that pile of dirt?) to this day.

Recently, things reached a new height -- literally -- with the plunking of the sign in the middle of the Park Avenue peninsula.

You should understand the project is the brainchild of the Crescent Avenue Neighbors and, in particular, of Maria Pellum. They are righteously indignant about having been left out of any credit for the project.

Oh, and did I mention that they are VOTERS?

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-- Dan Damon

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Green urges Somerset MC to save Muhlenberg

Will Somerset save Muhlenberg?

With his political fortunes skidding into the ditch, Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green is making last-minute moves designed to give the appearance of resisting the closure of Muhlenberg RMC by Solaris Health System.

In a page-one story in today's Courier, Somerset MC CEO Ken Bateman reveals that Green had approached him about partnering with 'an investor organization' to keep Muhlenberg open as an acute-care facility. (See more here.)

Is this a real change of heart on Green's part or just a smokescreen to cover his failure to fight for keeping Muhlenberg open?

Several of the points in the Bateman story seem to indicate that opponents of the closing have scored some points --

1. Number one, just even talking about NOT closing Muhlenberg down -- the topic has been pooh-poohed by Green since his infamous task force announcement.
   
   
2. Keeping Muhlenberg's license active -- this idea comes out of the 'Save Muhlenberg' campaign.
   
   
3. Forcing Solaris to provide the most recent annual financial statement to the city.

This last point is probably a bit of smoke-and-mirrors as it is conditioned on legislation Green proposes to introduce in the Legislature. His batting average with legislative initiatives of this sort is, shall we say, not exactly Major League.

At last Wednesday's meeting with elected officials arranged by Olive Lynch of the 'Buy Muhlenberg' campaign -- to which Assemblyman Green and Mayor Robinson-Briggs were invited, but which they did not attend -- participants learned some of the OTHER REASONS that area hospitals might not be exactly thrilled with Muhlenberg's closure.

The impact the closing of Union Hospital has had on Overlook Hospital in Summit is most illuminating for what lays in store for JFK and Somerset, as well as Overlook, in the light of a Muhlenberg closing.

Overlook, attendees were told, is desperately struggling to cope with the additional demands for regular beds, intensive care and ER beds to accommodate those spilling in from the Union Hospital closing. They are additionally being faced with a deluge of pediatric cases overflowing from Newark. All of this is stressing staff and physical facilities. No one has even measured the negative impact of increased -- and unremitted -- charity care.

And all this is even before the first patient from Muhlenberg shows up.

I am told by people in the know that Solaris is quaking in its boots and hoping against hope that the vast bulk of the Muhlenberg patient load will NOT END UP ON ITS DOORSTEP. Good luck, folks!

In addition, Clem Fiorentino, writing in today's Courier story, outlines services Solaris (JFK) is NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE --

• Cover 600 annual BIRTHS to mostly Neighborhood Health Service Center (PHC) clients;
  
  
• In-patient MENTAL HEALTH services (not a high profit margin here);
  
  
• Sixteen VOLUNTARY BEDS;
  
  
• Intensive PEDIATRIC OUT-PATIENT SERVICES.

Kind of reminds me of the complaints by Muhlenberg supporters that JFK has always been interested mostly in skimming the cream.

Will all this last-minute legerdemain pull the rabbit out of the hat?

Those who think so should go out and rent the movie 'The Illusionist'.

For which the tagline is 'Nothing is what it seems'.

---

Courier: "Somerville MC might look at partnership to save Muhlenberg"

-- Dan Damon

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Green, Robinson-Briggs failed to take up earlier option to save Muhlenberg

May Day! May Day! May Day!

As the clock runs down on closing Plainfield's Muhlenberg hospital, activity by supporters is bringing to light previously unknown opportunities for local elected officials to save the hospital. Opportunities it appears they ignored.

At an informational meeting for elected officials of neighboring communities comprising Muhlenberg's primary market area, Council members from Scotch Plains, Westfield and North Plainfield peppered the meeting's moderator, Olive Lynch, with questions about the timing of the proposed closing, the health and economic impacts of the closure, and about the idea of establishing a 'hospital authority' by a number of the towns to take over and continue Muhlenberg's operations.

Attendees were given an eye-opening presentation on Solaris' moves over the years of profitable operations out of Muhlenberg to JFK -- radiology, pathology, and ob-gyn. Plans to move cardiac rehab to JFK were stymied by massive opposition from Muhlenberg's cardiac rehab user community. In addition, it was reported Solaris has sold off its dialysis unit (the property subdivision was previously reported here) and, most recently, its cardiac catheterization lab.

As one participant said, "Basically, what we have here is a non-profit entity behaving like a corporate raider."

Lynch, founder of the 'Buy Muhlenberg' effort, introduced the idea of forming a 'hospital authority' in the way that Hoboken was able to do to save its St. Mary's Hospital. She reported on conversations with Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Hudson) on how legislation was crafted that saved St. Mary's.

In today's Courier, a front-page story by Clem Fiorentino on last night's meeting (I couldn't find it online) quotes Quigley as saying there are differences and similarities between Plainfield and Hoboken, the chief of which is that the religious order that operated St. Mary's was willing to grant time for the proposal to be crafted and legislation passed.

Solaris clearly will NOT contemplate such a delay in its closure plans.

But more revealing is that Quigley says she met several months ago with Assemblyman Jerry Green, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Scotch Plains Mayor Marty Marks and Solaris CEO John McGee, and discussed the possibility of a 'municipal consortium' taking over Muhlenberg.

While McGee's attempt to weasel out of acknowledging the substance of the meeting is transparent, the REAL NEWS here is that I cannot recall Assemblyman Green or Mayor Robinson-Briggs bringing this option before the City Council or the community in a timely fashion.

Note that SEVERAL MONTHS WOULD HAVE MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD, if the Assemblyman and the Mayor were REALLY interested in saving Muhlenberg.

Instead, Assemblyman Green was busily enabling Solaris' plan for the closure by assembling his task force to execute same. (The Courier's March 7 story is archived here.)

You will search in vain through Mayor Robinson-Briggs' lengthy March 6, 2008 OpEd in the Courier (in which she took time to start by blasting the Courier for not honoring her as the 'queen bee' in all things Plainfield) to find any mention of setting up a consortium to rescue the hospital. (Her Honor's 'Status Dire But Hopeful' piece is archived here.)

Unless Assemblyman Green and Mayor Robinson-Briggs are willing to publicly accuse Assemblywoman Quigley of being a liar, they need to 'fess up and explain why they did not take up this opportunity to save Muhlenberg while there was still time.

Otherwise, if Muhlenberg closes because of their chicanery, they will be forever known as 'Jerry and Sharon, the couple who closed Muhlenberg'.

Perfect together.

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-- Dan Damon

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Corzine on hospitals: More mush from the wimp

The Boston Globe's famous 1980 headline.

Plainfielders of a certain age will remember the 1980 gaffe in a headline by the Boston Globe over a story on a talk by President Jimmy Carter on the economy.

I was put in mind of it today while reading the stories in both the Ledger and the Courier about Gov. Corzine telling New Jersey's hospital administrators yesterday why he was cutting aid for charity care -- yet again -- in his proposed FY2009 budget.

The problem with New Jersey's hospitals as with Muhlenberg, as everyone seems to agree, is unfunded charity care -- for which even less is proposed from year to year. It seems to me a cynical assault on those least organized, least vocal, and least able to fight back effectively. It is a gutlessness that will cost lives.

It didn't have to be this way.

The state commissioned a study on the rationalization of hospitals and state support of same. The problem with the study is that of almost all studies where elected officials are expected to pick from among unpalatable alternative policy proposals -- there is no prioritized list naming names of who should be closed and who should be kept open.

While Plainfielders might draw comfort from noting that the criteria for keeping a hospital open would seem to indicate Muhlenberg is a poster child for same, the gutlessness of the politicians leads to another outcome: the State has apparently already made up its mind that Muhlenberg will close.

Commissioner Heather Howard's public assertion that Muhlenberg's closing would allow JFK to die another day was simply shameful, though not labeled as such by any of the media, and evidence that the decision has been made in a smoke-filled room, and is being palmed off as 'transparency' by a rigged 'Certificate of Need' process.

All that letting the hospital situation unfold Corzine's way does is ensure NOT that there is some rationalization of hospital numbers, location and support in New Jersey, but that the politically connected and powerful will prevail and the rest will close their doors.

Muhlenberg being a case in point.

As a result, we have a governor's gutlessness turning into heartlessness and, ultimately, costing lives.

No wonder I recalled the Boston Globe headline: "More mush from the wimp".

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• Ledger: "Corzine offers hospitals a tough Rx"
  
• Courier: "Corzine: Hospital cuts are necessary"

-- Dan Damon

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New data and a new buyer for Muhlenberg

Financials included in Certificate of Need Application.

NEW BUYER?

My post from yesterday drew an inquiry from an out-of-state doctor connected with a group of hospitals in another state.

Sounded like a serious buyer. Referred him to a local elected official. We will see where this goes.

Would be really interesting if there turned out to be a bidding war for the hospital Solaris told us nobody wants to buy, wouldn't it?

CERTIFICATE OF NEED

Also, a Muhlenberg supporter kindly scanned the (humongous) Certificate of Need Application, and I have posted it online in three Big Bites. You can read it online, print it out, email the links to others or save the file to your hard drive. That should cover the bases. Here are your links --

PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE

'BUY MUHLENBERG' CAMPAIGN

Also note that the 'Buy Muhlenberg' campaign has launched its website, which you can check out here.

You will also find a number of fresh posts on the 'Save Muhlenberg' blog here.

RALLY TONIGHT

And lastly, don't forget tonight's rally -- rain or shine -- featuring NY Giants' Shaun O'Hara. At Hub-Stine Field, 6 PM. Be nice -- do NOT block anyone's driveway!

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-- Dan Damon

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The Courier is no more. Long live the Courier!

That's c-n.com, actually, the former Courier News online presence.

You may have noticed an online beta site for a new web presence to be operated jointly by the Courier News and The Home News Tribune, Gannett's central Jersey newspapers.

The official launch is today, announced in the print editions of both papers, and -- sort of -- online, when my page left open to the beta site last night came up this morning with a '404 - Page not found' error.

You will want to check it out.

The site seems pretty well thought out, but you will have to get used to where things are placed, as well as the 'carousel', the revolving top stories gizmo that seems to be all the rage with online newspapers now.

I'll go into that more later, but for today just note that if you click on the 'Union County' section you will be whisked to Hunterdon County.

It's a shakedown cruise -- I'm sure all will get straightened out in the next few days.

Meanwhile, the new site fuels the gossip that has been making the rounds for months: that Gannett will eventually cashier the print editions of both the Courier News and The Home News Tribune, replacing them with a joint online edition and reducing the print editions to a Sunday version only.

I checked around in the media network and consistently drew blanks, but this may be the first shoe dropping.

If you think the gossip is far-fetched, check out what is going on in Madison, Wisconsin, where the 90-year old Capital Times, founded during the days of the Progressive Movement, shuttered its print edition and went online (see more here). For The Capital Times, its entertainment section and a weekly news guide will be printed as inserts in the Sunday editions of its cross-town competitor The Wisconsin State Journal.

Does ths mean the Courier may eventually be an insert in the Sunday Star-Ledger?

Hmmmmmmmmm.

---

• My Central Jersey: "MyCentralJersey.com launches today"
• NY Times: "Reluctantly, a Daily Stops Its Presses, Living Online"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Solaris rushing to head off buyer?

Plainfielders following the attempt by Solaris Health System to close its Muhlenberg hospital operation may be aware that there is a buyer in the wings.

However, I am hearing that in the rush by both Solaris and the State to close the hospital, the potential buyer -- Pine Creek Healthcare Capital, of Nashville, TN (more about them here) -- is not being allowed the time necessary to do due diligence.

The more I hear, the more unseemly the rush by Solaris appears.

I hope the possible buyers are willing to do what is necessary to get to an offer on the table -- including going to court for an injunction to stop the clock so they can do their due diligence.

And the City Council, the Mayor and our legislative delegation ought to support this effort.

"Buying a hospital," as the old saying goes, "is not a tea party."

---

• Plainfield Today: "Muhlenberg: A lesson from the might Saguaro?"
• Courier: "Group eyes Muhlenberg" -- In which Pine Creek is mentioned.
  

-- Dan Damon

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A little humor from an overbusy blogger

This recently forwarded by a reader who knows a blogger needs a jolt of humor now and then, and frequently supplies same.

---

Always keep several
get well cards on the mantle...
So if unexpected guests arrive,
They will think you've been sick
and unable to clean!

Works well for overbusy bloggers, too!

---

-- Dan Damon

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Tips on Hiring Women: A Guide

Plainfield women looking to enter the job market may want to check out this '1943 Guide to Hiring Women' (see here).

A reader recently forwarded me a scan of a page from the July 1943 issue of Transportation Magazine.

Rosie the Riveter this may not be, but you will certainly want to check out the requirements expected of women and the tips for managing them.

And, in spite of this, the United States and its allies won World War II!

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-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg: Certificate of Need App at Library

As part of the state's process for closing Muhlenberg, a copy of the 'Certificate of Need Application' by Solaris to the state has been deposited at the Plainfield Public Library by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services.

The document is available for public perusal, and is available at the Reference Desk on the main floor. Those wishing to view it may do so upon leaving ID or library card with the reference librarian.

(I have been told it is on the 'ready reference' shelf and is in a white binder labeled 'Certificate of Need Application - Closure of Acute Care Hospital'.)

The Plainfield Public Library is at 8th Street and Park Avenue. For further information, call (908) 757-1111 or visit the library's website at www.plainfieldlibrary.info/.

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-- Dan Damon

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Time to lay down the law on Channel 74?

Plainfield residents have not been well-served by their Public Access Channel in recent years.

That could begin to change tonight at the Cable TV Advisory Commission's meeting -- especially if members of the public come out. The meeting is at 6:30 PM this evening, in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Avenue.

Much of the programming has been recycling of old -- and sometimes VERY OLD -- material.

The only recent material appears to be a promo piece for the new boxing gym at East 5th and Roosevelt. Otherwise, the freshest programming is supplied by outsiders like the Union County Freeholders Forum.

When the Administration proposed an ILSA (interlocal services agreement) between the City and the PMUA recently for editorial and other help with getting the City's message out, City Administrator Dashield told the Council the agreement was necessary because of all the time it took the public information staff to edit tape for Channel 74 -- 12 hours of editing for one hour of tape, he said.

Well, if the staff was complying with the law (the Federal Cable and Telecommunications Acts of 1984, 1992 and 1996, to be exact), this wouldn't even be an issue. Which leads one to wonder if the staff even knows the law regarding Public Access Channels.


PUBLIC ACCESS: AN OVERVIEW

In the 1960s, as cable access was sweeping the country, cable companies strung their wires (coaxial cabling) literally everywhere -- using telephone and streetlight poles and draping them across streets, parking lots and other public spaces.

Eventually, communities wrung from the cable companies the right to have free access channels of three sorts -- Public Access, Educational, and Government, hence 'PEG' -- in exchange for running all that wire along the public right-of-way.

The laws cited above enshrine the responsibility of the cable operators to provide local communities with equipment and sometimes training to enable residents of the communities to produce their own programming and show it on their own local cable channel(s). And the local government is SPECIFICALLY BARRED FROM CONTROLLING OR EDITING THE CONTENT OF PUBLIC ACCESS PROGRAMMING. (The ONLY exception is that it can refuse to broadcast material deemed pornographic or slanderous.)

Plainfield has two channels granted in the current franchise agreement -- an Educational and a Public Access channel.

So, you might ask, why isn't Channel 74 being RUN as a Public Access Channel? And isn't it about time that it was?

When PCTV-74 was set up as a result of the most recent franchise agreement, Comcast provided grants for the purchase of thousands upon thousands of dollars of equipment for the station. This was of two sorts: equipment needed for the operation of the station, and equipment to be used by the public to produce content.

That included such items as videocameras, lighting equipment, editing software and copying facilities. All of which should be readily available to the public for its use. One problem is that we don't even know where the equipment is or whether all of the original equipment is still in place (there were rumors in the early days of the Robinson-Briggs administration that a good deal of the movable equipment had simply vanished).


PLAINFIELD'S CABLE ADVISORY COMMISSION

I have heard rumors for months now that the Cable TV Advisory Commission feels hamstrung about getting anything going with Channel 74 for a couple of reasons --

• that the Administration wants to control all decisions relating to management, production and broadcast scheduling; and
• the staff complains of how long it takes to edit submitted tapes.

The truth of the matter is that the Administration should certainly not involve itself in matters the law reserves to the public -- specifically, what can be produced and the editing of community-produced material.

The Cable TV Advisory Commission is in the perfect spot to assert the public's rights and to begin to ensure that they are honored by the Administration.

How to get started?


BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING

• Inventory the existing equipment and compare to the original equipment list, replacing anything needed;
• Join the NJ public access channels user group (no need to re-invent the wheel when others have already don it);
• Follow best practices in setting up a membership and training program (see links at end of post) so the public can begin to exercise its rights under the law;
• Since the City's website is so unwieldy, the Cable TV Advisory Commission could set up its own BLOG (free and easy) and keep the public informed on a regularly-updated basis, without waiting for someone else to update the City website, and lastly
• Once a membership and training procedure is in place, set up a public forum for all interested individuals and groups to let them know how things are moving forward and what THEY need to do.
  

A final word: The Cable TV Advisory Commission is, like ALL municipal boards and commissions, subject to both the 'Sunshine' law (Open Public Meetings Act) and OPRA (Open Public Records Act), meaning its meetings must be regularly scheduled and noticed and its records must be available to the public.

It can begin to establish that necessary bond of trust between the Public Access Channel and the community by --

• Publishing its legally-required schedule of regular meetings;
• Putting out its contact information so the public can make inquiries, and
• Publishing its minutes (here is where a blog is perfect), so the public can see what progress is being made.

With these few simple steps, Plainfield could be on its way to having a truly world-class Public Access Channel and everyone could begin to take real pride in PCTV-74.

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• Membership: "Troy, MI: Public Access FAQ" -- An overview of a well-organized Public Acess Channel's structure.
• A Public Access Channel Website: "Santa Barbara Channels" -- And a well-organized Public Acess Channel's website.

-- Dan Damon

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