City Hall odds 'n ends

A Chevy Corvair compact car? Read on. All will be made clear.

WELCOME TO THE NEW CITY ADMINISTRATOR. Newly appointed City Administrator MARC DASHIELD is getting settled in at City Hall. PT hears one of the first things he did was get out of the office and introduce himself to some of the divisions. Management by walking around? Let's hope so. PT has hopes that an experienced hand -- which Dashield is, with in-depth experience in Franklin Township, a community of similar size if not exactly similar in issues -- will right the listing ship-of-city. PT also hopes that the mayor will develop a good working RELATIONSHIP with this seasoned professional, give him the AUTHORITY he needs to be effective in his job, and allow him to IMPROVE the timeliness and effectiveness of the Administration's communications with the Council. That would go a long way to easing the public's concerns about the competency of the leadership as Plainfield moves into the great-giveaway phase of the Mayor and the Mayoral Mentor's program for Plainfield.

...AND DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION. PT hopes that the new Director, RAIFORD DANIELS, is able to get a handle on the City's largest department...and soon. As of now, it appears he has a full plate -- finding a Tax Collector (tip 'o the hat to LES!) and a Health Officer, cleaning up behind the late, lamented Carlton McGee (a notes rollover is due in two months), and managing the budget process which is now SERIOUSLY OVERDUE. If it's true -- as PT is told -- that he has no prior government experience, he is going to have a steep hill to climb indeed.

CHECKING THE CHECK REGISTER. When PT was a student at Clerk University, we had it drilled into our heads that the governing body MUST publicly review the municipality's payments at its regular meetings, usually meaning they get a copy of the check register and an opportunity to have payments explained to themselves and the public. Just say it's part of exercising their FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITY. PT can certainly remember Councilors Malcolm Dunn and Bob Ferraro asking pointed questions of the Administration in these regular reviews. So, it is with a sense of relief that PT noted that the Council received the December check register in this past week's packet. PT cannot recall that the information had been previously provided by this Administration. By the way, those registers are PUBLIC RECORDS and the curious can either inspect them at City Hall or use an OPRA request to obtain copies.

STREET WORK. The Council is preparing to pass a $7M bond ordinance to fund CONTINUED road and street improvements. That's a relief, as the buzz had been that the Administration was considering abandoning the long-term plan to address Plainfield's seriously deteriorated streets. Here's a partial list, from the agenda --

• Ward 1 - North Avenue, Gavett Place, Netherwood Avenue, Court Place.
  
  
• Ward 2 - Kensington Avenue, Evergreen Avenue, Watchung Avenue, Stilford Avenue, Fayette Place, Brook Lane.
  
  
• Ward 3 - Maplewood Terrace, West 8th Street.
  
  
• Ward 4 - South Second Street.
  
  

Fair and balanced? PT finds it interesting that the bone-rattling, fillings-dislodging block of Somerset Street, from the North Plainfield line to Front Street (with its storm sewer inlets that flood every time it rains) is not on the list -- again. Let it not be said that visitors to the Queen City should have a smooth entrance.

MARTY HELLWIG GETS A NEW DESK. Public Safety Director MARTIN HELLWIG has new digs -- at Police Headquarters. One can hardly blame him for getting away from some of the noxious fumes at City Hall. Besides, PT could never understand the electric blue walls he inherited in his tiny City Hall digs. The best that could be said is that the color certainly wasn't INSTITUTIONAL.

McGEE SUV. What ever happened to the fancy-schmancy SUV that late City Administrator Carlton McGee finagled? Seems he was not content to have a plain-vanilla, white one -- which is what the Police Division had on order. He HAD to have black -- and all kinds of toys, including LEATHER INTERIORS. Word has it that the funds were squeezed out of the DPW budget. Your tax dollars at work. What ever happened?**

MLK MAILER. Speaking of your tax dollars at work, the MLK Week Schedule of Events was delivered in PT's neighborhood yesterday -- THE DAY AFTER THE LAST EVENT. The tab for the annual printing and mailing, when PT was producing it, was over $5,000. With all the communications professionals the Administration has on the payroll, you'd think it could have been done in A MORE TIMELY FASHION. This year, one suspects, the money might have been better spent on more eats and treats.

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**PT has to admit that his sense of propriety about vehicles for high mucky-mucks is informed by his youthful memories of Montreal's Cardinal Archbishop Paul-Émile Léger, who tooled around his diocese, sans driver, in a humble Chevrolet Corvair. (The picture above closely resembles the one driven by the Cardinal -- and the youthful PT.) The good Cardinal became a major player at Vatican II, among other things arguing for a married priesthood, and was an inspiration to many. Modesty, restraint, service. Ah, the public virtues!

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UCIA: Cat, dog, or pig? You decide!

. . . . . . . .

"I like pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals."

Sir Winston Churchill, WWII British Prime Minister (1874 - 1965)

Last night's Council agenda included a proposed THIRD amendment to the interlocal services agreement between the City and the UCIA (Union County Improvement Authority), designating FURTHER PROPERTIES for the UCIA to redevelop.

On the list are a remaning portion of the Tepper's block, a vacant lot at 300 Madison Avenue, another at 520-26 South Avenue, and ALL FOUR TRAIN STATIONS -- Netherwood and Downtown, and the former Grant Avenue and Clinton Avenue stations. (Somehow, PT had the idea that the train stations belonged to NJT and not the city, but this may be a POSITIONING move pre-empting future NJT actions. I'll have to check it out.)

Let's review.

• Now a FURTHER EXPANSION of the UCIA's role in Plainfield's future is up for discussion.
  
  
• We have SERIOUS UNFINISHED BUSINESS -- dating back to 2005 -- from the UCIA's development of the Park-Madison site, including the RECONSTRUCTION OF PARK AVENUE and the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) monies

• Two of the three current UCIA projects -- the North Avenue Historic District and the Marino's supermarket proposal -- are already FALLING BEHIND their original proposed schedule and are running into overtime on their plan deadlines
  
  
• The Dornoch plan for condos and a Senior Center on East Front Street is DEFICIENT IN MEETING STATE GUIDELINES for facades on buildings over 50 feet in length

Now you can see the relevance of the bulldog Prime Minister's witticism PT quoted at the top.

So what do you think of the UCIA? Cat, dog or pig? You can vote your choice in the poll box in the right hand column.

VOTE today!


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What Jerry Green could teach Linden's Gregorio

Local politics in New Jersey, as we all know, is a blood sport. While Union County may not be quite as rough as the legendary Hudson County, we are still no slouches.

Take, for instance, Linden. In November, 30-year mayor John Gregorio was unseated in a close race by his once-pal, now-adversary Richard Gerbounka. It was bad enough for Gregorio to lose the powerful mayor's job (think contracts, jobs, vendor contributions) -- he also lost his kingpin standing in the Democratic City Committee because he was no longer an elected official and, according to the bylaws, could not be an officer (read more here...).

Not to worry. The Committee, oblingly, was prepared to rewrite the bylaws so the diselected ex-Mayor could continue to have a political life. And, the pliant chairperson announced she was ready to step aside in favor of the ex (read more here...)

Someone dropped a dime and the Ledger found the situation of enough interest to write it up as two stories. And that's where Jerry Green could teach the old pro a thing or two.

For years, Green had represented his neighborhood (Ward 2, District 6) as an elected member of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, and the Committee had elected him chair at each biannual reorganization.

Until Peter Janis ran a write-in campaign in 2001 and successfully unseated Green as the district's male committee member.

Though committee insiders were shocked -- and even fought the results in court -- when push came to shove, Green was re-elected chairperson at the subsequent committee reorganization. How could that be? The bylaws allow it:

"Article 3. Section 1. Persons eligible to run for or to hold an officer position in the Plainfield Democratic City Committee must be bona fide residents of the City of Plainfield and registered Democratic Party voters."

Whether or not the Comittee's bylaws were prescient, Green was rescued from being removed from the levers of power (which, in Plainfield, really reside in the Democratic City Committee).

Gregorio certainly could have benefitted from Green's experience and planned in advance. But extended periods of having absolute control can breed a certain arrogance -- as if nothing could ever unseat those in power. Which led to a certain sense of agita when the tide turned.

Agita that Green has never had.

---

BACKGROUND: New Jersey provides that members of the local political party committees -- both Democrat and Republican -- are elected at the Primary Election, one male and one female per district, for a term of two years. The parties alternate years -- Plainfield Republicans elected their committee in 2006, and all 68 seats (one male and one female for 34 districts) of the Democratic committee will be up in 2007. Leeway is left to the parties to design their own bylaws covering who qualifies to serve as an officer. Party committee members are technically elected to the COUNTY party committee -- a fact which is often not of importance except when there is a local contest. Plainfield witnessed such an intervention last year, when County Democratic chairperson Charlotte deFilippo engineered the denial of the mayoral line to then-mayor and city committee chairperson Al McWilliams. What surprises will there be in this year's primary season -- which will feature Council seats in the 2nd Ward and Wards 1/4 at-large as well as the complete City Committee? Stay tuned.


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MLK speaks out against war

Dr. King and other religious leaders at an anti-war vigil
at Arlington National Cemetery, 1968.

Forty years ago this April, Martin Luther King mounted the pulpit of Riverside Church in New York City to deliver his famous speech against the Vietnam War.

Though he had always been opposed to the war because of his philosophy of nonviolence, he had up to that moment left public comment to his wife, Coretta Scott King, so as to devote his entire efforts to the struggle for civil rights.

In the spring of 1967, he agreed to address a meeting of a large and diverse antiwar group, Clergy and Laity Concerned, and did so on April 17th.

The complete text of that speech -- and an audio file -- can be found here.

Everything Martin said about Vietnam can be thought of again today in the context of Iraq.

Wars are poor chisels

for carving out

peaceful tomorrows.

-- Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Guns and violence on everyone's mind

With EIGHT homicides in Newark in the first 13 days of the year and Dr. Martin Luther King's struggle for nonviolent social change being honored tomorrow, violence and its aftermath is on everyone's mind.

The prevalence of guns, the turf fights in the drug world and the youth of those involved are focusing people's attention. Two deaths yesterday brought Newark's total so far this year to EIGHT (read more...) in the year's first thirteen days.

Former attorney general John Farmer, Jr. argues in an OpEd in today's Ledger that it was all predictable -- based on what he calls our misguided criminal justice policies (read more...). This Thursday, Harvard prof and psychiatrist Dr. Alvin F. Poussaint will speak at the Newark Public Library about this deadly crisis (read more...).

In Somerset, Stanley Croughter, whose son was killed execution style, is starting New Jersey's first chapter of Parents of Murdered Children (read more...).

While Plainfield saw homicides in 2006 drop to ten after 2005's fifteen, we are anything but out of the woods. The under-reported prevalence of guns and gunplay, the relative youth of the shooters and the drug trade's flourishing presence in our city leave us in a vulnerable position.

You will want to read Farmer's thoughts on the matter, and consider making time to hear Dr. Pouissant at the Newark PL if possible.

---

Newark Public Library
5 Washington Street
(973) 733-7793
Presentation at 6 PM, Reception follows.

Reservations for reception by January 16th.
More on Library's website.

---

Help and support for homicide victims' families:

• Parents of Murdered Children, NJ Chapter
  Stanley Croughter, chapter leader
  email: stanley184@patmedia.net
  phone: (732) 227-1023 or (908) 458-7171
  
  
• Parents of Murdered Children, National
  email: natlpomc@aol.com
  phone: (888) 818-POMC
  
  
• Survivors of Murdered Children, Orange
  Beverley Henderson, Director
  email: echoes1@verizon.net
  phone: (973) 675-1199
  
  
• Mothers of Murdered Sons and Daughters, East Orange
  Christine Johnson, Founder
  phone: (973) 399-5029

---

OpEd, SL: John Farmer, Jr.: "Rise in violent crime was predictable"

Dr. Alvin Poussaint: "In Newark for a King event, Harvard prof looks at deadly crisis"

Parents of Murdered Children: "Out of dad's pain, others get outlet for grief; Somerset man starting state's first Parents of Murdered Children chapter"

Newark Homicides: "Two separate murders raise Newark death toll to 8 in 13 days"


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PMUA scores a hit, City missing in action?

The PMUA's newsletter arrived yesterday, and inside is the TRASH & RECYCLES SCHEDULE for 2007 (the link takes you to PT's printable version, in case your hard copy goes astray).

Good job!

Meanwhile, PT's neighborhood has not yet received the City's MLK WEEK mailer (PT's printable version is here). That means with no mail delivery until Tuesday (Monday is the federal holiday commemorating Dr. King), the earliest it can be expected is Tuesday -- the last day of scheduled events.

In fairness, PT has reports that some people elsewhere in the City HAVE received the mailer -- but shouldn't EVERYONE have, BEFORE the events? Especially since there seems to have been scant or no notice in the papers -- except for today's Courier, which is inexplicably NOT online -- which is the alternative source of information in the absence of the mailer.

Maybe those organizations whose events depended on the mailer should give the Administration a call and find out what happened.

On Tuesday, that is, when government offices will reopen.


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Dueling meetings - again?

City Council has an agenda session scheduled for City Hall Library this Tuesday, January 16th, where they are expected to also take up a budget discussion, as noted by both the Plaintalker and the Courier. That would be at 7:30 PM.

But the Martin Luther King Week schedule shows an NAACP event is supposed to take place in the same room -- at 6:00 PM.

No problem, you say?

True -- ONLY IF the Council skips its routine Executive Session and supper. Now, what's the chance of that?

Wonder whether whoever put the MLK Calendar together forgot to check with the Clerk's office about the availability of the City Hall Library.

Reminds PT of the old chestnut, "Does Macy's tell Gimbels?" Of course not.

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Lesson from an old Queen for the Bush Twins

The Bush Twins, Jenna and Barbara, with their father the President

PT thought he was done ranting about national politics yesterday, but that was before Entertainment Tonight weighed in with a news item on the continuing investigation by the NY Times into whether the Bush twins attended the notorious 'naked parties' at Yale which are turning into such a buzz. True or not, the rumor is not out of character with what else we know of the carryings-on of the First Twins.

The night before, their father, the President of the United States, had a few words to say about sacrifice -- in particular the sacrifices he is asking the American people to make by putting 21,000 more of their children in harm's way:

"Fellow citizens: The year ahead will demand more patience, sacrifice and resolve. It can be tempting to think that America can put aside the burdens of freedom. Yet times of testing reveal the character of a nation."

No sense looking to their father to give them a model for sacrifice.

But there IS SOMEONE to hold up as a role model for the First Twins -- and an 80-year old Queen at that.

Who? Queen Elizabeth II of England. Yes, that old Queen.

Queen Elizabeth II of England

Has PT totally lost it? Not really. I'm no particular fan of the Royals, but they do at least as good a job at modeling 'family values' as our First Family does, and in Elizabeth's case even better.

Consider this little bit of history.

As Princess Elizabeth, she was the only female member of the royal family ever to enlist in the military. In 1945, chafing under forced removal from London under pressures from the British Cabinet, the spunky Elizabeth persuaded her father the King to allow her to enlist in the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Services), a women's branch of the military which, among other things, provided drivers of munitions lorries and ambulances for the Royal Army.

An ATS squad drills

At the dedication of a plaque in 2005 memorializing the service of women to the war effort, the speaker noted:

"Over seven million women were mobilised. More than 450,000 were conscripted into the forces. Nearly half a million served in civil defence and the emergency services. Women did whatever was needed and wherever it was needed.
...
"The ATS girls, the WAAf’s and Wrens did more than ‘grin and bear it’. They helped us to hit back. The United States War Department said of them in 1942: ‘There is not a single record in this war of any British woman in the uniformed service quitting her post or failing in her duty under fire’."

Princess Elizabeth, a driver in the British military,
changes an ambulance's tire

Elizabeth, at age 19, trained and served with civilians, insisting on receiving no special treatment and taking her assignment alongside others in her group. By the time she returned to civilian life after the end of the war, she had risen to the rank of 2nd Subaltern (equivalent to our 2nd Lieutenant).

Elizabeth (in uniform) on VE day with her sister Margaret,
the King and Queen, and Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill

She was considered something of a 'chip off the old block' of her wildly popular mother the Queen Consort Elizabeth, who famously refused to leave London during the Blitz (the incessant fire bombing by the German Luftwaffe in 1940-41), saying "The children won't go without me. I won't leave the King. And the King will never leave."

PT submits that the spirit of sacrifice of the feisty young Princess is an excellent model for our own First Twins.

What are the chances their father, who indulged in sacrifice lite when it was his turn, will encourage this kind of family values in his offspring?

Protesters underscore the hypocrisy of the language of sacrifice

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Saddam's doubles spotted in Jersey?

(Illustration courtesy Mamacita! Click to enlarge -- you know the drill.)

Yes, folks, it is a BURNING QUESTION.

What has become of Saddam's doubles -- of which it is thought there were many -- now that he is, so to speak, no longer needing their services? And have they been spotted. . .in Jersey?

Joan Conde suspects she knows, and wants you to know too. Joan is the force behind Mamacita!, a New Jersey blog you should seriously check out for a little levity AND sass.

Eyeball her entry in the Huffington Post's January 'Contagious Festival' and share it with your friends. It will brighten up your morning -- and just maybe explain those slightly familiar looking strangers you've noticed in the lines at the Dairy Queen lately (which, by the way, is celebrating the Albanese's 32nd year on South Avenue ON SATURDAY. Get your Dairy Queen fix, at a 50% anniversary discount. But hurry.)


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Council Reorg - Swearings-in, Election of Officers

The two videos below document the swearings-in and election of officers at the 2007 reorganization of the Plainfield City Council.

THE SWEARINGS-IN The video below includes the swearings-in of Councilors Rayland Van Blake, Rashid Burney and Harold Gibson, followed by Councilor Gibson's remarks. The swearings-in of Director of Finance & Administration Raiford Daniels and City Administrator Marc Dashield are also included.

blankline

ELECTION OF COUNCIL OFFICERS Municipal Clerk Laddie Wyatt presides at the election of officers for the 2007 City Council. Elected were Rayland Van Blake as President and Don Davis as Chairperson, Committee of the Whole. Following the election and swearing-in of officers, Council President assumed the Chair and conducted the balance of the Reorganization Meeting.

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Videos of Council President Van Blake's Legislative Address and Mayor Robinson-Briggs' State of the City Address can be found here.

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State of City Address [video]

PT took his handly little videocam along to the reorg this evening and shot Mayor Robinson-Briggs' State of the City Address, Council President Van Blake's Legislative Address and the various swearings-in. Posted herewith are the Legislative Address and the State of the City Address, which is in five parts. Breaking the Address into parts is a result of the constraints put on uploading videos by YouTube, where PT posts them. As you note the quality of the audio, I ask you rather than curse to keep in mind Dr. Johnson's famous dog -- the wonder is sound was captured at all. PT saw the City's camera crew there. They will presumably be showing their tapes on PCTV-74. The advantage of PT's YouTube posts is that you can a) view them any time you wish and not have to wait for someone else's schedule, and b) share them with others who can then also watch them on their home computers. I'll be posting the other bits -- the various swearings-in -- later.

LEGISLATIVE ADDRESS, by the Hon. Rayland Van Blake, Council President blankline

STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS, by the Hon. Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Mayor PART ONE OF FIVE blankline

PART TWO OF FIVE blankline

PART THREE OF FIVE blankline

PART FOUR OF FIVE blankline

PART FIVE OF FIVE blankline

PT learned that someone in the Mayor's office REFUSED a request by the media for an advance copy of the State of The City Address, so that a proper story could be filed by the newspapers' evening deadline. This is an extreme professional discourtesy. Of all the times you want to put your best foot forward with the media, it is EXACTLY when you are making this kind of presentation. Whoever refused to make the advance copy available has embarrassed the Administration needlessly. P.S. Videos of the swearings-in of newly elected Councilors and the election of Council officers for 2007 are here. View today's CLIPS here. Not getting your own CLIPS email daily? Click here to subscribe. ARCHIVED POSTS OF PLAINFIELD TODAY FROM 11/03/2005 THROUGH 12/31/2006 ARE AT http://plainfieldtoday.blogspot.com/

Illegal basement apartment fire raises questions

This morning's Courier has a story on a fire at 127 and 129 Johnston Avenue which left 13 people homeless because all four apartments in the building were declared uninhabitable until further notice.

Basement apartments -- as the late Jocelyn Pringley told PT many times -- are illegal in Plainfield.

So, we have a couple of questions seeking answers--

• Is this a legal 4-family structure?
• Was the owner/landlord issued a Certificate of Compliance for the basement apartment?
• When was its last Fire Safety inspection and was the illegal basement apartment noted?

As PT asked in light of the Council's repeal of the Safe Homes initiative (see "HEADS-IN-SAND DEPT."), who is going to accept responbility when the -- inevitable -- fatality occurs. Yesterday's fire is just a warning. Is anybody listening?


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Themes you will and [probably] won't hear tonight

Tonight's Council reorganization is also expected to be the setting for Mayor Robinson-Briggs' State of the City address, the annual review of accomplishments and forecast of initiatives for the upcoming year.

It is widely expected that she will discuss the Operation Ceasefire initiative -- which it is hoped will finally get under way this month -- and point out that 2006 homicides (10) are down significantly over 2005 (15) -- though no one can really explain why.

She is also expected to announce that she WILL perform civil union ceremonies, as provided for by the new state law soon to take effect. Plainfield presents an interesting case in this regard, having both a large gay and lesbian community as well as an overwhelming number of religious organizations whose leaders are considerably more conservative on 'family values' issues.

While Robinson-Briggs is expected to discuss CRIME as an issue, PT has a hunch there are some aspects that will receive scant or no attention:

ROBBERIES & BURGLARIES

Though there has been a blackout of sorts on crime reporting in recent months, word in the street is that BURGLARIES and ROBBERIES are UP. This may get scant attention this evening, and you won't see the official figures until August or September, thanks to the way the FBI manages Uniform Crime Reports. (You'd think in the Internet age, they could do better...)


GUNS AND GUNPLAY

Guns and gunplay incidents have increased dramatically in 2006, as PT pointed out in the December 3rd post -- up at least 25% through October 2006, if the Ledger figures are reliable.


ASSAULTS

While Mayor Robinson-Briggs rode into office on a wave of hysterical publicity around this issue, she has fallen silent since she was sworn in a year ago. Since the local papers no longer have the resources to do 'the cops' (as it is called), and hence there is very little news coverage, PT opines that ASSAULTS have not gone down and may even have increased a little -- though, again, we won't know for months.

More disturbing is the possibility that the Administration is using the news blackout (you will note that Plainfield does NOT participate in the 'Police Blotter' section in the Courier) to cover up the continued Black on Hispanic violence which Robinson-Briggs so skillfully used to political advantage during her campaign.

Lest you think PT is just being snippy, consider this: the beating last Tuesday that was reported by the Ledger (see here) involved a Hispanic victim and two Black assailants, something which PT only learned over the weekend. PT is told there are many other, unreported Black on Hispanic assaults.

PT also got email from readers concerning recent breakins and suspicious activity by persons going up and down streets knocking on doors to see if anyone was home. A blackout on crime news means that people are left to their own devices to figure out if anything is going on. Some may mistakenly conclude that no news = no crime and let their guard down inappropriately.

Wouldn't you think the Administration would want to develop a means like a web-based Neighborhood Watch on its website?

The website?! That's another matter.

Come on out tonight for the Mayor's address, 8 PM, Courthouse, East 4th Street & Watchung Avenue.


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Mayor's & Assemblyman's mailer raises questions of fact

A reader sent PT the following observation on the recent mailing piece of Mayor Robinson-Briggs and Assemblyman Green which residents received over the holidays --

Dan:

I spent a few minutes over the holidays reading the piece that Mayor Robinson-Briggs and Assemblyman Green mailed to residents.

It is really quite a masterpiece of spin, and I wonder who actually wrote it as it seems there is no one at City Hall with this level of skill. At least the tone is straightforward and not gushy, and it is not filled with typos.

I'm not going to critique the piece, since I assume you will be taking a look at it at some point, but there is just one point I want to call to your attention.

On the back page, it notes that Assemblyman Green, singlehandedly evidently, 'corrected a law that inadvertently zoned the site to prohibit the construction of new business.' The photo makes it clear the reference is to the Park-Madison offices and retail project.

I am wondering if you could update us on the situation with the UCIA and the Park-Madison project? I remember you wrote last summer that a lot of things were unfinished. Are the outstanding issues still unresolved?

If so, the city is in an interesting position and could, if it wanted to, really put the squeeze on the UCIA to finish the uncompleted items. I am referring to the new projects that the UCIA wants to get under way. Though I don't expect the administration to call them to account, what are the chances the City Council could hold up these projects until the Park-Madison issues are resolved?

My fear is that if the UCIA is allowed to get away with doing only part of what was agreed to on Park-Madison, we will be looking at the same kind of performance going forward.

PT did indeed write about unfinished business with the Park-Madison project. You can find the pieces online at ("The Joy of UCIA (Park-Madison) - Some of the issues"), ("The Joy of UCIA (Park - Madison: The PILOT)"), ("The Joy of UCIA - 13 for the 13th") and a mention of the Certificate of Occupancy issue and tenant difficulties with building conditions ("The Joy of UCIA - The Certificate of Occupancy").

To date, the items are STILL UNFINISHED, to PT's knowledge. The most important items, in my humble opinion, are the PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) which would be cash in the till, and the reconstruction of Park Avenue between Front and Second Streets. (This is important because the emergency repairs made several years ago were only DESIGNED TO BE TEMPORARY. Without a fix, we are looking at the possibilities of unexpected sinkholes and damage to vehicles and possible loss of life. A liability issue waiting to happen if there ever was one.)

The chances the City Council will hold a gun to the UCIA's head to get Park-Madison promises fulfilled? PT is not a gambling man.

And ONE CORRECTION on the mailer (for now): The statement of the case on what the issue was and what Assemblyman Green did to secure the ability to develop Park-Madison is FLAT-OUT WRONG.

During the administration of Mayor Harold Mitchell in the early 1990s, the parcel was inadvertently put on the state's roster of land that is not to be developed. It seems to have been a decision made by a relatively low-level employee which was not caught by higher ups, and only came to light when Mayor McWilliams and the UCIA were set to ink an agreement.

Assemblyman Green proposed a law, subsequently passed, which essentially made an exception of the Plainfield situation.

PT's correspondent is right -- I will be giving the mailing piece a look-over later.


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Breaking news from the City Charter

It's not exactly a page-turner, but you can learn interesting things reading the City Charter. Take the following, for instance:

CITY COUNCIL

Article 2. Section 6. Meetings.
Council shall convene in regular meetings at least once each month at the City Hall at a time to be fixed by ordinance...

So, all the huffing and puffing about the Council's 2007 meeting schedule could be easily remedied by deciding to meet once a month for business (implying a second meeting for an agenda-setting session).

Think of the angst that can be saved: The Council would get relief from a surfeit of meetings plus time to study proposals before they do meet. The Clerk would have more than adequate time to get agendas, resolutions, ordinances, advertising and minutes organized. The Administration would gain needed time to get its act together. What's not to like?

THE MAYOR

Article 3. Section 3. General Duties.
He shall annually report to the Council and the public on the work of the previous year and on the condition and requirements of the city government ... He shall supervise the departments of the City government and shall require each department to make an annual ... report of its work...

This has traditionally taken the form of the State of the City Address, delivered annually at the Council reorganization, summing up the previous year and laying out the Mayor's agenda for the upcoming year.

Contents of the address are eagerly awaited by the populace and it has traditionally been made available in print and, since the advent of the Internet, on the City's official website.

We continue the tradition of eagerly awaiting the State of the City Address and its availability on the city's website and in print.

Meanwhile, shouldn't something be done about the fact that the Charter requires the meetings to be in City Hall and they are not? And how about that masculine language which must offend Her Honor as much as it does the rest of us?

City Council reorganizes Monday evening, January 8, 2007, 8 PM, at the Courthouse, Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street.

-- Dan Damon

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City website (The Sequel)

Just when PT thought the city's website (www.plainfield.com/) couldn't be more embarrassing as the world's window onto our community (see yesterday's post), the website itself proved him wrong.

No, I'm not talking about the Flash movie introduction which is about as fashionable Web-wise as bell-bottom jeans and polyester leisure suits. I'm talking about the Contact Us link at the top of the inside pages of the site.



Clicking on that link opens up a form to send a message to info@plainfield.com as in the illustration below.



You are not actually sending an email as you normally would. What you are doing is filling out a form which the website captures in a log and forwards as an email to whoever is tending to info@plainfield.com.

Getting the screen below is an indication that the script which runs the input form is working.



You ought to be able to rest assured that the message -- faster than a speeding locomotive, leaping over tall buildings -- is on its way to the person who will read it and tend to it, either by answering the question directly or forwarding the email to someone who can.

All well and good, but within a couple of minutes, PT received the following bounceback indicating the message was undeliverable.



This indicates that the message is undeliverable because info@plainfield.com is 'over its quota' of messages. But wait! -- as they say in the commercials -- There's more! Along with this bounceback message is a second one, identifying the actual recipient of the intended email -- A. Jollah, the mysterious 'AJ' -- as you can see below.



Now, all this would be harmless enough if you didn't expect the outside world to want to try and communicate with you. (And remind yourself that the website was NOT broken when the current Administration took office. This is a makeover by the Administration of Mayor Robinson-Briggs, paid for with your tax dollars.)

But suppose an ex-governor was looking to drop a million or so on new digs in Plainfield and had a question or two before putting pen to paper. Or maybe a supermarket like Pathmark or Stop & Shop was interested in the Marino's redevelopment area. What harm could possibly be done by not actually having the message delivered as intended?

Don't believe PT?

You can repeat this experiment in the privacy of your home and get the same results. Click here to open a pre-addressed email. Put in a little message and send it. Check your mailbox in a few minutes and see what you find. Embarrassing, huh?

-- Dan Damon

P.S. John DiPane, who built and maintained the City's original website until he retired last year, has offered repeatedly to fix the broken 'makeover' website. His phone calls, as they say, are not returned. Does this mean ignorance is bliss?

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2007 MLK Week of Celebration

MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. · ·2007 CELEBRATION
Dr. King at an Antiwar Vigil at Arlington National Cemetery, 1968.
FRIDAY · January 12 6:00 - 10:00 PM BUSINESS FORUM Mohawk Lodge #307 1325 West 3rd Street Sponsor: Mohawk Lodge #307	SATURDAY · January 13 2:00 - 4:00 PM TRIBUTE TO EDUCATION Hubbard Middle School 661 West 8th Street Sponsor: Omega Psi Phi, Omicron Chi chapter
SUNDAY · January 14 5:00 PM ECUMENICAL WORSHIP SERVICE Speaker: Dr. Leonard Bethel Rose of Sharon Community Church 825 West 7th Street Sponsor: Concerned Urban Clergy	MONDAY · January 15 8:00 AM Sharp SOLIDARITY MARCH Public participation encouraged From PNC Bank, 2nd Street & Park Avenue To PHS, 950 Park Avenue Sponsor: Mohawk Lodge #307
MONDAY · January 15 8:30 AM ANNUAL MLK BREAKFAST Speaker: James Mtume, KISS FM Talk Show Host PHS Cafeteria $16 / $12 Seniors/Students. Call 754-4663 Sponsor: Frontiers International	MONDAY · January 15 6:00 PM CITYWIDE COMMEMORATION Speaker: Dr. William Moore, 10th Baptist, Phila. Shiloh Baptist Church 515 West 4th Street Sponsor: Shiloh Baptist Church Dr. Gerald Lamont Thomas, Pastor
TUESDAY · January 16 6:00 PM "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." City Hall Library 515 Watchung Avenue Sponsor: Plainfield Chapter, NAACP	TUESDAY · January 16 7:00 PM "Dr. King's Message for Today" Plainfield Public Library Park Avenue & West 8th Street Sponsor: People's Organization for Progress
To print this calendar for a handy reference, GO TO THE PRINTABLE VERSION.

City website a bee in amber?

Like a bee in amber, Plainfield's website seems frozen in time.

A website is the cheapest, easiest way to keep the citizens informed of what the government is up to. That is, of course, if it WANTS to. Or CAN.

In early December, PT discussed the issues arising from former City Administrator Carlton McGee's fiscal shenanigans, including their impact on the City's ability to maintain it website.

At that time, PT was told the City had negotiated access to its passwords and codes that would allow the website to be updated -- which it apparently had not been since October.

Toodling on by, PT finds the site unchanged from its previous December state -- meaning it is now going on three months since there has been an update.

Supposedly, keeping the website ship-shape is one of the duties of the mysterious "AJ" -- but either he can't or doesn't.

Meanwhile, if you want to see how pros do it, check out the Union County website ("Latest Headlines . . ."), where the staff posts press releases detailing the doings of the Freeholders -- sometimes several times a day. You can see upwards of sixty stories for December, and January already shows a post a day for the first three days.

You'd think the Administration would want to put all its PR people power to work promoting the present powers-that-be and activities. Wouldn't you?

-- Dan Damon

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Eat well, do good

Eat well and do good at the same time?

You bet.

The Friends of the Library's 2007 Dine Around Town card is now available.

Here's how it works: You buy the card and get discounts at the fine establishments listed on the back. The Friends of the Library gets the fee for the card as a donation.



The cards are good through December 31, 2007. You can purchase them at the Circulation Desk at the Plainfield Public Library, Park Avenue and West 8th Street, or Swain Galleries, Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street.

Hurry on down, so you'll be ready to roll when you abandon your New Year's resolution to lose some weight... ;-)

-- Dan Damon

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Senior Center issues / Reform call by Spitzer

*
Speaking of Senior Citizen condos, today's Bergen Record looks into the question of whether the spate of development caters to Seniors or to developers.

Hmmmmm. While there is plenty of demand, Plainfield is a completely untested market (unless you count the Faith Bricks & Mortar condos on East 7th Street, one of which PT understands is under contract). That means a lot of the talk we are hearing may be blowing smoke, since no one is showing any hard marketing studies to back up the blah-blah. One of the hidden issues is the fact that these much-coveted Seniors are looking not only to downsize or get single-floor living; they are also looking to get rid of onerous property tax burdens. But condo owners pay property taxes. So, what's the incentive? Why will people pay the bandied-about $350,000 to buy a condo in Plainfield, even if it is a well-executed project?

Speaking of well-executed, this project won't be unless someone fights for it. For instance, over the question of setbacks for the alternating units -- as per state regulations which say they must be at least two feet. What PT heard when the developer presented last month sounded more like two inches -- about the thickness of a fake brick veneer.

Also, in pricier Bergen County, units are going for less than $300,000 -- with luxury amenities such as swimming pools and common areas for entertaining guests. What does that mean for a relatively unadorned project in Plainfield?

Donna Schiavone, a councilwoman in Hillsdale, is quoted as saying "We have to keep the big picture of planning intact. . .[w]hat might be good today may not be good 15 years from now, and then you are stuck with it." Plan ahead? What an interesting concept!

Then there is the matter of the 'nominal sum' -- undisclosed -- for which the City sold the land to the UCIA and the UCIA in turn sold it to Dornoch Holdings. 'Nominal sum' is real estatese for something on the order of $1. (Keep in mind that the City was paid over $1 million dollars for the Park-Madison site . . . but then that was another Mayor.) PT's rough calculation is that the sell-out value of the project at the $350,000/unit figure would come to around $22 million. Cost figures that are bandied about of about $15 million, would mean a gross profit of approximately 50% -- helped along, of course, by the gift of the land. Better than a Christmas Club account, to be sure (if you can even remember what those were).

Is this whole deal a payoff? Who are you kidding? This is NEW JERSEY. The trick is figuring out to whom. Maybe we could get some enlightenment if we consulted the legal firm of NPR's 'Car Talk' show, the legendary Dewey, Cheatham & Howe. One hopes Assemblyman Green and Mayor Robinson-Briggs have donned their green eyeshades to make sure this is the best deal for Plainfield.

Predictions for the Senior Condo project:

• The units will not sell for $350,000.
• The developer will conform to the setback requirement only after a knock-down, drag-out fight.
• Watch for the subsidized housing bait-and-switch maneuver.
• No one in the Administration will ask for 'owner-occupancy' covenants in the condo deeds (to prevent it becoming a rental unit).
• There will be attempts to wiggle, shave or delay the standard PILOT (Payment In Lieu Of Taxes) agreement.

Read the complete story here -- "Does senior housing cater to seniors or developers?"

---

Yesterday, the reform-minded Eliot Spitzer was sworn in as New York State's 54th governor. While his inaugural address concerned issues and plans for New York, it echoes a sentiment shared by many New Jerseyans, who are waiting to see how Gov. Corzine plays out his little part on life's stage here in Joisey.

Here is an excerpt from Gov. Spitzer's address --

"Let us remember the lessons of two great governors, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt instructed, “It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage that we move on to better things.”

And Franklin Roosevelt advised us to be, “bold,” and to recognize that people demand “action, and action now.”

I have no doubt that we can move on to better things in this state — that we will find ourselves on the winning side of history once more.

...

And so in order to return to policies of opportunity and prosperity, we must change the ethics of Albany and end the politics of cynicism and division in our state.

If ever there was a time that called out for introspection by those in government, it is now. Lincoln spoke of listening to “the better angels of our nature.” Indeed, those of us who work in the great building behind me must hear and heed the serious responsibility that public service demands and rise to this moment and show the public in words and in deeds that we understand that our responsibility is to the people of New York.

The reform we seek is substantial in size and historic in scope.

It will require a new brand of politics — a break from the days when progress was measured by the partisan points scored or the opponents defeated. No longer can we afford merely to tinker at the margins of the status quo or play the politics of pitting one group against another. We must replace delay and diversion with energy and purpose in the halls of our capital.

What we needed now more than ever is a politics that binds us together, a politics that looks to the future, a politics that asks not what is in it for me, but always what is in it for us."

The full text is here -- "Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s Inaugural Address"

-- Dan Damon

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