D-Day today for Robinson-Briggs and Green on Muhlenberg

D-Day , no turning back.

Today is D-Day today for Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Assemblyman Jerry Green on the rescue of Muhlenberg Hospital.

In two meetings today -- one including Commissioner Heather Howard, one not -- the Plainfield duo must convince the state to keep Muhlenberg's license active, and the potential buyer to stay in the game.

The prospective buyer has said that not to have an active license in place would be a 'deal-breaker'.

The D-Day metaphor is quite appropriate: The Plainfield duo will have to make their way successfully across an 'Omaha Beach' under heavy artillery barrage and strafing mounted by Solaris to kill the Muhlenberg license.

Assemblyman Green and Solaris have worked hand-in-glove for many years in a mutually beneficial relationship, as both parties have often remarked.

Will the Assemblyman, to save Muhlenberg, today finally have to 'bite the hand that has fed him'?

Will the Mayor be a player or just a hand-puppet for the Assemblyman?

Will the mystery three Council members be active participants?

Will the deal move forward?

Or die?

Stay tuned.

---

-- Dan Damon

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3 Plainfield schools get money for emergency repairs

Three Plainfield schools are among 114 in special-needs school districts (they're not referred to as 'Abbott districts' any more) statewide that will receive $60M for emergency repairs, according to a story in today's Courier-Post of Cherry Hill.

Plainfield High School and Cook School will receive funding for emergency roof repairs; Stillman School gets money for window replacements.

Read the full story in the Courier-Post here.

Muhlenberg: Will the hapless heroine be rescued from the wicked schemer?

Pauline's guardian schemed to get rid of her.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs is 'thrilled' with the possibility that Dr. Reddy Dandolu and DBR Healthcare may emerge as the saviors of Plainfield's Muhlenberg Hospital. (See reports in today's Ledger and Courier.)

Not, I think, if Solaris has anything to do with it.

Dr. Dandolu had reached out to me in April (see here), after I wrote about the interest of Pine Creek in Muhlenberg.

Discussing the need to work with local political officials to successfully conclude a deal (and that I could not be said to be on the friendliest terms with same), I suggested Dr. Dandolu approach the political powers-that-be through Councilor Cory Storch. (I call your attention to the lack of any mention of Councilor Storch in the Mayor's showboating -- which is not the reporters' fault if the Mayor never clued them in.)

Because Solaris' financial consultants required a confidentiality agreement, Dr. Dandolu was not at liberty to discuss his proposal.

However, my research after that conversation showed that he has a family connection to a group that owns several hospitals in southern California, operating as Prime Healthcare Services.

I have to wonder if PHS is part of the deal that Dr. Dandolu is putting together. That would bring a team that has successfully managed hospitals back to financial health -- though not without criticism and crossing swords with California's healthcare monitors (see here).

Tension increased unbearably as the train
bore down on the hapless heroine.

The real obstacle I think is that Solaris will move heaven and earth to see that Muhlenberg's license is cancelled. I have felt all along that Solaris has a STRATEGIC goal of 1) eliminating any competition in its service area, and 2) driving charity care away from the JFK facility.

The maneuvering by Assemblyman Green, Mayor Robinson-Briggs, Dr. Dandolu and Solaris put me in mind of the grandaddy of all movie serials, The Perils of Pauline.

Pauline was always put in peril by the wicked Mr. Koerner who schemed to polish her off and keep control of her inheritance for himself. When I was a kid, the serials used to be run on TV and I always remember the one with Pauline tied in knots and stretched across a railroad track by Koerner in the path of an oncoming locomotive.

Pauline was saved in the nick of time.

Will Muhlenberg be?

Pauline's adventures gave us the word 'cliffhanger'.

---

• Plainfield Today (4/29/2008): "New data and a new buyer for Muhlenberg"

-- Dan Damon

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Obama and Dems set up HQ on East Front Street

Democratic Party HQ for the General Election,
just down the street from the Senior Center.

The Democratic Party's headquarters for the November general election is going to have a spiffy street-level space in the same newly renovated office block on East Front Street that houses the city's rented Senior Center space.

In fact, it's in the space previously occupied by the New Democrats during Mayor Al McWilliams primary and general election campaigns for his second term.

The karma should be good for those standing for election this fall.

Now, if they can just get all the signs to stay up at the same time. (The droopy one is for Democratic candidates for City Council Annie McWilliams, Adrian Mapp and William Reid.)

---

-- Dan Damon

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Should Plainfield revalue its properties?

Is it time for Plainfield to revalue its properties?

The amount a property owner pays in taxes is determined by the assessed value of the land and buildings (called 'improvements') and the tax rate, which is set annually by the County and based on budgets for the municipality, schools and the county.

At the time a community values its properties, the assessments are supposed to reflect actual market conditions. Plainfield's last revaluation took place in the early 1990s, and the assessments on our books (except for new construction or properties revalued because of substantive improvements) reflect those older market conditions.

Municipalities undertake revaluations at different times, and the potential exists for a town to carry an unfairly large share of the county's tax load if its assessed values are higher than other towns in the county. Counties attempt to level the playing field by assigning a multiplier value which is intended to make each town more comparable to other towns and to approximate current market conditions.

This all works reasonably well in good times, but these are not good times.

Last Thursday, the city of Paterson sued Passaic County and ten other towns in the county over this very same issue, contending that it is carrying an unduly heavy share of the county tax burden.

Because our revaluation took place over 15 years ago, Plainfield may not have the same complaint.

However, with market values depressed and unlikely to recover any time soon (many experts are suggesting a five or six year slump in prices), Plainfield's City Council might be doing Plainfield taxpayers a favor by considering revaluation under today's market conditions.

Read more about the thinking on these issues here...

Property owners turn to tax appeals to ease hard times

Facing hard times and falling property values, New Jerseyans are turning to tax appeals as a way to ease financial burdens.

Well-prepared property owners who can document that a property's value has declined stand a chance that they can get their assessment, and thereby their tax bill, knocked down significantly.

Several items need to be covered to enhance chances for success. Read more here...

Muhlenberg: The backstory

Check back a little later. -- Dan

Plainfield's latest 'park' not its greatest

This abandoned pallet marks the entry from the rear parking lot.




Bare dirt comprises most of the 'park' site.




The sign. No comment.

Plainfield's latest 'park' is hardly its greatest.

I've been watching the vacant lot on West Front between Horizons and McDonald's as the long-vacant building was razed and then a couple of park benches appeared. I didn't realize it was a 'park' until Bernice called it to my attention recently.

Since no one can seem to remember the Council resolving to make it a park, the mystery of how it got that designation and where the funds came from to do the project is beginning to pique a few people's interest.

Parking in the lot adjacent to Horizons and behind the storefront properties, one is first caught up by the deteriorated and refuse-strewn condition of the city lot. What is that about?

From the rear, one must pass an abandoned pallet to access the mostly bare dirt 'park', in which two benches perch amid a hedge of barberry, a few neglected and dying marigolds and assorted litter.

Aside from the sign (with its odd, uncalled-for use of quotation marks and brackets), one would hardly suspect it was a park. With the benches in direct sun except for early morning and late afternoon, it is an uninviting spot, and seems mostly ignored in favor of seating along Front Street that gets more shade.

You'd think the people whose names are on the sign would think twice before letting their names be associated with such a forlorn-looking project.

Is this the image of the Queen City the administration wants to project?

---

-- Dan Damon

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Solaris & Muhlenberg: Everything coming into focus

With the announcement -- on a Friday, to bury the news? -- that Solaris is asking for public bonding to expand, it seems the months-long drama of the Muhlenberg closure plan is now coming into focus.

You can read the news here --

• Courier: "JFK to expand to fill gap created by Muhlenberg's upcoming closure"
• Ledger: "Solaris looking to expand JFK Medical Center"

But the real story is behind the news.

That will be for Monday.

---

-- Dan Damon

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08/08/08: Time to bet the farm?

Could be. The Casino Night/Taste of the Plainfields fundraiser for the Plainfield Public Library's children's room refurbishment is tonight, starting at 6:30 PM, at the library. $40/person.

Though the Chinese are exceptionally fond of the number '8' and believe it to be exceptionally lucky (the Olympics kick off at 8:08 PM on this triple-8 day), they are not the only ones.

Check out Ben Schott's op-chart in today's New York Times entitled 'Crazy Eights' (see here) for a roundup of eights and their import throughout history.

Could you be lucky tonight?

Four eights in poker?

Red or Black eight in roulette?

Boxcars in craps?

Hmmm...

---

-- Dan Damon

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Toiling in the hot summer sun

In Plainfield, man and beast alike toil in the hot summer sun to make the world go 'round.

'Beast' may be a stretch, but the bee above gathering nectar from a Bloodroot, or Scarlet Asclepias, in the Shakespeare Garden at Cedar Brook Park caught my eye. The plant is a gussied-up version of the milkweed commonly seen along country roads and in open fields.

With the help of a rail-riding crane, workers place a heavy metal plate as part of the ongoing reconstruction of New Jersey Transit's Plainfield rail crossings. The work shown here is at the Madison Avenue crossing, after which the crane moved west to the Central Avenue overpass. Reconstruction of the overpasses is scheduled to be finished in 2009.

The bee did not appear to break a sweat; can't say the same for the NJT workers.

---

-- Dan Damon

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The School District teaches the City a lesson

Under Plainfield's new superintendent of schools, Dr. Steve Gallon III, changes are reinvigorating the district from top to bottom.

One of the most prominent to my mind is the new emphasis on timely communications with the district's stakeholders, which includes the whole community.

And thereby, the district is teaching the City a lesson.

With about a month under his belt, Eric Jones, who is coordinating the district's public information, has not only STARTED a blog (PPS News ... Online!), but has POSTED TO IT REGULARLY (including at least one weekend post), with A VARIETY of brief and lively posts.

In his first twenty 'stories', I have noted --

Communications from Dr. Gallon	1
Agendas	1
Event Notices	4
News Items	7
Personnel Introductions	3
Comments/Feedback Roundup	1
Photo Essays	3

The purpose of the blog is clearly stated at the top of the right-hand column, and there is both a link to send an email and a contact phone number.

As if all this weren't enough, Jones outlines a number of different featured posts we can look forward to --

1) CLOSE-UP (a guide to an instructional program)

2) ASK THE 'SUPER' (Dr. Gallon will answer readers' questions)

3) INSIDE RM: __ (A 'sneak peek" inside a classroom, featuring engaging lessons and activities)

4) UP CLOSE & PERSONAL (Interviews with students, staff, parents, and administrators.)

With adaptation to its peculiar circumstances, this is a recipe for communications success that could readily be put to use by the City if it wanted or had the ability.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield Today: August 1 - 5 posts

Tuesday, August 05, 2008

City's 'National Night Out' promotion. Grade: Incomplete.

Screenshot of city's online calendar today. Lack of right-hand arrow
means there is no August calendar online.

Here's the challenge: You want 50,000 Plainfielders to know you are celebrating National Night Out's 25th anniversary on the first Tuesday in August so they can come out and participate.

In previous years, there have been stories in the newspapers, banners over the street, and a big push in the community to come out, join in and 'give crime a going-away party' as the slogan used to go.

So, what's the communication plan for 2008?

Seems like it's 'tell people as little as possible'.

The banner stretching all the way across Front Street near Watchung Avenue only has the date, no other information. Same for the banner staked into the ground at the corner of Front and Park.

The city's website calendar doesn't even have August events up yet, as you can see from the illustration above. (Were they caught by surprise that there was another month after 'July'?)

Maybe there's a press release. Nope, the last press release on the website is dated July 10 (road repairs) and before that June 13 (firefighter valor awards).

Thankfully, Monday's Courier has a mention of today's programming: Tonight, 5:30 PM, in front of City Hall. Surprisingly, readers learned that this past weekend's Bike Rodeo was also part of the observance, as was a 'Church Community Day' on Sunday. Who knew?

We also learn that events will be held in Wards 2 and 4 on Wednesday, and Wards 1 and 3 on Thursday. The events, times, and locations are unspecified. Better get out your Ouija board.

What a contrast to the School District, which I will take a look at tomorrow.

If there were an award for 'City With Poorest Communications', Plainfield would definitely be in the running.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Monday, August 04, 2008

Taste of the Plainfields: Casino Night helps rebuild Library's Children's Room

Plainfielders can help the Library rebuild it's Children's Room while enjoying live music by Nat Adderley Jr., tastings of Plainfield food specialties and a casino room, all this Friday evening at the Library.

Sponsored by the Friends of the Library, the event will bring together residents, friends of the library, local businesses and anyone looking for a good time which will benefit a good cause.

MUSIC

Nat Adderley Jr., music director and keyboardist for the late Luther Vandross, will fill the evening with the sounds of live jazz.

FOOD

Sample the tastes of the Plainfields, highlighted by cookoffs between such local favorites as Cousins vs. Elma's Kitchen, Blackberry's vs. Indigo, Jay's Sweet Cakes vs. Taste of Rubies, and Livay Goodies vs. Sweet Lew's. Plus Freshwaters, Giovanna's, 5 Chefs Indian Cuisine and many more.

CASINO

For those who want to try their hand against Lady Fortune, the Casino Room will offer a Texas Hold'em poker tournament, three Blackjack tables, and Roulette and Craps tables.

Including a 50-50, this is going to be the event of the summer.

Don't miss it. Tickets are $40/person and can be bought at the door or in advance (see ticket locations here).

The Plainfield Public Library is at 8th Street and Park Avenue, with ample parking in its two lots and on College Place.

For more information or to reserve tickets, call Robert K. Graham at (908) 756-2300 or visit the Taste of the Plainfields website.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Sunday, August 03, 2008

Why isn't Mayor Robinson-Briggs against illegal guns?

Though you do not read about it in the papers and certainly not on the city's website, guns are still a problem in Plainfield, particularly among teens, I am told by several cops.

So, why isn't the mayor against illegal handguns?

The issue of handguns is coming back into focus now that Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham of Jersey City is being joined by mayors Cory Booker of Newark and Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City to push for passage of a bill restricting the purchase of guns in New Jersey (see stories here and here).

What is being proposed is a statewide law restricting the purchase of handguns to one per month. The three argue that the legislation -- twice passed by the Assembly but never brought to a vote in the Senate -- is a necessary part of a multi-pronged effort to combat the proliferation of illegal handguns, especially among teens in the state's cities.

New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg has organized a nationwide coalition of mayors to lobby for measures to reduce the availability of illegal guns. Known as Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the coalition now has 325 mayors signed on, including 46 in New Jersey.

But not Mayor Robinson-Briggs. Wouldn't you think we'd want to be against illegal handguns and in favor reducing their availability?

Here is a list of New Jersey mayors belonging to the coalition (it's online here) --

• Asbury Park, Mayor Kevin G. Sanders
• Bayonne, Mayor Joseph V. Doria Jr.
• Berkeley Township, Mayor Jason J. Varano
• Camden, Mayor Gwendolyn Faison
• Closter, Mayor Sophie Heymann
• Corbin City, Mayor Carol Foster
• Demarest, Mayor James Carroll
• East Newark, Mayor Joseph R. Smith
• East Orange, Mayor Robert L. Bowser
• Edison, Mayor Jun Choi
• Elizabeth, Mayor J. Christian Bollwage
• Fair Lawn, Mayor Steven Weinstein
• Guttenberg, Mayor David Delle Donna
• Hamilton, Mayor John Bencivengo
• Hazlet, Mayor James C. DiNardo
• Highland Park, Mayor Meryl Frank
• Irvington, Mayor Wayne Smith
• Jersey City, Mayor Jerramiah Healy
• Little Falls, Mayor Eugene Kulick
• Logan Township, Mayor Frank W. Minor
• Longport, Mayor John Stroebele
• Lower Township, Mayor Walt Craig
• Manchester Township, Mayor Michael Fressola
• Merchantville, Mayor Frank M. North
• Milford, Mayor James A. Gallos
• Morristown, Mayor Donald Cresitello
• Newark, Mayor Cory Booker
• North Arlington, Mayor Peter C. Massa
• North Brunswick, Mayor Francis M. Womack III
• North Haledon, Mayor Randy George
• North Plainfield, Mayor Janice G. Allen
• Parsipanny-Troy Hills, Mayor Michael Luther
• Passaic, Mayor Samuel Rivera
• Paterson, Mayor Jose Torres
• Pennsauken, Mayor Jack Killion
• Phillipsburg, Mayor Harry L. Wyant
• Port Republic, Mayor Gary Giberson
• Red Bank, Mayor Pasquale Menna
• Salem, Mayor Earl Gage
• Shrewsbury, Mayor Emilia M. Siciliano
• Spotswood, Mayor Barry H. Zagnit
• Trenton, Mayor Douglas Palmer
• Victory Gardens, Mayor Betty Simmons
• West Windsor, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh
• Woodbridge, Mayor John E. McCormac

You'd think we should be there.

Unless, of course, guns and crime are no longer an issue in Plainfield.

---

• Jersey Journal: "Booker and Healy join to promote gun purchase limit"
  
• Courier: "Gun control bill gets booster in state Senate"
• Homepage: "Mayors Against Illegal Guns"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Saturday, August 02, 2008

Surveyors seen measuring Muhlenberg parking lot

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Click on map and use 'hand' to drag viewing area around.


A resident in the Muhlenberg Hospital neighborhood reported seeing surveyors with transits measuring off the hospital parking lot on the West side of Park Avenue, between Randolph and Laramie Roads.

Does this lends more credence to the rumor that the lot is up for sale?

You tell me.

Friday, August 01, 2008

Ledger 'on life support'?

Billboard touts the Ledger as most read newspaper
in Union County. (Photo: CountyWatchers)

Plainfield and the rest of New Jersey was rocked Thursday afternoon with the news the Ledger was demanding 200 employees take buyouts by October 1st and the unions make concessions -- or the paper would be put up for sale. (See links to coverage at the end of this post.)

Watching the newspapers deal with the Internet has become a regular habit of mine, and you have heard me comment from time to time (most recently when the Ledger yanked its Sunday 'Perspective' section).

I suspected things were not well with the Ledger, but never that it would come to this. Think of Queen Elizabeth telling the royal household if they didn't take the buyout she would sell the Royal Crown of England.

At any rate, the news is surely part of a negotiating stance by the Ledger and its parent company, Advance, the newspaper half of the Newhouse press empire (the other being the Condé Nast magazines). But that doesn't mean that New Jersey's paper of record might not change hands -- or go out of business (I don't think so).

Let's hope they figure out how to make it work, but this is a slippery slope. The LATimes and the Philly Inquirer have gone through more than one downsizing in the last couple of years, and they are still not out of the woods.

Ultimately, the answer can never come in layoffs and reducing the scope of the papers' coverage alone. They have got to figure out how to make the Internet work for them in this brave new world.

I would hate to see the dead-tree versions go away, since I grew up with them and they are deeply ingrained. I don't mind that I have to wash my hands after reading the Ledger because of the ink smudging off.

Seems like more part of the real world than mere pixels.

---

• CountyWatcher: "Star-Ledger to employees: Buy-out or be sold"
  
• Editor & Publisher: "'Star-Ledger' Seeks 200 Buyouts, Threatens Sale if Not Reached"
• Ledger (Breaking): "Star-Ledger announces large-scale buyout offer" -- With reader comments.
• Ledger (Print): "Star-Ledger gives staff a deadline for buyouts"
• NYTimes: "Cuts and Concessions Demanded at New Jersey Papers"

-- Dan Damon

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Will Solaris try to make a killing on Muhlenberg real estate?

Latest rumor is that parking lot West of Park Avenue is for sale.

While Muhlenberg supporters plan strategies in the face of the August 13 closing of the hospital, 'Save Muhlenberg' activists are calling attention to what they believe is a similar struggle -- at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn -- with implications for Muhlenberg and Plainfield.

While real estate values in the Cobble Hill neighborhood in which LICH is situated have appreciated dramatically in recent years (I know the neighborhood well, having lived a few blocks away and with a friend who owns a rowhouse literally around the corner), Plainfield has not seen such dramatic increases -- despite the runup of recent years.

Nevertheless, the story brings up an important issue: What now will Solaris do with the Muhlenberg property?

Rumors have been flying for months about plans to sell off or develop parts of the campus, including various buildings, as condos, offices, a conference center, etc., and what local players might benefit from finder's fees in 'brokering' such transactions.

The latest rumor to surface, though I have not been able to confirm it, is that the large parking lot on the west side of Park Avenue at Randolph Road is on the market.

Meanwhile, you can read up on the Brooklyn experience and lessons it may have for Plainfield and Muhlenberg here: "Doctors Say Hospital Is Falling Victim to Its Own Real Estate Value".

P.S. -- As fate would have it, today's New York Times brings news of yet further property sales by LICH's parent corporation -- this time of properties housing its obstetrics programs -- though prices are not mentioned. Supporters of LICH contend it is being cannibalized to aid the parent corporation.

Read about it here: "Community Hospital in Brooklyn Is Closing Maternity Ward and Selling the Space".

Assemblyman Green launched into the blogosphere

Plainfield's Assemblyman Jerry Green has finally started a blog. About time.

Bernice called me Tuesday afternoon with the news, saying she had spoken with the Assemblyman on the phone (got that part garbled, sorry). I didn't expect a phone call from the Assemblyman. (The last time he called me was ten years ago this past March, a phone call that I shall never forget, though he may totally have forgotten it.)

With 1,360 posts to Plainfield Today since November 2005, I have been wondering for the longest time when 'the King' would take up the mightiest weapon of all, the pen.

After all, blogging is free -- all that one needs is a little time and something of interest to say. Being a good typist isn't even part of the deal. So, why not?

The Assemblyman promises 'plain truths' and 'real solutions'. Let's hope.

I hope you will check out the Assemblyman's blog (here), maybe even bookmark it.

It's not clear what Jerry's 'own views and decisions' will include. Will it be in his role as chair of the Dem city committee? As Assemblyman? As community mover and shaker? Will it be a blog or a bloviathon? We'll have to wait and see.

Meanwhile, a suggestion to the Assemblyman that I have made to other bloggers who have been interested in being linked to on CLIPS and Plainfield Today --

• Blogging, to be successful, needs to be viewed more as a marriage than as an occasional date.
  
  
• Posting infrequently and on an irregular basis guarantees people will not remember to come back and see what's going on.
  
  
• Not having anything interesting to say and not saying it in an interesting way will drive readers away. And if one doesn't get readers, what's the point?

Getting a link in the main section of CLIPS hinges on evidence that a blog is being posted to on some sort of regular basis. Barring that, it's the 'Siberia' of a link on the sidebar.

Lastly, blogging is the ultimate PERSONAL way of getting one's views out there.

In the shallow end of the pool, where Bernice, Dan, Maria, Olddoc and the other locals splash, blogs are written and managed by the person whose name is attached as the 'blogger'. Should it ever come to light that the Assemblyman's blog is NOT by the Assemblyman, but by a paid-for hack or a staff member -- to Siberia it goes.

Now, when is Mayor Robinson-Briggs going to take pen in hand?

---

-- Dan Damon

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Sticking it to Green, Howard pulls plug on Muhlenberg

Commissioner Heather Howard officially pulled the plug on Plainfield's Muhlenberg Hospital Tuesday afternoon.

Her letter to Solaris CEO John McGee is almost anticlimactic given that she tipped her hand months ago in pubic comments about 'saving JFK'. (I will post the letter when I get a working copy, the one received yesterday was unopenable.)

McGee wasted no time in announcing that MRMC would admit no patients after August 13 (was the press release already prepared, or am I too cynical?). This gives Solaris a two-week window for laying off employees, transferring equipment in broad daylight, and shutting down the physical facility.

In a final insult, Howard sticks it to Assemblyman Jerry Green, saying she is powerless to grant the only fig leaf that the Assemblyman was able to find in the whole business -- keeping the Muhlenberg license active for a period of time in order to search for a buyer.

So, without a serious and impartial examination of the alternatives by the State (one of which would have been to consider closing JFK as a more 'rational' and 'fair' move), 131 years of service to the greater Plainfield area is wiped out with a penstroke.

With the likelihood of an Obama presidency and a Democratic surge in both houses of Congress, one would hope that help is on the way. But it will be too late for Muhlenberg, if and when it comes.

With the help of Assemblyman Green's 'Plan B' task force, Solaris has done what it could to guard against being overwhelmed by Muhlenberg clients by attempting to disperse them far and wide.

The state, with its county-centric mindset, bureaucratically disregards the true geography of need and service, de facto making Trinitas (literally at the opposite end of the county) THE hospital for Union County's poor and uninsured.

Will it be 'genocide lite' as Deborah Dowe suggests? Or merely an inconvenience, alleviated by a free cab plan, as Solaris proposes?

Time will tell.

In the meantime, my mind's eye pictures Howard (as Macbeth, hands bloody after murdering Duncan), calling McGee (as Lady Macbeth, the instigator) on her cellphone, uttering Shakespeare's fateful line --

"I have done the deed. Didst thou not hear a sound?" -- Act II, scene ii.

Macbeth at least had the humanity to lose sleep over it.

Lady Macbeth was another matter.

---

-- Dan Damon

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Cohen Resignation: Cattle call for replacements

PolitickerNJ has a laser focus on the Assemblyman Cohen scandal and resignation.

I am gathering the loose ends together for those junkies who never tire of Jersey's most famous crop -- no, it is NOT the Ramapo tomato, nor 'big R', it's political scandal and machinations. (For another view, check out today's Countywatchers post.)

The 9:24 AM resignation by Cohen was effectively a cattle call for all aspiring pols to start warming up their shtick.

Among those mentioned:

• Freeholder Angel Estrada, a consummate Union County political insider who also happens to be Latino (Sen. Lesniak has vowed a minority person will get the seat). This would allow the use of one of the favorite political gambits -- move politicians up the ladder one rung at a time and fill the slot left behind with a more junior person;
  
  
• Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith is definitely interested and since Cohen is from Roselle, it seems possible that his replacement will be too, though not likely to be Smith, who has crossed swords with Union County Dem boss Charlotte DeFilippo. What is the old saying?... "over my something or other body...";
  
  
• Which brings us to two lesser known names (at least on this end of the county): newcomer Roselle Councilor Cecilia Dallis-Ricks, a Cohen ally, and longtime Elizabeth Councilor Patricia Perkins-Auguste, who is being championed by Mayor Chris Bollwage.

Nature, the law, and Union County Dem chair DeFilippo all agree on one thing: They hate a vacuum.

DeFilippo promises Union County Dems will come up with a replacement within the statutorily required 35 days, which will also fall just days before the state's election calendar deadline for getting a name on the November ballot.

My guess is the decision is already made, it only remains for the Politburo to summon the faithful to a rubber-stamp meeting.

At least, they'll probably get some free munchies.

---

PolitickerNJ covers the Cohen crisis --

• "Cohen resigns"
• "DeFilippo: Cohen's seat to be filled within 35 days"
• "Estrada puts his name out there to succeed Cohen"
• "Mayor Smith eyeballs District 20 Assembly seat"
• "Perkins-Auguste interested in vacated Assembly seat; Dallis-Ricks favored out of Roselle"

-- Dan Damon

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Muhlenberg: Rescue money for who?

Bennet Zurofsky, Esq., the attorney representing POP in the matter of the closing of Plainfield's Muhlenberg Hospital by Solaris Health System, has written Commissioner Heather Howard asking that the matter be reconsidered.

His letter of July 23 is a followup to one of July 17 to the State Health Planning Board, after which he learned the SHPB had already forwarded its recommendation to the Commissioner and that the SHPB was no longer able to reconsider.

Zurofsky outlines the reasons he believes Commissioner Howard is compelled to re-examine the matter, including that a law passed merely days after the June 6 SHPB hearing in Plainfield established a process for using a $44M emergency fund to stabilize situations just like that of Muhlenberg.

I have posted the documents online (the files are far too large to be emailed) where all can review them.

Here is the 'statement of the sponsors' (with line numbers) which sums up the new law's main points --

8 STATEMENT
9
10 This bill amends the “New Jersey Health Care Facilities
11 Financing Authority Law” to expand the purposes of the authority’s
12 hospital asset transformation program, which is established
13 pursuant to N.J.S.A.26:2I-7.
14 Specifically, this bill would authorize the authority, subject to
15 the approval of the State Treasurer, to provide, in connection with
16 the hospital asset transformation, any nonprofit health care
17 organization in the State with the funds to:
18 • satisfy the outstanding bonded indebtedness or any other
19 outstanding indebtedness of any hospital in the State;
20 • pay the costs of transitioning a general hospital to a nonprofit,
21 non-acute care health care-related facility, including, but not
22 limited to, construction, renovation, equipment, information
23 technology and working capital;
24 • pay the costs related to transitioning acute care and related
25 services from the hospital at which inpatient acute care
26 services are to be terminated to an existing nonprofit general
27 hospital, including, but not limited to, construction,
28 renovation, equipment, information technology and working
29 capital;
30 • pay the costs associated with the closure of a general hospital;
31 • pay the costs of the acquisition of a general hospital in the
32 State for the purposed of either (i) moving an existing general
33 hospital’s services into the acquired hospital and closing the
34 acquirer’s inpatient acute care services, or (ii) closing its
35 inpatient acute care services;
36 • pay capitalized interest;
37 • fund a debt service reserve fund;
38 • pay the costs associated with the issuance of any bonds for any
39 of the aforementioned purposes; or
40 • pay other costs specifically related to the closure or transition
41 of inpatient acute care services as identified in the contract
42 with the Treasurer.

Reviewing the materials, two items jumped out --

1. Per Zurofsky's final brief of 6/10/08, he notes that the Reinhardt Commission supplied the software necessary for a rational analysis of closing decisions to HHS; there is no indication I can find anywhere that Commissioner Howard ordered the software be used to analyze the CN application by Solaris to close Muhlenberg.
   
   
2. Sponsors of the bill (S2790/A4349), which passed both the Assembly and the Senate on June 21, were none other than Sen. Ray Lesniak and Assemblymen Neil Cohen and Joe Cryan -- all of Union County.

Would one be off base to infer that the legislation, tailored as it was by Union County legislators, was intended for the Muhlenberg case?

But for whose benefit? Muhlenberg's? Or Solaris'?

It all depends on which end of the tube you are looking down, I guess.

Could that be why Assemblyman Green is not listed as a primary sponsor of the bill?

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• Letter: "Zurofsky to Commissioner Howard - 7/23/08 - Petitioning Reconsideration"
• Letter: "Zurofsky to SHPB - 7/17/08 - Petitioning Reconsideration"
• Letter: "Zurofsky to SHPB - 6/10/08 - Final Brief"
• Law: "NJSA 26:21-7 - Expanding Hospital Asset Transformation"

-- Dan Damon

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Traffic Alert: Front and Grant

The traffic light at West Front Street and Grant Avenue has been out since at least Saturday AM, and is still not functioning.

Front Street traffic is being allowed uninterrupted passage through the intersection via a blinking yellow light.

North/South traffic on Grant and West End Avenues is being shunted via South Second Street and Green Brook Park/Myrtle Avenue.

Be forewarned if traveling in the area.

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-- Dan Damon

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Arts grants: Union County awards

Following up on the announcement of arts grants earlier this week, here are all the grants made to organizations in Union County.

Note that the Plainfield Symphony and other Plainfield organizations get their grants through the county's Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs.

NJ State Council on the Arts FY2009 Grants Union County
ORGANIZATION	PURPOSE	AMOUNT
Arts Guild of Rahway	General operating support	$9,006
Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company	General operating support	$42,440
Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company	Arts ed initiative	$9,790
Kean U./Premiere Stages	General operating support	$21,186
Music for All Seasons	General operating support	$37,127
NJ Intergenerational Orchestra	Arts Project support	$6,300
NJ Youth Symphony	General operating support	$38,768
NJ Youth Symphony	Projects serving artists	$17,080
Union County College	General operating support	$8,659
Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs	Local arts programs	$144,728
Union County Performing Arts Center	General operating support	$39,186
Visual Arts Center of NJ	Building arts participation	$25,000
Visual Arts Center of NJ	General operating support	$89,928
Westfield Symphony Orchestra	General operating support	$39,242
Westfield Young Artists Coop Theatre	General operating support	$43,560

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-- Dan Damon

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