Grassroots CDC offers 'Out Of The Box Club', kids program aimed against violence

Kids are innately curious.

 

Plainfield's Grassroots CDC is offering a program for youngster that takes aim at one of roots of violence in our community.

While I was not able to attend Mayor Mapp's recent Town Hall meeting on safety in the community at Washington School, I agree wholeheartedly with Assemblyman Green, who was quoted as saying that what at-risk young people need is jobs.

They also need aspirations, and this is where the Grassroots organization comes in.

From Saturday, January 28 through Saturday, March 18, the group will run its "Out Of The Box Club for Math and Science" at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

The Club is targeted for youngsters from Grades 3 through 7, and is designed to excite and challenge them while instilling a love for and early understanding of topics in math and science. It is a perfect antidote to the complaint that "there's nothing for kids to do".

Here are the details --

• When: Saturdays from 1/28/17 through 3/18/17
  
  
• Time: 1:30 - 3:30 PM
  
  
• Location: St. Mark's Episcopal Church, 1430 Park Avenue, Plainfield
  
  
• Club Dues: $50/child, payable at first Club meeting
  
  
• Information: Register online at www.plainfieldgrassroots.org/ or contact Valerie McCree, (908) 821-6421.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Council amends pay-to-play ordinance, aligning Plainfield with state law

Amending Plainfield's pay-to-play law would align it with the state.

 

Plainfield City Council took the first step Tuesday evening to amend the City's pay-to-play ordinance, bringing it in line with current state law. To view the state contribution limits, see here.

Councilor Cory Storch, in explaining why he voted for the measure in 2011 (as did Councilors Rebecca Williams and Adrian Mapp), noted the high expectations that the Council had at the time in unanimously adopting the tougher measure (that majority included Councilor Bridget Rivers).

Storch listed the following anticipated outcomes of the stiffer 2011 requirements --

• More vendors would be drawn to seek City contracts because of the strict rules; and
• Costs for vendor contracts could be expected to go down.

Further, he cited the experience of Mayor Al McWilliams, who saw willingness of vendors to bid for Plainfield work dry up after a Union County political boss threatened them with the loss of county contracts.

Storch concluded by noting that more vendors have not been beating down the doors because of the 2011 strictures, nor -- sadly -- have costs decreased as they were supposed to do.

Four residents commented from the floor, questioning the change to the ordinance.

When the vote went down, Storch joined Rivers and Toliver in opposing the change (even though he had eloquently laid out the reasons the existing ordinance has failed in its goal). The measure passed on first reading with Williams, Goode, McRae and Mills-Ransome in favor.

Blogger David Rutherford, abandoning all pretense at objectivity crafted a headline (very dramatique!) in which he casts Williams as "sinking" the pay-to-play restrictions.

Since it appears he is going to run for the seat she vacated, he has a dog in this fight. Judge his words accordingly. And watch to see how he goes about handling contributions to his campaign.

As for Rivers, who has evidently filed with ELEC for the 2017 Primary -- though it is hard to tell because her reports are such a mess -- it will be interesting to see as the season progresses if she benefits from the flow of money from county political sources that Storch pointed out as the pitfall of the pay-to-play reform illusion.

The second reading and public hearing on the ordinance (2017-02) will take place at the February business meeting of the Council.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Something big afoot at School District?

Photo of PHS from the Plainfield Educational Community
Facebook page by Jeffrey Wayne Truitt.

 

Word in the street is that something big -- make that BIG -- is afoot at the Plainfield Public Schools.

If what I hear is true, it's going to really rock things.

Stay tuned.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

With UEZ set to expire, resolution would designate entire Zone 'in need of rehabilitation'

The UEZ logo was designed to convey bot Plainfield's shopping
opportunities as well as its historic homes and leafy neighborhoods.

 

When Plainfield was designated one of the five original Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZ) in 1986, the hope was the program would help the city invest in its future through the diversion of half the sales tax to a fund to be invested in community-designed and -controlled projects in the Zone.

The other half of the sales tax was to be left uncollected, as a teaser to consumers to shop in the UEZ.

That was not the only benefit, but it was an important one.

Plainfield established a grant program for business facade upgrading and the look of downtown, South Avenue and other locations such as West Front Street near Clinton Avenue and East Second Street in the Netherwood Avenue section.

Over time, other cities were added to the program. But Gov. Christie has been adamantly opposed to its renewal ever since talk of doing so began a few year ago.

He refused to sign a law extending the "sunset" date for the original five communities, saying he would prefer a study instead of renewal.

As Mayor Mapp warned recently, Gov. Christie has until January 20 to go along with a compromise plan -- to extend the five towns (including Plainfield) and to appoint a commission to study making the program permanent.

I do not think he is likely to do so.

Tonight's Council agenda contains a resolution (R 059-17), which would declare the entire UEZ zone as "in need of rehabilitation", which may be seen as a defensive measure in the event that Christie does not extend the UEZ program.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Historic Plainfield business comes to the end of the road

Mirons'Ethan Allen Gallery was one of several high-end
Plainfield stores to move to Route 22 in the 1960s and 70s.
(The Google photographer must have known I would use this pic.)

 

Ethan Allen Furniture Galleries on Route 22 West in Watchung (near the entrance to the Watchung Mall) is going out of business.

The store is now company-owned but for many years it was "Miron's Ethan Allen Gallery" and outfitted the homes of two generations of suburbanites following World War II.

Some Ethan Allen furnishings As I said, tastes changed.

 

Long before I knew anything about Plainfield, I knew about Miron's Ethan Allen Gallery.

In the 1970s, in New York, I worked for an import firm known as Nora Fenton, Inc. The company's specialty was what is called "decorative accessories", which they imported -- primarily from Portugal, Italy and India -- to sell to the furniture trade.

Miron's was one of Nana Nora's larger customers, and she and Estelle Miron would always "do" the New York and High Point furniture shows, where Miron would place large orders.

It was only after I moved to Plainfield in 1983 that I learned that Miron's got its start as "Miron's Furniture" and became one of Plainfield's legendary retail destinations (it was on East Front Street, next to Suburban Jewelers).

I also learned that Estelle Miron was the sister of S.I. Newhouse, the legendary owner of the Star-Ledger, Random House publishers, and Condé Nast magazines (see her obituary here).

Now, after about a hundred years, the business is coming to end, partly a result of demographics (Millenials have different tastes) and market forces (the Internet is causing many retail businesses to rethink or abandon their brick-and-mortar stores).

It was a good run while it lasted.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Candidate lining up for Ward 2/3 race already?

An interesting bit of gossip from the MLK Potluck.

 

The barrels lined up outside the front door of the home of Mayor Adrian and First Lady Amelia Mapp Bulged with bags of nonperishable food items collected in Saturday's Food Drive.

Inside,the house was warm and cosy, crowded with community members sharing New Year's greetings, catching up on neighborhood and city news, and gossiping, all while feasting on a huge spread of potluck items and a table of fancy desserts.

Gossiping?

Yes, indeed. 'Tis the season, as they say.

Each year, the MLK holiday seems to become the time that people begin to think of the June Primary elections. As we all know, in a town like Plainfield, where the number of registered Democrats is ten times that of registered Republican, the most likely outcome is that the winner of the June Democratic Primary will go on to win the general election.

This year, there will be three slots in the June Primary: Mayor, Ward 4 Council, and Wards 2/3 Council.

Mayor Mapp has already declared that he is running for re-election.

The interesting gossip on Saturday evening was that sometime blogger and Board of Ed member David Rutherford is planning a run for the Wards 2/3 Democratic nomination.

Rutherford, who was elected as part of Mayor Mapp's team to the Plainfield Democratic City Committee in 2015 soon drifted to the periphery after it became clear that Chairman Mapp had worked out a modus vivendi with then-newly-minted Union County Dem chair Asm Jerry Green. After a fire left David's Watchung Avenue apartment uninhabitable, he moved back home, which caused the PDCC bylaws to kick in, making his seat empty since he had moved out of the district.

There were those who said at the time that Rutherford and his mother, Elena (also elected to the PDCC), were far less Mapp supporters than they were Green antagonists. So is David taking on the venerable Assemblyman Green?

A run for Council by Rutherford would be interesting for a second reason, since he would have to step down from the Board of Ed.

And it's only January!

Stay tuned.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Frontiers club hosts MLK breakfast Monday

POP chairperson Larry Hamm is the guest speaker at Monday's
Frontiers International MLK Breakfast.

Plainfield's chapter of Frontiers International presents their 41st Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast on Monday,January 16, at the Plainfield High School cafeteria starting at 8:30 AM.. The Breakfast is the longest running tribute to Dr. King in New Jersey.

Guest speaker for the Breakfast will be Lawrence Hamm, founder and Chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP) a grassroots independent political organization. Larry will speak on the theme “"We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”

Plainfielders have for years participated in POP-related events. Under local POP coordinator Steven Hatcher, the organization has taken a lead role in protesting violence on our streets, and was instrumental in the long struggle to save Muhlenberg Hospital from closure.

The Breakfast, an annual commemoration of the life of Dr. King, highlights student groups, awards scholarships, and recognizes those in the community who have made outstanding contributions.

This year’s honorees will receive the Westry Horne “Excellence in Education” award for their contribution to the Plainfield School System, the "Community Service Award" and the "Service to Youth" award. Westry Horne, one of the founders of the Frontiers International Plainfield Area Club, was an avid tennis player and master educator. The auditorium at Plainfield High School bears his name.

The Breakfast will be a truly special event where the entire community can enjoy a delicious breakfast with entertainment, honor Plainfield’s finest and pay tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Tickets are $15/person, $10/students and seniors. For more information or to reserve tickets, contact Andrea Kee at (908) 327-8002 or John Brinkley at (908) 868-8704.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Mayor Mapp hosts MLK Food Drive and Potluck Saturday

There's always a crowd and plenty to eat at the MLK Potluck.

 

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp and First Lady Amelia are welcoming the community into their home this Saturday for the 9th Annual MLK Potluck and Food Drive.

Begun by the New Democrats club, the event has been sponsored by the Adrian Mapp Civic Association in recent years. The must-make event provides an opportunity to socialize over a potluck dinner, honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and pitch in to help fellow Plainfielders experiencing rough times.

Donations of non-perishable food items -- canned goods, pasta, beans, rice, etc., or toiletry (especially feminine hygiene products) items and warm socks -- will be gathered for delivery to Shiloh Baptist Church's food bank. Items may be brought along to the potluck or left ahead of time on the mayor's porch at 535 West 8th Street.

Any kind of dish will be welcome for the potluck, which always includes an amazing variety of tasty foods plus a dessert table.

Note that this year's event gets under way at an EARLIER HOUR -- 5:00 PM.

Come along and have a good time!

---

9th ANNUAL MLK POTLUCK & FOOD DRIVE
SATURDAY, JANUARY 14
6:00 PM - Midnight

The home of Mayor Adrian and Amelia Mapp
535 West 8th Street

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Bernice Swain memorial set for January 22 at Crescent Church

Bernice Swain (left) and fellow Plainfield Garden Club stalwart
the late Barbara Sandford at a party a number of years ago.

 

An email I received Tuesday advised that a memorial for Bernice Swain is set for Sunday, January 22, at Noon at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Bernice passed away on December 19, 2016 and was buried at Hillside Cemetery in a private service.

Here is the obit from the Memorial Funeral Home website (see here) --

Bernice Loizeax Swain passed away peacefully on Monday, December 19, 2016. Born at home on Hillside Avenue in Plainfield, New Jersey on October 23, 1922, Bernice was a longtime resident of Plainfield. She was a graduate of Plainfield High School and a graduate of Hollins College in Virginia where she was a Fine Arts student, with a major in music. She was also a graduate of Juliard, where she studied pedagogy. Subsequently, she taught piano in her home.

While she and her husband moved to Watchung in the early 1950's, they moved back to Plainfield in 1973 and settled on Prospect Avenue. Bernice was an avid volunteer and a member of both the Watchung Garden Club and the Plainfield Garden Club for over 50 years. She was the past president and served on the Executive board of the Kings Daughter's Day School, she was a long time member of the Junior League of Elizabeth and Plainfield, the Plainfield Symphony Auxillary, the Plainfield Music Club, the Muhlenberg Hospital Auxillary, and served on the Plainfield Historical Society. Her love of plants and flowers found her right at home spending summer days at the Shakespeare Garden.

Bernice was married at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church where she was an active member until the time of her passing. She served as a deacon, was active in the ladies' auxiliary, and for many years coordinated and arranged flowers throughout the church.

She was predeceased by her husband Walter P. Swain, Jr., her sister Florence Loizeaux Ritchie, and brother David Loizeaux. She is survived by four children, Ann Barlow Swain, Carol Loizeaux Swain Davenport, Henry Loizeaux Swain, and Timothy Woodward Swain; ten grandchildren, Rory McQuillan, Max and Eli Davenport, Taylor, Paige, Zachary, and Logan Swain, and Ryan, Spencer and Nicholas Swain; and five great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield on Sunday, January 22, 2017 at 12 Noon. A private graveside service was held at Hillside Cemetery in Scotch Plains. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Bernice's memory to The King's Daughters Day School, 502 W. Front St., Plainfield, NJ 07060, to the The Historical Society of Plainfield, 602 West Front St.,Plainfield, NJ 07060, The Plainfield Symphony, P.O. Box 5093, Plainfield, NJ 07061, or to the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Bernice will be remembered by her many friends in the community, especially for her work with the Drake House, the Plainfield Garden Club and the Shakespeare Garden, and the Kings Daughters Day School.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Bad manners fail to ruffle Plainfield Council reorg

Rebecca Williams is Council President for 2017.

Joylette Mills-Ransome has been seated as Williams' replacement.

For years, while Mayor Mapp, Cory Storch and Rebecca Williams were councilors in a minority on the council, they often enough were faced with a nominee for council president put forward by the majority at a December meeting that was not their choice.

Nevertheless, it was a longstanding custom to elect the chair unanimously, and the three went along and voted with the majority to make the selection unanimous.

None of those good manners were on display at Monday's Plainfield City Council reorg.

When Storch nominated Rebecca Williams for Council President, Diane Toliver nominated Bridget Rivers, who had to second her own nomination. The vote went down 4-2, with Goode, McRae, Storch and Williams in favor, Toliver and Rivers opposed.

When it came time to elect the chair of the Committee of the Whole, Charles McRae nominated Barry Goode. Bridget Rivers nominated Diane Toliver, who, again had to second her own nomination. The vote went down 4-2, as with the Chair.

Filling the seat vacated by Williams, who is now the citywide at-large councilor, three names had been presented to the Council by the Plainfield Democratic City Committee: Dr. Inez Durham, Joylette Mills-Ransome and Michael Pyne. Barry Goode offered Mills-Ransome's name. The vote went down with the same 4-2 split. (Old-timers were surprised by Rivers' vote, given that Mills-Ransome had managed her campaigns for school board in the past.) Mills-Ransome was promptly sworn in and seated on the dais.

Despite the bad manners, Council proceeded with aplomb.

A surprise of the meeting was the introduction by Mayor Mapp of Clark's mayor, Sal Bonaccorso, who apologized for an incident involving a Black puppet in a classroom used by the Plainfield girls basketball team at a game last week. The image went round social media like wildfire.

Saying that he didn't know the motive, Bonaccorso said the incident was being investigated and if the perpetrators intent turned out to be harassment, once found they would face the appropriate punishment.

The only other item that caused a stir was the decision by Mayor Mapp not to renew the appointment of local attorney Joy Spriggs as public defender. She and her family (her sister is Wilma Campbell, former president of the Board of Ed) lobbied for her to keep the job when Mayor Mapp made the same proposal in 2014. He relented and she has held it ever since.

By my lights, his earlier intention should have been interpreted as giving notice that this was not a forever thing. Mapp can hardly be blamed if, after three years, he chose to move on.

A resolution adopted (5-2) sets the meeting venue for the Council's agenda-fixing sessions as the City Hall Library.

Council President Williams assured the Council that Public Safety Director Riley has a plan for the physical safety of all at these meetings.

The Council will next meet on Tuesday, January 17 (Monday is MLK Day), for a combined agenda/business meeting.

The Courthouse/Council Chambers are located at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street or in the lot across from the Police Station.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Could Union County, Plainfield see political peace in this Primary season?

Sheriff and former Assemblyman Joe Cryan
is running for Senate seat Ray Lesniak is leaving.

 

As soon as Sen. Ray Lesniak announced last week that he had filed with ELEC to run for governor, the only question on the minds of Union County political watchers was whether Sheriff Joe Cryan, a former Assemblyman and state Dem chair, would throw his hat in the ring for the LD20 opening.

Not only did he on Friday, he entered with the blessings of UC Dem chair Jerry Green, his district-mates, Elizabeth mayor Chris Bollwage, Assembly Speaker Prieto and a host of others.

This all but guarantees there will be no bloodletting in the County Dem Primary this year.

Mayor Adrian O. Mapp has already declared his intention to run for another term. He has a hefty record of economic development -- new busniesses and construction -- as well as expanded Recreation and Senior programming, impressive gains by police against crime, despite twelve homicides in 2016.

The other seat up this year is Ward 4 Councilor, currently held by Bridget Rivers. With an expected five-seat majority of support on the Council, Mapp can afford to be generous and give Rivers the line.

The person who replaces Rebecca Williams at tomorrow night's reorganization meeting will have the option of running in the primary to be on the November ballot for the 2/3 at-large seat.

In more than twenty years, I cannot remember a Primary season in which the stars seem so well aligned.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

New Council Monday; New dynamics?

City Council reorganizes at 7 PM Monday.

 

A new Plainfield City Council will reorganize itself tomorrow (January 9, 7:00 PM).

Composed of four allies of Mayor Adrian Mapp -- Councilors Barry Goode, Charles McRae, Cory Storch and Rebecca Williams -- and with the selection of a replacement for Williams to raise tht number to five, the dynamics of 2017's meetings look to be significantly different that in the past.

4th Ward Councilor Bridget Rivers, who as Council president for several years and as whip for a four-person majority last year, will find herself in a much-reduced position to obstruct the mayor's policies, what with her only likely ally to be Ward 1 Councilor Diane Toliver.

Both Ward 3 Councilor Gloria Taylor, who chose not to run for another term, and at-large Councilor Tracey Brown, who lost in the June primary to Williams, are no longer part of the meeting calculus.

Besides ceremonial matters, including the selection of a person to fill the vacant Wards 2/3 at-large seat and the swearing in of new Councilors McRae and Williams, there will be annual appointments of attorneys, prosecutors and judges, and annual contract renewals.

The Council President also traditionally allots time for the Mayor's to make remarks (Mayor Mapp's formal State of The City Address will take place later in a separate venue).

The Council will next meet on Tuesday, January 17 (Monday is MLK Day), for a combined agenda/business meeting.

The Courthouse/Council Chambers are located at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street or in the lot across from the Police Station.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield's 2017 Council schedule proposes a surprising change

Plainfield City Hall reflects the 'City Beautiful' tradition
which was the rage at the turn of the 20th century.

Municipal Clerk 'AJ' Jalloh sent out a draft resolution proposing the Plainfield City Council meeting schedule for 2017.

While the schedule is unexceptional, mostly following the 2016 pattern, there are some changes -- one of which is surprising.

For 2017 both July and August meetings are proposed to be joint agenda/business meetings. This worked well in July 2016, especially since business over the summer months tends to be less heavy than during the spring and fall.

Also noteworthy is the combined November meeting proposed for Thursday, November 2. Following the 2016 pattern, it avoids having to have the Council on a Tuesday after the election in what is always a busy month, with elected official anxious to attend the League of Municipalities annual conference in Atlantic City in mid-month, and then the Thanksgiving holiday.

But the real surprise is the proposed change of venue for the agenda-setting sessions from the Courtroom/Council Chambers. This constitutes a restoration of the pattern that seems to have existed from the time that City Hall was built during World War I and only changed in recent years.

It is a welcome change in my mind, as the setting is more intimate and the deliberations between Council members are more relaxed and conversational -- as they should be at these meetings.

The proposed schedule is among the items to be adopted at the Council's reorganization meeting on Monday, January 9, at 7:00 PM at the Couthouse/Council Chambers.

Besides ceremonial matters, including the selection of a person to fill the vacant Wards 2/3 at-large seat and the swearing in of new Councilors, there will be annual appointments of attorneys, prosecutors and judges, and annual contract renewals.

The Council President also traditionally allots time for the Mayor's State of the City Address.

The Council will meet on Tuesday, January 17 (Monday is MLK Day), for a combined agenda/business meeting.

The Courthouse/Council Chambers are located at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street or in the lot across from the Police Station.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Dem City Committee proposes three names to Council for Williams replacement

City Council must fill the vacancy created by Williams' resignation.

The Plainfield Democratic City Committee (PDCC) met Wednesday evening at party headquarters, 31 Watchung Avenue, to decide on three names to submit to the City Council to replace Councilor Rebecca Williams, who resigned on New Year's as Wards 2/3 at-large councilor in order to assume the citywide at-large seat to which she was elected in November.

PDCC Chairman Adrian Mapp conducted the meeting, with about forty members and guests present.

The committee is composed of 68 members, one male and one female for each of the city's 34 election districts. The current committee was elected at the Primary Election in 2015; the entire committee is up for re-election this year (Republicans elect their committee members in alternate years). Elected officials, if not elected to represent a district, are members ex officio.

Five of the current and new members of the Council were present at the meeting: Barry Goode, Charles McRae, Rebecca Williams, Cory Storch and Diane Toliver (only Bridget Rivers was absent).

The three names put in nomination were offered by John Stewart Jr. and adopted by acclamation --

• Dr. Inez Durham
• Joylette Mills-Ransome
• Michael Pyne

All three are long-time City Committee members and Democratic activists.

City Council will meet at 7:00 PM Monday (January 9) for its annual reorganization meeting. Among the items of business will be picking a replacement for Williams.

Her replacement will serve until someone is elected in November to fill the balance of the term of the Wards 2/3 seat, which expires in December 2018.

Under "other business", Chairman Mapp led a discussion on the importance of Gov. Christie signing a bill on his desk now to extend the original five Urban Enterprise Zones (Plainfield,Newark, Trenton, Camden and Bridgeton), which sunsetted on December 31. Christie has until January 20 to sign the bill. Plainfield residents are urged to contact the governor's office in support of the measure.

Chairman Mapp also discussed tomorrow's Town Hall meeting on Public Safety issues at Washington Community School (7:00 PM). He indicated that speakers would include himself, Public Safety Director Carl Riley and one or two officers, plus stakeholders from the community.

The public is being invited to share ideas, solution and concerns. Individuals will have three minutes at the mike to make their points.

Lastly, the chairman reminded all of the City Council's reorganiztion meeting next Monday, January 9, 7:00 PM at the Municipal Court/City Council Chambers.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Mayor Mapp sets Thursday Town Hall on violence and public safety

Union County Prosecutor's office released
this video of a 'person of interest' in the 12th homicide.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp has called for a special Town Hall meeting Thursday evening at Washington Community School to share ideas for dealing with the gun violence inflicted on the community in the past year -- culminating in twelve homicides in 2016.

As many have noted, there has been a marked tendency across the country in recent years for young men to obtain, carry -- and, too often use -- guns to settle disputes that in an earlier time would have been handled without resort to deadly violence.

This has fed into a cycle where those who profit from the trade in illegal guns are happy to make them available in communities like Plainfield.

At the same time, it is an uphill climb for the police to get the cooperation needed to track down suspects and solve violent crimes when they happen.

All the while, law-abiding citizens become fearful of being on their own streets.

Residents are invited to bring their questions, concerns and suggestions to share with Public Safety personnel, elected officials and community stakeholders.

The Town Hall starts at 7:00 PM. Washington Community School is at 427 Darrow Avenue. Parking and entry available from the Spooner Avenue lot. The building is handicap-accessible.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Dems meet Wednesday on upcoming Williams vacancy

A meeting of the Plainfield Democratic City
Committee has been called for Wednesday.

Plainfield Democratic City Committee chairperson Adrian O. Mapp has called for a meeting of the organization on Wednesday (January 4) to take up matters related to the upcoming Council vacancy when Councilor Rebecca Williams is sworn in as Councilor at-large citywide at the Council's January 9 reorganization meeting.

Under state law Williams, who is the sitting councilor-at-large for Wards 2/3, must resign that position to take on her new role.

Also under state law, the local party committee of the person who is resigning has the opportunity to present three names for a successor to the City Council. The Council must select from one of the three presented.

Though not used in recent years, the practice was common in the days when Assemblyman Jerry Green served as chair of the local party committee.

The meeting starts at 7:00 PM at Plainfield Democratic Headquarters at 31 Watchung Avenue (next to Antojito's Restaurant). Parking available in the public lot on Watchung Avenue.

Guests are always welcome at PDCC meetings, but only members of the PDCC vote on the committee's business.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Heart attack, bypass surgery put Dan out of action in December, but he's back

A pillow like one I was given to hold when coughing -- which
was very painful in the days immediately after surgery.

Well, it's certainly not been a dull month for me since I last posted to Plainfield Today.

On Thanksgiving evening, after having dinner with my goddaughter's family, I had a heart attack.

As the specialist the JFK catheterization lab explained to me, I was a "classic case" -- a holiday meal followed by a heart attack.

Luckily, the Union County EMS ambulance was at the house in less than two minutes -- barely time to chew and swallow that aspirin as directed by the 9-1-1 operator.

Then off to JFK's emergency room which had the cardiac lab set up by the time we arrived. The cardiologist on call was there within minutes and within the hour, a balloon had been inserted which quelled the pain, a diagnosis rendered (70% blockage of three arteries), and I was being whizzed to RWJ University Hospital in New Brunswick where the triple-bypass surgery would be performed (remember when Muhlenberg lost the fight for the cardiac surgery license? RWJ got it).

On Tuesday, November 29, I had the bypass surgery.

I was able to get a cardiac rehab assignment at Aristacare at Norwood Terrace (where I had been for rehab after my leg amputation) and arrived on their doorstep in pretty wobbly condition on December 9.

Therapy started immediately -- standing, walking and breathing exercises. Improvement was noticeable daily but the 19th marked a sort of transformative moment, when my brainfog began to clear dramatically and I started to eat (though I had no taste or appetite).

On Friday, December 29, one month to the day after surgery, I was discharged to home. Friday night I slept all night -- without interruption -- in my OWN bed. (There's an old joke that you don't go to the hospital to get any sleep -- how true!).

So, back means ready to pick up where I left off. CLIPS is restarting today (New Year's Day) as is Plainfield Today.

It sure feels good to be back.

Many thanks to all who reached out to extend their prayers, best wishes and visits over the past few weeks. You helped keep me focused and moving ahead.

Now, into the mystery of the Trump era!

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Thanksgiving wishes from Plainfield Today

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
¡FELIZ DIA DE GRACIAS!

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Black Men Rise 5K set for Friday

5K run Thanksgiving Friday benefits SSYC.

The much-anticipated Black Men Rise 5K run/walk is slated to get under way Friday (November 25) in Plainfield's Cedar Brook Park, with registration opening at 8:00 AM and the race starting at 9:30 AM.

The race is the brainchild of Pastor Paul Dean of Visions Ministry and is being hosted by the Visions Community Development Corporation.

Pastor Dean made a passionate appeal for support to the City Council a couple of months ago, saying that his hope was to reach out to young men who are tempted by gang affiliation to empower them to "rise to their rightful place in society as leaders, mentors, protectors and friends".

Pastor Dean explained that while the 5K race was aimed at young Black men, it was open to everyone in the community, regardless of fitness level.

Although the original press release said the fee for entrants was $25/person, a recent story in TAPinto Plainfield (see here) says there is no entry fee. For clarification, potential runners can call (908) 444-8195.

The event will feature information tables from various organizations as well as vendors selling merchandise.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp, Bishop Donald Hilliard of Cathedral International, and other are scheduled to speak.

Proceeds of the race will benefit the Second Street Youth Center, a nonprofit which for decades has provided mentoring, educational programs and recreational opportunities for youngsters of the community.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Thanksgiving meals for hungry and lonely Plainfielders

Free breakfast and dinner Thanksgiving Day.

Hungry and lonely Plainfield residents will be welcome at two Thanksgiving Day meal opportunities.

BREAKFAST AT THE SALVATION ARMY

For the fifth year, Unity Bank will underwrite a hearty breakfast of eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, coffee and tea for all comers at the Plainfield Salvation Army.

Anyone who is hungry is invited. The breakfast will be served by volunteers from 9:30 to 11:00 AM on Thanksgiving Day.

The Plainfield Salvation Army is at Watchung Avenue and East 7th Street.

DINNER AT FUSP

For the 17th year, members and friends of the First Unitarian Society of Plainfield (FUSP) are opening their doors and hearts to Plainfielders who are hungry or alone on Thanksgiving Day.

Under the leadership of Denise Soppas, volunteers will prepae and serve a hearty free Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings to those who come out.

The dinner is on Thanksgiving Day (November 24) from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.

FUSP (First Unitarian Society of Plainfield) is at 724 Park Avenue, just steps from Seventh Street. FUSP is an accessible facility.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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