Sanders' Progressive Dems will challenge Mapp slate in June 2020 Primary

The PDCC candidates in the 2020
Primary will have competition.

 Two well-known Plainfield figures have aligned with Bernie Sanders' New Jersey Progressive Democrats of Union County to challenge PDCC Chairman  Adrian Mapp's eventual picks.

Rutherford and Morgan are already
displaying what may become their sign.

Well-known Plainfield figures David Rutherford and Emily Morgan will be running with other Union County Progressive Democrats in the June 2 Primary Election.

Rutherford, who served on the Plainfield Democratic City Committee (PDCC) as a New Democrats Ward 2 committee representative has also served on the Board of Ed. He had to give up his PDCC seat because of a fire which made his apartment unlivable, forcing him to relocate out of his district. Rutherford will be remembered by many for his video capturing an angry Assemblyman Jerry Green outside Barlow School on an election day.

Morgan is currently in her second term on the Plainfield Board of Ed and is a longtime community activist and a member of the PDCC for a 3rd Ward district.

The NJ Progressive Dems of Union County held a kickoff rally Thursday night (January 30) at Plainfield's own Freppe's on South Avenue. The local candidates and the group's freeholder team were introduced. Their rally beats the PDCC's by more than a week.

My spies report a wall-to-wall crowd (a considerable number parked across the street in the Fine Fare parking lot).

Among those spotted at the event were newly elected Plainfield Ward 2 councilor Sean McKenna, former Plainfield mayor Harold Mitchell, Board of Ed member (and former president) Richard Wyatt, and the sister of the late Ward 3 councilor Malcolm R. Dunn, as well as a group of Plainfield firefighters.

The candidates for Freeholder are: Aissa Heath, Hector Meneses, Jr., and John O'Hea.

The Progressive Dems are on Facebook here.

PLAINFIELD DEMOCRATIC CITY COMMITTEE

Plainfield Democratic chair Adrian O. Mapp has not been sleeping at the switch.

In anticipation of the PDCC's kickoff rally slated for Saturday, February 8, Mapp has appointe a committee to screen potential candidates for the 2020 Democratic Primary.

Incumbents Elton Armady (citywide at-large) and Charles McRae (Ward 3) will be screened, along with other interested parties.

The committee is chaired by Councilor Joylette Mills-Ransome and includes former Ward 2 Councilor Cory Storch, and Stacey Welsh, the owner of Livay's Sweet Shop on Watchung Avenue.

I once served with Mills-Ransome on a screening committee and she developed a good system to score potential candidates that tried to minimize subjective decisions about who would be the best candidate(s). If this committee uses that tool, the results could be interesting indeed.

The committee's report is due to Chairman Mapp by WednesdayFebruary 5. Chairman Mapp will present his choices to the PDCC on Saturday, February 8.

The kickoff rally gets under way at 11:00 AM at Plainfield Democratic Headquarters at 31 Watchung Avenue (next to Antojito's Restaurant)

It a a longstanding custom of the PDCC to welcome guests as observers at its meetings.

Parking is available on the street on in the public lot adjacent to headquarters.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Laddie Wyatt, longtime City Clerk, passes, services Jan. 28/29

Another photo of Laddie, taken about 1998,
submitted by reader Karen Leach.
(The white spots are in the original.)

Though camera shy, I did find this one great photo
of Laddie from 2014.

 
 
Names of mayors and Clerk Laddie succeeded corrected. Longtime City Clerk Laddie Wyatt passed away the night of Saturday, January 18, 2020. Thanks to former Council President Liz Urquhart and City Clerk Jalloh for passing the word.

Laddie was legendary by the time I arrived at City Hall in 1998, moving over from the Plainfield Public Library.

As I understood it, she had been Schools Superintendent Everett Lattimore's private secretary in the school district, and came with him to City Hall when he became mayor in 1982.

When Lattimore left in 1984, after the courts had rule that he could not be both mayor and schools superintendent (he went back to the school district), Laddie stayed on at City Hall.

By 1987, she had become City Clerk (after the retirement, of Emilia Stahura -- thanks Bernice!).

By the time I had the privilege of knowing and working with her, she had already stared down an attempt to remove her from office. She was victorious in defending her position and never let anyone afterwards forget it.

Laddie served as City Clerk under five mayors: Rick Taylor, Harold Mitchell, Mark Fury, Al McWilliams, and Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Everything in City Hall seemed to pass through the Clerk's office in one way or another and Laddie definitely was at the center of the web.

Laddie was a larger-than-life personality, loved politics and political gossip and could be something of a ham (especially at Council meetings, where she often projected a dramatic persona).

Laddie was not an easy person to work for -- she did not take fools kindly -- and many city workers who developed successful careers in other departments got their (rocky) starts in Laddie Wyatt's office.

I had come to City Hall at the outset of the administration of Mayor Al McWilliams as the city's public information officer. Laddie made it clear to me from the first moment that she was camera averse and I was to take no pictures of her. Period.

We hit it off, though, and I spent hours in her cozy little office as she regaled me with the latest adventures (political and otherwise) of Plainfield's elected officials and town notables. Once, I was 86'ed from her office by Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs as we were in the middle of a tête a tête. (The story is funny and you can read it here.)

Though she was not really a technophobe, it would be fair to say that her romance with technology ended with the IBM Selectric (if you remember that, you are dating yourself). She grudgingly admitted a place for computers in the office, but swore by paper records (an attitude shared by the state for way too long).

Laddie was also a plainspoken -- and often salty -- raconteur, which I found thoroughly enjoyable.

The intrigues and picayune affairs of local politicians came in for her hilarious riffs.

Once in particular, I remember her going on about a high elected official (no names), when she suddenly burst out with "I think I'll just put on my strap-on and teach [them] a lesson." I laughed till the tears ran.

Laddie was a one of a kind person, a force of nature, and as City Clerk she successfully shepherded Plainfield from the paper to the digital age.

It is sad to say that for such a notable person, I could find no obituary -- neither Ledger nor Courier or even on the funeral home's website.

Laddie's viewing is Tuesday, January 28, from 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM. The funeral is Wednesday, January 29 at 11:00 AM. Both are at Rose of Sharon Community Church, 825 West 7th Street, Plainfield.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Administration kicks off 2020 with a huge spending bang at Tuesday's combined meeting

There is a request for $208,000 for unspecified
office supplies on Tuesday's agenda.

 
While the ceremonial reorganization meeting of the Plainfield City Council takes care of a lot of housekeeping matters to start off each year, the real business begins with the first business meeting following the reorganization.

And 2020 is no exception. However, the Mapp administration has presented City Council with an extraordinary list of expenditures -- with very little in the way of specifics as to exactly what the money requested is getting the taxpayers.

This is the meeting at which Corporation Counsel lays out the contracts and law firms Plainfield will be dealing with over the next 12 months. This year there are 9 firms, for a total expenditure of $330,000. That's for now. These firms often come back during the year for additional funding.

Big as that is it pales compared to other items on the agenda. (I can remember when Corporation Counsel Jackie Drakeford was reluctant to use any outside attorneys except under extreme circumstances.)

The real biggie is requests from the Finance Department for funds for purchases totaling $3.4 million ($810K for DPW equipment; $208K for office supplies/equipment; $1.977M for public safety equipment; $322K for fire equipment; and $93K for computer equipment).

The resolutions available for the public are all identical except for dollar amount and recipient. None of them shows a breakdown of what the money is being spent on.

I certainly hope the Council has more information than the public. These are the kind of numbers than can give people the heeby-jeebies.

Continuing a long tradition, 2020 kicks off with three Workmen's Compensation settlements totaling more than $192,000. Would be interesting to know how Plainfield stacks up against other communities based on the payments every year (some employees take more than one bite of the apple).

Next up: the proposed pedestrian mall for North Avenue and Gavett Place. R058-20 concerns a loan Plainfield is getting from the NJ Transportation Bank for $2.1M for this. At the same time, Bond Ordinance 1270 calls for the issuance of more than $2M in bonds to finance 'part of the cost thereof'. While improvement to the roadways is certainly welcome as well as considering an outdoor entertainment venue, the loss of parking as the project has been proposed would likely be catastrophic to North Avenue businesses and residents. A topic from which everyone shies away.

Then we have the perpetual rebranding marketing campaign -- how long has it been going on? R081-20 provides another $125K from UEZ funds. Once again, there are no specifics in the publicly available resolution as to exactly how the money is to be spent.

City Council is also being asked to give advice and consent to a number of appointments to various boards and commissions. I noted at last Thursday's Planning Board that new members had already been sworn in and seated. Is this a cart-and-horse thing?

City Council meets for a combined agenda and business session at 7:00 PM Tuesday (Monday is the MLK observance) in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street and in the lot across from Police Headquarters.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Yes, they really are working on the Pemberton Avenue bridge

Work is under way on the Cedar Brook Park bridge.

  Had to go to South Plainfield Tuesday, which took me through Cedar Brook Park.

As you can see from the photo above, the County is indeed working on replacing the small bridge over the Cedar Brook.

Residents who use this street can look forward to the project's completion in the spring of 2020.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Here's an answer to the most-asked question about the new high-end restaurant

What looks like a rear entrance for the new restaurant
is taking shape. The parking lot is directly adjacent.

The rear of the Courier-News building on Park Avenue.

 
Everyone is excited about the news of David Felton's new restaurant DJBK, coming soon to the former Courier-News building on Park Avenue.

But everyone had the same question: parking.

Frank Cretella of Landmark Properties -- quote in the NJ Monthly story -- said there is a 'huge' lot that will hold 120 cars.

I am guessing Cretella is talking about the remainder of the UNB parking lot on West 2nd Street (after PNC carved off its new drive-up ATMs).

That plus the now-levelled Ted's Appliance-a-rama is indeed a pretty large lot -- though it is pretty disheveled right now.

However, I did drive all the way in back Saturday and got a picture (through the chain link fence) of what appears to be an entrance to the restaurant at the back of the building.

That would make it a short bee-line from the parking lot to the restaurant without having to walk all the way around to the Park Avenue entrance of the building.

One more plus for this project!

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Famed NJ chef to open Plainfield restaurant in Courier-News building this spring

The original Courier-News building on Park Avenue (shown in the 1990s)
has been restored by investor Frank Cretella's
Landmark Properties.

 
Famed New Jersey chef David Felton is opening an upscale restaurant in the former Courier-News building on Park Avenue this spring.

The announcement comes via an item in New Jersey Monthly (see here). While usually not a source of breaking news, the item was published on the magazine's website January 8th.

In an exclusive interview with the magazine's Eric Levin, Felton painted a picture of what's coming for Plainfield. The new restaurant will be called DJBK (Felton explains in the story).

Felton earned his reputation with a ten-year run as the founding executive chef of Ninety Acres (see here), the exclusive restaurant in the former gatehouse of the Natirar estate in Peapack-Gladstone.

Felton is partnering with Frank and Jeanne Cretella of Landmark Hospitality. The Cretellas own the Stone House in Warren, the Liberty House at Liberty State Park, and the Ryland Inn in Whitehouse Station.

The new restaurant (which has a liquor license) will seat about 110, according to Felton, with an open kitchen and a wood-fired grill.

According to Felton, the menu will be "focused on the seasons, cooked with ancient techniques, blended with my travels, experiences and passions."

Together with the Cretellas, Felton has created a foundation (Art of Hospitality Path to Success) which will offer "6- to 8-week hands-on training in culinary arts for people who are underemployed."

The training program hopes to open in March, and will be run in Landmark's commissary, 537 North Avenue.

Tip o' the hat to Netherwood Neighbors Facebook page for first putting out the word.

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Memorial service for former Crescent Avenue organist Ron Thayer this Saturday

A memorial service for Ron Thayer,
longtime Crescent Avenue organist
and choir director set for this Saturday.

 
Longtime Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church organist Ron Thayer will be memorialized in a service this Saturday (January 11) at the church.

Ron was my neighbor when I first moved to Plainfield (he lived on the corner of West 7th Street and Plainfield Avenue) and was then the organist and choir director at First United Methodist Church (now Covenant UM) on East Front Street.

A few years later, after an opening at Crescent Avenue Church, he became the organist there.

While at Crescent Avenue, Ron was the moving force behind raising the money as well as designing and installing the magnificent Gilbert F. Adams organ which now undergirds the church's musical programming.

Ron received his bachelor's and master's degrees in performance at the Westminster Choir School in Princeton.

Serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, Ron was stationed in Seoul, South Korea, where he formed and led the Seoul Collegium Chorale.

He was also well-known for concertizing in two-piano and 4-hand piano duets with his life partner Edwin Lopez.

Friends are invited to gather for the memorial service at 10:00 AM this Saturday at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church. Those wishing to honor Ron's memory may donate to Crescent Avenue's 'Organ Endowment' fund.

Historic Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is at the corner of East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue (716 Watchung for GPS). Parking available at Swain Galleries across the street, in the church lot on First Place, or on the street. CAPC is a handicap-accessible facility.

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Board of Ed reorganizes, selects new leaders

Everyone recognizes the Plainfield district's Cardinal.

 
UPDATED: Reference to conflicted board members removed (those who cannot vote on personnel matters because a family member is employed by the District).

The Plainfield Board of Education reorganized prior to its Work/Study session Tuesday, January 7.

Re-elected members Carmencita Pile and Lynn Anderson were sworn in for new three-year terms.

The new president for 2020 is Cameron Cox, and the new vice president is Terence Johnson. Both will serve until the 2021 reorganization.

Newly elected member Willie Pat Hembree will be sworn in February 28. Mrs. Hembree, a retired Plainfield teacher, cannot take the seat before a certain amount of time has lapsed after her retirement from the district, accounting for the delay.

The Plainfield BOE's business meeting will be Tuesday, January 21, in the PHS cafeteria.

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Council reorganizes Monday; Board of Ed reorg Tuesday has drama?

Both City Council and the Board of Ed
reorganize this week.

This is the week of City Council and Board of Ed annual reorganizations.

CITY COUNCIL

City Council reorganization takes place Monday at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers/Courthouse. The reorg is usually quite pro forma, with housekeeping decisions and appointments that must be renewed every January.

There are however, some items of interest.

Newly elected Ward 2 Councilor Sean McKenna will be sworn in by Mary Burgwinkle, former longtime treasurer of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, who famously disagreed with the chair over the succession to the late Assemblyman Jerry Green as Union County party chair.

Appointments to two key boards are below.

PLANNING BOARD
With McKenna going off the board to join the Council, his two-year term will be filled out by Rick Hunt (currently an alternate); Billy Toth will success himself; Jacqui Workman will replace longtime member Anthony Howard in the municipal officer seat; Alma Blanco will move up from Alternate #2 to Alternate #1 and Stacey Welch will become the new Alternate #2.

ZONING BOARD
Robert Graham is being appointed to succeed himself; the appointment of Sandra Harrison does not make clear if she is an alternate or succeeding another member.

BOARD OF ED
Look for the possibility of some drama at the BOE reorg/Work-Study session set for 8:00 PM Tuesday at the PHS Conference Room.

Buzz over the weekend was that the district administration was advising successful candidate Willie Pat Hembree that she would not be sworn in.

This mystified everyone I spoke with since the administration would not under ordinary circumstances voice any opinion on a school board election, and certainly not at this late date. If there were a question, it would be addressed by the Board attorney.

Whatever is going on, there may be some clarification Tuesday. Or there may not.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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