Connolly bankruptcy: Deer-in-the-headlights not an option for City

With a big chunk of David Connolly's Plainfield properties sliding into bankruptcy, one thing is clear: a deer-in-the-headlights reaction is not an option for City.

The Courier's Mark Spivey reports today on the latest round of woes for the city's largest landlord (see here).

Anyone with half a brain could have seen this coming (I wrote to Council members about it over a month ago -- see here).

Hundreds of tenants will be worried about their future as Connolly tenants as a result of reading or hearing today's news.

It behooves Mayor Robinson-Briggs and her Administration to grasp the seriousness of the situation, get in touch with the principal players, and determine what can be done to reassure the tenants and prevent the buildings' fates becoming another difficulty for the City.

Some questions that come to the fore are --

• What happens to Connolly's responsiblity for correcting violations now?
  
  
• With huge unpaid fuel and utility bills on these properties, what becomes of the tenants now that we are heading into heating season?
  
  
• Is there any likelihood of property tax delinquencies as a result of the new situation?

Now is the time for firm, proactive leadership, not deer-in-the-headlights hesitation.

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• Courier: "Plainfield landlord declares bankruptcy"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Council needs to look in the mirror

Plainfield City Council members often say they wish the public attended in greater numbers both the agenda-setting and the business sessions.

Last night's meeting offered a perfect illustration of why citizens might not want to.

I have always argued that there is no dearth of citizen turnout and desire to participate when there is an issue the public perceives as important -- the proposed tax abatements for the Monarch condos and the Dudley House saga come to mind.

The Council needs to look in the mirror and consider how its own behavior tends to reduce citizen enthusiasm for this particular spectator sport.

Two discussions last night illustrate my point --

Dudley House

Nearly an hour of the public's time was wasted in a fruitless back-and-forth between the Council and the administration over the ongoing, unresolved situation with Dudley House. The Council was at pains to state its support of substance abuse rehab programs, but tempers grew frayed at the waffling by the Robinson-Briggs administration over what would be done and by when. As Councilors Storch and Burney reiterated, 'this has been going on for nine months' and it needs to be resolved.

One problem is the Administration is allowed to get away with never putting anything in writing; the other is letting the Administration get away with never resolving situations. Neither Malcolm Dunn nor Ray Blanco would have put up with this hemming and hawing. The Council needs to stop enabling the Administration and move the ball down the field.

'Going Paperless'

Secondly, the Council sometimes shoots itself in the foot. Last evening Councilor Carter said she wanted to 'briefly discuss going paperless'. It was a nice thought, but was anything but brief and anything but edifying, since the Council seemed not to be prepared for a substantive discussion of what this means. Except that it involved getting the packets electronically, from 'someone', 'somehow'. The what, the who, and the how are important issues; but why wouldn't the Council prep themselves before having such a conversation.

Reflect on this: Not once in the entire discussion did anyone point to the way Council President Burney has been putting up agendas and items as a good model for the public portion of the information Councilors get in their packets. (There are compelling reasons why other materials should not be public, but that is a separate issue.)

Such performances hardly make the Council look like the wise leaders I am always expecting. But then, I am an incurable optimist.

Anyone know a nun with a good ruler?

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-- Dan Damon

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Are tipplers spoiling the Monarch's chances?

Could anything about the Monarch condo development be more important than the tax abatement proposal Plainfield's city council will take up tonight?

Maybe.

While the Council struggles with the ramifications of giving buyers of the condo units a tax break as a way of boosting sales and helping out the developer formerly known as Dornoch Plainfield LLC, realtors are facing a different issue.

While the Monarch's marketing materials are touting the condos as a luxury experience, the view from units on the western side of the building is anything but, revealing tipplers consuming their purchases from the next door liquor store in the strip mall's parking lot.

View Plainfield NJ: Liquor Licenses in a larger map

Click on any pushpin to learn about that liquor license.
Use the hand to drag the map around to view other licenses.

The neighborhood has seen some improvements, notably to the building diagonally across the street which currently houses the Plainfield Senior Citizens Center. The new owner added a fake front to the building and subdivided it, drawing in several new businesses, including a restaurant, a billiards parlor and a Papa John's pizza franchise.

But the city appears to be snoozing as far as the strip mall next door goes. You'd think with all the time they've had since ground was broken for the Monarch in the summer of 2006 that some attention would have been paid -- either to enforce quality-of-life laws more strictly or to encourage upgrading the businesses there.

Surely one of the goals of the C.O.P.S. (community-oriented policing) program is to address just such issues as realtors are noting with the Ben Franklin Liquor Store. With the C.O.P.S. substation across the street, it makes sense that the liquor store would be part of its focus. But it appears not to be.

Driving by other liquor stores in the downtown shopping district (Watchung Liquors on Watchung Avenue, Station Liquors on Park Avenue and Fenrose Liquors on West Front Street) one does not see customers tippling outside the stores.

So why is it apparently tacitly allowed next to a multi-million dollar development where so much is at stake -- not only for the developer, but for the reputations of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Assemblyman Jerry Green, whose really big deal this is?

Are they avoiding a 'Grey Goose v. Ripple' war because they're afraid of being called elitists?

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• Plainfield Today: "Plainfield Liquor Licenses: An interactive map"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Connolly bankruptcy?

Today's Courier's main story concerns bankruptcy proceedings against Connolly Properties' East Orange apartment buildings. (Unfortunately, not online as of this writing, so trundle on over to the newsstand.)

On July 11, 2009, I sent a confidential email to City Council members that read as follows --

I have been thinking that Connolly must be in deep financial problems -- he bought high and I'm guessing is overleveraged.

Would behoove Council to give some thought to what happens if he goes belly up.

It would create great consternation among tenants, and the city should be concerned given the already bad conditions revealed -- with more revelations on the way.

Now that the cat is more or less out of the bag, I no longer feel it needs to be confidential; it would be nice to know if any thought has been given to this increasingly dire situation.

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-- Dan Damon

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Administration needs to come clean on 3 things at Monday's Council

Will the Council give the Administration the third degree treatment Monday?

The administration of Plainfield Mayor Robinson-Briggs needs to come clean with the Council Monday evening on three items --

1. The status of sales at THE MONARCH. There are too many numbers flying around. The administration needs to get Dornoch/Fishman (or whatever the current incarnation is) to cough up CURRENT numbers, IN WRITING: How many units are under contract? When will each sale close? Is it true FHA loans will not be allowed to close until one third of the units (21) are sold AND CLOSED?
   
   
2. What happened to the city's PHONE SYSTEM when it was out at least four days last week, and why did it take so long to get the system up (if indeed it IS up -- see my earlier post today here)?
   
   
3. Why have the STREETLIGHTS in the block of Watchung Avenue between Front Street and the North Plainfield line been out for at least four days?

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-- Dan Damon

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City Hall phones: Sunday update

A reader emailed at 9:30 PM Saturday that the city phones were still out.

Testing several phone numbers at 6:30 Sunday morning, I at least get a ring. Endless, in fact. Greetings did not kick in.

Calling the main number, I got the recording employees hear when accessing their voicemails, prompting for number and password.

Does the public have a password?

Shooting Saturday night

Shooting reported Saturday night at West Third and Liberty Streets. Male suffered two gunshot wounds.

-- Dan

2 Yard Sales not to miss

It's going to be a gorgeous summer Saturday, so why not check out two great Plainfield yard sales today, especially since they benefit worthy causes --

• Today - August 8. 9 AM - 2 PM. Reading Sisterhood Scholarship Yard Sale. The Reading Sisterhood raises funds for an annual scholarship in memory of Hope McLean-Austin, who was a special ed teacher in the Plainfield Schools. This year's scholarship goes to Brianna Shelton, granddaughter of Anna and Charles Booker. Lots of good stuff! At 1601 Watchung Avenue (corner of Charlotte Road).
  
  
  
  
• Today - August 8. 9 AM - 3 PM. Senior Center Yard Sale. In the parking lot behind the Plainfield Senior Center, 305 East Front Street.

Go ahead, you know you might miss something good if you don't.

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-- Dan Damon

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Tax bill update

Those busy beavers at the city website posted an advisory about your tax bill -- which many people had expected in their mailbox this past week, and had inquired about at City Hall (at least until the phones went down).

Fretting taxpayers are assured the tax bill is 'due to be mailed next week', meaning the week of August 10, with payments due September 9, 2009.

Comforting, no?

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-- Dan Damon

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Music in the Plaza TODAY

As seen on www.plainfield.com/ this morning.

None of the merchants I talked to on Front Street Thursday knew what had happened to the 'Music in the Plaza' concert that didn't happen last Friday.

Not to worry, it's happening today, says an update posted to the city's website at 7:38 AM.

Wonder if anyone will tell the Front Street merchants.

After all, it is supposed to be about them, isn't it?

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-- Dan Damon

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City Hall phones still out

Plainfield City Hall's phone saga continues.

As of 7:45 8:15 AM this morning, service is still out as far as I can tell, after calling about half a dozen numbers in several buildings and getting the message 'your call cannot be completed'.

That's a step up from yesterday, when the response was a rapid busy, then a disconnect. There is no information available on the city's official website.

The situation was called to my attention yesterday by a reader's email saying she had not been able to reach the Tax Collector's office to find out what's happened to the tax bills (that's another story).

Others confirmed that they were unable to reach City Hall officials on Wednesday because of the outage, and the Courier even mentions the fact that it was unable to reach City officials for comment on the Connolly story because the phones were down and they did not respond to emails (see story here).

One story making the rounds is that the problem is the result of two payments that were inadvertently switched -- those to the phone service and to Leon's Catering.

Say it isn't so.

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-- Dan Damon

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City phone system down

BREAKING: Got an email from a reader about 11 AM, saying they couldn't get through. Just tried several phone numbers without success. Evidently the city's phone system is down. Note that 911 is not connected to -- or affected by -- the city's PBX system.

-- Dan

Plainfield Stimulus $$$ update: Still hokey after all these months

Surfing Plainfield's official website (see here) is always such an adventure. It reminds me of Christopher Columbus, who discovered America while looking for a way to 'the Indies'.

While looking for something else, I stumbled on what purports to be an update on Plainfield's quest for monies from President Obama's stimulus (ARRA) program (see here).

I say 'purports' because the discrepancies start right off with the opening page, which says figures are as of July 21, 2009. Really?

Highlights indicate web page 'date' versus real date created. Click to enlarge.

Looking at the PDF document's secret hiding place shows it was created on Monday, August 3, at 5:44 PM, a far cry from July 21 (two weeks, to be exact).

The web posting appears to be created from a PowerPoint presentation whose slides show various breakdowns of grants applied for (or not, if they are simply distributions by formula), and amounts awarded (or not).

Does the update include the $2.5 million for affordable housing on the PNC parking lot the city has proposed (see my post here)? You will be hard-pressed to figure it out, as dollar amounts don't align.

Alas, it also does not align well with the city's well-hidden 'Stimulus Tracking' subsite (which you can find here), and you will get a headache trying to match the update numbers with the original figures -- starting with the total amounts: $11.162 million on the original web pages, as against $20.762 million in the update document.

What?! We've asked for more than $10.5 million more since April and you never heard about it? You must have been dozing. Or maybe you blinked. Or maybe no one told you.

In any event, there is one number that may explain the update's timing and the date of its posting on the city's website.

That would be a ZERO. On slide three.

It's the ZERO as in the amount received against the $937,552.87 requested for the COPS grant.

Could this update have anything to do with the questions raised in the blogosphere by Olddoc and others about why Plainfield was not among the New Jersey communities to receive a COPS grant?

Plainfield's accounting for the Stimulus Money, still hokey after all these months.

Just can't get that Simon & Garfunkel track out of my mind.

Would I be convicted by a jury of my peers?

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• City of Plainfield
• "Economic Stimulus Funding Update" (PDF)
• "Plainfield's Stimulus Tracking Web Pages"

-- Dan Damon

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Surprise demotions, omissions in 2009 'Power List'

Plainfielders who follow PolitickerNJ's annual 'Power List' will find some surprises in this year's ranking of the who's who of clout in the Soprano State (see story here).

Perhaps it is no surprise -- given the events of the past couple of weeks -- that crimebusters are prominent in the list. However, Jersey being Jersey, many of those most closely connected to the most recent corruption scandal are opined to still have plenty of political mojo.

Is the demotion of Union County Dem Chair Charlotte DeFilippo (down from Number 13 to Number 28) a sign of things to come?

PolitickerNJ thinks she has been hurt by the long-running probe of her activities by the Attorney General's office. Despite weekly whispers that an indictment is forthcoming, Charlotte-watchers are still left sitting on the edge of their seats, knitting needles at the ready, waiting for the tumbrels.

Even Henry Mendez, headwaiter at Trenton's in-eatery Settimo Cielo (you don't really need a translation of the name, do you?) makes the list (Number 98), beating out both Sen. Ray Lesniak and State Democratic Party chair Joe Cryan, who don't make the list at all -- though a dig is made against them in AG Anne Milgram's entry (Number 13).

You will want to check the list out, it's a great romp. And who has decided this is an appropriate advertising vehicle is also worth noting.

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• PolitickerNJ: "2009 'Power List'" -- The list itself is here (PDF).

-- Dan Damon

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PHS removed from 'persistently dangerous' list

A street view of PHS from Google Maps
(try this amazing technology at maps.google.com/.)

Plainfield Board of Ed president Bridget Rivers shared the good news that the state has removed Plainfield High School from the list of 'persistently dangerous' high schools in New Jersey.

The school made headlines when it was placed on the list in 2008, as required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), an initiative of former president George W. Bush, in which schools that exceeded certain violence levels for three consecutive years are so designated.

The measures included violence, weapons offenses, vandalism and substance abuse.

Plainfield High School was specifically cited in 2008 because of what are referred to as 'Type A' violence incidents, specifically assaults on faculty, staff and students that ranged from 8 to 11 incidents yearly from 2005 through 2007. This was in contrast to 70% of the state's schools, which reported fewer than 5 incidents per year, according to reports in the media at the time.

When the announcement of the PHS designation was made, Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon outlined the steps he had taken since coming on board in July, 2008, which included the hiring of a new principal, staff training and the placing of 'clear expectations on students'. "I've made unannounced visits to the school every day," Gallon said at the time, "and I'm very encouraged."

Those actions and that encouragement have now paid off.

In the letter removing the PHS designation, dated July 31, Assistant Commissioner Barbara Gantwerk wrote, "I am pleased to notify you that the PDS (Persistently Dangerous School -- DD) designation has been removed ... effective immediately."

Congratulations to the students, staff, Board and Superintendent!

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-- Dan Damon

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City gets the word out on NNO, sort of.

The city's web calendar on Saturday morning,
day of the Bike Rodeo. (Click for large, crisp image.)

The same calendar this morning,
day of the NNO celebration. (Click for large, crisp image.)

Plainfield's 26th annual National Night Out celebration gets under way at 6 PM tonight in front of City Hall.

While the Star-Ledger listed 39 communities who are participating this year (see story here), Plainfield was not among them.

I cannot imagine that former Councilor Liz Urquhart, who has championed the anti-crime event since its inception, can be very pleased at the way the city has dropped the ball.

If it had not been for Councilor Carter outlining the two events at the last Council agenda session, it might have escaped notice altogether.

There was no street banner this year, and the city's online calendar (see images above) was only updated on Monday to include tonight's event -- leaving Saturday's Bike Rodeo out altogether.

Someone evidently DID remember to contact a caterer though, as attendees at tonight's event are promised food after the strenuous march from City Hall to Bryant Park and back -- 2½ blocks or so.

Councilor Liz Urquhart presiding over the 2000 NNO celebration.




A view of part of the crowd at the 2000 NNO event.

My best memory of an NNO celebration was when Liz organized a car caravan from Rushmore Playground through the West End to City Hall. With balloons, streamers, posters and horns blaring, a caravan of scores of cars and trucks were shepherded by a police escort through the neighborhoods and downtown to arrive at City Hall, where a huge crowd assembled in the parking lot for speeches, safety giveaways and SIMPLE refreshments.

Maybe the administration is just less interested now that the murder rate has been reduced by 300%.

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• Ledger: "Towns plan National Night Out events"

-- Dan Damon

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Rick Taylor remembered

Former mayors Mark Fury, Rick Taylor and Harold Mitchell.

The hubbub would begin even before Plainfield's new mayor, Rick Taylor, had gotten through the doorway to the back dining room at What's Your Beef, the city's legendary 1980s watering hole.

Shooing his entourage to their table, Rick would then work the room before settling down for dinner and drinks for the evening.

Everyone wanted to chat with him. Everyone seemed energized when he entered the room. Everyone had a good time.

With his smile, a handshake and a greeting, Rick would make his way around the room, bouncing and with a slight swagger until he had stopped at every table. He was the hometown kid who had climbed to the top of the heap. He was king of the hill. The only other New Jersey politician I ever saw who had the same effect on people was Sharpe James, who often ate at Freshwaters to similar effect.

I got to see a lot of Rick that Spring of 1984. Having moved into one of Plainfield's 'money pit' Victorians in late 1983, it was almost six months before there was a working kitchen and a place to sit down and eat (a card table, actually), so I spent a lot of evenings with new friends at What's Your Beef, usually in the back dining room where tables of eight could be accommodated more easily.

How lively the political scene in Plainfield was in those days!

There were still Republicans on the city council, including Jon Bramnick, now an Assemblyman from Westfield.

Planning and zoning boards as well as the Board of Ed meetings were raucous affairs, with a high degree of interest and involvement from the community.

It was Rick who made me feel welcome into this exciting political stew.

Always involved in the communities where I lived, my instincts had been dulled by a decade in New York City, where one is just an ant in the anthill, and one must be UTTERLY DRIVEN to have any role, let alone make any kind of an impact.

Not so in Plainfield. Here was a manageable-sized town, where you could get to know the movers and shakers and, with not too much trouble, get in the swim of things.

Rick welcomed that. He liked the idea that Plainfield attracted newcomers who spread the word about the charms of this somewhat funky community.

It was a golden moment, destined not to last.

What's Your Beef was taken over by Charlie Brown's, and the eatery where lines regularly trailed down the block, patiently waiting for a table or access to the tiny bar, was shut down to funnel business to the chain's Metuchen operation.

Eventually my kitchen was finished and eating out was less necessary.

Plainfield Republicans faded into the woodwork.

The wild, ebullient political scene quieted down.

Plainfield moved on, if not to a better place, at least to a different place.

The struggles of the 60s were past, and the visionary programs to which so many looked for the empowerment of America's new urban majorities had their mandates diluted, along with their funding, leaving cities like Plainfield with new challenges.

New faces crowded in to take Rick's place -- Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell, Mark Fury and Al McWilliams -- and try to address the new opportunities and challenges the Queen City faced.

But it had been Rick Taylor who first showed me, and others, a welcome and an open door.

For that I thank him.

Rest in peace, Rick.

I'll see you at that great back dining room in the hereafter!

Working the crowd, as always.

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• Obituary: "Rev. Rick Taylor, former mayor" -- Rose of Sharon: Viewing Tuesday, 4-7; Memorial Service, 7. Funeral Wednesday, 11 AM, Cathedral International, Perth Amboy.

-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield's nuclear past...and its fallout

Well, the Plainfield area's, if not Plainfield's directly.

President Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower undertook two policy initiatives which had dramatic impacts on the Plainfield area, though the law of unintended consequences has reversed the drama of the effects on us.

These were the development of the Interstate Highways system and the missile defense of American cities.

Todays' NY Times has a fascinating article about the 21 missile sites which ringed New York City, intended to fend off Soviet nuclear attacks (see here).

Many people living in the area today may be surprised to learn that Plainfield was flanked by missile installations as part of the Eisenhower initiative.

In South Plainfield, what had been the Hadley Airfield became a Nike missile installation, at first with 25-mile range Ajax missiles and later with nuclear-capable Hercules missiles with an 87-mile range.

To the north, another installation in the Watchung Reservation was similarly equipped. That site is where today's Riding Stables are located (which has been 'waymarked' here), while South Plainfield's has become the shopping mecca along Hadley Road.

FDU professor Donald Bender is the go-to guy on the New York Defense Ring, and has a complete website for your delight (see here).

In that Strangelovian past, while school kids practiced duck-and-cover air raid drills (see more here), those who ran the country planned for a possible Armageddon which, thankfully, never came.

Eisenhower's two initiatives arose from two stimuli.

The missile defense was a direct outgrowth of the Cold War missile race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Eisenhower's other initiative, the Interstate Highway System, was a little more indirect.

Ike, who had been the Supreme Allied Commander in the European theater of action during WWII, was acutely aware of the role that aerial bombing of its industrial infrastructure played in bringing Nazi Germany to its knees.

Germany's industries were tightly integrated into its rail infrastructure, and made factories easy targets as bomber squadrons could simply fly along rail lines to deliver their payloads, which had the double effect of knocking out the enemy's industrial production as well as its means of transporting war materiel to the fighting front.

This was a lesson which impressed Eisenhower greatly. American industrial production also relied to a great extent on rail transportation and, in the event of an invasion would be vulnerable in the same manner as Germany's.

Ike's approach was to develop the Interstate Highway System which had the dual purpose of allowing the military to speed troops from point to point if needed for defense against attack, AND to allow for the transport of materiel NOT TO DEPEND ENTIRELY on the fixed, immobile and vulnerable rail system. (The fact that WE can drive them, and that suburbs grew up along them, was not the main intent.)

At the same time, industries were incentived to move away from dense urban centers and locations along fixed rail lines out to the open spaces surrounding urban areas.

A direct consequence for Plainfield of both the Interstates and this industrial policy was the closing of Plainfield's Mack Truck plant, which employed 1,500, in 1961, to be replaced with a new facility out in the boondocks of Bridgewater.

While the nuclear defense system was never put to the ultimate test and we have come to accept the new, more peaceful uses to which those old Cold War sites have been put, Plainfield's West End has never fully recovered from the shock of that employment loss.

You can see for yourself if you take the time to travel through the neighborhood and see what has become of its former shopping districts and the surrounding neighborhoods.

That's why they're called 'unintended consequences'.

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• NYTimes: "Shadow cast by region's atomic past"
• Don Bender: "Nike Missiles and Missile Sites"
  
• Detroit News: "When bomb shelters were all the rage"
  
• Waymarks: "Welcome to NY-73 Summit/Watchung Nike Missile Site"
  

-- Dan Damon

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Plainfield's 'PLAN AHEAD' policy?

Plainfield's lack of a 'plan ahead' mindset is on display this week with the repaving of Watchung Avenue from the North Plainfield line to 5th Street.

The work caps the project which has included installing Belgian block curbing, ADA-compliant corner cuts and (partial) new sidewalks.

Some merchants were surprised and a little miffed that the repaving commenced without any warning, displacing on-street parking while traffic was shifted to new patterns for the duration.

In addition, traffic snarls ensued as southbound traffic on Watchung was shunted west on North Avenue forcing folks onto Second Street and creating gridlock in the entire area.

The plan, which was developed years ago in conjunction with the UEZ-funded streetscape improvements on Front Street, was dusted off to take advantage of federal stimulus funding. Unlike the Front Street segment, though, the city made no effort to circulate flyers to affected merchants alerting them to upcoming phases of the work.

Roadwork, necessary as it is, is alway disruptive to someone, and sometimes all that is needed is to show a little common courtesy (such as flyers, or signs on light poles as with last summer's E'town water work).

The 'common courtesy' part is where Plainfield seems to fail to 'PLAN AHEAD'.

Everyone will be pleased when the work is done, some probably a little more than others.

But will the City learn from this project to do better when -- and if -- it gets to the Park Avenue phase which was also planned for way back when?

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-- Dan Damon

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Is fighting corruption worth it?

This Plainfielder was struck by a comment on a recent Ledger story concerning Middlesex Borough's contemplation of tougher pay-to-play restrictions (see story here).

Commenting on the proposal to be tougher than the state by limiting the contributions of any firm doing business with the borough to $300, 'obiwanisback' says --

... [a] nice idea but it won't work. Just give the cash to your friend, neighbor or relative with a different last name and have them send the donation in...

In Plainfield, the Council didn't even try to trump the state's weak pay-to-play rules.

What's worse, Plainfielders must face the charade of the 'fair and open process' of awarding contracts, where they are given -- without bidding -- to those on a list the administration has previously prepared and submitted to the Council for ratification.

Yet even where there are supposedly open public bidding procedures, bid-rigging goes on.

Someone, it seems, will always find a way to bend or break the rules.

Writing in NJ Newsroom, Jim Goodman points out that Alexis de Toqueville cast a sharp eye on American political corruption in his 1830s book and decided that it was a 'life-giving element of the system' (see article here).

Sisyphean though the task seems, my small-town heartland-of-America values demand keeping pushing the 'reform' ball uphill.

Is it worth it?

Albert Camus, reflecting on the myth of Sisyphus, condemned to eternally repeating the task of pushing a rock up a hill only to have to repeat the process when it rolls back, suggested that we should learn to 'love our rock', whatever it is.

What do you think?

Vote in the poll HERE (top of right-hand column).

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• Ledger: "Middlesex eyes new pay-to-play rules"
• Newsroom NJ: "Corruption scandals as old as democracy itself"
  

-- Dan Damon

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