Time running out on opportunities to brighten local families' holidays

Plainfielders have a tradition of opening their hearts and their pocketbooks to the community's neediest during the Christmas holidays. Religious and social service organizations throughout the city solicit toys and other gifts to brighten the holidays for as many families as possible. In addition, feeding and clothing programs -- which are being heavily stressed by the current economic recession -- look to the kindness of strangers to help stock and replenish food pantries and clothes-closets.

If you have not already made a gift through your religious organization or other connection -- or even if you have -- please consider among the following additional opportunities.

Thank you! and know that any gift will fill an urgent need. -- Dan

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• (OPPORTUNITY EXTENDED) DQ Drive for Daybreak Kids: Dairy Queen's Donna Albanese is spearheading a drive for 329 children of incarcerated parents. For its holiday party, Plainfield's Daybreak Community Center needs new or gently used toys, sports gear, clothing, shoes, books and bikes. Items may be dropped off at the Dairy Queen (1367 South Avenue) before 3 PM, Sunday, December 20. Donna reports the #1 request from kids is for bikes. Bike donations may be dropped off at her house no later than Sunday (8 Pitching Way, Scotch Plains, leave in drive if no one home), where her husband will make necessary repairs and deliver them. Those wishing to bake for the party should call Donna for dropoff information (the party for the kids is Monday, December 21, at Rose of Sharon Church, 825 West 7th Street, 6 - 9 PM). Info: (908) 755-5994.
  
  
• Food Donations Needed: Consider donating to your local religious organization's feeding program or food pantry, or give to the COMMUNITY FOOD BANK OF NJ: Accepts dry, refrigerated or frozen food. Distributes food to charities throughout the state. Location: 31 Evans Terminal Road, Hillside, N.J. Info: (908) 355-3663; or visit njfoodbank.org/.
  
  
• Ends Today. Holiday Toy Drive by Sleepy Hollow Realtors. Once again, Joe Burris, John Nash and the Sleepy Hollow Realtors team are collecting toys for area charities. Bring your donation of a new, unwrapped toy for a boy or girl BY FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, to Sleepy Hollow Realtors, 1304 South Avenue. Info: (908) 822-0550.
  
  
• Ends Today. Holiday Toy Drive by King's Temple. The church seeks new, unwrapped toys to distribute to Plainfield children at the holidays. Donations may be dropped off at Harvest Radio, 120 West 7th Street, Ste 202, Monday thru Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM. Info: Toya Kirkwood, (908) 757-6700 or (908) 753-5825. The toys will be distributed at the 7th Annual Candle Lighting service on Saturday at 7 PM at the church, 1020 West 7th Street. A light dinner follows the service. More info here.
  
  
• Today through Thursday - December 24. Together AsOne Adopt-a-Family Holiday Celebration. This network of Black Entrepreneurs Who Care has adopted two families from Plainfield Action Services, for whom they are gathering gifts to make a very special Christmas. Gifts or donations via PayPal are needed. For full details, check AsOne's website here. Info: (908) 755-8220 or email staff@asoneonline.com.
  
  
• Today thru Sunday - Dec 20. All Day. BORDERS Gift Wrap Benefiting Plainfield Area Humane Society. Shop at Borders in Watchung Square Mall and have your book or other item gift-wrapped by volunteers from PAHS. Proceeds benefit the Rock Avenue facility.
  
  
• Saturday - December 19. 7 PM. New Dems Holiday Potluck and Canned Food Drive. Mix and mingle with new friends and old and celebrate the winter holiday season! Bring a dish to share and one or two nonperishable food items for donation to Plainfield's local feeding programs. Food, fun, music -- maybe even carolling. At the home of Adrian and Amelia Mapp, 535 West 8th Street.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Bottom-line on the schools certifications brouhaha?

The expectation of the public with regard to public schools is that elected school boards and appointed administrators will guard the public purse. Plainfield's school district is no exception.

It was with the public purse in mind that I wrote Monday's post 'More shoes to drop in schools certification mess?' (see here), which has gathered 10 comments from various viewpoints to date.

My point was that the public expectation of getting to the bottom of HOW and WHY 'Jane Doe 1' and 'Jane Doe 2' came to be appointed to positions for which they were not certified is entirely reasonable and justified.

Demanding clarity, transparency and finality on this question does not demean any of the parties involved -- the Board of Ed, Dr. Gallon, or Dr. Bailey.

That being said, someone has to be ACCOUNTABLE for the decision NOT ONLY to hire 'Jane Doe 1' and 'Jane Doe 2' for positions for which they were not certified, but to pay them salaries that were appropriate for CERTIFIED INDIVIDUALS, but not for those WITHOUT THE REQUIRED CERTIFICATION.

All the dust kicked up about 'invasions of privacy' avoids getting at the basic issue here: Who decided to hire and pay these individuals, and when?

Subsequent to the Monday post, we learned in today's Courier story (see here) on Tuesday's BOE meeting that --

... [Board members] Logan-Leach and Wilma Campbell both suggested that the board reconsider a practice they said Gallon started upon his July 2008 hiring, through which individual board members do not have background information on prospective hirings forwarded to them prior to a vote. Gallon said the policy was put in place to protect "information I've deemed confidential,'' (emphasis added -- DD).

Board member Patricia Barksdale is quoted as saying the change in practice was agreed to 'to ensure the privacy of our staff'. So now the question is: By whom? Was the practice changed by the entire Board? And did Campbell and Logan-Leach agree to it?

On its face, the change in practice is troubling. It means that the elected Board of Education, which is to be the competent authority in all school hirings (and salaries) has abrogated its responsibility and must now operate 'in the dark' if the Superintendent so chooses. How can they discharge their responsibilities with regard to guarding the public purse if they are spoon-fed only the information the Superintendent deems they should have? (Be sure to read Maria Pellum's response on this point below, and my reply -- DD.)

Were 'Jane Doe 1' and 'Jane Doe 2' hired AFTER THIS NEW POLICY CHANGE WAS PUT IN PLACE? If so, this is even more troubling as it suggests that Dr. Gallon could have avoided disclosing to the Board of Ed material facts concerning 'Jane Doe 1' and 'Jane Doe 2', to wit: that they did not have the required certifications for the posts (AND SALARIES) to which they were being appointed and the information about one them having had difficulties with their teaching license in Florida owing to alleged 'moral turpitude'.

All this should make it perfectly clear why it is necessary to get to the very plain bottom of how these two came to be hired sans certifications.

Further, we need to get over the phony 'privacy' issues here. In my view, no one who expects to have a job paid out of taxpayer funds -- general government or public schools -- can have ANY EXPECTATION that their name, their qualifications (or lack thereof) and their salary are PRIVATE information. New Jersey case law and rulings by the Government Records Council make this perfectly clear. One can go online at the Courier and learn the salary of any public employee. If there ARE privacy issues, qualifications, certification, salary and name are NOT among them.

(ASIDE: To those who felt I was somehow attacking Dr. Bailey, that is not the case. But we need to get to the bottom of who exactly made this hiring decision. Since she was both Acting Superintendent when Dr. Gallon was appointed and subsequently Human Resources Director, she is in the mix, like it or not. The issue -- as I see it -- is to sort out who is responsible for the hiring.)

Public schools have always taught values, and Plainfield's are no exception.

Whether it's with Kindergartners who are taught to 'Cross only at the corner' and 'Don't litter', to older students coached to 'Tell the truth' and 'Play fair', public schools are in the business of teaching -- and modeling -- habits and attitudes that society values.

The question in this certifications mess is: What values are being modeled for our students and our community?

Why weren't 'Jane Doe 1' and 'Jane Doe 2' originally hired as Coordinators -- at salaries appropriate for that title -- with the understanding that Dr. Gallon wanted them as members of his Cabinet and that when they achieved their certifications he would move to have their job titles (and salaries) upgraded? Wouldn't this have been a better modeling of values than we have gotten?

If no one takes accountability for the initial hiring decision, the schools' role in values training becomes a mere charade.

As Dr. Gallon's memo issued after Tuesday's evidently raucous Board meeting says, 'Unbecoming conduct and that which does not reflect positively on the District, its schools, professionals, and its students are prohibited'. To which I say, 'Amen'.

If no one takes accountability for the initial hiring decision, the trust which the public places in its elected Board of Ed and the District's administrative leadership will be weakened.

And trust is the glue that holds everything together.

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• Plainfield Today: "More shoes to drop in schools certifications mess?"
• Courier, 12/16/09: "Plainfield schools chief issues warning about conduct"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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UPDATE: Swine Flu vaccinations opened to all

UPDATE: Swine Flu vaccinations opened to all. Per a story in Thursday's Star-Ledger (see here), the state has issued a directive that H1N1 vaccinations are to be open to all who wish to be vaccinated -- meaning that the general population not included in the previous guidelines concerning high-risk groups may now go to the clinics. The story also notes that Walgreen's is making the shots available at many of its locations (it has already been available at the Plainfield location).

The flyer for Plainfield's second H1N1 (Swine Flu) clinic was spotted in the City Hall rotunda on Tuesday. Two skimpy little piles of ten or so on an otherwise naked pickup table -- one in English, one in Spanish (evidently the Robinson-Briggs administration has never learned the old trick of printing the English and Spanish versions back-to-back, saving trees and the need for two piles of flyers). No word on whether any of Plainfield's doses are included in the recall announced on Tuesday.

No flyers were found at the Health Center or the Library, suggesting you must make a pilgrimage to City Hall if you want the details.

Even if most of the 500 doses dispensed in November were to infants and children who need a second 'booster' shot, the City will still be faced with having about 1,000 doses unused after Saturday's clinic -- unless they pull off a big publicity push.

Not likely from the evidence of past efforts.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccination Clinic

Saturday, December 19
9 AM - 4 PM
Snyder School of Nursing
Muhlenberg Campus
Park Avenue at Moffatt Avenue

Flyer: English | Spanish
Info: (908) 753-3092

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• Ledger: "Health department says vaccine available for all"

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Large-scale fight at Plainfield High School

I have been told there was a large-scale fight on Wednesday at Plainfield High School. No further details at this time, but will post as news becomes available.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Kabuki theater-of-the-budget draws to a close

The Kabuki theater** of Plainfield's FY2010 budget inched towards its close Wednesday evening with the Council hearing scheduled presentations from the Plainfield Public Library, the Inspections and Recreation Divisions, the Corporation Counsel, the City Clerk, and, in a reprise, the Planning Division -- which the Robinson-Briggs administration wants to gut, despite opposition from the Council, the public and employees.

Wednesday's scheduled hearing was to conclude presentations on the Operating Budget.

A hearing is set for tonight on the Capital Spending Budget -- projected large scale projects (like roads) and certain purchases which have long depreciation schedules (such as fire and police equipment).

I say 'Kabuki theater' not to demean the process or the presentations departments and divisions make (and over which they sweat and labor), but to underscore that this is always a stylized performance.

The 'sausage', as seasoned observers know, gets made elsewhere.

That will be AFTER next Monday's public hearing on the introduced budget.

After the public has had its say, and the CBAC (Citizens Budget Advisory Committee) makes its recommendations to the Council, the Council then withdraws unto itself to ponder amendments to the budget.

Those amendments, enacted at the second and final budget hearing, then form the framework within which the Robinson-Briggs administration must work for the balance of the 2010 fiscal year, which ends June 30, 2010.

Any potential 'savings' will be mitigated by the fact that half the fiscal year has already lapsed by the time the budget is put in place.

The fact that the Robinson-Briggs administration chose NOT TO INTRODUCE its budget proposal until AFTER THE NOVEMBER ELECTION has not escaped attention, and it is commonly perceived that Robinson-Briggs wimped out, missing the state's budget deadline on purpose and saddling the Council with all the dirty work. Pretty slick trick.

Perhaps Dan should revise his strongly-held opinion that the Robinson-Briggs administration is largely inept and incompetent?

Or maybe it was a decision made by someone other than Robinson-Briggs or City Administrator Marc Dashield?

**Kabuki is the highly stylized dance-drama which is considered Japan's classical theater tradition, embodying qualities the Japanese value most in their national character -- honor, loyalty and 'the Samurai determination to see a course through to its end, regardless of the cost'.

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City Council: Capital Budget Hearing

Tonight, December 17
7:00 - 10:00 PM
Council Chambers/Municipal Court
Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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PMUA cruises along in parallel universe

Like a starship in a SciFi flick, the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority's board cruised along at its Tuesday night meeting. The crew tinkered with the ship while ratepayers stranded on another planet fumed and media observers were ignored like specks of intergalactic dust.

The board's business was mostly preoccupied with resolutions concerning awarding contracts on bids (7 items), and in truth it has to be noted that the PMUA -- as contrasted with the City -- actually advertises for public bids. Though, as Chairperson Carol Ann Brokaw noted, it is disappointing when repeated items turn up only one bidder.

Next year's Holiday service calendar was adopted -- no surprises here.

And resolutions of thanks for service were offered to Eliot Martir, who has left after twelve years, and -- in what appeared to be a successful surprise - to CFO Jim Perry and Number 2 exec David Ervin.

Meanwhile, the community has been abuzz about revelations that the PMUA's high-on-the-hog ways have continued -- only slightly abated this year -- with lavish digs and expenses to attend the annual League of Municipalities conference in Atlantic City.

You may well ask what is so compelling about the annual schmoozefest that 24 staffers (down from 41 last year) still HAD to attend.

Quite a few City staffers attend the annual Conference for seminars which earn CEUs (continuing education credits) to maintain their state certifications. You might wonder if such is the case with ANY of the 24 PMUA staffers who tagged along.

Wonder on.

Meanwhile, the Courier had a column by Jay Jefferson Cooke on the PMUA's lavish tastes (see here) which I inadvertently missed yesterday -- AND an editorial today (see here).

While many might sympathize with the Courier's suggestion that the City clean house quickly, the truth is that it is probably harder to DO than to IMAGINE DOING.

Alas, like most of the rest of life.

Next month: Rate increases?

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• Courier --
• Editorial: "Failed PMUA leadership should be pushed aside"
  
• Jay Jefferson Cooke: "Does spending so much on a convention make sense?"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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UPDATE: Plainfield's 2nd Swine Flu clinic

The flyer for Plainfield's second H1N1 (Swine Flu) clinic was spotted in the City Hall rotunda on Tuesday. Two skimpy little piles of ten or so on an otherwise naked pickup table -- one in English, one in Spanish (evidently the Robinson-Briggs administration has never learned the old trick of printing the English and Spanish versions back-to-back, saving trees and the need for two piles of flyers). No word on whether any of Plainfield's doses are included in the recall announced on Tuesday.

No flyers were found at the Health Center or the Library, suggesting you must make a pilgrimage to City Hall if you want the details.

Even if most of the 500 doses dispensed in November were to infants and children who need a second 'booster' shot, the City will still be faced with having about 1,000 doses unused after Saturday's clinic -- unless they pull off a big publicity push.

Not likely from the evidence of past efforts.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccination Clinic

Saturday, December 19
9 AM - 4 PM
Snyder School of Nursing
Muhlenberg Campus
Park Avenue at Moffatt Avenue

Flyer: English | Spanish
Info: (908) 753-3092

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield facing another pension payment deferral?

Plainfield's City Council may be faced with pressure from the state to defer pension payments once again if a plan advancing in the Legislature goes into force (see the Courier here, and the Ledger here).

The move was made last year, and municipalities were virtually blackmailed into joining in by threats that needed extraordinary aid would be cut or denied altogether to towns that did not go along with the stopgap budgetary maneuver.

While the Council was disturbed at being forced to adopt the measure, since the deferred payments will have to be made later PLUS INTEREST, the Robinson-Briggs administration eagerly embraced the scheme as the way out of a budget mess that it had not addressed in a well-thought-out manner in its initial budget proposal (remember the $1M 'error'?).

Gannett's report includes this enticing little detail: When the repayment kicks in after a year or two, the interest cost to the municipality for the privilege of deferring the pension payments will be 65¢ on every dollar deferred.

Add to this the danger that the scheme could continue to weaken the pension plans holdings, eventually putting them in peril, and it is not hard to conclude that this is a BAD IDEA.

Is it possible our legislators have drunk Wall Street's IBG/YBG* Kool-Aid?



*IBG/YBG: "I'll be gone, you'll be gone", the philosophy of Wall Street dealmakers who sold high-risk financial products during the bubble, first noted in Jonathan Knee's 'The Accidental Investment Banker' (see a review here, more about the book here).

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• Courier: "Dem lawmakers promote plan to defer pension payments again"
  
• Ledger: "Bill would allow delaying payments to pension system"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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More shoes to drop in schools certifications mess?

Are there more shoes to drop in the ongoing mess over certifications of officials in the Plainfield Public Schools? It seems possible.

The Courier's Mark Spivey reported Sunday (see here) on the continuing saga of Plainfield school officials' mess that the state has repeatedly denied requests for certification by now-coordinators Lalelei Kelly and Lesly Borge, who were brought along from Miami-Dade County by Dr. Steve Gallon III when he came to head up Plainfield's schools in July 2008. (Dr. Gallon's lengthy response is posted online here.)

Bernice posted a summary on her Plaintalker blog this past October (see here) of her very complete coverage of Dr. Gallon's advent and the administrative changes he and Dr. Garnell Bailey (who served as interim Superintendent and Human Resources Director) proposed.

The question that must be on many people's minds is why, if Kelly and Borge were not certified, they were appointed to their initial positions at all? The NJ Dept. of Education website has a complete summary of reciprocity requirements for out-of-state teachers and 'chief school administrators' and educational services providers here.

Was the Board of Ed fully cognizant of the material facts of their qualifications? Did Dr. Bailey have any role in the recruitment of Kelly and Borge, or was their selection solely that of Dr. Gallon? Was the inclusion of Kelly and Borge any part of the negotiations surrounding Dr. Gallon's contract (we may never know)? Was Kelly and Borge's lack of qualifications for certification hidden from the Board of Ed, or did Board members just fail to follow the line of questioning to its logical conclusion?

Is there any history in the school district of putting people into positions for which they have no certification? And if so, has the County Superintendent and/or the state previously turned a blind eye? Or were they kept 'out of the loop' (which I find hard to imagine)?

It is disturbing that as we close in on a year and a half of Dr. Gallon's leadership of the District, Kelly and Borge have yet to complete the requirements for certification. One would think it would be the very first item on their to-do list, though it does seem some steps at least were taken as I have been told the District has made tuition reimbursements to the tune of about $10,000 for coursework. (Dr. Gallon's online response seems to hint that the certification issue HAS BEEN favorably resolved, but it is only a hint -- he makes no direct disclosure -- perhaps awaiting word from the state IN WRITING.)

Notwithstanding all this, I would think Plainfield's taxpayers would want to know what the Board of Ed is doing about requiring the repayment to the District by Kelly and Borge of the salary amounts for which they were not certified to receive payment. If the Obama administration can talk about 'clawbacks' for Wall Street, why not for school employees who turn out to be inappropriately compensated?

Meanwhile, Dr. Bailey was relieved of her duties last month, is said to have been escorted from the building -- shades of corporate America! -- and has not been seen or heard from since. Word in the street is that she is on leave, citing 'stress'.

Most disturbing of all are whispers that Dr. Gallon himself has not completed steps set for him to assume the title of 'Chief School Administrator' as set forth by the State Department of Education reciprocity requirements (see here), though his advanced degrees and experience have no doubt qualified him as ELIGIBLE. What is being said is that Dr. Gallon was given a year to work with a mentor who would then sign off on his certification for New Jersey, and that nearly 18 months after taking over the District, the mentorship is incomplete and the mentor is unwilling to sign off.

Plainfield taxpayers deserve to know that the Superintendent has also fulfilled his requirements.

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• Courier, 12/13/2009 --
• "Administrators were repeatedly denied certification, records show"
• "Dr. Gallon's response" -- Online only.
• NJ Dept of Education: "Licensure & Credentials: Out-of-State Reciprocity"
• Plaintalker, 10/29/2009: "School changes in retrospect"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Second Swine Flu clinic scheduled

Snyder School of Nursing at Muhlenberg will host the clinic.

Trolling Plainfield's official website Friday morning, I discovered that a second H1N1 (Swine Flu) vaccination clinic has been scheduled for this coming Saturday, December 19, (see here, PDF).

It struck me as odd that the flyer included a second -- blank -- page, and that I didn't see a Spanish version.

Recalling that the city's first clinic netted only 500 vaccinations for 2,000 available doses (while Cranford conducted a clinic on the same day and disposed of all its 2,000 doses), I thought to check out the flyer's distribution before writing up the clinic.

First stop, City Hall. No flyers in evidence in the several spots in the Rotunda where such are often placed, though an employee I bumped into did say they had heard there was going to be a clinic but they did not know any details.

Given that the top four target groups include pregnant women, infants and children and their caregivers to age 18, the next logical place to check seemed to be the Neighborhood Health Services Center (PHC to old-timers) on Myrtle Avenue, where Plainfielders in these target groups turn for medical services.

The parking lot was full, so I pulled up near the entry (supposedly a no-no, but I was hardly alone). The courteous woman at the reception desk said she knew nothing of a vaccination clinic, but indicated I should check the literature table in the corner. The table was full of handouts for various services, but no swine flu flyer from the City.

Surely, there would be some at the Plainfield Public Library, which has a large literature pickup table? Nope.

I decided to wait until Monday to put up a post so folks could get a heads up.

Checking the city's website this morning, I find a) there is now a Spanish version of the flyer available (see here), and b) the original 2-page English flyer has been tidied up with the removal of the blank second page.

That's progress.

Now, if the Robinson-Briggs administration can just get the word out to the public, maybe the city can dispense its remaining 1,500 doses.

Send the flyers home with elementary school children?

Now, there's a thought.

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H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccination Clinic

Saturday, December 19
9 AM - 4 PM
Snyder School of Nursing
Muhlenberg Campus
Park Avenue at Moffatt Avenue

Flyer: English | Spanish
Info: (908) 753-3092

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Heart-stopping Holiday decorations

Like everyone, my inbox gets its share of jokes (some family-friendly, some not), but Plainfield Today reader Dr. Ted really got my attention with the picture seen above.

Turns out to be an anonymous homeowner's attempt at some holiday humor, explained by the homeowner himself --

“Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize that it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of the many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.”

Enjoy, but don't try this at home, kiddies!

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mugging at train station Friday evening

Netherwood's historic train station.

Received a report of a mugging at Plainfield's Netherwood train station Friday evening, between 7:30 and 8:00 PM.

A young male is said to have snatched a woman's purse as she was walking to her car.

Security at Netherwood Station appears to be an issue with commuters who use this station. There have been several recent comments on Plainfield Today over whether the Plainfield police or NJT police should patrol the parking lots when commuter trains arrive.

While the Netherwood Station property is indeed NJT private property, so is Westfield's, and readers point out that Westfield police do meet the trains.

Maybe readers who are concerned about this issue can raise the Robinson-Briggs administration's awareness through lobbying by their neighborhood associations or block groups such as FOSH and Netherwood Neighbors.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Three must-do events for this Holiday weekend

Shepherds at the manger (Canterbury Cathedral).

Plainfielders have three outstanding holiday opportunities this weekend --

PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY: BOOK-SIGNING AND GIFTING EVENT

On Saturday afternoon, local authors will be hosted by the Plainfield Public Library at a book-signing event. Originally setting a goal of 20 authors, assistant library director Mary Ellen Rogan has been thrilled by the response -- with more than 30 authors slated to sign and sell their works at the event. For those book-lovers on your gift list (or for yourself), this is an easy one-stop opportunity to find them the perfect gift without battling the lines at the big box stores. Romance? Murder? Photography? New Jersey beers or minor league baseball? You'll find all this and more. Do yourself a favor and drop in.

Publication Party & Book Signing.
Saturday | 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Anne Louise Davis Meeting Room
Plainfield Public Library
Park Avenue and 8th Street

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PLAINFIELD SYMPHONY: HOLIDAY POPS CONCERT

Playing with renewed vigor and enthusiasm under their new musical director Charles Prince, the PSO wowed the crowd at the opening concert of its 90th season in October.

On Saturday, Prince and the PSO offer a Holiday Pops Concert sure to bedazzle, including a medley of holiday carols as well as Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, Victor Herbert's March of the Toys, and Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, an American classic.

Plainfield Symphony Holiday Pops Concert
Saturday | 7:00 PM
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church
East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue
(parking in lot on First Place or at Swain Galleries)
$25 at the door; $5 off with the presentation of two non-perishable food items
(which will benefit Starfish, Plainfield's food pantry).
Tickets may also be purchased online at www.plainfieldsymphony.org/.

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CRESCENT CONCERTS: YULETIDE BY CANDLELIGHT

This annual gift to the community by the acclaimed Crescent Singers provides an opportunity to decompress from the holiday shopping and entertaining bustle, and find an inspiring location in which to center one's thoughts and hopes for the holidays and the New Year, drawing inspiration from the carols and music of the season, reflected in selections from ancient to modern. Recharge your inner self and reflect on the reason for the season.

Crescent Concerts: Yuletide by Candlelight.
Sunday | 5:30 PM
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church
Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street
(parking in lot on First Place or at Swain Galleries)
Tickets: $20, $15/senior, $5/student

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Dashield's departure leaves Robinson-Briggs' hands full

Famous sign on desk of President Harry S. Truman,
one of America's best CEO's ever.

[Updated with Montclair blog Baristanet's posts at 1:10 PM] The news that Plainfield City Administrator Marc Dashield is leaving to become Montclair's township manager broke yesterday on Montclair's website (see here), with reports in today's Courier (here) and Ledger (here) and Plainfield bloggers Bernice (here) and Olddoc (here) -- though I have to say I hinted at what was coming back in November (here).

Dashield's departure will leave Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs with her hands full. Not only must Dashield be replaced, but she is under orders from the state's Division of Local Government Services to put a certified chief financial officer in place, and the auditor's recommendation discussed at Monday's council meeting highlighted the fact she has not had a certified purchasing agent for several years. This, plus the changes that having a new, non-Democratic governor in Trenton will bring, are certain to make for an even more challenging future for the Queen City's mayor.

Montclair, often referred to as 'The People's Republic of Montclair' for its well-known liberal politics, is a township with a city manager-council form of government under the state's Faulkner Act. This means that as Township Manager, Dashield will become the community's chief executive, or CEO, responsible directly to the Council (of which the Mayor is a member) -- a situation quite different from Plainfield, which has a special city charter with a strong mayor-council form of government.

A press release on the Montclair website's front page says Dashield's --

... achievements include reorganizing [Plainfield's] downtown revitalization efforts and instituting a master plan that incorporates smart growth, transit-oriented development principles which capitalize on its two train stations.

The Star-Ledger quotes Montclair mayor Jerry Fried as saying --

... He's a people person ... and it's obvious he knows how to deal with difficult situations with grace and, at the same time, directly...

Dashield was one of five finalists presented to Montclair's Council after a search firm screened 44 applications submitted by those interested in the job. Dashield, who never moved to Plainfield, is planning to move to Montclair.

The Courier's Mark Spivey quotes Dashield on his Plainfield experience as saying he will --

... miss working in the Queen City ... "I enjoyed it because there was always something new, different and challenging, ...[t]here was always something going on, always some challenge to deal with, and I think that's what I'll always remember...

The Ledger's reporter, seemingly not familiar with the differences between Montclair's and Plainfield's forms of government, says the Plainfield council 'has already begun searching for a new city administrator', which is not the Council's responsibility.

The appointment is the mayor's prerogative, though Robinson-Briggs listens closely to the advice of her political godfather Assemblyman Jerry Green. The Council's role is to give its 'advice and consent', though you can be sure they will want to have face-to-face interviews with potential candidates, something that Robinson-Briggs has previously refused to do, and which the Council has come to rue not having pushed for more insistently (not to mention the taxpayers, who also rue away).

Montclair is a community with high expectations and perhaps even more demanding residents than Plainfield's. While Dashield may find that bracing, he may also find it liberating not to have to turn constantly to a mayor and a mayoral mentor over every jot and tittle.

Marc, we wish you well. Montclair, we also wish you well. Maybe somebody will get back to us to let us know how things are going.

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• Courier: "Plainfield administrator accepts new post in Montclair"
• Ledger: "Montclair hires Plainfield administrator as township manager"
• Plainfield Bloggers: "Plaintalker 1" | "Plaintalker 2" | "Doc's Potpourri"
• Website: "Township of Montclair"
• Baristanet (a Montclair blog): "Dashield succeeds Hartnett" | "Dashield trades up"
  

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Hillside Avenue accident victim medevaced

Map showing location of accident.

A woman traveling down Highland Avenue failed to stop at the corner of Hillside Avenue, and her car proceeded through the intersection to crash into a tree at the foot of the driveway of the home opposite shortly before 3:00 PM Tuesday afternoon.

The rescue squad, Mercy 6, Fire and Police Divisions responded.

The woman was transported by Medevac from Hub-Stine Field to RWJ Hospital.

Nothing further known at this point.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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BREAKING: Plainfielder Paul Beckwith on Gay Marriage Bill

Plainfielder Paul Beckwith is cited in a story from Bay Windows, a New England GLBT newspaper on the Senate Judiciary Committee's vote to send the gay marriage bill to the floor. Read more HERE.

Council trapped by its own monkey business

Staring down a 10% local tax increase possibility in the budget Plainfield's City Council is currently struggling with, the cost of government is much on my mind lately -- as I presume it is on yours, too, dear reader.

And it was last night, as the Council got involved in the monkey business of a discussion around developing an ordinance to deal with those pestiferous (my view, not necessarily yours) Ledger ad bags thrown into residents' driveways on a weekly basis.

Council President Rashid Burney pointed out that Corporation Counsel Dan Williamson had told him it was not possible to PROHIBIT the distribution of these sales circulars, but it was possible to REGULATE it.

What came to me as the discussion went on is that it would be UNWORKABLE EXCEPT AT GREAT EXPENSE. (Bringing to mind other issues, such as those ubiquitous dish antennas about which we have an ordinance.)

Having an ordinance on the books hardly fixes a problem if it's not enforced.

And enforcing such an ordinance would cost the city.

To turn a blind eye and pretend that there is no additional cost to run the city incurred by ordinances such as this one strike me as the expression of the UNFUNDED MANDATES dilemma on the level of local government.

States complain about it when Congress enacts unfunded mandates.

Municipalities complain when the New Jersey Legislature enacts unfunded mandates.

Who is to complain when the City Council prepares to enact an unfunded mandate?

Bloggers?

As for the Ledger ad bags, maybe they should just be classified as 'OOLLA' -- one of Life's Little Annoyances -- and let it go at that.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Flood Insurance presentation: Not exactly flooded with useful info

Residents get an informal flood zone map
twice a year in the DPW mailer; this one's on my fridge.

Plainfield's City Council wanted to hear about flood insurance Monday evening, and got an earful from Director Jennifer Wenson-Maier.

However, the more I listened to her presentation and the Council's questions, the more it seemed we were not being flooded with USEFUL information -- and it wasn't really Wenson-Maier's fault.

It seemed hard for the Council, which had a handout from Wenson-Maier (the public had nothing with which to follow along) that seemed comprised of a punch-list of items to do to reduce flood insurance premiums overall in the city. There were no flood maps in evidence.

(One of my constant gripes is how little USEFUL VISUAL INFORMATION is provided the Council, let alone the public -- and I include those odious PowerPoint presentations of which the Robinson-Briggs administration is so enamored.)

The reason I say it wasn't Wenson-Maier's fault is that the Council's very question didn't seem to be well-focused. What exactly is the issue?

To hear Councilor Burney, it seemed to be that some residents complain about HAVING TO PAY for flood insurance at all.

To hear Councilor Reid -- who has personal experience, with a bill that has risen from $700 to $2400 annually in a few short years -- it seemed to be the RISING COST.

Those are TWO QUITE DIFFERENT QUESTIONS and separating them could have led to a more enlightened discussion (again, not Wenson-Maier's fault if her charge was not made more clear).

One might well cringe at the very mention of FEMA -- infamous for its failures in regard to Hurricane Katrina -- yet the Council seemed not to know the basic hows and whys of flood insurance and why FEMA is at the heart of it all.

WHY PAY AT ALL?

What didn't come out at the presentation is that the REASON the vast majority of homeowners pay flood insurance is because they have mortgages and the banks who give the mortages require it as a condition for underwriting a mortgage if the property is deemed to be in a flood zone -- as determined by FEMA's official flood zone maps, part of the National Flood Insurance Program, which it administers.

Residents get a reminder twice a year in the DPW mailers that have yard waste collection information -- but ALSO CONTAIN a blue tinted approximation of Plainfield's flood zones, with information on where to get complete and accurate information.

Homeowners who have no mortgages on their property can -- and have -- canceled their flood insurance. The presumption being that they don't think they'll ever be flooded, and are willing to take their chances and be totally personally responsible in the event of flooding.

So, property owners with mortgages who must pay flood insurance have two basic choices -- 1) shut up and pay, or 2) hire a surveyor (at their own expense) to help them prepare an appeal to FEMA. These appeals, as Wenson-Maier explained, are time-consuming and expensive to prepare and must be filed by October of a year to qualify for possible reduction in premium requirements the following May.

Could premiums overall throughout the city be reduced? That seemed to be the gist of Wenson-Maier's document for the Council, which contained 21 items (I think) to be completed for a 15% reduction. Would you be surprised the learn that such a project would involved outsourcing to an engineering firm?

WHY PAY SO MUCH?

Seems to me Councilor Reid's question as to WHY PREMIUMS HAVE RISEN SO SHARPLY is a more fruitful line of investigation to pursue.

If the mitigation efforts undertaken by and in Plainfield over the years have only ENHANCED flood protection, and if the material conditions regarding residential property owners have not otherwise changed negatively, why a 350% increase in Mr. Reid's premium in a few short years?

And why are some, like Councilor Reid, paying considerably above the average of $1390/year? (1,438 flood policies divided into $2M in annual premiums.)

Are flood insurance policyholders being MILKED for reasons that have to do with the insurance companies bottom lines and not with changes in the policyholders' material conditions?

Now, THAT'S an interesting question to pursue.

And if that turns out to be the case it's more than one city's governing body can deal with; then it's time to call in the HEAVY DUTY TROOPS -- the State Legislature. Assemblyman Jerry Green should be on this one big time.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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Bob Ferraro, former Plainfield councilor, passes away

Bob Ferraro, 'the man in the van',
in the 2008 July 4th Parade.

Plainfielders will be saddened to learn of the death on Sunday of former city council member Bob Ferraro.

Known to one and all as 'the man with the van', Bob was arguably one of Plainfield's most colorful political figures in recent decades. When he was not on the road, constituents and others could find him more often than not holding forth at the Queen City Diner on South Avenue, which had been his unofficial 'office' since the days when it was known as Rena's Diner.

Before, during and after his stint on the City Council, Bob could be seen riding the streets in his trademark blue van, scouting for issues that needed to be addressed by Public Works, Code Enforcement or the Police Division.

Though he was only ever elected from the 2nd Ward, residents throughout the city knew they could call him day or night if they had an issue or a concern, and that he would go to work on their behalf and report back to them on the action(s) he got the City to take.

Bob's kind of grassroots, populist politics was very 'in your face' and garnered him loads of press coverage over the years, as opposed to less press-savvy (or more timid?) political figures who shared similar public responsibilities as his.

I'll never forget the 'wild dogs' scare of a decade or so ago, when there were incidents of roaming dogs attacking people in the 4th Ward. Bob personally cruised the neighborhoods, searching for packs of dogs on the loose and was involved in one chase through several back yards trying to corral the evasive critters.

In his haste to make political points, Bob occasionally took liberties with the facts -- I remember in particular challenging him in a public forum when he misrepresented the qualifications and job history of Norton Bonaparte, who became City Administrator under the late Mayor Al McWilliams.

Though he made his way operating an independent limo service, with a devoted clientele, Bob's final job was with the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority, where he was an inspector. The irony of his position was not lost on Bob or his friends, who often noted that he was among the Council members who sued to stop the implementation of the PMUA in its early days, a suit which cost Plainfield taxpayers considerably.

But, when all was said and done, Bob was regarded with affection by city residents who often enough found other elected officials much slower to respond to their issues and complaints.

When Bob decided to run for mayor in this past spring's Democratic primary (he had also run in the past as a Republican and an independent -- thus covering ALL the bases), I ran into him one day at the Muhlenberg Station Post Office where he told me that he was doing it '... because I really enjoy running, and I think the Lord gave me the time to do it...' He also confided to me at the time that it wouldn't bother him if he DIDN'T get elected -- 'All the fun is in running, not in having to put up with the games that get played when you sit on the Council'.

To me that statement -- 'All the fun is in running' -- pretty much is Bob's political philosophy in a nutshell.

Bob, we shall all miss you.

Our sympathy goes out to Bob's family and many friends in the community.

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Memorial Service for Bob Ferraro

Memorial Funeral Home
155 South Avenue
Fanwood

Wednesday - December 9
6:00 - 9:00 PM (corrected)

In lieu of flowers, Bob asked that donations be made to Deborah Hospital,
at which his successful heart surgery had been performed.
Online contributions can be made by credit card at the
Deborah Hospital website (see here), or send checks to:
Deborah Hospital Foundation, 20 Pine Mill Road, Browns Mills, NJ 08015.

Condolences may be left online at Memorial Funeral Home (here)
or sent to the family at: 1218 Martine Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07060.

---

• Courier: "Community watchdog dies at 77"
• Also see Plaintalker here; Olddoc here.
  
• Obituary: Courier | Ledger

-- Dan Damon [follow]

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