City Committee contest key to Jerry Green's future?

Stressful days ahead for Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green.

2015 is shaping up to be a very challenging year for Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green.

Green faces not only a November race for his Assembly seat but a contest in June for control of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee that could determine his eligibility for continued chairmanship of the Union County Democratic organization.

Whether or not you think it's right, in New Jersey members of local Democratic and Republican committees in communities with partisan elections (such as Plainfield) are chosen at the public's expense during the June primary elections. The two parties choose their committee members in alternate years. 2014 was the Republicans' year and 2015 will see Democrats make their choices.

While the contests are part of the primary election ballot, those running are members of private political organizations. Got that part?

In Plainfield, there are a total of 34 voting districts spread through the four wards (8 in Ward 1, 11 in Ward 2, 10 in Ward 3, and 5 in Ward 4). Each district selects a male and a female representative to the Plainfield Democratic City Committee.

These 68 people reorganize every other year on the Monday following their June election by electing the PDCC chairperson and other officers. This year's primary election is on Tuesday, June 2 and the PDCC will reorgaize on Monday, June 8.

What makes this year especially perilous for Assemblyman Green is that it looks like he will be challenged by a FULL SLATE of 68 reform candidates put up by the Plainfield Democratic Organization under the leadership of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp.

As of this week, Mapp advises that the Plainfield Democratic Organization has 60 candidates signed up and is closing in on a full slate. Petitions for city committee members are due on March 30.

Word in the street is that Assemblyman Green is having trouble filling his bingo card as several longtime committee members have declined to run at all. Worse than that are defections from his ranks.

Key among these is the candidacy of longtime Democratic activist Dottie Gutenkauf for the Ward 3 District 1 seat on the Plainfield Democratic Organization slate. Gutenkauf, a highly respected and visible figure, has been an advocate of fiscally and managerially responsible government.

Why all this matters to Jerry Green is that his chairmanship of the Union County Democratic Committee is essentially a "chairmanship of the chairmanships" of the 21 communities comprising the county organization.

If, after the reorganization, he is no longer chair of the Plainfield committee, can he remain as chair of the Union County committee?

The stress Assemblyman Green faces in the upcoming campaign season is sure to bring to the fore his penchant for ad hominem politics, of which we all have seen more than enough.

Not only that, if Green does survive the challenge of keeping control of the Plainfield and Union County Dem organizations, he still must face a contest in the November election in which the Republicans are mounting two credible candidates -- Bill Michelson of Plainfield and William "Bo" Vastine of Scotch Plains -- against Green and his new running-mate.

Not only that, rumors continue to swirl that Green is in increasingly ill health. Observers note that he no longer has the stamina to stand for more than a few minutes at a time, presiding at meetings seated at a table and in a voice that can hardly be heard by all in the room.

With his 76th birthday coming up at the end of April, Green is not only the longest serving Assembly member, he is among the oldest in the Legislature.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield Area Children's Choir Festival at Crescent Saturday

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church will host
the 45th annual Festival Saturday afternoon.

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church will host the 45th annual Plainfield Area Children's Choir Festival Saturday (March 14) afternoon at 1:30 PM.

The annual event is the combined effort of the children's choirs of seven Plainfield area churches. This year's festival is under the direction of Tom Shelton, who teaches at Westminster Choir College of Rider University and is president-elect of the American Choral Directors Association.

The young people will be rehearsing from 9:30 AM to Noon and the rehearsal is open to any choral directors who may be reading this.

The Festival will include performances ranging from Dietrich Buxtehude, who inspired J.S. Bach, to traditional Peruvian music to an African-inspired contemporary number in Swahili and English.

The Festival gets under way at 1:30 PM. A free-will offering will be taken to help support the annual festival. For more information, visit their Facebook page here.

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is at Watchung Avenue at East 7th Street and is handicap-accessible. Parking available in the church lot on First Place, on the street, or in Swain Galleries lot.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Cops chase shooter past City Hall on Thursday

Map shows route of shooter's vehicle wrong way on 6th Street
from Berckman Street to site of crash west of Central Avenue.
(Click to enlarge.)

 
Plainfield police pursued a man who fled the scene of a fatal shooting on Berckman Street and sped westbound the wrong way on 6th Street past City Hall at about 2:30 PM Thursday afternoon.

I was heading east on 6th Street toward City Hall and had just crossed Cleveland Avenue behind the YMCA when a grey sedan came barreling at me full speed the wrong way on 6th Street, having sped through the intersection by City Hall at Watchung Avenue without stopping.

I swerved onto the curb as the car roared by, with three Plainfield PD cruisers in hot pursuit. In my rear view mirror I saw the grey car go through the intersection of Park Avenue and 6th Street, also without stopping.

Not long after that the police had blocked off West 6th Street between Central Avenue and New Street. Parking near the Community Church of God, I was able to see that the grey car had struck a vehicle traveling eastbound on 6th Street midway in the block, causing it to overturn, and then had swerved into a boardinghouse on the southwest corner of 6th and Central, where it came to rest.

Overturned car is partly visible behind police cruiser;
shooter's car came to rest against boardinghouse in background
and is partly visible behind the dark sedan parked behind the fence.

Neighbors who gathered to watch told me the police had captured a man who attempted to run from the vehicle and that first responders had extricated at least one person from the overturned car.

A cop said the chase had begun after a shooting near East 6th and Berckman.

That East 6th Street neighborhood was cordoned off for the rest of the afternoon as police investigated the area, looking for shell casings and several slugs which had struck buildings in the area.

Residents and property owners have complained for years of drug trafficking in the area, and one said the police had been called recently to halt open drug dealing at a vacant nearby property.

People in the area said the victim was an employee of the Brothers Supermarket who was outside smoking a cigarette, apparently an innocent bystander. Media reports say he was declared dead at the scene.

The Ledger posted a brief item based on a release by Mark Spivey of the Union County Prosecutor's office (see here) and Suzanne Russell of the Courier actually came out to the scene to file her story (see here). News12 also filed a story here.

As of 5:00 PM, the police still had Berckman Street blocked between 5th and 7th Streets as well as East 6th Street at Scott Avenue. I am told the Police Division has asked businesses in the area with private surveillance systems to assist by letting police view their security tapes.

This East 6th Street neighborhood, which has an active block association, has for more than ten years been pressing the city for surveillance cameras to help combat drug activity. And for years, the city has promised it is "working on it".

Just in the past two months has the Council finally had an opportunity to approve the contracts for the installation of the cameras, which are expected to go live this spring. Though the exact camera locations will not be divulged, residents are expecting that their years of hopes and efforts will finally be fulfilled.

Then we will have to see how they help.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Why the Council turnaround on the forensic audit?

Still searching. . .

 
Plainfield City Council appears to have done a complete U-turn on the question of a forensic audit at last Monday's business meeting. Why?

Though I missed the meeting because I was sick, both Bernice (see here) and Olddoc (see here) reported that the five members present (Councilors Brown and Taylor were absent) voted for an audit of the Department of Public Works and Urban Development after a special meeting in executive session called by Mayor Adrian Mapp.

Though the word "forensic" is used by neither in their reporting, word in the street is that whatever information the Mapp administration presented to the five Councilors behind closed doors, it was sufficiently alarming to cause some serious rethinking.

Whatever name the "audit" goes by, it is going to go deep into the fiscal affairs of the departments several divisions -- key among which are Recreation, Inspections and Community Development. Its other units include Economic Development, Planning, Engineering and Public Works.

Could it be that criminal charges are being considered against some employee(s)?

The publicly stated opposition to a forensic audit has claimed that the Mapp administration was trying to go after former mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs personally, despite Administration protestations to the contrary.

My guess is that whatever has persuaded the Council of a change of heart is so egregious that they could end up looking culpable if they continued to oppose getting to the bottom of things.

Whether or not the chaotic lack of oversight owing to the revolving door among Robinson-Briggs' leadership team has anything to do with what is being uncovered we will have to wait and see.

One thing is sure, if getting to the truth doesn't set us free, nothing will.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Boards mull making Plainfield 'more business friendly'

The UEZ logo intends to capture the appeal of Plainfield:
An active business community, attractive and historic housing,
in a community that cares about its environment.

Last Saturday's joint meeting of four Plainfield boards (the Planning and Zoning Boards, and the Historic Preservation and Shade Tree Commissions) took up some important topics -- including a wide-ranging discussion of one of Mayor mantras, making Plainfield "more business friendly". The meeting was facilitated by Ron Scott Bey, chair of the Planning Board. After introductions, Mayor Mapp made opening remarks setting an overview for the discussion.

First, let me say that all Plainfielders owe the volunteer members of these boards a huge "Thank you".

They donate hundreds upon hundreds of hours of service every year to watching over the best interests of the city's residents in regard to land use and development issues. They work to understand, interpret and apply New Jersey's land use laws -- no easy matter. Their decisions shape the community for years to come.

For these reasons, it is important to support and thank them. It is also important to come out and speak up when there is an issue that may concern you as a resident. Board members need that feedback, and welcome it.

Carlos Sanchez, Deputy City Administrator for Economic Development kicked off the conversation by giving a "developer's eye" view of Plainfield. He noted Plainfield has a reputation as being a "tough" place to get anything done: things take too long and different parts of the process don't work well together.

(I will leave out any discussion of the rumors that have swirled for years that one of the obstacles to getting things done in the past has been the necessity to "grease the wheels" with "consultant" and "referral" fees or to use certain law firms and other professional services to get a project moving.)

Sanchez made it clear that the Mapp administration was not asking any of the boards to "look the other way" or bend the rules. The main pitch was for a smoother, more consistent workflow, more automation and better deployment of staff.

The discussion got quite lively right away. Everyone had a horror story and many of them tended to point toward the timeliness of permitting and inspections.

Councilor Storch related how an office remodeling project by the nonprofit he heads cost his organiation an extra month's rent because they could not get an electrical inspection in a timely fashion.

Snachez shared his Elizabeth experience: Not only are there full-time staff members to do inspections, there are third-party licensed inspectors who can be called on an as-needed basis to guarantee an inspection to an applicant on a Monday through Saturday basis with a one-hour appointment window.

Members of several boards pointed out that there is no online "road map" or live tracking of projects -- from preparing plans for board review to permits to inspections and final certifications.

It was noted this is something the Mapp administration is working on (it will need Council approval of costs).

Board members also expressed exasperation at the shoddy preparation of many project proposals. Is it a board's fault if an applicant shows up with poorly prepared plans, lack of details, inability to answer board members' questions?

Sanchez suggested that applications be made as strong as possible before getting to a board. This, of course, suggests staffing issues. It was noted that with the appointment of Ron Johnson as zoning officer, some burden has been taken off Planning Director Bill Nierstedt's shoulders. However, Nierstedt also noted that development applications are up and are looking to go up. Does the Planning Division need more staff? If the answer is "yes", will the Council support it?

One last suggestion by Sanchez generated quite a bit of comment: that Plainfield do as many other communities do, and issue TCOs -- Temporary Certificates of Occupany -- when only minor matters remain to be completed (he used the example of being short one or two trees on an agreed planting).

Here, I think we should keep the example of the Park-Madison project in mind. More than a decade after the project has been nominally completed, there is still a "punch list" of incomplete items which, technically, have kept a permanent CO from being issued. What happens when a developer stalls on completing the remaining items? Who follows up to nudge TCOs across the finish line?

Mayor Adrian Mapp, who opened the meeting with remarks on development, noted that his administration was looking into providing incentives for owners of properties in the downtown TOD development area to rehab their upper floors into residential and office spaces once more -- something that disappeared from Plainfield many decades ago. Such incentives might involve tax abatements for a specified number of years for work that is done.

The timing seems right for this move -- already some activity has been undertaken by developers on North and Park Avenues, and there is a proposal to rehab the former Red Cross building at West Front and Grove into mixed-use retail and apartments. This is a trend that should be further encouraged.

When it came time for public comments (I think there were perhaps three members of the public there, including myself), I was nudged by my seat mate, a Planning Board member, to speak.

Thus forced, I suggested to the Mapp administration three points --

• First, that a perception that Plainfield was "tough" present a communications problem that the City could attack and solve with a communications strategy that included putting everything online, giving folks a road map and making it all transparent;
  
  
• Secondly, using a "ticket" system which assigns a "ticket" to a problem, place or person (or combination of all three), both developers and the public can follow along as projects move through the process. (Hint: Prospective developers and investors could be encouraged by the availability of such information.); and
  
  
• Lastly, get more buzz off the launching of new business ventures by turning them into invitations to the general public to come out, help cut the ribbons and sample the goods and services. This would mean planning ahead a little more, doing some publicity outreach ahead of time, and scheduling the events for a convenient time for the public -- evenings or Saturdays preferably.

The joint meeting -- this was the second -- is a great idea and I look forward to another being offered next year. Two suggestions, though, one for the planners and one for the Mapp administration.

First, the planners -- if you plan on having more of the public out (a good idea, I think), perhaps you need a larger venue like the Plainfield Public Libnrary's ALD Meeting Room. City Hall Library was pretty full, and not even all of the board members were there, let alone many of the public.

Second, the Mapp administration needs to look around the room -- the number of women commissioners is shockingly low, perhaps the lowest it has been in more than a decade. With women making up more than half the City's popoulation, are we supposed to believe there are so few qualified or willing to serve on these important boards?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Shining a light on City Hall Library

The Vatican's Celestine Hall, a very large, very dark room
vastly improved with adjustable cove lighting.

Plainfield City Hall Library is one of the grandest meeting rooms in the city. Its rich wood paneling, classical columns and Roman transoms (echoed in the backs of the wooden chairs) tell visitors at once that this is a place of serious business.

Even schoolchildren find it awesome and tend to hush when they enter.

It was especially attractive this past Saturday morning, at a joint meeting of four boards (more on that meeting in another post) -- filled with sunshine and an amiable crowd.

But one topic brought up by an attendee spotlighted the dark side of this marvelous space: It is too dark for evening meetings, especially if one has to follow printed agendas or documentation. I joked with a Planning Board member sitting next to me that perhaps the board packets ought to contain a city-issued flashlight.

City Hall Library at a recent evening meeting.
The picture is so muddy and grainy because of the low light level.

While the problem is annoying, the solution is easy and elegant.

Just see what the Vatican authorities did with the Celestine Chapel (at top of this post).

While many times larger than City Hall Library, it suffered from the same problem -- the windows let in insufficient light in the daytime (and of course none at night).

The Vatican's elegant solution was to install adjustable lighting in the coves around the room. The light bounces upward off the ceiling and provides an even light source throughout the room, making special lighting for photography or participants to read by unnecessary.

Why not put Plainfield in a better light?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Four organists in 'French Connection' program at Crescent today

Organ program will highlight symphonic capabilities of
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church's Adams organ.

The 97-rank Adams organ at Plainfield's Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is slated for a real workout next Sunday, March 8.

In its annual "Festival of Organists", Crescent Concerts will present four exciting organists in a program titled "The French Connection". Crescent Avenue's organ is particularly well-suited to show off the French organ repertoire, which displays the instrument's symphonic possibilities to full effect.

The participating organists this year are --

GAIL ARCHER

Archer is a noted activist for women organists and their music. She is director of the music program at Barnard College and serves as college organist for Vassar College.

WILLIAM ENTRIKEN

Dr. Entriken, professor organ performance at New York University, is the organist and choir director of First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and founder of that church's Guilman Organ Recital series.

DOMECQ SMITH

Domecq will be familiar to many Plainfielders as the former organist and choirmaster of Grace Episcopal Church in Plainfield, where he also led the Plainfield Girlchoir. He is currently organist and director of music at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Orange, and a doctoral candidate at Rutgers.

RYAN KENNEDY

Kennedy is a third year student at Juilliard in New York, studying organ under Paul Jacobs. He is currently organ scholar at the Morristown Presbyterian Church.

The program gets under way at 3:00 PM, Sunday, March 8. Tickets are available at the door: $20/person, $!5/seniors, $5/students (ID required). For more information, call (908) 756-2468 or visit the website at www.crescentconcerts.org/.

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is at East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue and is handicap accessible. Parking in the church lot on First Place, on the street, or in Swain Galleries lot.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Joint boards meeting Saturday reviews development activity

A lot is developing in Plainfield.

Four of Plainfield's boards that most directly impact taxpayers will have a joint meeting on Saturday to which the public is warmly invited.

The Planning Board, the Board of Adjustment (Zoning), the Historic Preservation Commission and the Shade Tree Commission will hold a joint meeting at City Hall Library from 10:00 AM to Noon.

This informal meeting, at the initiative of Planning Board chair Ron Scott Bey, will give an opportunity for members of the boards and the public to get an overview of the development and redevelopment activity going on at the moment in Plainfield.

After having been stalled for years, there has been a flood of activity unleashed since Mayor Adrian Mapp took office a year ago. Though it is concentrated in the downtown and South Avenue areas, there is interest throughout the city.

If you are inured of evening meetings and the nitty-gritty details, this meeting will give you a convenient overview. Public participation is welcome and there will be opportunity for questions and comments.

Don't dawdle, though. The Library is not that large a room and it will be half-filled with commissioners.

Parking and entry from the City Hall parking lot.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Stendergate: Linda quits Twitter. Wanna see why?

One tweeted this graphic, another wrote
"vote for me, I steal from Charities".

The Auditor reported Thursday that Plainfield Assemblywoman Linda Stender may not have given up her legislative seat, but she was giving up on Twitter (see the story here).

Wanna know why?

Turns out she was being beaten black and blue by angry constituents. Follow this link to see the archive of tweets before she pulled the plug.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Quotations from Chairman Jerry Green

Marching forward under the benevolent gaze of our fearless Chairman!

 

Taking a cue from the Republican playbook, Plainfield and Union County Democratic chairperson Jerry Green on Wednesday evening presided over the selection of former Rahway mayor Jim Kennedy to replace Linda Stender, now damaged goods, as Green's running mate in the November Assembly election.

Are the Dems showing themselves as capable of being a party of old white men as the Republicans?

That may end up becoming the question.

Meantime, Jerry's words throughout the Stendergate crisis have reminded me of those snippets of the thought of China's Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, whose Little Red Book of Chairman Mao was to be seen everywhere on US college campuses in the 1960s.

On the one hand, Assemblyman Green, a longtime supporter of double-dipping, seems to have pivoted suddenly. After having been Linda Stender's running-mate since 2001 and never having voiced an objection to her jobs as an employee of the county-run Runnells Hospital, Green finds it objectionable that he would have to defend Mahr's working for the County if she were his running mate. Here's what he is quoted by PolitickerNJ as saying (see full story here) --

...I need someone who is committed to working full time with me,” said Green, alluding to Mahr’s job with a division of the Union County government . . . Colleen Mahr has done a lot for Fanwood. But I don’t want to have to campaign between now and November defending a situation where I’m not going to ask Linda Stender to step down [from her Union County government job] and I would not ask Colleen Mahr to step down...

In the same story, Mahr expressed her disappointment in the way the screening went (shades of Al McWilliams in 2005!) --

“I had a feeling going into the room that it was already predetermined. I’m extremely disappointed by my party,” Mahr, the vice-chair of the Union County Democrats under Green, told PolitickerNJ. “I have been a three-term mayor, and I have been standing shoulder to shoulder with Jerry Green for the last year and a half. I honestly believe that I am the best candidate to fulfill Linda Stender’s legacy. I believe that 55 percent of the voters [in the district] have been disenfranchised tonight by [the Union County Democratic chairs in LD 22] not selecting a woman. Tonight, they basically ignored that fact.”

As for the woman question, take this quotation from Chairman Green, cited in today's Ledger (full story here) --

Asked about women possibly voting against a man running for Stender's seat, Green said that might have been an issue 20 years ago, "but in this day and age, people know to look at the quality of a candidate rather than what color they are or whether they are male or female."

Maybe we can compile a little book of Green's sayings for the upcoming campaign season. We can call it the Little Green Book of Quotations of Chairman Jerry.

And the first quotation can be: "In this day and age, people know to look at the quality of a candidate rather than what color they are or whether they are male or female".

Reserve your copy now!

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council looks to move South Avenue redevelopment forward

The proposed South Avenue redevelopment area
would abut the existing Plainwood Square Park.

Plainfield City Council will take up the proposed South Avenue redevelopment plan at next Monday's business meeting.

The plan, which is put forward in proposed ordinance 2015-11 would designate a large swath of land on the south side of the street between two existing apartment buildings as "in need of redevelopment".

If passed by the Council, the ordinance would be up for a public hearing and final vote at the Council's April 13 business meeting.

The area was the subject of a proposal discussed at a Plainwood Square Merchants meeting last summer (see my post here), which, if successful, would bring hundreds of new apartments to the area.

For those familiar with businesses that are (or used to be) along the street, the new development would replace the former ERA Queen City real estate office, Laggren's, The Netherwood (formerly Cafe Vivace), the Dutch Dry Cleaners, Margie's Cake Box and the catering facility next to it. Many of these properties have sat vacant for years.

Council meets at 8:00 PM, Monday, March 9, in the Courthouse/Council Chambers at East 4th Street and Watchung Avenue.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council moves some stuff forward, some not

Unfortunately, pizza was not served.

Plainfield City Council moved some stuff forward, some not at Monday evening's evening agenda-setting session.

Among the stuff going forward to next week's business meeting --

• Appointment of Siddeeq El-Amin as an alternate to the Planning Board;
• Ordinances regarding cab passengers, taxi stands, the Emergency Management Council, and tethering animals;
• 30 resolutions on the agenda, plus 10 add-on settlement resolutions by Corporation Counsel; and
• A new ordinance concerning the budget and a 'cap bank'.

What didn't go forward --

• The sick leave ordinance
• The Mapp administration's 'Manager, Motors' proposal.

A discussion of appointments to the Citizens Budget Advisory Commission didn't even get a nibble -- and we have yet to hear of Council's schedule for its budget deliberations.

Once it got down to business under committee-of-the-whole chairperson Tracey Brown, the Council moved at a clip that almost left them breathless (and with the audience chuckling at one point), clearing the entire agenda document in less than 30 minutes.

Getting there was the hard part.

The  bulk of the evening was spent discussing the proposed sick leave ordinance. Public comment, with more than 20 speakers, lasted about and hour and ten minutes, and Council comments carried that up to about 9:15, when Councilor Storch moved for a five-minute recess.

Supporters and questioners of the proposed sick leave ordinance took to the mike passionately, politely and in earnest -- and several were granted time extensions.

Resident Danny Dunn, originally denied the mike by Council President Bridget Rivers because he was off topic, even managed to find a topic in the sick leave discussion and make an extemporaneous comeback speech toward the end of public comment.

Merchants from downtown, Plainwood Square, the SID and the Chamber of Commerce were united in questioning the manner in which they felt the ordinance was being put forward, revealed their ignorance of its actual details, and worried about its impact on their businesses.

Supporters attempted to address each of those concerns. Businessman Lenin Aguirre even acknowledged that the sick leave ordinance had been discussed at February's standing-room only doubleheader Council meeting. Speakers representing the Working Families Party and NJ Citizens Action, a good-government group, cited reports that the cost impact to small businesses was nearly nil and post-adoption satisfaction rates among businesses was high.

Bernice Paglia of Plaintalker made a pitch for common sense when she suggested that the business organizations could put a member in charge of 'legislative affairs' -- just like large organizations do -- to keep an eye on upcoming ordinances and resolutions that may have a business impact.

And now that Municipal Clerk 'AJ' Jalloh's crew has gotten to putting the agendas and backup material online and offers signup for an email blast, there is simply no reason for these business organizations to feel left out of the political process.

If you're a Mae West fan, you'll understand when I say the City provides the grapes, you'll have to do your own peeling.

As the evening wore on, it became obvious that many of the Council people had no real grasp of the ordinance's details or even the process in which they were involved.

Councilor Taylor, who seems to be channeling former Councilor Bill Reid, offered a lengthy merde meringue (a confection of BS with a lot of hot air mixed in) attempting to put the blame for the evening's distress on the Mapp administration. She waved her hands by way of emphasis and repeated the words 'disturbing' and 'supportive' in various combinations. Whether she was 'disturbingly supportive' or 'supportively disturbed' I'll leave for viewers to figure out when PCTV posts its tape.

Taylor's performance was disturbing enough that Council President Rivers felt called upon to remind her that the ordinance was proposed not by the Mapp administration but by Councilor Williams. Taylor did not address the distinction.

After the break, Council President Rivers announced they had decided to bring the sick leave ordinance up in April, which would give everyone an opportunity to weigh in before further Council action.

I didn't stay for The Bitter End, but on the way out I noticed the boo-hoo brothers sitting at the back of the room and wondered if there was to be another baseball harangue.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Stendergate: There's more?

Do those 'poor' Stenders own this juicy Fanwood real estate
on South Avenue, from the Dunkin' Donuts to the Post Office?

 

Yes, Plainfielders, like those late night commercials for zircons and magic knives -- there's more.

A commenter on the Plainfield Today original post "Stendergate?" (see here) evidently has done some homework and writes --

...[t]ax records show that the Stenders sold their house at 154 Herbert Place in Fanwood for $514,000 on December 8, 2010. Richard Stender bought their house in Manasquan for $465,000 two years earlier, on October 2, 2008. Therefore unless they took a reverse mortgage on their Fanwood house or had a sizable downpayment socked away from another source of income, they would have needed a pretty hefty loan for the second property. The Stenders also own considerable property in downtown fanwood, including the land that the Dunkin Donuts, Post Office, and Scotchwood Florist sit on. Finally, Linda Stender has claimed that she lives with her mother on Highlander Drive in Scotch Plains. That house is in her mother's name...

So, if this is true, is there even more reason to ask how Habitat's criteria could have been truthfully met?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Remembering Mike Wroble

Mike Wroble, preservation enthusiast.

Word came from Plainfield Today reader and Van Wyck Brooks Historic District activist Vicki Blasucci this past Monday evening that Mike Wroble had passed away unexpectedly that day.

An obituary for Mike has been posted online in the Courier today (see here).

Mike was among the very first people we met after moving to Plainfield in 1983, first at a party at the Questover mansion on Central Avenue hosted by then-owners Alan Mintzer and Randy Phillips.

Later, because we had no workable kitchen in our 3-family wreck, we spent a lot of evenings dining at What's Your Beef, a popular steakhouse at 3rd and Roosevelt (later ruined and closed after being bought out by the corporation that owns the Charlie Brown's franchise).

What's Your Beef was a remarkable watering hole -- absolutely packed to the gills every night with all sorts of folks from Plainfield and surrounding towns. (It was also a favorite haunt of then-mayor Rick Taylor, who always stopped to chat when he and his entourage came in almost nightly.) There has been nothing like it since.

Mike was part of a circle that included John Grady, Chris Larew, Jerry Clark, Jim Eberle, Don Sobieski and others -- many of whom had bought and were restoring vintage Plainfield homes and all of whom were involved in the city's historic preservation efforts.

Mike was deeply involved in the Van Wyck Brooks Historic District, which had been recently formed, and served as president of the group as well as organizing the District's annual Twelfth Night Dinner, a progressive meal that has become a sold-out favorite activity every year since it started.

Mike was one of the photographers for the famous Blue Book, the 1985 publication that celebrated the 300th anniversary of Plainfield's settlement. With a blue velvet cover, the yearbook-style volume contained photos and descriptions of hundreds of Plainfield homes as well as vignettes of various periods of Plainfield history. For many years, Swain Galleries had a small reserve and I used to give them to homebuyers as a keepsake, but there are no more copies available. Too bad.

The Fitz Randolph House on Randolph Road, which
Mike spent many years restoring.

One of Mike's passions was the Fitz Randolph house on Randolph Road next to the Muhlenberg Hospital campus and across from Hub Stine Field. This 18th-century home is one of the oldest dwellings in Plainfield and preserves much of its original style -- low ceilings, small windows and small rooms -- typical of early settlers' farmsteads.

Mike was also a great wit and one of the (quietly) smartest people I can recall knowing. He would regale friends at dinner parties at the Larew-Clark home on Evergreen Avenue. Though he had an unlisted telephone number, he freely gave it to everyone and it was easily recalled as the numbers translated on the old rotary dials to: SLOE GIN.

Those were grand days, Mike, and we remember them, and you, fondly.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Four organists in 'French Connection' program at Crescent

Organ program will highlight symphonic capabilities of
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church's Adams organ.

The 97-rank Adams organ at Plainfield's Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is slated for a real workout next Sunday, March 8.

In its annual "Festival of Organists", Crescent Concerts will present four exciting organists in a program titled "The French Connection". Crescent Avenue's organ is particularly well-suited to show off the French organ repertoire, which displays the instrument's symphonic possibilities to full effect.

The participating organists this year are --

GAIL ARCHER

Archer is a noted activist for women organists and their music. She is director of the music program at Barnard College and serves as college organist for Vassar College.

WILLIAM ENTRIKEN

Dr. Entriken, professor organ performance at New York University, is the organist and choir director of First Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and founder of that church's Guilman Organ Recital series.

DOMECQ SMITH

Domecq will be familiar to many Plainfielders as the former organist and choirmaster of Grace Episcopal Church in Plainfield, where he also led the Plainfield Girlchoir. He is currently organist and director of music at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Orange, and a doctoral candidate at Rutgers.

RYAN KENNEDY

Kennedy is a third year student at Juilliard in New York, studying organ under Paul Jacobs. He is currently organ scholar at the Morristown Presbyterian Church.

The program gets under way at 3:00 PM, Sunday, March 8. Tickets are available at the door: $20/person, $!5/seniors, $5/students (ID required). For more information, call (908) 756-2468 or visit the website at www.crescentconcerts.org/.

Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church is at East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue and is handicap accessible. Parking in the church lot on First Place, on the street, or in Swain Galleries lot.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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