Rumble over Bilingual Day Care fate tonight?

Looks like a tussle developing over who will take over
for Bilingual Day Care.

 

Though getting Plainfield ouf ot the daycare business has been discussed by several administrations over many years, the Mapp administration is the first to come within sight of the finish line.

Plainfield City Council will take up several resolutions at tonight's business meeting that deal with winding down the Bilingual Day Care center on West 2nd Street and transferring the operations to another entity.

The most important are R214-15, which would transition the program to HOPES, which is the agency that manages the city's Headstart programs, and R220-15, the submission of a layoff plan for the current Bilingual Day Care staff. The plan would need to be approved by the state and would go into effect 45 days after approval is granted.

Neighborhood House's executive director, Carol Presley, addressed the Council at last week's agenda-setting session. Her main points were that the city should not transfer the program to "outsiders" (HOPES is headquartered in Hoboken), and Neighborhood House would have new classrooms "in October".

Word in the street is that Presley is mobilizing a crowd to attend tonight's meeting to press for her proposal.

Presley is claiming that Neighorhood House will have four new classrooms in the apartment complex being built behind the old Senior Center on East Front Street and that the building will be "ready for occupancy in October".

I doubt it. Driving by the site, one can see that only the slab for the main floor has been poured. Based on other recent projects of similar size in Plainfield -- especially the Monarch condos, which is quite similar -- it is not likely the building will be ready that soon.

And the credibility of Presley's position rests on being able to put the cildren from Bilingual Day Care into classrooms that Neighborhood House does not currently have.

Expect an animated discussion on the topic tonight.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

About Spanish translation of Council meetings

Simultaneous translation is one solution,
but with its own set of issues.

 

Plainfield City Council is to be commended for taking up resident Carlos Ponton's suggestion that Spanish translation of the Council's meetings be provided so non-English speakers can participate fully.

Bernice wrote about the matter on Friday (see here), but I have some further questions, especially since there is no text of the resolution online (see the Council agenda here).

Here goes --

IMPARTIALITY AND ACCURACY

How does the Council plan to assure that the translation meets some standards of impartiality and accuracy -- as, for instance, with court translators?

This is important not only because the Council and the Mapp administration do not always see eye to eye, it is also the case that there are factions within the Latino community itself and having impartial and accurate translation is important on that score.

Add to the the fact that there are many flavors of Spanish spoken by Plainfield residents hail from all the countries of Central America, plus Mexico and more. What becomes the 'standard' on which to settle?

EMPLOYEE OR CONSULTANT?

Should the Council select an employee or hire an outside 'consultant'?

What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

SIMULTANEOUS OR NOT?

Will the translation be simultaneous or not?

If simultaneous, what is the technology involved? Will the city have to purchase transmitting equipment and headsets or have a cellphone app created for this purpose?

If sequential instead of simultaneous, how will stop-and-start translating affect the length of Council meetings and what can be done about that?

WHAT ABOUT THE COST?

Hiring a translator and providing the necessary technology will mean a cost to the city.

Out of whose budget will that be covered? And how will it be covered, since this is a new expense and the 2015 budget has already been amended and is set to be adopted?

'FINE PRINT' MATTERS

Then there are the 'fine print' matters.

The Spanish translation of Councl proceedings will be a public record.

It will need to be stored and retrievable at the public's request. How will that be handled?

What about executive sessions? Though the discussions take place out of earshot, a record must be kept. Does that mean keeping a record in Spanish also? Will the same translator do that? Will they be allowed in to executive sessions?

A whole lot of questions need to be addressed to move ahead wisely with this important decision.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

City Council and the dark side of hand-held devices

Texting, furious but surreptitious, has been noticed at Council meetings.

 

 
When the light at Plainfield Avenue and West 7th went green, the car ahead of me just sat there, the driver's head bent down as if they were nodding off . . . or texting.

I gave a beep and off we went.

The incident reminded me of a recent essay by the writer Rand Richards Cooper, a film reviewer for Commonweal magazine, one of my favorite reads.

Cooper used a similar incident as an illustration for his lament that our hand-held devices are having unintended consequences. He cites groups of people, who in the old days would have been engaged in face-to-face conversation, now each intent on the text messages, emails and Facebook posts on their hand-helds.

And he notices people alone -- a man walking his dog on a glorious fall day -- totally absorbed in their hand-helds.

Cooper opines that hand-helds are destroying our ability to enjoy conversation with our friends, family and loved ones, and even distract us from enjoying the beauty around us.

I am not so sure we need fear a total retreat into hand-helds. Humans are too social; in the long haul I think we will balance it all out.

But there is another aspect of hand-helds that is darker and more problematic.

I have noticed councilors at public meetings of the City Council furiously -- if surreptitiously -- texting someone or other in the heat of deliberations.

This use of hand-helds is disturbing because it leaves the public out of othe conversation.

In fact, Sen. Loretta Weinberg has become so concerned about this abuse that her proposed updating of the Open Public Meetings Act and the Open Public Records Act would specifically bar elected officials from communication with each other during meetings by text, email or IM (instant messaging).

It's one of several updates to the two laws that Weinberg has proposed.

Unfortunately, her bills met another speed bump this past week (see the Ledger story here), when the measures stalled just before a Senate committee was to vote on them.

It's frustrating to Weinberg, whose attempts to update the two laws date back to 2012, according to a report in NJ Spotlight (see here).

Says Weinberg of the latest twist in the road, "Well, people have questions that have not been put to me yet." After all this time.

So, for now, Plainfield councilors can still busily text and IM during public meetings -- to whomever and about whatever.

For now.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

(UPDATED) Taylor, Robinson-Briggs tag team constable question

Shirt, worn by a Plainfield constable at 2011's
National Night Out event, says "Police".
Such assertions drive real police crazy.

NOTE: There are important clarifications to the appointing of constables, see below, highlighted in yellow. -- Dan

Plainfield Councilor Gloria Taylor should be a little more careful before she lets former mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs lead her around by the nose.

It became clear from the discussion at Wednesday evening's agenda-setting session that NO ONE had done any homework on the proposed "discussion" item.

After launching the topic, Councilor Taylor tagged Robinson-Briggs to get in the ring and show her chops.

Robinson-Briggs pleaded for the reinstatement of a constable whose term has expired.

Questioning by Councilor Rebecca Williams revolved around the statutory requirement for monthly reports -- else the office is deemed vacant and the person who was in it ineligible to function as a constable.

Robinson-Briggs said they were filed. Public Safety Director Riley said he knows nothing of them.

The statutes governing constables are found in NJSA 40A:9-120 et seq. and here are some of the salient points covered --

• Appointment: By resolution of the governing body, a minimum of two, up to 30 (see here); UNDER PLAINFIELD'S CHARTER, THE APPOINTING AUTHORITY IS THE MAYOR.
  
  
• Term of office: Three years by default, or one year if governing body so specifies (see here):
  
  
• Annual charges: Fee payable by the constable to the municipality, a max of $50 annually (see here);
  
  
• Vacancies: How vacancies are handled (see here);
  
  
• Constable's bond:  Before assuming office, the constable must give a bond in the form and amount prescribed by the governing body's resolution (see here). Such bond helps protect the municipality against misfeasance or malfeasance by the constable;
  
  
• Constable's reports:  Reports must be made monthly, the statute says "[filed] with the governing body" ; missing two consecutive reports without cause will make the office vacant and the constable ineligible to exercise that authority. What must be in the reports is detailed (see here);
  
  
• Action for monies payable to or by contables: The Superior Court has jurisdiction (see here).

Constables do not appear to be employees of the municipality. It seems, rather, that they are what would be deemed "independent contractors" for tax purposes and make their incomes from the service of judgments, summonses, subpoenaes, eviction notices, etc.

So, what we have in the constable question is a much more complicated picture than Robinson-Briggs evidently led Taylor to believe.

It is perfectly within the prerogatives of the City Council to agree to the appointment of constables, as was done -- in a lukewarm fashion -- under Robinson-Briggs, upon her nomination of three candidates.

As appointed under Robinson-Briggs in 2011, with Dan Williamson as City Administrator, the three constables were to report to the governing body, as required by the statute. So, let the City Council show proof that the reports were properly filed, that the statutory fee was collected from the constables, and the bonds were posted in the amount and form the resolution specified.

Further, at that time (2011), the Legislature was considering making graduation from the county police academy a prerequisite. If that became law, the requirement would have to be addressed.

Lastly, why would the Council want to subject the City of Plainfield to the liability of having Lone Ranger constables on the loose, without proper supervision? And who that would be would have to be specified in the resolution.

There's a lot more for the Council to ponder in the matter of constables than Robinson-Briggs led Councilor Taylor and the public to believe.

Starting with doing some homework.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Councilor Taylor searches for Satanic intent

Rob Campbell as the witch-hunting Rev'd John Hale
in the movie The Crucible.

As was to be expected at Wednesday's Plainfield City Council agenda-setting session, opportunity was presented through three so-called 'discussion items" for Councilor Gloria Taylor, abetted by Council President Bridget Rivers and Councilors Tolliver and Greaves to mount a broad attack against the Mapp administration.

The items for discussion were --

• The procurement process for purchase of vehicles (specifically the Mayor's and City Administrator's vehicles);
  
  
• Constables; and
  
  
• 2015 National Night Out

Let's focus today on the issue of vehicles.

According to the script followed by Taylor, the subject of vehicle procurement came up in the course of the budget deliberations. This is a clever gambit to legitimize the topic, but simplistic. A different story emerges upon a little investigation.

For example, a members of the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee told me that when the topic was broached, the CBAC tried to refocus the discussion on THIS year's budget -- the "offense" Taylor alleges occurred during the CY2014 budget, which is now history.

Though she could have done so more concisely and forcefully, Corporation Counsel Vernita Sias-Hill did finally put on the table the assertion that the Mapp administration had simply followed precedent in securing new vehicles for the mayor and city administrator -- to which they are entitled by an annual resolution adopted by the Council each January.

Nevertheless, Taylor persisted in insinuating that the purchases were "illegal" and done with an "intention" to avoid the rules.

It seems clear that the Mapp administration had simply proceeded along the path taken by the Robinson-Briggs administration in 2006, when Sharon got her shiny new SUV -- and there was no Council objection.

In fact, the practice may be traceable back past Al McWilliams, Mark Fury and Harold Mitchell to the time when Councilor Taylor's own husband, Rick Taylor, was Plainfield's second Democratic mayor. And perhaps even farther back. All, evidently, without Council  objection.

That does not mean that Taylor has not raised a valid point. When questioned by Taylor, CFO Al Steinberg stated that it would not be proper for a vehicle purchased by one division to be used outside that division.

Unless, of course -- and this is Taylor's point -- Council memorializes the use of the vehicle by resolution. Something which has NEVER been done before.

The cat was let out of the bag, however, when City Administrator Rick Smiley politely asked Council President Bridget Rivers a simple question: What do you want us to do?

Silence.

He asked again, respectfully.

Rivers replied in a low voice, "I want you to give them back." Meaning to the Public Safety Division. And with that, she shut down the discussion and moved to the next item of business.

It became quite clear to everyone in the room -- and you can watch it on PCTV -- that a Council majority was NOT interested in fixing the problem, but only in creating a scene.

No resolution is proposed because resolving issues is not on Council President Rivers' agenda.

Taylor played her role superbly. She came across as a sort of 21st century incarnation -- in drag -- of the Rev'd John Hale, the 17th-century preacher and witch hunter of Salem, Massachusetts so memorably portrayed in Arthur Miller's play The Crucible. Let us not forget, though, that the "witches" of Salem were innocent of the crimes of which they were accused and for which their lives were forfeit.

I'm sure we'll see many more bravura performances by Taylor, stalking Satanic intention, before the end of her era.

Tomorrow, Constables.

Councilor Gloria Taylor, in search of Satanic intentions.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Jerry Green's last hurrah?

Jerry Green at a 2013 rally in Plainfield.

Plainfield Assemblyman Jerry Green won re-election to another two-year term as chair of the Union County Democratic Committee at the biannual reorganization meeting Tuesday evening at L'Affaire**.

In the end, it was a numbers game. Green had the backing of Sen. Ray Lesniak and Elizabeth Mayor Chris Bollwege, as well as Green's running mates Sen. Nick Scutari (Linden) and former mayor Jim Kennedy (Rahway). Resistance was futile.

The irony of Green, who has not been elected to his own city committee for nearly fifteen years (after being blindsided by a write-in campaign by the late Peter Janis), being elected unanimously to chair the Union County committee after he had suffered a rout in Plainfield did not escape the attention of many, though it remained unvoiced.

However, in the wrangling that went on behind the scenes over the past weekend, Jerry Green was told in no uncertain terms by several of the players that the war with Adrian Mapp and his supporters in Plainfield was destabilizing to the Union County picture as a gubernatorial race looms and that Green had to relent and let Plainfield Dems manage their own affairs as they see fit. Green supposedly agreed, and that is what was behind the mutual declarations at Monday's Plainfield Democratic Committee reorganization.

I would not go so far as PolitickerNJ, though, and say that Green emerged "unscathed" -- see their story here.

With Sen. Lesniak evidently seriously considering a run for governor in 2017, it is important for Union County's ducks to be in a row. It is perfectly undertandable that Lesniak would favor the stability of working with Green -- who has mostly toed the line for the Union County bosses over the years -- as opposed to Sheriff Joe Cryan (often at loggerheads with Lesniak) and Cryan's ally Colleen Mahr, mayor of Fanwood (thrown to the ground by Green after the Stender debacle).

All that being said, Green will be 77 at the end of the upcoming chairmanship period, and clearly fatigued.

The powers that be have three problems to face -- and solve -- over the next time frame --

• Will Jerry Green keep his word when it comes to the gubernatorial race?
  
  
  
• Will the settlement in Plainfield truly hold fast?
  
  
  
• How will Jerry's successor in the Assembly be picked?

WILL GREEN KEEP HIS WORD?

It will be tempting for Green to try and play "kingmaker" when the governor's race really gets under way. After all, he has strong ties to Sweeney and, by extension, the Norcross South Jersey crowd. They will surely advance a candidate (Sweeney?).

And then there is Jersey City mayor Steve Fulop, with whom Plainfield mayor Adrian Mapp has close ties. Fulop has been lining his marbles up for a while now.

Will Jerry Green keep his word when crunch time arrives? We shall have to see.

WILL PLAINFIELD GET A BREATHER?

Then there is the question of whether Jerry Green will abide by his promise to let Plainfield Democrats sort things out among themselves.

The lure of sowing dissension to make political hay may be irresistible to Green who, after all, believes he "run(s) this mother***".

Especially if Green can see Mapp advancing to a Council majority that is supportive of his agenda.

At least Mapp will have two years of controlling the ballot line. That would mean Green's coterie would have to run off the line, something to which they definitely are not accustomed. The downside to them of all the years of running the show is that they have grown fat and lazy. There is no enthusiasm for the hard work of retail politics -- unless someone is getting paid for it.

Contrast that attitude with Mapp's 99% volunteer-driven Plainfield Democratic Organizaition.

WHO SUCCEEDS JERRY GREEN?

Plainfield Democrats have matured considerably where they were when the white party bosses sent Jerry Green to Plainfield to manage the "field hands".

Plainfield Democrats are hardly likely to put up with that kind of plantation politics as everyone contemplates what the future will be like without Jerry Green.

How will the powers-that-be address the challenge of change?

Stay tuned.

**Just where IS L'Affaire? It's on Route 22, but in what town? I originally said Union. Wrong. Mayor Mapp announced it as Springfield. PolitickerNJ says Mountainside. Google Maps opts for Mountainside, but can anyone be sure?

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Dems make smooth transition to Mapp chairmanship

Buick introduced its battle-tested automatic transmission
to the general public with the 1948 model year.

 

The Dynaflow transmission earned its spurs in battle
as the drive train for the M118 Hellcat tank destroyer,
the most successful in World War II.

Though the room was an execrable space in which to meet, the Plainfield Democratic City Committee's reorganization on Monday evening went so smoothly I was reminded of the old Buick Dynaflow automatic transmission.

Dynaflow was GM's Buick Division's automatic transmission introduced in the 1948 model year. It had been developed for, and battle-tested in, the famous WWII M118 Hellcat tank destroyers manufactured by GM at its Flint, Michigan plant.

Dottie Gutenkauf was perfectly cast as the bridge between the old and the new and conducted the election of the new chairman and other officers after introductory remarks by outgoing chairperson Assemblyman Jerry Green.

Green, who never stood at all during the meeting, spoke so softly that people beyond the first couple of rows strained to hear him. Finlly someone turned off the air conditioning, but even that was not much help. Several people commented to me on how frail the Assemblyman seems, and there are reports he is no longer driving himself but has a driver.

Green was gracious in defeat and Mapp was gracious in victory. How the promised cooperation works out we will have to see. (David Rutherford has posted a very informative map showing the new committee configuration with PDO and RDO designations, see here.)

As conducted by Dottie G., the nominations and election of officers one by one went smoothly, with only the candidates nominated by the Mapp forces brought forward, and all elected by loud voice votes, with no 'nays' when offered an opportunity to object.

The new officers for the next two-year cycle are --

Chair: Adrian O. Mapp
1st Vice Chair: Rebecca Williams
2nd Vice Chair: Charles McRae
3rd Vice Chair: Joylette Mills-Ransome
4th Vice Chair: John Stewart
Recording Secretary: Carlos Ponton
Corresponding Secretary: Carmencita Pile
Treasurer: Mary Burgwinkle
Sergeant-at-Arms: Siddeeq El-Amin

Chairman Mapp's first action upon assuming office was to appoint Dottie Gutenkauf the group's parliamentarian.

He also appointed a committee to study the by-laws for conflicts and inconsistencies and report back to the PDCC. That group consists of Mary Burgwinkle (chair), Jeanette Criscione, Joylette Mills-Ransome and Ron Scott Bey.

The group broke out by Wards and elected the following Ward leaders --

Ward 1: Eric Graham
Ward 2: Jim Spear
Ward 3: Robin Bright
Ward 4: Neville Greaves

Chairman Mapp proposed to expand the Executive Committe by including the Ward leaders in that group's proposed regular monthly meetings.

Tonight, the Union County Democratic Committee reorganizes at 7:00 PM at L'Affaire on Route 22 in Springfield.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plans to transfer Bilingual Daycare on agenda

The Bilingual Day Care Center has been a staple for decades.

 

After a decade of discussion, it appears Plainfield may be getting out of the day care business.

Wednesday's Council agenda-setting session contains two proposed resolutions concerning the Bilingual Day Care Center on West 2nd Street and Madison Avenue.

One authorizes the submission of a layoff plan to the NJ Civil Service Commission for employees at the Center. The other is to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with HOPES Community Action, a Plainfield day care provider, for a transition period for HOPES to assume operation of the Bilingual Day Care program.

When Bilingual began many years ago, none of the day care centers in Plainfield offered a bilingual experience for children of primarily Spanish-speakig households.

With Plainfield's demographic changes, having bllingual staff and instruction at day care centers has become a matter of course. (Plainfield is on track to become a majority Latino community over the next few years.)

Administration officials have already met with employess, many of whom will have an opportunity to move over to the program's new sponsor.

With Bilingual moving to the private sector, the only agency left that might be outsources is the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program. Talks about turning that program over to Union County have been held over the years.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Democratic reorganization meetings set

Some people never learn. Properties sheet shows Dem
reorganization notice was prepared on Green's Assembly office computer.
(Click image to enlarge.)

Information on the Plainfield and Union County Democratic Committee reorganizations is below.

PLAINFIELD DEMOCRATIC CITY COMMITTEE

Monday, June 8
7:00 PM
221 Park Avenue
(corner of North Avenue)

The meeting is set for Jerry Green's headquarters space. New officers will be elected for the next two-year cycle, from chairperson on down.

PARKING: Parking is an issue. There is no on-street parking near the building. North Avenue is perpetually fully parked. The small lot behind this former bank building only accommodates a few cars. The best bet is parking in the PNC bank parking lot on West 2nd Street. Allow five minutes at lest to walk over to the meeting.

GUESTS:  It is a longstanding tradition of the Democratic City Committee to allow guests to attend its meetings. Please be respectful of the meeting and do not sit in the area reserved for committee members. This may mean standing at the back of the room or along the sides.

---

UNION COUNTY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE

Tuesday, June 9
7:00 PM
L'Affaire, Route 22, Union

Up for re-election are the county level officers, including chairperson Assemblyman Jerry Green.

There are whispers that the strongest candidate is expected to be Colleen Mahr, Mayor of Fanwood and rising star who was dumped by Green when Asw Linda Stender stepped aside. She would have Sheriff Joe Cryan's backing.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Charlotte DeFilippo swept into the dustbin of history

DeFilippo (center) being honored by County officials in 2013.

Plainfielders who follow Union County Democratic politics will perhaps be surprised to learn that former county chairperson and Dem powerhouse Charlotte DeFilippo has been swept into the dustbin of history by Hillside's Democratic voters.

PolitickerNJ reported Friday (see here) that the former head of the party and the Union County Improvement Authority lost her bid for a seat on the Hillside Democratic Committee, which has long been the seat of her power.

I haven't seen the numbers, and the story doesn't cite them, but all will be revealed on Monday.

The times, they are a changin'.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Garden Club celebrates 100th birthday tonight

Cherry blossoms adorn invitation to 100th Anniversary celebration.

Members and friends of the Plainfield Garden Club will gather this evening at the Shakespeare Garden in Cedar Brook Park to celebrate the organization's 100th birthday. The club has adopted centennial slogan of "Rooted in Tradition - Branching to the Future."

Members and Union County Parks personnel have been busy all week erecting the open air structure where guests will enjoy butler-passed hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar while live music is played.

Proceeds from the $100/person admission will be dedicated to the Plainfield Garden Club's various programs and outreach activities, which include the maintenance of the Shakespeare Garden, which is approaching its 80th birthday.

You can learn more about the Plainfield Garden Club by visiting its website at http://plainfieldgardenclub.org/ or dropping by the Shakespeare Garden on Wednesday mornings, when club members are at work.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

Plainfield Dem Primary: A look at the numbers

Here are some results from the unofficial Plainfield Democratic Primary Election returns. County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi is expected to certify the results Monday.

Monday is also the date set for the Plainfield Democratic City Committee's reorganization, though details are not yet known as of Friday morning.

Everyone knows that Mayor Mapp's Plainfield Democratic Organization was the big winner -- getting both Council nods and a vast majority of the 68 city committee seats -- but I am filling in some of the details below.

COUNCIL SEATS

• Cory Storch, Ward 2: 803 votes (69%); Charles Eke, 272
  
  
  
• Barry Goode, Wards 1/4: 535 votes; Steve Hockday, 500

DEM CITY COMMITTEE

• Ward 1: PDO, 3 Districts, 6 committee seats; Green Team, 5 districts, 10 seats
  
• Ward 2: PDO, 11 Districts, 21 seats (1 tie); Green Team, 0 districts
  
  
• Ward 3: PDO, 9 Districts, 17 seats (1 tie); Green Team, 1 district, 2 seats
  
  
• Ward 4: PDO: 1 District, 2 seats; Green Team, 4 districts, 8 seats
  
  
• Totals: PDO: 46 committee members; Green Team: 20 members; Tied: 2

ASSEMBLY

Here it gets real interesting.

Of 2,307 ballots cast citywide, Assemblyman Jerry Green -- who ran unopposed -- garnered only 1,525, or just 66% of the vote. UNOPPOSED, mind you. Cory Storch, who actually had an opponent, won 69% of the votes cast in his ward.

Jerry's handpicked running mate, former Rahway mayor Jim Kennedy outpolled Jerry with 1680 votes -- 10% more than Jerry's total. This is astounding because to my knowledge Jim Kennedy has never set foot in Plainfield and is an unknown here.

WINNERS & LOSERS

Borrowing a riff from PolitickerNJ, here's a breakout of winners and losers. Of course, the biggest loser is Assemblyman Green, who was swept from the board by Mayor Mapp's Plainfield Democratic Organization and may lose the Union County Dem chairmanship at next Tuesday's reorganization.


WINNERS

• 1-2 (Michael Jackson and Marleen Powell), 1-4 (Frank & Liz D'Aversa), 1-5 (Junior Taylor and Ethel Coleman).
  
  
• 2-1 (Bob Bolmer), 2-2 (Michael Pyne and Mari Bonini), 2-3 (Shep Brown and Joanne Macaluso), 2-4 (Charles Lawrence and Analis Rivera), 2-5 (Donald Van Blake and Carletta Jeffers), 2-6 (David Rutherford and Jeanette Criscione), 2-7 (Terence Bellamy and Tara Phillips-Bellamy), 2-8 (Jim Spear and Belinda Smiley), 2-9 (Greg Haworth and Mary Burgwinkle), 2-10 (Cory Storch and Lois Mattson), 2-11 (David Dupiche and Rebecca Williams).
  
  
• 3-1 (John Stewart and Dottie Gutenkauf), 3-2 (Carlos Ponton and Pat Van Slyke), 3-3 (Charles McRae and Robin Bright), 3-4 (Dan Manson and Bev Calland), 3-5 (Cecil Allen and Elena Rutherford), 3-6 (Linden Barratt and Emily Morgan), 3-7 (Wilbert Gill and Joylette Mills-Ransome), 3-8 Troy Hamilton, 3-9 (Adrian and Amelia Mapp).
  
  
• 4-2 (Wendell Woods and Claudette Lovely-Brown).
  
  
• There were two ties, which will be resolved Monday: 2-1 Female and 3-8 Female.

LOSERS

Jerry Green's slate were the big-time losers, but even so there were some surprising losses of longtime players.

• In Ward 1, Mustapha Muhammad, a frequent critic of Mayor Mapp at Council meetings, was bested by Frank D'Aversa.
  
  
• In Ward 2, Councilor Tracey Brown fell to Councilor Rebecca Williams. Other Jerry Green losers in Ward 2 included Charles Eke (the Council candidate), former Councilor Rashid Burney and longtime activist Brenda Gilbert. Losers also included two young players Green had been grooming: Michael Horn and Richard Stewart.
  
  
• In Ward 3, losers included former mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Jerry's favorite developer Cecil Sanders (Malcolm Dunn's partner), former Union County police chief Harold Gibson and his wife Deborah Stapleton, PMUA commissioner Carol Brokaw, former city employee Lamar Mackson and Tania Center (a Green candidate for BOE last year), and lastly Marianne David, who launched a vicious Facebook attack on Rebecca Williams in the days just before the election.

Once the County Clerk certifies the results, they will be available on the Union County website.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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

A new Etch-a-Sketch drawing for Plainfield politics?

Hours of family fun. And days...and months...and...

 

Wouldn't it be nice if Plainfield politics were like an old-fashioned Etch-a-Sketch and we could just turn it over, shake the box and start with a fresh new unspoilt screen?

Despite the big win of Mayor Mapp's Plainfield Democratic Organization in Tuesday Democratic primary, it doesn't seem likely.

If Council members were supposed to get the memo that it's a new day in Plainfield, they evidently did not. Only Councilors Storch and Williams showed up for Wednesday's special meeting to consider an appointment to the PMUA board of commissioners.

In the meanwhile, we await County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi's certification of the election results for the two Council seats. It is not clear to me if she also certifies the Democratic county committee seats as these are not considered elected public offices.

And we still don't know how many dead people submitted absentee ballots for Jerry Green's team in Wards 1 and 4.

In addition, Green remains chair of the City Committee until the reorganization, which he must announce the time and place of. (He conducted an illegal 'rump' session of his faction immediately before the 2009 reorg, at which committee member Mari Bonini - a former Board of Ed member and longtime Dem activist -- was roughed up by police as she tried to sign in.)

With the expected election of Mapp as the new Plainfield Democratic Committee chairperson for a two-year term, the dynamics of party politics in Plainfield will shift dramatically.

His chairmanship would mean that the next three Council races -- those of Councilors Gloria Taylor, Tracey Brown and Bridget Rivers -- would have to pass muster with a committee no longer controlled by Assemblyman Jerry Green.

The options seem quite clear: Acknowledge the new state of affairs, and try to make some accommodation with Mayor Mapp, or continue in outright intransigence and go down in flames.

If Wednesday evening's snub by a Council majority is any indication, it's going to be a long year-and-a-half.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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