How to Compose a Better Picture: Talk at Drake House today

One approach is 'hot spots' based on the ancient Greek
'golden ratio'. (See The Wonder of Light website here.)

 

 

Plainfield's Drake House Museum is hosting an interesting program this afternoon: "How to Compose a Better Picture".

Whether you are a painter or a photographer, composition is important to make your image attractive and memorable. And it always pays to get some new insights into how to do it better.

The talk is being given by photographer Dorothy Bellew, whose exhibit "Colorful Season" is currently on display in the museum's gallery. Bellew, a lifelong South Plainfield resident, is a graduate of Mt. Saint Mary's Academy and The Catholic University of America.

The program is free and open to the public. It begins at 2:00 PM in the gallery on the museum's second floor.

The Drake House Museum at 602 West Front Street (at the foot of Plainfield Avenue) is open to the public Sunday afternoons from 2:00 - 4:00 PM, and at other times by appointment. For more information, call (908) 755-5831 or visit the website at drakehouseplainfieldnj.org/.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Fall political campaigns push off

Plainfield's fall political campaigns pushed off this week.

On Friday, John Campbell Jr. announced his run as an independent for the Ward 2 City Council seat with a presser at City Hall (read the Courier's Sergio Bichao on the kickoff here).

Campbell, who failed in his run as the GOP candidate against Assemblyman Jerry Green two years ago, is facing incumbent Cory Storch, the Democratic nominee.

A flyer for Norman Ortega, independent candidate for the Wards 1/4 at-large seat has been circulating on Facebook in recent days.

Ortega is challenging Democratic candidate Barry Goode, who won a hard-fought primary campaign against the machine candidate.

On the Assembly side, incumbent Jerry Green and his hand-picked running mate James Kennedy, former mayor of Rahway, have competition from the GOP.

Republican candidates Bo Vastine, formerly of Plainfield and now a Councilor in Scotch Plains, and Plainfield Historic Preservation chair Bill Michelson are running for the LD22 Assembly seats.

Vastine maintains a campaign blog here, and Michelson has a blog here.

Plainfield's Democratic headquarters is expected to be on Park Avenue in the same location as the primary race (the former Park Hardware location) and will open in two weeks.

Candidates Storch and Goode have a fundraiser slated for September 24, hosted by longtime supporter Bobby Gregory and his wife Jennifer at their Rahway Road home.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Further thoughts on safety at Council meetings

The chair has a huge responsibility for those at a meeting.

 

A further thought comes to mind with respect to safety at Plainfield City Council.

The final responsibility for attending to the issues surrounding the safety of the individual Councilors and the public at the Council meetings -- whatever their venue -- rests with the presiding officer, the Council President.

Assuring that the meeting is run with firmly with decorum and fairness is the responsibility of the chair.

Making sure that everyone knows the boundaries of appropriate speech is the responsibility of the chair.

The message that Councilors' persons are inviolate must be delivered clearly by the chair.

Ensuring Councilors treat each other with respect and dignity depends on the chair's enforcing the rules fairly and even-handedly.

Are there enough police on hand? Should there be more? This is the chair's call.

Even though the meeting is adjourned, the chair needs to be responsible for the conduct of those present until the crowd disperses, calling on police support if needed.

Isn't that just common sense?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mrs. Toliver explains Mrs.Toliver

Councilor Toliver sat about five feet away
during the special meeting. Councilor Storch
is to her right; Councilor Williams facing the camera.

Before Plainfield City Council got down to business on Tuesday evening, Council President Rivers gave First Ward Councilor Diane Toliver the floor to read a statement concerning the kerfuffle at the end of the Council's special meeting the previous Monday.

Councilor Toliver presented a carefully worded portrayal of the disturbance as she recalled it, saying she felt "attacked, violated, disrespected, and -- most important -- unsafe".

After that special meeting, called by Mayor Adrian Mapp to address the PILOT proposed for the South Avenue residential development at Plainwood Square, was adjourned a small disturbance broke out.

City Hall Library was filled and the meeting, though the issue drew passionate comment, was civil, with Council President Rivers maintaining firm control (there certainly have been many more boisterous meetings than this one in that room!).

As folks were leaving, a brief disturbance -- evidently some shoving -- took place, involving Councilor Toliver and another person.

I was sitting about five feet away from her and had just gotten up from my chair. I did not see the interaction that started things because there were some people standing in between us, but Councilor Toliver began to shout that "he jumped in my face".

What I saw was someone who appeared totally out of control. Not only did Councilor Toliver shout about the man and scuffle with him, she shoved several others who were standing near her and who had nothing to do with the incident -- including Dottie Gutekauf, whom she nearly pushed over, and a woman active in the Senior Center who was pushed so hard she fell back into one of the chairs along the wall.

When Councilor Toliver's husband Alex attempted to put his arm around her and lead her away, she walloped him with a straight arm, nearly knocking him off his feet and shouting at him "keep your hands off me!"

There had been an officer on duty throughout the evening, and he had checked in on the room frequently throughout the meeting. However, at this point he was not in the room.

Public Safety Director Riley opined that the Council should not have meetings in City Hall Library since there are no metal detectors and only one means of egress.

I respectfully think that is an overreaction. For more than 90 years, the Council conducted its agenda sessions in that room without a thought of moving out until the Robinson-Briggs administration.

Perhaps before we take that drastic move, thought should be given to better supervision of the room -- not only during a meeting, but until the room is cleared -- and having more than one officer on hand (there are often three or four officers at the Council Chambers' meetings).

And I do think it is fair to warn residents that physical contact or threatening Councilors will not be allowed.

And it wouldn't hurt for Councilor Toliver to apologize to those she shoved during the incident.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Did Planning staff force Mapp's hand?

This is a Royal Flush, a poker hand that can't be beat.

Did the Planning staff force Mayor Adrian O. Mapp's hand?

Staff members asked for a public hearing on the rumored layoff plan, which City Council took up at the end of its executive session Tuesday evening before the actual agenda-setting session.

No one knows it this was Mayor Mapp's plan for how this would unfold. Rumors of the proposed layoffs and outsourcing of the division's work have been floating for weeks, but the only public peek was a brief email from the Mayor to Bernice (see here) saying things would be clarified on Tuesday.

However, the agenda went out electronically on Friday afternoon and contained no mention of discussion of a layoff plan.

Councilor Taylor had some sharp questions about the matter, asking why, if there were problems, "what did we do to fix that"?

Asked whether the Council was expected to "do something" at the meeting, Corporation Counsel David Minchello responded that the Mapp administration just wanted to provide information about the situation in a timely fashion.

In any event, it seems to be all over except for the weeping.

If the administration pleads economic necessity to the State, which must approve a layoff plan, it seems to me likely to win the OK.

An RFP is supposed to be advertised today for a planning services firm.

Council will have to approve a layoff plan, expected to be offered to them at next month's meeting, approval of which should be pro forma. A plan would then be submitted to the state's Division of Local Government Services. After their expected signoff, which could take 30 days, notices will go out to employees of a layoff that will take place 45 days later.

This means the Division could be gone by roughly mid-January, by my reckoning.

Whether or not this is a wise decision and whether the savings will be permanent and noticeable we will only know in hindsight.

At 7:40 PM the discussion was ended and the executive session was declared over.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Labor Day chit-chat turns to Plainfield politics

Even Magic 8 Ball has questions.

 

Chit-chat at an annual Plainfield Labor Day party ricocheted between outrage and puzzlement.

In the large group, a mix of folks active in many community organizations but not particularly involved in city politics, talk shifted back and forth between outrage at the Council's blocking of a PILOT for the proposed South Avenue residential project and bewilderment at rumors the Planning Division is to be laid off and its functions outsourced.

Ideas of what was behind the Council's blocking of the PILOT ranged from suspected personal venality to a failed quid pro quo over giving away city parking lots to suspected machinations by an important, now somewhat sidelined, figure.

Could all three be true?

On the other hand, there was widespread bewilderment over the rumored shuttering of the Planning Division.

"I don't get it," one person said, "these people [Planning employees] appear to have been on the side of the angels throughout the Robinson-Briggs administration and now they're going to be cashiered? Why? The public isn't complaining about their expense or their performance. Where is this coming from?"

Great questions all, deserving of answers.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Happy (other) Labor Day

The Brooks Locomotive Works at Dunkirk, NY, 1899.
The railroad to the left of the plant is the New York & Erie,
commonly known as "the Erie". Its main competitor,
the New York Central, ran along the shore line of Lake Erie,
seen in the upper left of the picture.

South Plainfield celebrates Labor Day today with its big parade. In a friendly rivalry with Plainfield, which has hosted the area's July 4th Parade for going on a century, our neighbor borough carved out its own celebratory niche.

When I was a child, two "Labor Days" were celebrated in the mill town where my father was a welder at ALCO, the American Locomotive Company. (This forward-looking corporation was still building steam locomotives in 1954, the year the Dunkirk plant was shut down.)

The other mill, which had been taken over by ALCO in the depths of the Depression, was referred to by oldtimers as "the Brooks Works". It had manufactured steam locomotives in that location since 1869.

These two mills had been organized by the Steel Workers Organizing Committee (SWOC), later the United Steelworkers, in the late 1930s. My dad was part of that effort and was an active union man throughout the 1940s and early 1950s.

The two celebrations were May Day, the original American-inspired day of worker solidarity, and Labor Day in September. Though the September celebration was larger, it was viewed with suspicion by union activists because it drew its major support from the "bosses" (the mill owners and the Chamber of Commerce).

With the purge of left-wing elements from the CIO unions -- including the Steelworkers -- in 1949 and 1950, the local May Day celebration disappeared.

I remember my father coming home from a union meeting one night and telling my mother that there would be no more "union talk" in our household. Shortly after that, my mom explained to my brother and me how important it was that we not tell our friends (and especially their parents) about discussions around the family dinner table.

Though I didn't understand why, I did sense the urgency in my mother's instructions.

Only later would I realize that this was the beginning of the McCarthy era, in which citizens learned to guard their tongues and fear being spied upon by their neighbors and workmates for unpopular political and other opinions.

My dad's first vote as an adult was cast for the American Labor Party candidates. I think my parents voted for the Republican "Ike" Eisenhower in 1952, though they refused to say. They had previously been strong supporters of FDR and his "New Deal".

Though he voted for JFK in 1960, my dad had begun a long drift to the right after the leading elements in the CIO labor movement were crushed.

Eventually, he became a "Reagan Democrat" and then finally a Republican.

There never was any more talk of the tough days of the mill before the union, and the fight to get a union -- or that other Labor Day.

But I think of it every September, and the future that might have been.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Low-key Council session Tuesday?

Crossing Guard raises a discussion topic.

 

Will Plainfield City Council's agenda-setting session on Tuesday be low key?

For the past year and a half, most of the drama at the agenda sessions has come around the so-called "discussion" items, so that is the first place to look for clues.

Tuesday's includes four items --

• The proposed City Council newsletter;
  
  
• Outside counsel;
  
  
• Crossing guards and
  
  
• Ward Town Hall meetings.

Unless the councilors fight among themselves, the newsletter should be a simple, cut-and-dried discussion.

The outside counsel matter might refer to Council's earlier wish to investigate the North Avenue demolition this past March which forced Mi Buenaventura restaurant to relocate. Will they go forward at this late date (after all, it's been six months) or just drop the matter?

Crossing guards have been pressing for a raise, and the Mapp administration said they were being taken care of. Is there an issue?

Traditionally, the Council holds its separate town halls in each ward much earlier in the year. This year, it seems to have slipped everyone's mind. Now it appears they will be squished into the busy Fall season.

No drama here, right?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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PMUA Environmental Fair today

The Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority (PMUA) hosts its 16th annual Environmental Fair today at Library Park, from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

This is one of Plainfield's most popular outdoor events, with activities, games and information tables with an environmental slant.

The barbecue tent draws huge crowds.

Parking, as always, is an issue in the neighborhood, so be sure to wear your walking shoes.

LATE NOTICE:  There will be a pre-Labor Day march and rally beginning at 11:30 AM at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Sponsored by Local 32BJ of the SEIU, the event will bring together local officials, union representatives and supporters. SEIU, the Service Employees International Union, is the largest property services union in the country.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Planning Board hands off Muhlenberg ball to Council

The handoff: Now the success of the play is in
someone else's hands.

 

Plainfield's Planning Board unanimously adopted a resolution declaring the former Muhlenberg Hospital property as "in need of redevelopment". The measure now goes to City Council for further action.

After hearing the report and proposal from its consultant, H2M Associates, the board discussed its fourfold options: a declaration for "redevelopment" or "rehabilitation" and a "condemnatory" or a "non-condemnatory" plan.

Referring several times to JFK as the city's "partner" in the redevelopment process, H2M's Jennifer Giorgianni, walked the board through the report. H2M's recommendation was to adopt the broadest declaration ("redevelopment") since it would give the City "more negotiating room" and the less hostile form ("non-condemnatory"), meaning that the power of eminent domain would not be used.

It was painful to hear the recitation of the shabby state into which JFK has allowed the Muhlenberg complex to fall since it was closed in 2008.

It seemed clear to me that allowing the property to so severely deteriorate indicates that JFK intended to "waste" (a technical term) its assets in order to discourage any possible rehabilitation of the building for any health-related purposes.

That would have been part of a strategy to fend off any health- or medical-related uses for the facility.

The City Council now must decide what to do next. It can approve the Planning Board's designation and direct the Planning Board to prepare -- or have prepared for it -- a redevelopment plan, which would then come back to the Council for approval.

Or it can do nothing.

Homeowners in the area surrounding the now-shuttered Muhlenberg property should keep in mind that all of this may mean that residential development will be on the table going forward.

It was not made clear if the Council will take up the proposed recommendation at its meeting next Tuesday (Monday is Labor Day) or if it will not come up until October.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Rescheduled Muhlenberg site discussion is tonight

Map of the Muhlenberg Hospital site
as prepared by Heyer Gruel Associates.

 

The rescheduled discussion on the Muhlenberg Hospital site's "in need of redevelopment" study is on the docket for tonight's Planning Board meeting set for 7:30 PM at City Hall Library.

The discussion was rescheduled from August owing to a technical deficiency in the legal notice.

The Planning Board has had a study prepared to give them guidance on deciding whether or not the property qualifies as in need of redevelopment. An affirmative vote on the questions by the Board will move the matter to the City Council, where any final decision must be made.

The report and maps are currently available for inspection at the Planning Division offices on the second floor of City Hall between 9:00 AM and 4:30 PM.

The public will have an opportunity to speak at the Board meeting.

Experience with the Council's behavior at this past Monday's special council meeting on the South Avenue PILOT gives rise to speculation whether a Council majority will give a repeat performance if and when it must decide on the Muhlenberg redevelopment study.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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South Avenue PILOT: Council's hole card peeped? Dan criticized

Was a Council majority trying to extort
the Mapp administration?

Has the Plainfield City Council's hole card been peeped?

As poker players will tell you, the hole card is dealt face down, is used to assess the player's bidding strategy, and is not revealed until the showdown.

Seems to me that the question of a Council majority using the quest of Messrs. Dunn, Sanders and the Housing Authority's hapless director Randall Wood, as a quid pro quo for the PILOT approval has been put squarely on the table by Mayor Mapp's remarks and the observations of bloggers Bernice (see here) and Olddoc (see here).

And that, in my mind, comes close to "extortion", a criminal offense of "obtaining money, property, or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion" (see more here).

The cast of characters involved brings to mind the Plainfield Health Center's construction a number of years ago. One person did some serious time in the slammer as a result, though the community sentiment was that he took the rap so that others could walk.

Two questions now come to mind --

• Will the Council majority try this maneuver again -- say with any proposed Muhlenberg Hospital project? and
  
  
• Is there a trail of breadcrumbs here? And, if so, where does it lead?

Time for all to start scrutinizing Council actions very closely.

DAN CRITICIZED

Reader Alan Goldstein sent the following email the day after the Council vote on the proposed South Avenue PILOT --

Dan,
I was there, and I spoke in favor of the PILOT.  But even I will admit that most spoke out against the agreement.  Why you choose to misinform your readers is a real question.

What I said was most commenters were for it, some were against it and many had questions (see the post here).

Some who were against the proposal had special -- if undisclosed -- interests (Messrs. Dunn, Lattimore and Johnson come to mind).

Mr. Crownover opposed the PILOT (though not the project) because he thinks there is a better way -- and offered his experience in Metuchen as an example.

Mr. Kaercher held the parking issues had not been sufficiently addressed, and was not happy that he has paid school taxes all these years (without having kids in the schools) and the PILOT would exempt the projects owners. But was that a clear "no"?

Mr. Goldstein and Netherwood Heights resident Jim Spear both spoke clearly -- and eloquently -- in favor of the project.

Goldstein called it "a step in the right direction" and Spear reminded the Council that "ultimately, [such] development would bring in more tax dollars".

My years of experience in selling real estate have taught me that seeming to be opposed to something (say making an offer on a particular house) may really just mean that there are questions, and that if properly addressed and resolved, the person may not object to the proposition at all in the end.

So, my take on most of those who raised questions was that they were not in opposition necessarily -- if their questions could be addressed.

I might add that Councilor Storch wrangled with Council President Rivers over exactly this matter -- getting answers to some of these questions. And she resisted.

In any event, these were public comments, not a referendum. Besides, as we may now surmise, the Council had already determined on a course of action.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Plainfield Council's message to developers: Don't come here looking to do business

Some of the overflow crowd that filled City Hall Library
for last night's special Council meeting. Seated at the table
(backs to camera) are Councilors Toliver and Storch.

 

Maybe Lenin was right.

In a famous book on how things don't develop in an easy, straight line fashion, he came up with the catchy title "One step forward, two steps back".

That seems to summarize Plainfield's development efforts.

With an overflow crowd at a special meeting of Plainfield's City Council Monday evening, twenty people spoke out passionately about the proposed 212-apartment South Avenue development.

Most were for it, some were against and many had questions about details.

The five Council members present (Greaves, Storch, Toliver, Williams and Council President Rivers) listened courteously and attentively to all, some of whom were quite eloquent.

Among points made --

• Developers are watching this project as an indication of what others might expect if they approach the city;
  
  
• Local contractors and laborers need to be provided for in set-asides;
  
  
• Parking provisions may not be adequate;
  
  
• The public schools would not benefit with any tax revenues, though there is a high probability of some impact with some children living in the apartments.

There were also several points of misinformation --

• One speaker thought the project called for 400 rental units (it's 212);
  
  
• Another suggested the PILOT for the Park-Madison project was a failure (it's not);
  
  
• Those pleading for set-asides evidently had not read the proposed agreement (which does include a provision for local set-asides).

Councilor Storch and Council President Rivers sparred briefly over whether Deputy City Administrator for Economic Development Carlos Sanchez would be allowed to address some of these questions.

Rivers finally relented and Storch asked Sanchez about several issues, including why the 30-year term ("financing would only be available on a 30-year deal"), why the local set-aside was 10% ("the developer has sub-contractors that help him control his costs"), and whether the PILOT was essential ("without a PILOT, this $50 million project will not happen in Plainfield").

Rivers graciously consented to Mayor Adrian Mapp addressing the Council before the vote.

Mapp reiterated the arguments for the project, including that other developers are keeping an eye on how Plainfield handles this one as an indicator of future possibilities. He noted that local municipalities don't have the tools that other jurisdictions can use -- the only tool they have is a PILOT.

He also heaped scorn on unnamed "local developers" who wanted the City to give them two public parking lots as parcels on which to build, reminding everyone that in the project under consideration, this developer had assembled -- at his own coast -- the eleven subject properties into a parcel.

When the vote went down on the PILOT, it was defeated 3-2 with Rivers, Greaves and Toliver against, and Storch and Wiliams in favor.

So, unless there is a miracle, there will be no new apartments at Plainwood Square.

There will be no "walking wallets" shopping in the neighborhood.

There will be no construction jobs for anyone, black, white or Hispanic, local or not.

And that is that. The Council has spoken.

Plainfield takes one step forward, and two steps back.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Joe Da Rold caps 21 years of service to Plainfield as Library Director

Joe Da Rold hard at work. Computers have revolutionized
public libraries -- and how they are run.

One of Joe's great loves is local history. Here he is seen
in the Plainfield Room with an 1899 birds-eye map of the city.

Today is Joe Da Rold's last day as the Plainfield Public Library's director. Beginning tomorrow, Joe starts a new life chapter as the "master gardener of Martine Avenue."

Joe has devoted the last twenty-one years of his distinguished career to making the Plainfield Public Library one of the best, most exciting and most engaged with its community in the state of New Jersey.

Gone are the days when libraries were "temples of books". Now they are centers of lifelong learning using every modern tool to serve their communities' needs for Internet access, literacy skills, job preparedness and community meeting spaces.

Many Plainfield Today readers know that I worked for Joe at the PPL for two years before moving to City Hall to become Mayor Al McWilliams' public information officer.

It was an honor to work with Joe and be a part of reinvigorating the Library as one of Plainfield's "crown jewels".

Joe has helped retool and update Plainfield's architecturally significant library building to serve the 21st century, and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.

I asked Joe to put in writing some thoughts about his time in Plainfield, and am including them below.

The Friends of the Library is hosting a celebration of Joe's career and contributions for the community. Mark your calendars for that: October 22 at the Plainfield Country Club. I will post more details as time draws closer.

Joe's spectacular -- and restful -- garden
will now get even more attention.

Here are Joe's thoughts on his time at the Plainfield Public Library --

FINDING MY WAY TO THE PLAINFIELD PUBLIC LIBRARY

by Joe Da Rold

    In August of 1994, the Library Board recruited for a new director, and I had arranged for an interview while here on vacation.  The current library opened two years after I had moved from North Plainfield to Los Angeles, so this was first time I was seeing the current building.  The building was in great disrepair, and I could tell they were impressed when I mentioned that I was president of my condominium board and dealt with vendor contracts and building problems.  They asked what problems I had noticed about the library.  I rattled off a list of things I noticed while awaiting the interview, from non-working elevators to inadequate ceiling lighting.  They offered me the position two days later – one day before I was to fly back to the Los Angeles.

    The Plainfield Public Library had once been an important library, but by 1994 the only things it had going for it were an impressive book collection, a spacious building, and a beautiful community meeting room.  Inside, the library was showing its age.  Had the carpet ever been shampooed?  Had the drapes ever been cleaned?  These were the early days of desktop computers, so there were none on the main floor, only in Technical Services and Administration.  The beautiful monolithic card catalogs were still in use, but plans to phase them out were already in place.  The planned computer catalog was to be a stand-alone system.  The online system was still about five or more years in the future.

    Outside, huge slabs of concrete, the sides of oversized planters, were leaning at dangerous angles, the steps were crumbling on all four sides, and the sidewalks were treacherous. But the worst was to come.  I was asked to work with an architect to identify building problems.  The Trustees were horrified to receive a lengthy list of expensive emergency repairs.   On the plus side, this resulted in the development of the 1995-96 master plan, which is still viable today.  Within a year the City Council underwrote the cost of a new roof.  More infrastructure changes followed, with the City’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) funding the demolition of the cooling tower and replacement of the heating and ventilation units.  As I write, The Planning Board has approved plans for renovations of the building exterior, especially to remediate safety issues on steps and sidewalks.  Plans for renovating the interior courtyard are fifty percent complete.

    Computers played a surprising role in how the library changed.  The appearance of online databases enabled us to discontinue printed Reference volumes, opening up valuable floor space.  The Archives Room, a climate controlled space funded by the City’s CIP, opened in 2002, along with the remodeled Plainfield Room.  The Plainfield history books were moved into the Archives Room.  Funding from the State Library enabled us to create the conference rooms and Literacy offices, which opened a year later. Room 2 was created out of smaller spaces, so that community groups could have a meeting space while Children’s Services occupied the Anne Louise Davis Room during the construction of the Rainforest.  The Rainforest, funded by the Capital Campaign, was five years in the planning and one year in construction; it opened at the end of 2011.  One year later the Job Assistance Computer Center, funded by private donations and CDBG funds, opened on the main floor.  This required the shifting of every book and every book stack, ingeniously handled in-house by our Facility Manager.

    When I became Director, I was thrilled to discover that the Plainfield Public Library had a fine-arts collection.  My passion for fine-art and folk-art had been ignited while working for the City of Santa Fe Springs (CA).  The Mayor, who happened to be the director of the California Museum of Science and Technology, asked me to build a fine-arts collection for City Hall.  The Director of the Laguna Beach Museum of Art introduced me to many artists throughout Southern California, and that led to my start as an art collector.  I was dismayed to find that the library’s collection had been ignored, only a few contemporary items had been added in recent years.  Plainfield is home to some wonderful artists, and I am proud that so many of them are now represented in our collection, particularly artists of color.  When we created the new Children’s Library (aka The Reading Rainforest), I wanted folk-art to be part of the visual experience, so I was happy to donate most of my folk masks to the room.

    My love for local history started in Santa Fe Springs where the historical society was strongly connected to the library.  When I worked with the architect on the expansion of the library, we placed the school bell from the town’s first school right inside the entrance.  The bell was from the same foundry that cast the Liberty Bell.  Later, I became Executive Director of the Whittier Historical Society, and during that ten year period, I did a huge amount of researching, writing, and lecturing on local history.  Working in the museum field taught me the importance of the role of the registrar, particularly in keeping donor records.  The Local History Collection here at the library is a direct outgrowth from those years.  Although the Rainforest is a knockout, I think the Local History program is my most important legacy to the community.

    We have been very aggressive in building these research collections.  Once we opened the Archives Room, the community understood our goal was to maintain archival preservation standards and make the materials available to the public. From that point on, more and more historic materials were entrusted to us.  This is why the Collier Photograph Collection of 15,000 photographs came to us; likewise, the Chase and Ricketts collections of historic postcards.  And had we not created the Diversity Studies Collection, the Barbara Polk Riley book collection would never have found its home here.

    Along with local history and art, my other passions are writing, gardening, theatre, and reading.  My love of reading and recommending books to friends started during my college summers, driving a bookmobile for the Somerset County Library.  Bookmobile customers “talk books” more than any other group of library users.  This continued after my M.L.S. when I became the first Young Adult Librarian for Los Angeles County Public Library.  I wrote a weekly book review column for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, became President of Young Adult Reviewers of Southern California, and gave book talks in all of the area high schools.

    One trait that sets me apart from most of my library colleagues is my involvement in community affairs.  Wherever I have worked I have reached out to make sure community members were aware of how their public library could help them.  In the 1970’s I co-wrote a grant proposal for Library Services for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired.  This became a model program throughout the Los Angeles basin and much of California.  It included teaching sign language to library staff members.  The program was widely recognized, and I was asked to speak about the program at library conferences in Florida and Michigan.

    My involvement with Adult Literacy started here at the Plainfield Public Library. The needs of the ESL clients have always resonated with memories of my Italian grandparents.  They never learned to read or write English; they learned to speak English from their four children, who never learned Italian.  We lost so much of our family culture and tradition, so I have fought very hard to support our adult literacy program in Plainfield.

    I will miss not being at the helm of the Plainfield Public Library, but after twenty-one years, it is time for new people with new ideas to step forward.  I thank the community for the support they have shown, and I want to express deep thanks to all of those on the library staff who helped turn dreams into reality.
 

AWARDS  -  Red = Individual Awards to Joe

2014	Your Beautiful Library Photo Contest	Honorable Mention for "The Reading Rainforest" as Coolest Internal Space.	GALE Cengage Learning
2012	Roger McDonough Librarianship Award	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold, for excellence in service to the New Jersey history research community and the general public.	New Jersey Academic Alliance
2011	Trustee Recognition Award	Awardee: Anne E. Robinson, President of the Plainfield Public Library Board of Trustees, was recognized for her successful advocacy efforts to restore the library's hours.	New Jersey Library Association
2011	Gail Stern Award	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold, for outstanding achievement in service to New Jersey community history, with an emphasis on cultural diversity.	Advocates for New Jersey History
2010	Librarian of the Year	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold	New Jersey Library Association
2009	RAICES Award	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold, for services to the Hispanic Community of New Jersey	RAICES, Hispanic Cultural Association
2009	Community Change Award	For development of the library's Diversity Studies Collection.	New Jersey Black Issues Convention
2008	Excellence in Leadership Award	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold	The Nubian Union
2008	Alice M. Leppert Award	For outstanding achievement by the Adult Literacy Program of the Plainfield Public Library.	LVNJ - Literacy Volunteers of New Jersey
2008	Library Service Award to a Group	Awarded to the Literacy Advisory Committee of the Literacy Volunteers, Plainfield Public Library.	New Jersey Library Association
2008	Public Relations Award Service Brochure	Awarded to Plainfield Public Library.	New Jersey Library Association
2008	Public Relations Award Program Announcement	Awarded to the Plainfield Public Library & Paul Pinkman for the promotion of the Helen Stummer photography exhibit.	New Jersey Library Association
2008	Journalism Award Coverage of Library Services & Programs	Awarded to Bernice Paglia of the Courier News for her article, “Librarian donates 1,881 books to Plainfield library,” describing a large gift to our diversity collection.		New Jersey Library Association
2007	Susan G. Swartzburg Preservation Award	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold, for leadership and accomplishments in the field of history and preservation.	New Jersey Library Association
2007	19th Annual New Jersey Council for the Humanities (NJCH Book Award Collection)	Thirty-six book titles will be awarded, including non-fiction humanities works by New Jersey authors or on a New Jersey subject.	New Jersey Council for the Humanities
2006	MARAC NJ Caucus Institutional Service Award	For furthering the cause of archives and history in the state, in particular for outstanding progress in acquiring, processing, describing, and preserving local history archives.	Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference - New Jersey Caucus
2006	Award for Achievement by a Community Organization	For fostering human rights and relations among the people of Union County and for promoting and advancing the understanding, acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity.	Union County Human Relations Commission
2005	Public Relations Award	For best library website.	New Jersey Library Association
2004	Award of Recognition	Awardee: Library Director Joe Da Rold, for outstanding service to public knowledge and preservation of the history of New Jersey.	New Jersey Historical Commission
2004	Community Distinction Award	In recognition for the significant improvements brought to the lives of the citizens of Plainfield.	Plainfield Chamber of Commerce
2003	Best Service Brochure	For development and publication of "A Kid's History of Early Plainfield".	New Jersey Library Association
2001	Alice M. Leppert Award	In recognition of outstanding achievement by the Adult Literacy Program of the Plainfield Public Library.	Literacy Volunteers of America - New Jersey
2000	Access Union County Award	For outstanding commitment to improving access for people with disabilities.	Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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