Plainfield festivals

The number of festival days held downtown has grown tremendously in the last two years.  No wonder they are getting so much attention.  Either join the festivities or grin and bear it if you don't like the noise and outdoor alcoholic beverage consumption.  For me it will be a bit of both. 

I will be attending this weekends festival sponsored by Faraones on Front Street.  I have done so in the last few years and have enjoyed the food (the roasted corn is quite good).  But the female members of my family won't go back.  They don't like the outdoor beer drinking and what comes with it.

Up till now, I have accepted the sponsor's sales pitch: a great cultural opportunity for Plainfield that brings people to town to see what a good place our downtown is for shopping and having a good time.  But with numerous complaints coming from retail store merchants and residents, the Council has decided to evaluate the future of downtown festivals.

Heeding the residents and downtown merchant complaints I voted against this weekends festival.  But the Council majority ruled that this year the show will go on.  The best I could do was offer two amendments to the festival resolution.  One, to ban sales of alcoholic beverages, was shot down.  The other, to close the festival at 10 pm instead of 11 pm and to end the music and 9 pm instead of 10 pm, was supported by my colleagues. 

I aim to use my blog to provide information on the Faraones festival by way of photographs.  Here are today's, showing that 1) our parking lot is used the day before the festival begins and 2) contrary to claims that attendees will see what is good about downtown, we have some serious (but fixable)eyesores that reinforce the reputation Plainfield currently has.

I have been told that the approvals for the rides must be given prior to the festival opening:

 

 

 

Parking lot 8 needs a lot of maintenance and code enforcement:

 



 

 

 

 



 

 

These scenes will be in plain sight during the festival.  I expect the incoming administration will take aggressive action.

 

 





City Hall, the Local Business Community and Street Festivals

I attended the board meeting of the Plainfield Special Improvement District last week.  I wanted to ask the board for their thoughts on how city government can work more effectively with the business community.  I heard many ideas and actually got more than I bargained for since the use of downtown parking lots for "cultural" festivals was on the agenda.

The growing number of these festivals prompted much discussion and board member comments ranged from thoughtful to emotional.  Ultimately a motion was made to ask the City Council to deny the Faraones/Garcia festival request for September and it passed unanimously (eight members voting).  Here is a summary of the SID board's concerns:

• merchants with stores near parking lot 8 where Garcia has held previous festivals estimated that they lose 20 - 40% of usual sales during festival days.
• merchants who purchase tables for the festivals pay $800 per day and the SID board members believe that all of them are from out of town - they believe that not one downtown Plainfield merchant has participated in these festivals.
• the SID board described the loud music and outdoor alcoholic beverage consumption as disruptive and discouraging of customer activity in downtown.  
• Public urination, presumably related to the drinking activity, has not made for a family friendly shopping environment and according to the SID board members the smell lingers well after the festivals are done.
• The stores near the sound stage experience music so loud that some stores literally vibrate from the music throughout the day and night.

I was unaware of the extent of these problems until the night of the August agenda fixing meeting when two downtown merchants spoke about these concerns.  When they left the meeting early, I followed them out and advised that if other merchants felt as they did, to circulate a petition around downtown and present it to the Council.  And so they did.  The number of signatures casts doubt on Mr Garcia's compliance with a stipulation in his resolution requiring he have the support of local businesses.

This should make for interesting discussion at Mondays Special Council meeting.  The Council has supported the growing number of festivals over the last 5 years because they were presented as opportunities to celebrate the cultures south of our border and bring people to our downtown.  The input we are getting now casts serious doubt on the benefits to Plainfield, especially the festivals as they currently operate.

Whatever the Council decides about the Faraones/Garcia proposal on Monday, it is clear that we need to revisit our ordinances regulating where, when and how festivals should be run.

National Night Out in Plainfield

Thanks goes to the Netherwood Neighbors who organized the party I attended on Tuesday night.   I enjoyed the camaraderie, food and weather   Afterwards, I began to ponder a question prompted by a neighbor at the Cook School pond.  What is National Night Out about?  What are we trying to accomplish beyond having fun with neighbors.  So I went to the NATW website to learn more about the organization that started National Night Out:

"National Association of Town Watch (NATW) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of various crime prevention programs including neighborhood watch groups, law enforcement agencies, state and regional crime prevention associations, businesses, civic groups, and individuals, devoted to safer communities. The nations premiere crime prevention network works with law enforcement officials and civilian leaders to keep crime watch volunteers informed, interested, involved and motivated. Since 1981, NATW continues to serve thousands of members across the nation.
The introduction of National Night Out, “America’s Night Out Against Crime”, in 1984 began an effort to promote involvement in crime prevention activities, police-community partnerships, neighborhood camaraderie and send a message to criminals letting them know that neighborhoods are organized and fighting back. NATW’s National Night Out program culminates annually, on the first Tuesday of August (In Texas, the first Tuesday of October)."

This night is about empowering neighbors to claim and, in some places, take back their neighborhoods, even if just for a night.  It is to promote partnerships between citizens and law enforcement to fight crime.  So how did Plainfield measure up to the objectives of NATW?

Judging by the number of people who came out for the two get togethers - at City Hall and Cook School Park - pretty good.  And we had a good turnout of police, fire and elected officials.   All combined I estimate between 300 and 400 people joined in. 

My thought provoking neighbor challenged me (thanks Pat TK) to consider how we might do National Night Out in the future and that led me to the following ideas:

• take the party to the neighborhoods that are "crime hot spots".  There are places in Plainfield where residents don't feel they can come out at night.  That's where we need to take back the streets.
• we need to empower our block associations to take the lead in planning National Night Out.  Public Safety officials, Mayor and Council members should get behind them, not in front of them.
• we truly need to empower our city-wide black association group.  Currently it is run by the police.  Our block association leaders need to take it over and get more support from the police.  They need to receive regular, real time crime information that they can take back to their neighbors.  When public safety problems (and proposed solutions) are brought up at their city-wide meetings, the police representatives may need to use the chain of command to provide the proper response.  But they do need to follow-up and bring back responses. 

We had a good night in Plainfield.  With new leadership coming in city hall, we have the opportunity to improve on our successes, try new approaches to public safety and make our streets safer, not just at city hall and Cook School Park, but in the places where people don't feel they can freely partake of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

Plainfield's Opportunity

Now that the all important Mayoral primary is behind us, there is a strong possibility for new leadership to take the reins of city government.  I have felt for a long time that Plainfield's success has been held back by a lack of leadership and that a good leader can make a world of difference for our city.

The job of City Council for the next 6 months is to find ways to achieve small victories and to make sure that bad decisions are not made.  The City Council wisely budgeted in 2013 for the hiring of experts to bring us best practices in municipal government.  We want our new leadership to start in 2014 well armed with ideas to move Plainfield into the 21st century.  To use a baseball analogy, we have been a minor league farm team for too long.  Its time to join the majors. 

Code enforcement, building permits, recreation and economic development all need a makeover.  I will blog on each of these subjects in 2013.  We need to make city hall a friendly place for residents and business people.  Change needs to occur and change is never easy.  But when the opportunity arises, we need to embrace it.  We have turned away from opportunities too many times. Let's get ready for new leadership and be a part of the changes that will make us all proud to be Plainfielders.

Elmwood Gardens

Elmwood Gardens is an important project on the west side of Plainfield, actually just west of downtown, between West Front St and the train tracks.  It is also an indicator of what Plainfield can be and how its potential to overcome its problems can be realized.

This apartment complex, operated by the Plainfield Housing Authority, has been a crime hot spot for many years.  Its design is not conducive to residents safety.  To access your apartment, you have to pass through a main entrance and walk down a hall to your unit.  Cities across the country have been demolishing these types of apartments and replacing them with townhouse style living units, usually with a lower population density.  We can see that this has happened in Newark and Elizabeth, notably in Elizabethport where revitalization began when Miglori Manor and Pioneer Homes were knocked down.  These were designed much like Elmwood Gardens and were dangerous places to live and visit. 

                          view of the three Elmwood apartment buildings

 Some of us have been asking why Plainfield was not following the trend and finally we are hearing that progress will begin soon.  I contend that this project is as or more important than the redevelopment projects slated for downtown.  New projects add to our city in many ways but the new Elmwood Gardens also will remove conditions that drag down its residents, its neighborhood and the whole city. 

                      from a community focus group on the new Elmwood design

The new Elmwood Gardens will be a credit to the Housing Authority and its partners including city government.  It brings hope for more revitalization and momentum for private investors to join with the limited resources of government to bring Plainfield into the "major leagues"  where it once was and always belongs.

Plainfield Budget Amendments

This past Tuesday, the City Council approved budget amendments.  This is the Council's opportunity to make the annual city budget, introduced by the Mayor and her administration, its own.  That is the process at all levels of government- the executive branch submits a budget and the legislative branch modifies and approves it.  Some would call it teamwork, others the balance of power between the branches. Some in attendance at last Wednesdays Council meeting might call it a mess. 

It was all the above.  But mostly it worked. 

Every year I look forward to the budget amendment meeting, albeit with some anxiety.  For all the hours Council members put in throughout the year, our power and influence is not as great as most observers think.  Except for budget amendments.  This is when we get to say what are priorities and where the Mayor and administration must spend the city's resources. These amendments have a real impact on the rest of the year.

The Council was wise to employ David Kochel as our budget consultant.  He is a retired city administrator who previously served (8 months) in the Robinson-Briggs administration as interim City Administrator. He crunched the numbers and recommended various increases and decreases to the Mayors budget.  There were a few bumps in the road as we voted on each and every recommendation but ultimately all were approved. 

Some amendments were initiated by Council members.  One amendment, championed in part by me, added $75,000 to the Council budget to bring experts in municipal government operations as part of the transition to a new Mayor and administration.  Plainfield residents want change at city hall.  They deserve a city government that uses best practices to serve the people at the lowest possible tax rate.  We all know that some of city hall's operations are in need of overhaul.  Recreation, code inspections and communications are prominent on most people's lists.

I want the new administration to hit the ground running.  We have lost 8 years to lack of vision and inaction.  It's time to make things better for our residents.  It's time to give our city employees the tools they need to succeed and grow as municipal government professionals.  The $75,000 increase will enable us to use in expertise this year to plan improvements beginning in 2014.

The budget amendments went through the Council Finance Committee, which is Adrian Mapp, Bill Reid and me.  I thank the other Council members for their support of the amendments, especially Tracey Brown, who introduced an amendment at the Council meeting to increase summer youth employment opportunities.  A good move that was supported by all.  The sum total of the amendments did not add one penny to property taxes.  It was a good night for the residents of Plainfield.

Final budget approval will be this Monday at 8 pm in the municipal court chambers.

Primary Voting is Important

Plainfield's next Mayor will be selected by the voters this Tuesday.  Plainfield newcomers:  the overwhelming percentage of registered Democrats compared to Republicans has led to a Democrat  as our Mayor ever since Paul O'Keefe held the seat in the late 1970's.  The only times since that Democrats have crossed over to non Democratic mayoral candidates in significant numbers were the Donald Harris campaign (he lost to Harold Mitchell) and Al McWilliams, who came amazingly close to beating Sharon Robinson Briggs in 2005 as a write -in candidate. And Al was a Democrat who was forced off the party line.

This time around we can all assume a Democrat will win the mayoral seat.  The race will be determined Tuesday, June 4 between Adrian Mapp and Sharon Robinson-Briggs.  Registered Democrats:  you will have a major say in the future of our city on election day.  The contrast between Adrian and Sharon could not be greater.One has a track record of successfully representing all Plainfielders and the other only gives the impression of representing all of Plainfield.  With all my heart, I hope Plainfield is victorious.  Go Adrian!!