Traffic Safey on Council Agenda

I am happy to say that our city administration, and in this case our police division, is getting the job done.  The latest example is additional stop signs at the intersections of Hillside Ave and Evergreen Ave. and Hillside and Prospect Ave.  In the past, complaints about cars speeding in residential neighborhoods resulted in lots of talk and reasons we couldn't or shouldn't do something about it.  I was beginning to think that the words "referred to the traffic safety committee" meant "no further action is warranted".

At last nights council meeting, Police Director Carl Riley explained that the most recent complaints about Hillside Ave led to studies on frequency of accidents.  As a result ordinances are on the July agenda for approving the additional stop signs.

Another good sign (forgive the pun) is that the police are studying other dangerous intersections for future action.  Among them are intersections along Putnam Ave.  Action on Putnam is personal for me as a good friend died in a car crash at a Putnam intersection some years back (rest in peace Sonny).  Neighbors have complained about this street for years and my interventions didn't lead to action.  Now we wait for Director Riley to let us know what will come out of police studies.

Another dangerous intersection is East 7th St and Central, one corner of which is the Maxson School soccer fields.  While campaigning there in May with (then) city committee candidate (Terrance Bellamy, now elected city committeeman), he told me of many accidents at that corner and asked for help.  I asked City Administrator Rick Smiley for interim action to be taken while waiting for a determination on a traffic light or stop sign.  The next day the Central stop sign poles were covered top to bottom with red reflective tape, making them much more noticeable at night.

After years of being bogged down with inaction, our city government is making the right moves.  I am grateful for these small signs of progress.  Sometimes a small step can be big, as in saving a life.

July 4th Parade

Walking in the parade doesn't allow you to see the parade.  So I walked back along the parade route until I found the Plainfield H.S. marching band.  I knew that would be a highlight.

The High School cheerleaders

 

 

Our Marching Band

 

 

East Orange Silver Steppers

 

 





 Flor Gonzalez, Parade Grand Marshall, with Joe Cryan

 



Members of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee



Friends of Sleepy Hollow Proposal Heard at HPC

Friends of Sleepy Hollow (FOSH) brought a proposal to the Historic Preservation Commission last night to place 8 neighborhood signs around the eastside of town.  Every discussion participant, including members of the public, had strong feelings on either side of the proposal.  It is safe to say that everyone was passionate about historic preservation but did not agree on methods.  It is also safe to say the historic preservation is a lot more complicated than regulating the restoration of old homes.

By meetings end, the yes or no question about FOSH's signs was not resolved.  But lots of questions were raised and good points made.  The highlights for me:

1. There is a group of people in the process of revitalizing FOSH.  They have raised money towards a neighborhood sign project and look towards more civic improvement initiatives.  They have gone door to door in neighborhoods for support in neighborhoods not considered to be part of Sleepy Hollow.  They want to market the positive attributes of historic neighborhoods.

2. The HPC is not ready to agree to signs in a historic district that do not reflect the name of the district (two of the eight sign locations would be in historic districts).  But HPC members urged FOSH to get behind the goal of expanding and adding historic districts within Plainfield. 

3.  Members of the public pointed out that Plainfield is a historic town and that goes well beyond one ward or one section of town.  In fact, a house does not need to be at the high end of the price range to have historic value.  Nor does a neighborhood need to be upscale.  With emotions running high, I think many people at the meeting lost sight of the fact that everyone agreed on this.

4.  I find it heartening that we have new blood coming onto the local scene who want to take positive action in Plainfield.  I trust that all concerned with neighborhood improvement and historic preservation, whether they are operating in official capacities or at the grassroots level, will sort out their differences and do good works in Plainfield.

One thing was clear last night.  FOSH is committed to building support for their initiatives.  They will need the people support even more than the financial support.

Is the City Council Now Cooperating with the Mapp Administration?

The short answer is yes and no.  In substance, yes.  In style, no.

One of the Councils most important votes of the year took place last night: annual budget amendments. To my surprise, the Council did cooperate with the Mayor, turning away from the cliff and backtracking to support the staffing he proposed in his introduced budget.  The budget is in the Councils hands and goes for final approval at the next business meeting.

Unfortunately, we saw more of the oppositional behavior from some Council members when it came to use of city vehicles for the Mayor and City Administrator.  Same problem for National Night Out plans.  This is especially unfortunate because some relevant points could have been made by Mapps' opponents.  They actually were but the tone and verbiage is so negative and out of context that the points are lost in the emotional displays.

Instead of going back and forth about conflicting plans for National Night Out, I suggested we combine forces.  I got no traction on this from either side.  Even Bernice Paglia, in her blog today, missed that I said this and she usually reports both sides of the debate - in this case the emotional and the rationale sides.

Regarding the process for assigning vehicles to our top city officials, Plainfield's long standing method of doing so was called into question by the CFO and City Attorney.  But their points were a sideline to the accusations against the Mayor and City Administrator.  There very well may be a better way of handling this issue but lets not pretend this is something new and sinister.  I am sure every Mayor going back 20 years has handled this in a way that could be questioned.  What is new is the level of bad will generated by some Council members on this vehicle question.

We did better last night and we still have a lot of work to do before we can say that the Plainfield City Council is performing at a satisfactory level.

A Victory for Plainfield

Plainfield came out on top last night with a landslide result in favor of the Progressive Democratic Organization.  This is a mandate for Adrian Mapp and his city administration to continue the work they started one and a half years ago.  This is also a vote of confidence for Rebecca Williams and me.  And I am very confident that Barry Goode will join the City Council after he wins the general election in November.  He will be a welcome addition to the governing body.

There are many unsung heroes from this election campaign.  We did our usual door to door campaigning and Barry and I were joined by many enthusiastic walkers.  In the 2nd Ward I offer many thanks to the following people who walked with me:

Bob Bolmer
Mike Pyne
Shep Brown
Joanne Macaluso
Flor Gonzalez
Roni Taylor
Carletta Jeffers
Jeannette Criscione
David Rutherford
Terrence Bellamy
Jim Spear
Belinda Smiley
Greg Haworth
and of course Adrian and Rebecca

There were too many telephone bank callers and other volunteers to list but thanks to every one of them.

There were many donors and I am proud to say that Barry and I received significant financial support from Plainfielders.  Peter and Libby Price generously opened their home for our fundraiser.  Lois and Matt (my son) provided the excellent food.  Funds were contributed to Storch Goode for Council by the campaign accounts of  Rebecca Williams and most of all, Adrian Mapp.

Mary Burgwinkle was the Treasurer for Storch Goode for Council and nobody does this better than Mary.

Thank you Derel Stroud for keeping us coordinated.  Bet you didn't know how difficult that is when you signed on with the Progressive Democrats of Plainfield!  Like herding cats!

Thank you Dan Damon and Rebecca Williams for your hard work on the media front.

Thank you Barry Goode for working so hard for our victory.  Thank you for having a sense of humor.  And for always letting me speak before you.

Thank you to my family for supporting my years of public service and political campaigns.  Lois was in Plainfield politics before me as Al McWilliams first campaign manager.  Her sage advice was and is always freely offered (if you know what I mean) and valuable.  Jean Mattson taught me door to door campaigning and introduced me to her vast network of friends across Plainfield.  Alexa and Matt - emotional support and literature drops.

And a final thought:  with political victory comes much responsibility to the residents of Plainfield, whether they supported us or not.

The Plainfield Democratic Primary Election is About the Residents Interests

The City Council just approved a Go-Go Bar on Richmond Street.  For the record, I am opposed and I thank my Council colleagues Rebecca Williams and Tracey Brown for voting no.  But why did the Council majority vote for approval?  This is surprising for a number of reasons and makes me question exactly who the City Council represents.

To understand the regulation of liquor licenses, you need to know that the City Council is also the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABC board for short).  The ABC can only enforce the regulations with the collaboration of the police department. This partnership has not always worked well for reasons that were not clear to me for some time.

For many years the City Council echoed the complaints of residents about bar fights and underage drinking at some of our establishments.  But always fell short of voting to crack down on bad behavior.  Only since Mayor Mapp appointed Carl Riley as Police Director has there been the collaboration needed to do the right thing. 

So I was surprised when we took a step backwards with the Go-Go Bar on Richmond.  Why would the Council majority vote for this when they are indignant about "immoral" behavior and like to say as much at Council meetings.  The previous go-go bar at this location was known for bad behavior.  There was even a fatal shooting outside the bar in the past.  And there is the concern about exploitation of women at these establishments.

It appears to me that the answer is connected to Jerry Green. He receives generous campaign contributions from liquor license holders (look at his ELEC reports).  Could this have anything to do with the Council majority about face on the go-go bar?

In addition to campaign donations, there is an opportunity to influence ABC decisions through the police department.  And there is much evidence of Jerry Green's hand within the police department.   Think back to Green's choice of the previous Mayor and her first election campaign with her police security detail. I know from experience that Green tried hard to force Mayor Mapp to appoint his own choice for Police Director. Right after Mapp stood strong to appoint Carl Riley, Green publicly attacked Mapp for being a bad Mayor (this was 4 months after Mapp took office!).  Why would he do that?

This is partly circumstantial evidence but it points to a pattern of behavior on the part of elected officials that results in a lack of enforcement of liquor regulations at some bars.  This is to Plainfield's detriment. We have been deploying our valuable police resources to break up bar fights all too often. The police should be responding to resident calls.  We need to hold the license holders accountable and make them hire security and install surveillance cameras.  On their dime, not the taxpayers. 

Campaign contributions are flowing into Jerry Green's campaign account. He appears to want to use the police for his own agenda.  And he has already been on video saying "I run this m".  But should the City Council be representing his interests or the residents of the area surrounding the Richmond Go-Go bar?

The Democratic Primary is About Jobs and Tax Ratables

The Adrian Mapp administration is moving the city ahead on economic development.  This after 8 years of moving backwards, of scaring businesses and developers away from Plainfield because of incompetence and neglect. 

Many residents were asking me why all the other towns along the Raritan Valley rail line were getting developed.  And it was true.  Just drive through Fanwood, Garwood, Cranford and Union.  Or Somerville going west. 

Finally, and not by coincidence, we began seeing development action on the home front right after Mapp got elected as mayor.  He hired a reputable director for economic development in Carlos Sanchez.  He brought in a CFO known throughout the state for his expertise who cleaned up the financial mess left by the previous administration.  Crime is on a downward trend.  These steps and other business friendly initiatives have attracted investors back to Plainfield.

Economic development is important because it brings jobs, tax ratables and more shopping to Plainfield.  It will bring vitality to downtown Plainfield at night.  All this takes time but it is beginning to happen:

• New buildings are going up near both of our train stations. 
• Our downtown was designated a Transit Village by the state.
• We finally have the one seat ride to and from Manhattan - off peak hours.
• We are much more active in the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, aiming for peak hour one seat service to Manhattan.
• Our Planning Board now expedites development applications, attracting even more developers to town.

Plainfield just got the coveted Smart Growth award from New Jersey Future.  This is because we are concentrating new development around our train stations and protecting the character of our residential neighborhoods by keeping them low density for housing.  At Elmwood Gardens, a public housing project known for frequent criminal activity, we are knocking down the projects and building new units at a lower density.

All this points to a brighter future for Plainfield.  That is, if we embrace the changes necessary for progress.  On June 2, you can choose the Democrats in column C if you want Plainfield to continue down the path Mayor Mapp has set for Plainfield.  Any other choice is only going to deter Plainfield from being all it can be.