South Ave Gateway project

Plainfielders are asking if there are any legitimate reasons for the City Council to not approve the Gateway project.   The answer is no.  Here are the reasons given by my colleagues and why they don't add up:

1. "We were not adequately informed"
We have been talking about this for more than a year.  Reports to Council have been made by Carlos Sanchez.  I've made reports to Council as Planning Board representative and have personally offered to go over the project with several of my colleagues.  The developer presented to the Plainwood Square merchants and Councilwoman Taylor and I were at the meeting.  Planning Board meetings are advertised and open to the public. This project has been on their agenda numerous times.  Could the administration have given more information more often?  Yes they could have.  Could any Council member have asked for this project to be on the agenda for discussion at any meeting.  Yes we could have.  Council members have a responsibility to seek information to their questions.  If a new Council member begins a term in the middle of a major project, it is his/her responsibility to come up to speed and not hold up the project.

2. "The 30 year payment in lieu of taxes is too long".
This is a highly technical matter and needs guidance from experts.  The Council has a right to ask these experts questions to inform their vote.  But for a Council member to propose changes without expert advice makes no sense.  To a Council member who makes such a statement:  what do you base it on and who are your experts?  Did you seek out your advice as part of the Council as a whole?  If so, I wasn't included.

3. "We are bringing yuppies to town" 
So what.  We are bringing a whole lot more property taxes to town.  To pay for the rising costs of police and fire services, to offset all the tax appeals that are lowering our tax base.  A few hundred new residents of any description aren't going to change the demographics of Plainfield.  And if they did, is that a problem?  I welcome to Plainfield yuppies of all ethnic and racial backgrounds.

4.  "What about our public schools"
The apartments are designed for single people and couples, not families with children. 

There is always a reason not to change.  Even if every other town along the Raritan Valley line is changing.  We can continue to lose tax ratables but what will the Council say to residents who want adequate police services when we can't afford them.  Or to seniors who own homes who can't afford Plainfield's tax increases.

Here is what I think about this project.  The developer, the city administration and the planning board have worked hard to design a quality project.  It can be an asset to the neighborhood and a benefit to the whole city.  If we blow this opportunity, it will be so much harder and take so much longer to do successful projects on East 2nd Street, downtown and on the west end.  Developers will continue to take their projects and investors to other towns.

This is a crucial moment for Plainfield and its City Council.  A turning point, no matter what we decide.

Yard Waste Enforcement

For many years, Plainfielders have disregarded the state regulations on putting yard waste on the street for pick-up.  Bundles of branches, piles of leaves and brush were sitting on city streets for weeks and even months, creating unsightly and unhealthy conditions.  This problem was particularly acute in the years before Adrian Mapp became mayor because city pick-ups only occurred in the spring and fall.  Now they occur more frequently, throughout the year.  But the problem has not gone away. 

It is helpful to understand what is behind the state regulation - that yard waste must be put on the street right before scheduled pick-ups, not days or weeks ahead of time.  New Jersey wants to prevent yard waste, particularly leaves, from washing into storm sewers.  This debris eventually flows into streams and rivers, silting up and clogging the natural flow of water as it seeks the bays and ocean.

You can do your part to beautify our city and protect our environment.  If you see neighbors putting out their yard waste, don't assume the pick-up is the next day.  Check the city website for the pick-up schedule  (not the PMUA schedule).  Or put the city mailer with the schedule on your refrigerator for quick reference.  If you have a lawn service, tell them to follow the rules.  Some day the state will fine municipalities for non-compliance and Plainfield will have to fine property owners for early put-outs.  It will be a fine for the property owner, not the lawn service.

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.