Mondays, PLAINFIELD TODAY is a digest of Plainfield-only news from the past week: That Was The Week That Was -- or TW3 -- with links to the online stories.
GOVERNMENT
SANTIAGO IMBROGLIO: Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' action in putting popular police chief Ed Santiago on paid leave continues to top the charts this week.
First, it came out in the Ledger that the Mayor had put Santiago on leave two hours after he had questioned the qualifications of Cynthia Crawford, wife of PBA president Andre Crawford, for a promotion. (Andre Crawford's support had been instrumental in the election of Robinson-Briggs.) Robinson-Briggs said she was unaware the Chief had been consulted, though promotions as a matter of policy are worked out between the Chief and the Public Safety Director. At Monday's meeting, the Council got an earful on the matter from residents, as the Plain Talker reported.
The Chief upped the ante by filing a motion for reinstatement, as reported by the Courier and Ledger on Thursday. Among the points made were that no written charges were filed or opportunity given to rebut them -- both necessary steps under state law. Sounds like the City is setting itself up for a loss? Rumors continue to swirl about the participation of the Mayor's confidential assistant in the decision to put the Chief on leave. If true, that would be more evidence of politics being at the heart of the matter.
If the captains who were passed over in selecting Lt. Ron Lattimore as acting chief decide to sue over the snub, the taxpayers may be facing even more of a bill. Meanwhile, longtime community activists Stu and Carol Allen weighed in with an OpEd in the Courier, and the week ended with a demonstration of support for Santiago in front of City Hall on Friday, organized by Flor Gonzalez of the Latin American Coalition, and reported by the Plain Talker. Among the vocal participants in the rally was Lillian Jamar, longtime Democratic activist who ran on the Green/Robinson-Briggs slate last June for Democatic City Committee. Jamar said she has not been able to schedule a meeting with Assemblyman Green on the matter. Lastly, Herb Kaufman weighed in with a letter to the editor. Too bad he is so disconnected and only gets his news from the papers -- I have a feeling if he actually came out and got involved he would have some real zinger insights.
CABLE DIRECTOR SUMMARILY REMOVED: The Plain Talker reported the summary dismissal of Rebecca Williams as station director for Plainfield's cable station, PCTV-74. Without notice, she was given her final pay and escorted from the premises early Monday afternoon. At week's end, Monday's programming was still being looped. Mayor Robinson-Briggs did not return calls from reporter Bernice Paglia for comment. With the retirements of John DiPane (who maintained the City's website) and Dan Damon (long-time city media relations point man), and Williams' dismissal, the city is now without any information professionals. With the dailies apparently no longer having the will or the resources to cover Plainfield, it is going to be even harder for the city to get the word out about what is going on. What is the plan? The city needs to fill the void instead of having only the blogs as the source of Plainfield news.
SCHOOL BOARD: With the filing of petitions for April's school board election, we are entering the Spring political season. Seven people filed for the three seats, including incumbents Pat Barksdale, Lisa Logan-Leach and David Graves, who was appointed in January to fill out the remainder of Sharon Robinson-Briggs' term. Robinson-Briggs had to step down when became mayor on January 1. Assemblyman and Democratic City Committee chairperson Jerry Green vowed the Democratic Party would not involve itself in the race, though as the Plain Talker reported, Green allowed there would be room for individual committee members to rally round a candidate or candidates. Logan-Leach was previously backed by Green. Barksdale and Graves have been associated with former mayor Al McWilliams.
CONNECTIONS?
Stories with lessons for Plainfield
..... - Affordable Housing: "Affordable Housing: The Suburban Solution"
..... - Arts District: "Long Brach moves to seize 'arts district' lots"
..... - Brownfields: "Top state court upholds rules for clean water at brownfields"
..... - Cory Booker Film: "Documentary about Newark up for an Oscar on Sunday"
.......... - Filmmaker Marshall Curry's site is here and the DVDs are now available
..... - Cop/Fire Overtime: "Newark police and fire overtime tab up sharply"
.......... - Staffing levels and rise in long-term sick leave drive increase
..... - Developer's bait-and-switch?: "When Renderings Clash With Reality"
.......... - Compare this Montclair story with the townhouses at Arlington and Randolph...
..... - Housing allowances: "Montclair manager gets monthly allowance for moving to town"
..... - Late paper work: "Montville loses $1.8M open space grant due to late paperwork"
..... - Nonpartisan does not mean no party influence: "Paterson elections leave trail of money"
..... - Public Records: "Cost to Piscataway of farm fight? Town charges $500 for records"
..... - School Board Elections: "Three Middlesex Co. board candidates are still in teens"
..... - School Bus Costs: "Report looks to shave school bus costs"
..... - Taller buildings, smaller footprints?: "New Brunswick: Revised Gateway plan OK'd"
..... - Theater: "Hollywood Theatre reopening paves East Orange's walk into new era"
CRIME
Crime was lite this week, at least in the media. A teen, caught in the act, was charged with car burglary, and a resident was charged with weapon possession. With the murder of Antwine McAlllister still unsolved, the cops turned to an innovative approach to getting leads and tips. I did get an email about gunshots in the First Ward this week, so more is happening than is being reported.
COMMUNITY
Plainfield Today: "FOSH 'Dinner Event' at Freshwaters a big hit"
..... - "Rick Taylor's letter to the editor: "4 women of color made a difference""
............ The Rev. Rick's salute to Nellie Suratt and Helen Miller, from Sunday's Courier
ET CETERA
Plainfield Today: "Norton will now find information easy, free and timely"
............ Minutes, agendas, resolutions and ordinances are the core of a Clerk's work.
............Topeka makes it painless for residents to lay hand on the stuff. When will Plainfield?
Plainfield Today: "New contact info for Dan"
Plainfield Today: "Using blogs: Emailing posts to a friend"
-- Dan Damon
Keywords: TW3
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