H.I.T.S.: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .
GREEN / MORIARTY / SWEENEY PROPOSAL-- Curioser and curioser... The trio have a brand-new website -- Stop Spending My Money -- which is a Godaddy template registered on June 1st. The bulk of the site is press releases and the presentation [PDF file] the trio gave to the media. There is so much to go into I will be putting together a separate post devoted to the whole thing. If you check out the site, notice the list of editorials in support of their proposal -- seems like the Courier and all the other Gannett papers have jumped on the bandwagon. All of them?...
Meanwhile, back at City Hall talk is going around about the $41,000 or so missing from the Tax Collector's office. What! You didn't know?! Yep. And get this -- the loss was discovered months ago. Is the administration trying to cover it up? When funds went missing in a similar situation in Highland Park, the Ledger covered the story from start to finish, including the indictment of an employee in the matter. Not only have we not heard about the matter publicly, we don't know whether Prosecutor Romankow is looking into it or whether the responsible party will face charges... Maybe those surveillance cams planned for City Hall should be put in the Tax Collector's office first.
PT also hears that Mayor Robinson-Briggs wanted to go along with the police on a raid. All I can think of is back in 1996 when Christie Whitman, then governor, got carried away with the same idea and threw herself into the spirit of the thing, so to speak. It didn't do her much good. Seems someone persuaded the Mayor this wasn't the best thing to do. Sounds like good advice to me...There are questions in the air about what effect, if any, Bush's stricter Medicaid ID requirements will have on the cash flow situation at the Plainfield Health Center, where I have heard for years that a significant portion of the clients are undocumented immigrants. Equally of interest are rumors that PHC is taking over a community health center in Phillipsburg and plans to open another one in Warren or Sussex County... All that and development on their back 40, too?... Whole lotta shakin' goin' on...
Got an email earlier this week -- just after posting notice that Council President Ray Blanco had resigned from their board -- that Queen City Academy, one of the state's oldest charter schools, did not have its 21st Century grant renewed for the 2007 fiscal year, which begins July 1. This would have been the 5th year of a 5 year grant, so what's up? The prestigious 21st Century grant gave the school an extra $500K per year to subsidize pre-care, after-care, summer camp, enrichment and family skills services for the students and their families. Losing the grant will mean these services will now be fee-based, which may impact some families financially. This does not affect the normal academic funding of the school, which comes directly from the state...
Carl Turner, the City Engineer, has been slated to move from his 3rd floor perch in the Annex into my old office on the 2nd floor of City Hall for dog's years -- well, since before I moved out of it in February. Seems the move finally got under way. And the door to the new office was removed. Taken off. Gone. But not for good. It was replaced with a new door with a window in it, which one wag remarked reminded them of a window at the Aquarium in Camden. Panopticon, anyone?...
So what's to become of his old digs, once the Board Room of the Seventh-Day Baptist Church's world headquarters? 'Sposed to become the Council's new conference room, I'm told. But of course you know that the Annex has no elevator, making it non-ADA compliant. Nor does it have any dedicated parking -- handicapped or otherwise. So, does that mean the City will provide stevedores to carry handicapped residents to the third floor for their conferences with their Council representatives? Another job possibility for hangers-on?...
HOT TICKET-- Apparently the most sought after ticket in town this week is an invite to Liz Urquhart's 75th birthday bash. Happy birthday, Liz! Many happy returns!
Lastly, unless I've forgotten how to count to three, today should mark (theoretically, anyway) a RED LETTER DAY for a certain homebuyer, who should be out of attorney review today. I'm not naming any names...
DISCLAIMER: In the interest of fairness, any person identified in a HITS post who believes he/she has been portrayed unfairly or that the information about him/her is untrue will have the opportunity to respond in this space.
-- Dan Damon
Keyword: HITS*
1 comment:
Dear Dan,
I too am disappointed that QCA will not be funded by the 21st Century grant. However as its recently retired founding Academic Director I can state that the school's academic strengths are not diminished. It is a school where each child is valued and challenged to do his/her best under the care of dedicated individuals. The school is strong and intent upon providing an excellent kindergarten through eighth grade academic experience.
Cindy Cone
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