HITS: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .
Yes, Jim McGreevey and his partner Mark O'Donnell are moving to town. And I've already gotten emails from the neighborhood about people driving by to take a gander at the house. 1332 Prospect Avenue. Drive by now. Get it out of your system before the tour buses start coming, you don't want to look rude...
While we're welcoming new kids on the block, you should be watching the Ledger for stories from the new Plainfield reporter, Alexi Friedman. He is beginning to make his way around town, but since he is still learning the lay of the land, be sure to reach out if you have anything you feel would be of interest to him and the Ledger readers. Phone: (908) 302-1505. Email: afriedman@starledger.com.
The dustup over the Council's adoption of an interlocal services agreement with the Union County Improvement Authority [UCIA] started out being about the process -- as PT said earlier and members of the public stated at the mike on Monday: What's the rush? Vicky Griswold's letter in today's Courier captures the spirit of the comments and questions from the public on Monday evening. But the Courier's editorial goes even further than PT: "marionette-like," "powerless to do anything but vote 'yes'," "a cloud over anything the Authority proposes." Wow! That's more than process to me. Who knew!?
...But the kicker may actually be that with the "new and improved" Council schedule, this was only the first of many such surprises to come. As Council President Blanco said in response to resident Keith Biddulph's question on the timing, "That's what we do on a regular basis." And as Bette Davis said in All About Eve, "Fasten your seatbelts, we're in for a bumpy night"...
[Aside: Bernice noted Councilor Cory Storch "fretted" over the process. The residents of the Second Ward -- the whole city, truly -- should thank their lucky stars they have a Councilor such as Storch who will fret aloud over things and precipitate at least SOME discussion on the momentous moves coming down the pike.]
There were a couple of other items concerning the Council this week that intrigued PT: Besides the UCIA resolution that had been put on as a 'consent' item, there were two others: resolutions to study expanding the North Avenue Historic District Redevelopment Area and to initiate a study of the discreetly named East 3rd/Richmond Streets area. PT understands items must be unanimously agreed to to go on as consent items. But we can not recall items of such moment being given the 'no further discussion' treatment -- especially since it appears to thwart public participation in the process and make a mockery of the notion of transparency. Then there is the odd item concerning the resignation of Nathaniel Davis as the city's prosecutor. The letter was dated May 25, to take effect immediately. No explanation. No comment from the administration. No big deal...except that yesterday there was a story in the Ledger about the tiff in Hillside between the Planning Board chair, the Council and -- ultimately -- County Dem chair Charlotte DeFilippo over the firing of Nathaniel Davis as the Board's attorney. Would this be the same Nathaniel Davis? Was DeFilippo behind his demise in Hillside? Are there dots to connect here?...
Of cheatin' hearts and stealin' hands: OK, maybe just stealin' hands.. News of busts and pleas and sentences for thievery and official misconduct have been in the news this week -- in Old Bridge, South Amboy, Union County -- but nary a peep in Plainfield, where the $3,000 missing from the Tax Collector's office is still missing as far as the public knows, and as far as the public knows the Prosecutor dreams on, unaware...
...as some say do I.
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
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