TW3: May 30 - June 4 - News digest of the past week

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GOVERNMENT / POLITICS

GREEN / MORIARTY / SWEENEY STATE WORKER GIVEBACK PROPOSALS--


The sound you hear offstage may remind you of the woodchipper scene from the movie Fargo, in which the killer eliminates a victim without a trace -- well, almost without a trace. In our case, the sound is coming from the angry public employee unions, after Assemblyman Jerry Green and two South Jersey colleagues proposed that the unions help out in the budget crisis by making givebacks. Specifically, pay cuts and working longer hours. Whatever the merits of the discussion, the question on everyone's mind is Why?

Why would Assemblyman Green and his colleagues Moriarty and Sweeney [part of the South Jersey Norcross machine] willingly walk into the woodchipper?

Why indeed! The speculating classes rose to the challenge, at least with respect to our local Assemblyman, and I offer for your perusal some of those shared with me -- all involving the Assemblyman taking the heat for something Corzine wants very much to bring up but cannot directly:

• A PASS: Making himself chipper fodder will give him a free ride for the next Assembly race (2007).
  
  
• A JOB: Giving an opening for a nice state job for the Assemblyman, opening his seat up for Mayor Robinson-Briggs, and the Mayor's seat for--???
  
  
• PENANCE: Word in the street is that Corzine is still sore over the unauthorized endorsement piece Green's campaign mailed out in last year's primary -- which used Corzine's signature and the Senate seal without permission -- and that this will help mend fences.

In any event, it seems plausible that the move will make it easier for the Corzine people to advance the conversation on givebacks now that it is opened. We all knew it would be tough for Corzine to put the screws to his ex-gal pal -- head of the largest union -- didn't we? Politically, that is.

Here are the [extensive] statewide links to the story and comment on it:

• Ledger: "3 lawmakers seek union givebacks"
• Courier: "Democrats propose pay cuts, more hours for state workers"
• Op Ed, Ledger: Paul Mulshine: "Sweeney [et al] ticks off public unions"
• Bergen Record: "A call to cut state workers' perks"
• Courier Post: "State workers asked to sacrifice for budget"
• Daily Journal: "Lawmakers want cuts in state pay"
• Daily Record: "State workers threatened with pay cuts"
• Gloucester County Times: "Reform targets state's workers"
• Philadelphia Inquirer: "Sweeney to N.J. workers: Cut pay"
• Trenton Times: "Cost cutting hits a nerve"

SCHOOLS-- With Abbott School districts under a mandate maintaining a 'flat' budget for the next year, Plainfield's Board of Ed held a special meeting this past Tuesday to approve $14M in cuts. Bernice reported at length on the budget issues. The proposal goes to Trenton, which is expected to complete its review shortly. The Ledger editorialized on Abbott district budget today, while Sunday's Courier pointed out that SCC difficulties are causing Abbott districts to press older buildings into service. Pressure is likely to mount on Abbott districts over the next year to increase their tax levies -- which have been frozen at decade-old levels. "This is serious stuff, and Plainfield, like a lot of other places, is going to have to figure out something new,” Bernice quotes Board member Rasheed Abdul-Haqq as saying. If you want to know more about school issues -- especially funding construction -- be sure to check out the community forum set for Thursday, June 15, 6:00 PM, at the Unitarian Church, 724 Park Avenue. Council President Ray Blanco announced this week his resignation from the board of the Queen City Academy charter school, which has made significant gains during his term of service.

PUBLIC RECORDS-- The Courier finally got paid for its out of pocket expenses -- about $75K -- in the drawn-out fight over access to the 911 tapes from the Jayson Williams shooting incident. The next day, they editorialized that the dispute's resolution was a 'win' for public access. This is no doubt true -- but truer the deeper your pockets are. Which means not much changes for your run-of-the-mill OPRA buff...

2006 PRIMARY-- Tuesday is Primary Day, though you would hardly know it from driving around. Hardly a sign to vote this year. 2006 will be the year for Republicans to elect their committee members (the GOP and Dems elect in alternate years) and reorganize their city and county committees. There are no contested primaries in Plainfield. Though Bob Menendez and Tom Kean, Jr. are expected to win their respective primaries handily on Tuesday, Menendez did see fit to bring in a big-gun Dem in the person of Barak Obama to help solidify ties with Black voters, as the Bergen Record noted. In the nasty fight over Menendez' vacant House seat, West New York Mayor and Assemblyman Albio Sires seems a shoe-in over Perth Amboy Mayor and Assemblyman Joe Vas -- despite the endorsement of Vas by Garden State Equality, the statewide gay advocacy group of which Plainfield Area Equality [PAE] is a part. PAE didn't have to choose between gay rights and Democratic loyalty as Plainfield is not in the election district in question.

Last Friday's H.I.T.S.: "HITS: Friday, June 2, 2006"
More daytime shootings... Security cams in City Hall?... What about the West End?... 'Beat the Odds' scholarships...
Last Week's TW3: "TW3: May 22 - May 29, 2006"
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.


COMMUNITY

Carnival [last item]: "Carnival set at high school"
'Clippings': "Clippings is one!"
Galas: Chamber of Commerce, Kings Daughters Day School: "Two go-to events"
Memorial Day: "Memorial Day 2006 - A Plainfield Album"
Piano Events at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian: "Seven pianists will play on two Sundays"
Plainfield Chamber of Commerce [last item]: "Chamber to bestow awards at gala"
Plainfield Girlchoir: "Plainfield choir sets a high note"
Plinton Suicide: "Ohio sheriff blasts officers' 'sloppy work' in drug sting"
Shakespeare Garden: "Shakespeare Garden in peak viewing condition"
YMCA: "Free aerobics classes at YMCA"


CRIME

Front Street, Downtown [2nd item]: "Man is arrested in Plainfield beating, robbery"
Driver's License Scheme: "City woman admits guilt in driver's license plot"


CONNECTIONS? FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Bank Branches: Fran Wood: "Trouble ahead? Bank on it"
Corruption: "Hazlet ex-mayor admits to taking informant's bribe"
Developers: "In Jersey, a little land is big prize for builders"
Engelhard Corp.: "Third offer's the charm for BASF, Engelhard"
Fountain Baptist Church: "By its generous act of faith, church bears witness to love"
Heroin Additive: Fentanyl: "Heroin Users Warned About Deadly Additive"
Jewish Newark: "Jewish Newark thrives in cemeteries, novels and memory"
Memorial Day: "Memorial Day - What Is This Special Day?"
... - The author, Fernando Suarez del Solar, is the father of Marine Lance Cpl. Jesus A. Suarez del Solar, killed in action in Iraq by a US cluster bomb.
Military Draft: "Military draft boards ready to roll"
Needle Exchange - NYT: "No Compromise in Sight on Plan to Fight H.I.V."
No-bid Development Contracts: "Records seized on Toll Brothers' Golden Triangle project"
Pedestrian Safety - Editorial, SL: "Protection for pedestrians"
Police HQ: "East Orange police reveling in new HQ"
Police Pay: "Pay cops more, poll urges"
Policing: "Edison's Choi creates program to identify officers with problems"
Prayer at Public Events - OpEd, CN: "Majority rule bad idea for public prayers"
Softball Fundraiser: ""Battle of the Barristers" tournament benefits Fresh Air Fund"
Surveillance - BBC: "Web users to 'patrol' US border"
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