HITS: Death threats on Mayor?... Murder No. 6... World-class communications?... Gov writes Plainfield off?...

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HITS: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .

DEATH THREATS -- Against Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs? From drug kingpins angry at recent busts? That is what PT hears in the street. Credible death threats against public officials must be treated seriously. The Mayor should be absolutely safe from harm. And the public should know that steps are being taken.

What steps? At a minimum, the public has a right to expect:

• Round-the-clock police protection, 24/7
• An armored vehicle instead of a standard-issue SUV
• An armed plainclothes officer assigned to drive and accompany the Mayor at all times
• Metal- and bomb-detectors at City Hall
• Screening of the public at any meeting or event attended by the Mayor

Not to take all necessary steps and inform the public of same would leave the administration open either to accusations of reckless disregard of the Mayor's safety or of incompetence.

The public also has a right to know what is being done to fight criminals making such threats. Such as Operation Ceasefire?

And what is being done to protect the other 47,828 residents of the city.

Cory Booker has also been threatened. Steps have been taken to protect him. And he has continued to speak out about crime in Newark and what he is going to do to make that city safer, including launching his 'Safe Streets' initiative within the first days of being sworn in. Should Plainfield expect any less?

MURDER No. 6 -- Meanwhile, murders continue unabated. Number 6 in '06. Liberty Street, again. Drugs, PT hears. People feel unsafe and jittery. Reassurance from the Administration? The silence from City Hall is deafening.

ALL CRIME IS NOT EQUAL? -- Have you heard of any criminal charges forthcoming in the missing $$$ from the Tax Collector's office? Does being the 'special friend' of a pol mean getting special treatment?

WORLD-CLASS-COMMUNICATIONS DEPT. -- PT, along with the rest of the world, waited with baited breath for the arrival of the new age of world-class communications due to arrive in Plainfield on July 3.

• PCTV-74: Now running and rerunning and rerunning the speaker from last January's annual Frontiers MLK breakfast. Variety! Progress!
  
  
• PLAINFIELD.COM: The disaster continues. The Council schedule is incorrect. The solicitation for RFQ's [due June 26] is still up. As are the notices of March's Women's Health Month and last spring's men's prostate screening. Not to worry, the weather information is OK, as reader JD points out. But then, that is piped in from MSNBC.

HABEMAS BULGA! (WE HAVE A BUDGET) -- The state has a budget agreement, as of yesterday afternoon. Yes, it was about the budget. But it was also about a whole lot more -- which you'll hear little of in the press. Like why the legislature couldn't get it together though the Gov delivered the budget a hundred days before D-day. And the criminal neglect -- bipartisan -- in the failure of the legislature to fund the state's pension obligations for a decade, causing part of the fiscal crisis....

But the real struggle going on here was not about the budget. It was about who is going to be the top dog, Alpha-male, Democratic leader of the state. Though Norcross and Co. played a dogged game -- calling in every chit and attacking the public unions -- Corzine came out on top.

So now Corzine has two reasons to write Plainfield off his list? The fake 'endorsement' and unauthorized use of his signature in last year's campaign AND the attack on his budget position this year? What surprise can next year hold?

'May you live in interesting times.' -- Astounding Science Fiction, April, 1950.

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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