Friday, July 28, 2006

HITS: Green, Moriarty & Sweeney break up?... Pallone a hot ticket?... Mapp targeted?...

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HITS: HEARD IN THE STREET...

GREEN... MORIARTY & SWEENEY: A BREAKUP?


With Gov. Corzine convening a special session of the Legislature today to hear his proposals about tax reform and then get organized to do (?) something about it, this press release is of more than passing interest: "Sweeney and Moriarty Unveil Legislative Agenda for Government Employee Compensation Reform"

The really interesting thing is that Jerry Green's name is missing. What happened to the troika that attacked public worker compensation packages? Can it be that Charlotte De Filippo's remark about being "underwhelmed" with Green's participation in the budget process has had its effect? Hmmmmmmmmmm.... Does this portend anything in reference to next year's Assembly runs?...

PALLONE VISIT A HOT TICKET?

If you got the postcard -- and PT understands not everyone did -- you know that Congressman Pallone has scheduled a community forum for next Thursday, 7:30 - 9:30 PM -- at CITY HALL. CITY HALL IN AUGUST? Yep...

With several air-conditioned venues available, the Congressman's office -- for some inexplicable reason -- chose City Hall where, those who endured Wednesday's Zoning Board meeting can attest, you can have (feeble) air conditioning or hear what's going on, but not both. Oh, and the backup plan in case of overflow is said to be placing chairs in the rotunda -- where there is NO AIR.

Public Library Director Joe Da Rold reached out to Pallone's office as soon as he got the postcard to offer the Library's spacious, air-conditioned meeting room, but was told they felt committed as the postcard had already been mailed. Was this a gaffe by the Congressman's office... or just thoughtlessness at City Hall?


FREEHOLDER MAPP TARGETED IN DISINFORMATION CAMPAIGN?

After Judge Lyons on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit over the City charter's residency clause and Mayor Robinson-Briggs' qualifications to serve, PT heard that Freeholder Adrian Mapp was being blamed as the motive force behind the lawsuit.

Not so, PT has been told.

Seems to be a classic case of DISINFORMATION -- "Erroneous material intentionally promoted to confuse, distract and otherwise make it more difficult to determine the truth."

Now, where on earth could this have gotten its start? Does it have anything to do with the recent war of words in the letters-to-the-editor pages? Or the fact that Freeholder Mapp's term is up next year?...


CITY WEBSITE UPDATE

Checked back in to see how the update on the website is going... The basic 'guts' seem to be untouched -- with the exception that the language of the Mayor's welcome letter has been corrected.

But... still no schedule of the revised COUNCIL MEETINGS -- either a table or a list. Just the text description by which the reader is expected to make their own calculations (sort of like the table for computing the date of Easter in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer -- and as arcane).

...Carlton McGee is still listed as Acting Director of Administration and Finance though by law this cannot be the case... the LINKS page mysteriously fails to include (as it once had) such staples as the Public Library, the Public Schools or Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center... there is no consistency about department and division listings -- some give fax and email, many don't.. Council emails are not given...why not? It's the easiest way to make contact in this wired age...

...the site has a lot of snazzy little Flash thingies zipping through photo cycles here, there and everywhere... but try to get a simple printed page! One cannot get the fancy graphic header of the page to print, only the main text, and then a separate sheet that contains ONLY the "About Plainfield" line... Sloppy!

We'll be checking back...


GREETSTAFF OVERWHELMED BY CHORES?

Meanwhile, the overburdened Greetstaff at the City Hall information counter seem not to have time to go through the materials on the counter and discard those for outdated events... at Wednesday evening's Zoning Board hearing, PT noticed postcards still there for the Outdoor Art Festival held July 15th... And the only copy of the PCTV-74 weekly schedule was taped to the counter so it could not be removed... What's up with that?...


VIRTUOUS POLS?

Meanwhile, PT has spotted some VIRTUOUS POLS -- OK, ex-pols. Both former GOP 2nd Ward Councilor Donna Vose and former Dem 3rd Ward Councilor Malcolm R. Dunn have been spotted tooling around town in energy-conserving PRIUS hybrids.

Right on!...

and... last, but not least, PT has heard but has not yet been able to confirm that a certain ex-pol is now on the payroll of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority. If true, this will certainly be eligible for nomination to the IRONY OF THE YEAR awards...


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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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Regarding an ex-pol working for the PMUA - consider it confirmed! Yes, Bob Ferraro is now working for the PMUA. He drives around in a little white car marked PMU and he hands out tickets to residents who left their garbage cans out on the street on the wrong day. Did you know the fine is $185!!! Is it even Legal for the PMUA to fine residents?? The money goes to the PMUA - NOT to the City!