Monday's posts will take the form of a digest of Plainfield-only news from the past week: THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS -- or TW3 -- with links to the online stories.
GOVERNMENT / POLITICS
Santiago imbroglio: Mayor Robinson-Briggs' putting Police Chief Ed Santiago on paid leave continued to be the top story this past week, with a demonstration by the PBA, and a report by the Courier of a rally of support planned by the Latin American Coalition. The Mayor's appointment of Lt. Ron Lattimore as acting chief came out of the gate as something of a fizzle: When was the appointment to take effect? The prepared release said 'immediately,' then a spokeswoman for the mayor said a formal announcement had been postponed. Though it was scooped by the Courier, the Ledger managed to get a couple of whacks in in its story: an intimation that Santiago's attorney is viewing the leave as retaliatory, and a reassurance from PBA president Andre Crawford that there is 'no political axe to grind' since former mayor Al McWilliams is gone. On Sunday, the Courier editorialized the game was not worth the candle: there are reasons why police chiefs are hard to remove, and the Administration's strategy is likely to be costly to the taxpayers, they opined. As the old saying goes, once they call in the lawyers, everybody else loses.
Council meeting dates: Trailing, but not by far, is the drama over the proposal by the Council to change its time-honored meeting schedule. The proposal, the Courier points out, would certainly benefit Public Works Director Jenny Wenson-Maier who is also a Rahway councilperson and cannot attend all Plainfield's meetings as currently set. The plan drew flak at the Council meeting, which the PlainTalker pointed out, as did the Courier on Saturday. Perhaps most interesting is the observation by Bob Darden that many churches have their Bible study groups on Wednesday evenings. Will the Council force the voting public to choose between exercising their religion and attending Council meetings?
le Parti, c'est moi?: But perhaps the biggest bombshell of the week came with Bernice's coverage of Friday night's Democratic City Committee meeting, where chairperson Assemblyman Jerry Green announced he, and he alone, would pick the candidates for the Democratic primary in June. The PlainTalker leaves the dailies in the dust. . .
On other fronts, Bernice covered a joint meeting of the Planning, Zoning and HPC boards, honed in on the Council's own committee structure, and the expected Council action on the Mayor's nominations to various boards. Question for you: Does the Council appoint? Or does it merely give its assent to the Mayor's appointments?
Last, and least, Dan's piece on the email adventures of the new Administration, pfld = Plainfield? Whatever!
CRIME
No murders this week, but there was a drive-by shooting on Liberty Street, reported by the Courier and the Ledger. And a Plainfield man led cops on a three-town chase...
Everyone in the Prospect/Kensington/Hillside/Putnam area is still waiting for the papers to pick up on the rash of daytime burglaries and whether the police have caught anyone...
CONNECTIONS?
Stories from other NJ towns that may bear lessons for Plainfield
..... - Banking: "In banking, small is the new big"
........... With PNC taking over United Trust and Plainfield only a place to exploit, this resonates
..... - Code Enforcement: "East Orange apartments called unsafe; large fines could result"
..... - Commercial Vehicles: Letter: Commercial Vehicles in Residential Driveways
..... - Parking, On-Street: "Nutley defends its decades-old limits on parking"
..... - Pay-to-Play: "Maplewood eyes 'pay to play' ban that Plainfield shelved"
..... - Taxes: "Value of Short Hills Mall at issue; residents question tax settlement"
..... - Zoning: "Montclair Mile: 'Prohibited use' pits established businesses against new"
COMMUNITY
Plainfield Today: "Charlie Brown's: A Plainfield success story cut short"
Plainfield Today: "FOSH invites you to do good by eating out"
School Board [2nd item]: "David Graves appointed to school board"
Plain Talker: "Board of Ed Filings Due Monday"
Plainfield Today - Amended Information added: "Library's photo contest has cash prizes"
ET CETERA
Book Signing: "Mohawk Lodge hosts a book-signing featuring black authors"
Plainfield Today: "Paying for influence: Charts accompanying press on lobbyist filings"
Obituary: "Ella M. Bryant, formerly of Plainfield, mother of Eloise Bryant Tinley"
Obituary: "Antwine L. McAllister, shooting victim"
Picture Story - CN: "Boys & Girls Club's 'Father-Daughter' Dance"
Indoor Track 'Meet of Champs': "PHS' Reginald Dixon races to 55-meter victory"
PHS Basketball:
..... - "Plainfield returns to county title tilt; 1st time since 1984"
..... - "Boys Basketball: Disappointed Plainfield falls to St. Patrick"
..... - "Section-by-section glance at the state tournament"
..... - "Players to watch in the state tournament: Jerrell Thompson"
-- Dan Damon
Keywords: TW3
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