HITS - Roundup of reader feedback...

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HITS: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .

PICNIC TOMORROW AT HANNAH ATKINS -- Cathedral International is hosting a picnic tomorrow afternoon at Hannah Atkins Park, Plainfield Avenue and West 3rd Street, in honor of Hope McLean Austin. Hope was a special needs teacher in the Plainfield public schools for many years and a Plainfield resident. The event is open to the public. (Thanks for the heads up, AM)

ENGLISH-ONLY AT CITY HALL? -- Wednesday's post, "Info at City Hall English-only?", generated lots of comment, some of which is gathered below --

Customer Service -- At the VA we have a customer service program called the "Ambassador Program". It basically provides the same service that the city hall program is supposed to provide. However, we have a list of interpreters for various languages. If someone needs to find a department or person and does not know where the office is located , we escort them. Our mission statement states that "we strive not only to meet, but exceed the expectations of our customers..." One must complete 16 hours of customer service training before assuming the position. Attitude, tone of voice and body language are stressed in the training sessions. (Thank you, JS)

• MORE -- I don't hold it as much against the people behind the counter since I don't think they had one ounce of training and have no idea of what they should be doing except whatever comes to their mind. One suggestion would be that the city give these people some training in customer service. Union County College offers some classes and the city once paid to have people take them. Why not for all new hires who must deal with the public? (Anonymous)
• MORE -- My point is precisely about the lack of customer service – after all she was probably going to the tax office to pay taxes, which in turn pay people’s salaries! I’ll be the first one to say we are in America, we have to speak English (I am a first generation immigrant). But like I tell my husband, the first generation does so/so, the second will do a bit better and so forth… Thanks for keeping an eye on things! (Thank you, LP)
  
• MORE --Learn English first --- and why sign in in any language!!!--- One public elementary school in Brooklyn has over 50 different native tongues and they learn to speak English first!! (Thank you, RG)
• MORE -- I find your PT great! I only wish everyone in the city received it! I must comment though I see Councilman Blanco is doing a fine job of including the Latino Community in the growth of Plainfield, this was his platform I recall.
• MORE -- Your "Info at City Hall English-only" article highlights the need for the employees at the reception desk to be taught CPR - Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect. It is obvious that our tax dollars are not being used wisely. (Thank you, AM)
• MORE -- It appears that this administration is falling down on even the most simplistic of jobs. I am always amazed at people in customer service jobs who do neither. (Anonymous)

LIBRARY UNVEILS ONLINE EXHIBITION -- The Plainfield Public Library has unveiled a new feature on its website, an online exhibit of photographs from its recent contest: "Plainfield In Focus: Photo-Documentation of a Changing Community." The exhibit is accessible from the library's home page, www.plfdpl.info.

The website exhibit makes it possible for people who cannot get to the library to enjoy all of the images. Designed by librarian Sacha Page, it consists of 75 images organized into nine categories that include streetscapes, transportation, and art and architecture. The website also makes it possible to read biographies of all the contributing photographers.

The actual exhibit of photographs has been extended through August in the library's Anne Louise Davis Room.
Local History Librarian Jessica Myers explains that the motivation behind the photograph contest was to generate contemporary photographs of life in Plainfield in the 21st century. The library has a collection of approximately 25,000 photographs of Plainfield and surrounding areas dating back to the mid 1800's.

"Plainfield In Focus" becomes the third website exhibit developed by the Plainfield Public Library. Earlier exhibits include "A History Of Education in Plainfield", and the library's art collection, which includes rare paintings by Winslow Homer.

This project was made possible by the Union County History Grant program which enabled the library to enhance its Local History collection, and ultimately to make it accessible in digital format to present and future library users.

For more information about this online exhibit, contact the Plainfield Public Library, Local History Department at 908/ 757-1111 ext. 136 or e-mail to localhistory@plfdpl.info .

THE CITY CHARTER CASE -- For those following the challenge to Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' qualifications to serve under the conditions outlined in the city's special charter, PT has received the following communication:

Judge Lyons' office has changed the time of the hearing time to 2:00pm...

SHARON ROBINSON-BRIGGS HEARING

JUDGE LYONS

(THIRD FLOOR) UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE

JULY 26, 2006

2:00PM

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE GRANT -- This past Monday's TW3 referenced a story about the expansion of a domestic violence program which says the agency's desire is to expand the program to Plainfield, among other cities. This jogged PT's memory, as we seemed to have been funded for just such a program in the last year or so. PT's comment elicited the following response from a person close to the program--

Hi, Dan! The grant from the Dept. of Justice in Washington, DC was an ARREST [acronym for grant program -- DD] grant for victims of domestic violence and a contractual agreement between the PPD and El Centro Hispanoamericano, with the city being the lead agency. This grant was up for renewal in January, 2006, but the city did not renew it... The funding ended March 31, 2006, with a significant amount of the funds having to be returned to the DOJ. [PT had heard the amount was in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.] It's unfortunate, as this program helped many people in our town who were victims of domestic violence obtain counseling, shelter, medical and psychological services, etc. El Centro's piece was to provide advocacy...and immigration assistance through a staff attorney. Although the program has ended, [the agency is] still getting calls from clients we helped through the Office of Violence Against Women on West 7th Street. This was a valuable program and a great loss to those people in need of the services, especially in light of that fact that Plainfield has had a higher rate of domestic violence than towns with more than twice our population such as Elizabeth and Newark(per Union County Crime Statistics, 2002).

FORUMS MAY BE DANGEROUS! -- As PT suggested in the June 26 post, "A beautiful day in the [online] neighborhood? Not!", the loose structure of online discussion/community forums makes it possible for a person's identity to be co-opted or falsified and one's reputation to be tarnished by these 'poisoned posts.' In light of that, there is a lesson to be learned from the following news from a reader whose ID was faked on the Ledger forums--

I am just writing to correct a little rumor I just found out about. When we were at Saturday's art festival, one of our council representatives approached us and told us that he had heard that we were breaking up and moving out of Plainfield. I asked where he had heard it and was told that it was on the NJO forum. Apparently, some malicious individual has usurped a portion of my e-mail address, created a fake identity and posted this info--some folks who I thought were smarter actually believed this rumor and posted a goodbye--wishful thinking, I guesss. I don't know what's more alarming--that unfounded gossip about us was posted there or that a council rep spends time surfing through such unfounded gossip and rumor--haha. It's too bad that an individual with sick obsession and no life felt the need to post a lie.

Just to correct the record, here's the truth. We are moving, and we are staying in Plainfield. You know that we lost our beloved dog back in May and got two new dogs. We quickly found out that our tiny backyard did not provide ample enough room for them to frolic and play, so we put our house on the market and decided to look for another house with a much larger, fenced-in back yard...That's the whole truth--thanks for your indulgence!

A CORRECTION, OF SORTS -- This in from Council President Ray Blanco, responding to the post on Rebecca Williams' new job, "Kongrats, perfesser!" --

Dear Dan:

You did it again, my friend! In your entry on Rebecca's recent accomplishment, you mentioned her involvement in my campaign for City Council but got a few items wrong.

In fact, Rebecca was my paid campaign manager during my primary campaign in 2004. She did an excellent job and was instrumental in my election. I will always be most appreciative of her support and efforts on my behalf.

However, I did not run as a New Democrat. I was the candidate of the Regular Democratic Organization of Union County, which at the time was chaired in Plainfield by Mayor Al McWilliams. The previous year I affiliated with the New Democrat but as you will recall (some words appear to be missing here -- DD)

While you stated that you would be remiss if you failed to mention Rebecca's involvement in my campaign, you forgot to mention her involvement in the campaigns of Council members Rayland Van Blake, Cory Storch, Linda Carter, Don Davis and Rashid Burney. So what was your point?

Let's state facts, Dan.

Yours, Ray

Rebecca did make an invaluable contribution to the elections of Councilors Van Blake, Storch, Carter, Davis and Burney. Mea culpa. The New Democrats always were -- and are -- Democrats. Ray Blanco and I sat round the table as New Democrats many long Saturday mornings and afternoons. And worked together on campaigns as Democrats. If the Councilor no longer considers himself a New Democrat as well as a Democrat and is at pains to make the distinction, it seems do date only from last year's primary.

(If all of this sounds to many readers like a 1940s discussion between Brooklyn Leninists and Trostkyites, it sort of is -- with all the sound and fury, and all the significance. -- Dan)

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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Blanco lashes Administration over appointments

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Council President Ray Blanco gave the administration of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs a severe tongue-lashing at last night's Council session after the ball was dropped on promises made at Monday's agenda-setting session.

The heart of the matter? The Mayor's nominations to various boards and commissions.

Blanco was clearly not happy on Monday evening when the Mayor delivered a sheaf of nominations to the Council that very night. Which meant without being on the agenda, with no previous public notice, and with no notice to the Councilors. He made it clear Monday that the nominations would be allowed on Wednesday's agenda only providing Councilors received complete details in their Tuesday packets.

That evidently did not happen and led to last night's rough justice.

Delayed in getting to the meeting at its start, President Blanco arrived about 45 minutes on. Upon assuming the chair and asking Councilor Carter where they were in the agenda, she explained that one of the nominations was being withdrawn.

Asking a few questions of the Clerk about the nominations -- at least one was not accompanied by a resumé and PT noticed that another had no street address listed and a third had a work address listed -- President Blanco declared all of the nominations summarily removed from the agenda "on the authority of the Council president."

[PT is not sure Council President had the parliamentary authority to do so, but he certainly had the MORAL authority -- and it was certainly clear no one would intervene.]

Declaring that he would not have the Council disrespected in this manner and that he would "not be subjected to political pressure," Blanco continued to tongue lash the administration for several minutes, ending with "Do I need to repeat myself in Spanish...or French..or Russian?...because I can..."

When asked to explain the Administration's failure to live up to what was agreed on Monday, city administrator Carlton McGee began answering without the mike. When someone in the audience protested, he pulled the mike over but mumbled so badly the audience could not hear very much of his response to Blanco.

When the Mayor asked to speak, she was given the floor. After she finished, Blanco insisted that no nominations would be allowed to come before the Council in future if the nominees had not met with the Council in executive session prior. And he suggested to the Mayor that if a simple resumé could not or would not be provided by the nominee, that she should consider not nominating that person.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?

When employed by the City, one of my responsibilities had been to assist in the recruitment and vetting of nominees for boards and commissions. Among the questions I had to address were: ensuring candidates were broadly representative of the community (gender, Ward of residency, diversity), that they had expertise if needed, that they understood the duties and would commit the time -- including training, if required, and an exploration of potential areas of conflict of interest. Lastly -- or firstly -- it was made clear to every potential appointee that a brief resumé was de rigeur, as well as a brief cover letter addressed to the Mayor giving contact information and naming the seat in which the candidate was interested.

I sympathize completely with the Mayor and the Council in how difficult it is to find and recruit suitable candidates. But the public's interest deserves the best effort.

So, when all that is said and done, why should the actual presentation of nominations to the Council be so problematic?

Unless it is simply a sign of the chaotic, ad hoc, and unplanned manner in which an Administration conducts its business?

We'll have another three and a half years to see if this is the case here, but an outline is beginning to emerge.

-- Dan Damon

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Info at City Hall English-only?

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PT was not among those who ipso facto thought that Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' move to set up an information desk in the City Hall rotunda was a bad thing. Was I wrong?

Though the first efforts seemed to obstruct emergency egress and went back to the drawing board, a configuration was finally settled on that seemed to work.

Then the counter was populated with patronage employees and bits and scraps of information. And a sign-in book.

Amid raised eyebrows and some muffled protests, visitors to City Hall were required to log in: name, office visited, time in and time out. At least it gave the uniformed gentleman something to do.

Monday, however, was a shocker to this humble observer.

I arrived to sign in and visit the Clerk's office and was next behind a Hispanic woman who was attempting to explain what office she wanted to visit.

Having some difficulty with expressing her need in English, and with the uniformed gentleman unable to understand her, she turned to me as if I might help. (The other two information desk employees -- a woman from Richmond Towers and a young man -- sat stone-faced and never made the slightest attempt to help the woman.)

After some back-and-forth and using hand gestures, it seemed that the information the woman needed would be available from the Tax Assessor's office.

I turned to the uniformed gentleman and said, "She needs to see Tracy (referring to the tax collector -- you all know me, informal to a flaw)."

"I don't care anything about 'who' she needs to see," he responded. "I need to know what office."

"Tax Assessor," I said.

"She needs to write it in," he answered.

The woman looked at me with an expression that communicated she had no idea what to write down.

"You write it in for her," the uniformed gent said, handing me the pen. Which I did.

I then explained to her where the office she needed was, and how to get to it.

Not a peep from the information desk employees. The woman and young man were still staring dead ahead at the wall, not making eye contact with the Hispanic woman or me.

So.

We have three employees working this information desk -- about which such a big deal was made by the Mayor in her election campaign. Not a one of which seems to speak a word of Spanish. Or even seems to have a plan for handling non-English-speaking inquiries.

So what is the Administration's policy for addressing the information needs of the one-quarter to one-third of Plainfield residents whose mother tongue is not English?

Speak English or don't bother coming to City Hall?

-- Dan Damon

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Kongrats, perfesser!

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Plainfield's first cable TV station director, Rebecca Williams, has a new job.

Starting September 1, Rebecca will be a full-time, tenure-track member of the English faculty at Essex County College. At ECC, she will be teaching composition and literature.

Under Rebecca's energetic leadership, Plainfield finally launched its public access cable TV station -- PCTV-74 -- which had been part of the franchise agreement negotiated with Comcast in 2000. Rebecca oversaw the purchase of state-of-the-art equipment to manage the station and broadcast locally originated programming, which is the heart-and-soul of public access TV.

She brought an air of professionalism -- which is so often lacking in public access TV -- to Plainfield's TV programming, while never losing a friendly, engaging and supportive touch.

With her encouragement, the community responded with homegrown programming, which is the genius of public access TV.

A doctoral student in English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, Rebecca had seventeen years of experience in media before taking on the cable station assignment. Besides her experience as an independent film/video maker, Rebecca taught for four years in the graduate film program at New York University's prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, additionally serving on the board of directors of Women Make Movies.

One high point of her media career was working with the famed African-America photographer Gordon Parks on a book project of his photography.

Another high point is one that she says she will dearly miss: her beloved American Literature classes offered at the Plainfield Senior Citizens Center. The Seniors were very responsive and over many semesters read and discussed a great deal of literature on African-American history, culture and politics.

We all wish Rebecca well in this new chapter in "The Adventures of Rebecca Williams: Rebel, Innovator and Energizer."

-- Dan Damon

P.S. PT would be remiss if we failed to point out Rebecca was also the campaign manager/motivator for Councilor-at-large Ray Blanco, the current Council President, when he successfully ran for Council as a New Democrat.

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TW3: Jul 9 - 16, 2006: News digest of the past week

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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.

GOVERNMENT / POLITICS

COUNCIL -- Council has been dark since June. Tonight is Agenda-fixing session: 7:30 PM, City Hall Library. Wednesday is Business Meeting: 8:00 PM, Council Chambers/Courthouse.

CRIME & VIOLENCE -- Robert Clayborne became Plainfield's seventh murder victim of 2006, as reported in the Ledger and the Courier., just days after victim No. 6, Frank Puri, died from injuries sustained in a beating. At the request of several readers, PT posted a table of all the 2006 murders to date ("Murders of 2006: Details"), and will update it if necessary.

As mentioned ("PT on griddle over 'death threats' post?"), Dan met with a Plainfield detective to discuss PT's gossip post of July 7. In answer to the question of what death threats I had heard, my reply was "None. What I heard and reported was GOSSIP ABOUT death threats, not actual threats." And, I continued, as in PT posts, that I had trouble seeing what the Mayor could have done that would give rise to credible threats.

Visiting Police Headquarters did remind PT however, of how desperately the Police Division needs to have its facilities expanded and upgraded. That goes for parking arrangements, too. See "Plainfield cops deserve better." That post also provided an opportunity to correct a statement made in the June 29 post which turned out later not to be so, and to apologize to the fine, hardworking and underappreciated members of our police division for the error.

Domestic violence was in the news this week with the announcement ("Program for domestic abuse victims is expanding") of the expansion of a program run by the Eastern Union County YWCA. This jiggled PT's memory. Doesn't Plainfield have a grant -- several hundred thousand dollars -- to address domestic violence in the community, for which El Centro was to manage the Spanish-language section? Hmmmmmmmmm... Will have to check into that and report back -- haven't heard a word about it in ages...

Finally, USA Today ran an important story ("Police tie jump in crime to juveniles") about the linkage between juveniles and the rise in violent crime nationwide, with a companion piece ("Cities grapple with crime by kids") about how local communities are attempting to come to grips with the problem. Tragically, the stories were illustrated in NJ with the story of the murder of one teen by another at a Teaneck party where the two got into an argument over jewelry. See ("2 arrested in killing of Teaneck 15-year-old" -- Record) and ("Teen charged with killing Teaneck boy after party" -- Ledger). Suspicions of gang association were also aired. This is an issue that strikes us here at home in Plainfield.


DEVELOPMENT -- While not concerned, strictly speaking, with development, the proposal to expand the Special Improvement District helps enhance the desirability of Plainfield to outside developers. Bernice reported on Tuesday "SID Expansion Up Again" that the expansion would come before the Council yet again for action. Persistent non-rocket-science problems.

Meanwhile, PT commented on the South Avenue condo development proposal ("Development: Where the rubber meets the pavement") concerning the parking provisions, which in PT's humble opinion, are deficient.

On Wednesday, Bernice reported back ("Seniors Hear $15 Million Center, Condo Proposal") on the Mayor's and Assemblyman's meeting with the Seniors to discuss a proposal for building a senior center-residential combo. PT wonders -- yet again -- about parking sufficiency. Is there a pattern emerging here?


PUBLIC EMPLOYEE SALARIES & BENEFITS -- Assemblyman Jerry Green and his pals Asm Moriarty and Sen Sweeney have opened a hornet's nest in proposing that state workers make givebacks to balance the budget. As predicted by PT, the question is beginning to be broadened to include LOCAL government employees. The Bergen Record started a six-day series on Sunday with "Can N.J. afford the rising cost of teachers and cops?" The series continues today and the rest of this week and promises to examine the entire question in depth. With Plainfield's round of contract negotiations due to start with the police unions in December, this whole discussion is going to be pertinent to our municipal workers -- first the police, then ultimately firefighters and all other municipal employees.


ADMINISTRATION -- Bernice posted an update on Friday ("Group Seeks Ouster Of Mayor") about the continuing saga of the Court hearings on whether Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs should have to give up her post for not having met the residency requirement of the city's special charter. Seems the hearing is delayed -- yet again -- probably to the consternation of all involved. The Mayor's attorneys -- Angelo Genova, the go-to election law guy in NJ, and Stephen Edelstein of Wiener Lesniak, who represented her pro bono in her previous residency-related court case -- have brought up an interesting argument:

...that the city charter is “constitutionally suspect” and violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because state law requires only one year’s residency immediately prior to election...

Could this open the door to a legal challenge to the validity of the City charter in toto?

If the charter were overturned, one possible outcome would be the adoption of one of the Faulkner act charters which, incidentally, would allow for dual officeholding (say Mayor and Assembly). Now THAT would be interesting...

Last Friday's H.I.T.S.: "HITS: July 14, 2006" 'Death threats' investigation?... Litter: Your tax dollars at work... Website: Someone is paying attention...
Last Monday's TW3: "TW3: Jul 2 - 9, 2006 - Digest of past week's news"
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.


GREEN/MORIARTY/SWEENEY PROPOSAL & STATE BUDGET

Mon 7/10 --
SL: "Shutdown leaves a bitter aftertaste"
..... - Public Reaction: "Jerseyans hit the beaches and blast politicians"
HeraldNews: "Choosing sides may cost legislator her seat"
PoliticsNJ: "A primary for Caraballo for opposing Corzine?"
CN: "Corzine held firm, showed courage during budget fight, politicos say"
Courier Post: "Assembly OKs sales tax hike by 1 vote; Green votes aye?"
Bergen Record: "Lawmaker squares off with labor"

Tue 7/11 --
SL: "Governor: Sidelined workers to be paid; Sweeney objects"
..... - Editorial: "Those state budget baubles"
..... - Column: Paul Mulshine: "Corzine didn't lead; he lied"
..... - Tax Reform: "Trenton puts off property tax reform"
..... - Tuition Hikes: "Budget caps tuition hike for public colleges"
..... - Agencies: "Tourette's agency aid restored in budget"
CN: "Goodbye, shutdown! Hello, tax increases!"

Wed 7/12 --
SL: Pay-to-play: Tom Moran: "Corzine sees 'pay to play' can apply to budgets, too"
..... - 'Christmas Tree' Items: Fran Wood: "'Christmas tree' is not just a grab bag"
CN: Editorial: "Restoring worker pay the wrong response"

Thur 7/13 --
CN: Legislature: "South Jersey lawmakers want pay for shuttered employees"
CN: Pension Changes: "State puts off pension system reform"
PolNJ: Roberts' collapse: Wally Edge: "Blow-by-blow on the Budget resolution" -- Assemblyman Jerry Green delivered the bad news to Speaker Roberts?...
..... - Comment on WE's blog: MercerInCharge: "The straight scoop in NJ in re: The Budget..."

Fri 7/14 --
SL: Norcross loss?: "Casino panel head is arrested" -- Behind this story of domestic violence lurks the Corzine/Norcross relationship -- very much changed by the budget battle -- and how it will work out in appointments...

Sat 7/15 --
SL: Poll: "Voters like Corzine's 'bully' tactics, his rating rises as Legislature's drops" -- the Quinnipiac poll shows voters blaming the Dem-controlled Legislature by 3-to-1 for the budget crisis
SL: Rutgers, Academic: "Rutgers hikes tuition and drops courses due to state aid cuts"
..... - CN: "Rutgers raises tuition by 8%, cuts courses"
SL: Rutgers, Sports: "Bleak day for Scarlet Knights: University benches six sports"

Sun 7/16 --
NYT: Analysis: "In Shutdown, Republicans Pass Up an Opportunity"
CN: Budget Fallout: "Jersey resigned to hike in taxes"
..... - AP: "Political leaders question budget process after shutdown"
CN: Property Tax Reform: "Lawmakers regroup for summer property tax debate"


CONNECTIONS? FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Arts Grants: "Dodge Foundation announces arts grants"
Contaminants: "Edison site under scrutiny for toxins -- again"
Corruption: "Corruption involved inflated 'change orders' on projects"
Development: "Hat-making complex to become condos and arts space"
Development: "Plans for New Brunswick condos gaining traction"
Development: "Developer charges West Orange with violating fair proposal process"
Loft Conversions: "East Orange explores factory conversion to lofts"
Police Contracts, NYC: "A New Tone on Concessions"
Public Access TV: "Bringing public access into TV's 21st century"
Public Access TV: "Film he shoots on firefighters inspires producer to be one"
Schools & Gangs: "Lawrence BOE unveils anti-gang draft policy"
School Dress Codes: "Orange seeks to make schools button-down"
School Vouchers - SL: "Supporters of school vouchers filing suit" -- Black Ministers Council, Latino Leadership Alliance and Excellent Education for Everyone take on top teachers' union, NJEA
School Vouchers - CourierPost: "E3 leads charge for vouchers"
School Vouchers: "Bound Brook schools cited in lawsuit"
Teen Center: "Group looks to open teen dance hall in Somerville"
Traffic Alert: "PA chief says new projects must get under way"
Traffic Alert: "Route 18 widening remains on schedule"
Verizon & Cable: "Verizon makes pitch to Montclair for cable TV pact"
Youth Police Academy: "Summit Academy an exercise in police work"


COMMUNITY

Art Festival: Plainfield Today: "43rd Annual Outdoor Art Festival"
Herman Austin - CN: "Happy ending: Missing man found in NYC" -- Ledger has a brief, in print edition only
Interstate 78: "Public input sought on I-78"
Letter - CN: Rosalie Maimone: "Homophobia not high on priority list"
Library 125th Celebration - CN: "Library celebrating 125th anniversary this weekend"
..... - Plainfield Today: "Plainfield Public Library - 125th Anniversary Celebration"
Red Cross: "Red Cross to discuss programs for future"
Road Work: "It's time for annual delays from repaving" -- In Plainfield, East 7th, from Roosevelt to Terrill is under way now
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Plainfield cops deserve better

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(Times have changed. A Plainfield police officer on traffic duty in the 1920s.)

Visiting police headquarters on Friday reminded PT of how badly the police division is in need of improvements to its physical facilities situation.

The handsome 'municipal moderne' police headquarters and courthouse at the corner of Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street is the victim of a good-news, bad-news situation.

The good news is that it is an extremely well thought out, solidly constructed and still perfectly serviceable building designed to house both the police division and the municipal court. The same cannot be said for many other such projects of the era -- the 1960s. A debt of gratitude is owed to the city fathers of the time for the wisdom to undertake and fund such a project. [This complex and the Public Library, which is of the same period, mark the last time Plainfield has made a significant investment in constructing new facilities.]

The bad news is that times have changed and the building is no longer adequate for the needs of the police division.

(A blueprint from 1972, showing changes to the 1960s police HQ already needed.
From the collection of the Plainfield Public Library.)

In the first place, the complex simply cannot house the numbers of personnel a modern police division needs. Not only do we have far more uniformed officers than 45 years ago, there are more civilian employees.

Records-keeping has become much more demanding than in the early 1960s, both as to the quantity of information gathered, processed and stored, and the number of people required to do so.

There was no such thing as 9-1-1 in the time when the facilities were built -- with the consequent need for more personnel and communications equipment.

The division has had to relieve some of these pressures by cramming more into the limited space of the facility, and by renting space in neighboring buildings [which, however, can never be as secure as having all the division's space directly within a public safety complex].

Did PT forget to mention parking?

The parking lot which was perfectly adequate for the 1960s fleet of police vehicles is hardly so for today's much higher numbers of cruisers and other vehicles.

Not to mention staff parking -- uniformed and civilian. There is spillover both into the street and the public parking lot across the street -- which is supposed to be backup for the parking at the totally occupied Plainfield train station lot.

Off-season storage for the community policing squad's bikes is another need. There is simply no place to put them in the present facility. And then we will have the Segways which are coming. None of this stuff can be left out in the elements -- unless the city intends to buy new every year.

PT has ranted about improving parking for the cops before [See "Parking: Progress and Woes," June 16, 2006].

It's time for the Council and the Administration to get serious about a situation affecting the effectiveness of our public safety professionals. It's only going to get worse if not addressed.

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CORRECTION -- In the June 29 post ["Two beatings"] about two beatings which were not reported by either the Courier or the Ledger, one was alleged to have involved a Plainfield cop. This has turned out not to be the case. My apologies to the fine, hardworking and underappreciated members of our police division. The entry has been corrected.

-- Dan Damon

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Art Festival & Library's 125th Celebration today!

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Art Festival & Library's 125th Celebration today!
10 AM - 4 PM
Library Park and inside the Library.
Be there or be square!

-- Dan Damon

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HITS: 'Death threats' investigation?... Litter: Your tax dollars at work... Website: Someone is paying attention...

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HITS: HEARD IN THE STREET. . .

'DEATH THREATS' INVESTIGATION? -- Who'd a thunk it? PT's gossip post of last Friday -- "Heard In The Street: Death threats on Mayor?..." -- seems to have kicked up a dust devil.* What PT did was report on some gossip and link it to PT's repeated respectful requests in its posts for the Administration to speak out and reassure the public that something is being done about the wave of murders and shootings which we have experienced in Plainfield. There was a followup post on Wednesday -- "PT on griddle over 'death threats' post?." Did PT think there was a credible death threat? No. Would PT have reported it if so? Yes.

PT is guilty, though, of using irony.** The language used stated in an exaggerated way the sorts of responses authorities would be expected to take if there WERE death threats. It also said that if an administration didn't take necessary steps AND inform the public in such a case, it would be open to accusations of reckless disregard or incompetence. Well, of course!

But I have trouble thinking there may be any credible death threats against the Mayor. Why? Well, what has she done that would provoke such a thing? Ruling out, of course, her teeing off of the Seniors over their plans for their new Center. PT can't think of a thing.

PT was in City Hall for eight years working the public information beat. Under Mayor Al McWilliams many, many actions were taken that might provoke threats: drug busts, prostitution busts, termination of employees for cause, etc. many times over. And I do not recall any death threats against Mayor McWilliams. (Nor does Mayor McWilliams, with whom PT checked.) He did not have police guarding his person or his home -- with the exception that when his home was broken into once while away, police thereafter would check the house out periodically if the family were out of town.

I will be sitting down with a detective from the Plainfield force later today to give a statement in this matter. I am more than happy to discuss what I wrote and what I meant.

Sources is another matter. People who speak to journalists have a right to expect that their identity will remain confidential. There are limits, of course, as the investigation of reporters' roles in the Valerie Plame investigation have shown. Basically, that means sources are not revealed except as a result of either a subpoena or a direct order by a judge. Informants have a right to expect their identities will not become known willy-nilly by those whose interest may be in retaliation.

More on all this as things unfold...

LITTER: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK -- Many have written to comment about the mailing piece on the City's anti-litter efforts. Let's take this in two bites: the CONTENT, and the DELIVERY.

CONTENT first. The mailer identifies the material as a "press article" that was recently released. Do you recall seeing it in the papers? No? Neither do I, and I spend hours every day scouring the papers for Plainfield news great and small. Why didn't it get any play?

Were I an editor, my first question would be: What's the news value here? What is being done that is new? or different? or better? Every mayor wants their town to be clean and presentable. What makes this item worthy of precious space in my paper?

The key words are new, different and better. Cooperation between the PMUA and the city's DPW and Inspections divisions has been a fact of life for dog's years now. The papers have covered it before. What is different about this year's effort? There is nothing in the release that says ANYTHING is different. What exactly is better? Read it again and you draw a blank on the BETTER front. So why would an editor give it any ink? You get my drift...

As for DELIVERY... we have the matters of cost and of production values. On the cost front, the postage (apx $2,200) and lettershop services (apx $600, for folding, wafer seal application, labeling, sorting, delivery to post office) are the bulk of the expense. The printing would cost another apx $500, probably no more as the paper is of a 'throwaway' grade. So, your tax dollars -- about $3,300 of them -- were put to work spreading this important messsage throughout the community.

A better-tailored press release, one that actually included NEWS value would have saved the taxpayers the entire expense. The website and PCTV-74 would have cost nothing either. That's where public information professionals earn their keep. Supposedly.

PT will not belabor the APPEARANCE of the piece. If you're gonna take the time and spend the money, why not goose it up a little bit and make it compelling enough to want to open and read? There isn't even a return address. (And no, Mr. Postmaster, PT will NOT report you to the authorities for having allowed the piece to go through the mails in violaton of the postal regulations.)

The effect of the mailer seems mostly ironic (there's that word again!), as one reader who lives on a busy corner reports to me with some exasperation that she did NOT receive a copy in the mail, but is quite tired of picking it up off her yard as litter, thank you very much!

WEBSITE: SOMEONE IS PAYING ATTENTION -- As for the city's website, you DO need to check it out. Somebody actually seems to be paying attention. Well, SOME attention.

You still can't find a City Council schedule -- right, wrong or otherwise. Or at least PT could not. If it's there, please let me know and I'll get my white cane out and stroll by again.

However, you will note the Mayor's letter on the welcome page HAS been tidied up. It was the missing apostrophe, as the many respondents to PT's grammar challenge all noted. And, since not a single one named a charity to which they wanted their $1 contributed, PT is making a contribution of $25 to the LITERACY PROGRAM at the Plainfield Public Library. Geeignete Maßnahme, nein?

*Dust Devil: A miniature whirlwind strong enough to whip dust and leaves and litter into the air
**Irony: A form of speech in which the real meaning is concealed or contradicted by the words used.

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

Keyword: HITS
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