Frigid temps expose hole in Plainfield safety net

Screenshot of the temperature on my cell.

As I write this, the temperature outdoors hovers at 4° above zero, while the "real feel" is -12°.

This weather is deadly to Plainfield's homeless population, who are in danger of freezing to death if they stay outdoors or in vacant (and unheated) properties overnight in these temperatures.

In times past, the homeless were able to bunk up at the YMCA in such weather. But no longer.

The Plainfield Police Department sent out a Nixle message on Wednesday reminding subscribers that the Plainfield Rescue Squad at West 7th Street and Spooner Avenue was open as a warming center.

Panhandled by a homeless person outside Twin City supermarket on Wednesday, I asked what they were going to do with the weather so cold.

The man said he didn't know; he was aware that the YMCA in Elizabeth offered shelter, but that anyone who wanted to access the service needed to find their way from Plainfield to Elizabeth and he had neither the carfare nor any way to get there.

Asked if he knew about the warming center at the Plainfield Rescue Squad, he said he did not. Not only that, he had absolutely no idea where the Plainfield Rescue Squad was located. (I explained where it was and offered to give him a ride, which he declined.)

This all comes as the annual check on homeless people across the country is coming up.

Here is a clear need that is not being met in Plainfield.

What should be done? And who should do it?

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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City Council 2019 committee and liaison assignment details

Here is a list of who got what assignments.

Who would have thought that folks would be so interested in the inner workings of the City Council?

Evidently so. So, after many reader requests, I am posting the list of committee and liaison assignments for 2019 made by Council President Mills-Ransome.

COMMITTEES

• Finance: Goode (chair), McRae, Armady
• Health & Social Services: Storch (chair), Goode, Armady
• Economic Development: McRae (chair), Hockaday, Mills-Ransome
• Police: Davis (chair), Armady, Hockaday
• Fire: Mills-Ransome (chair), McRae, Storch
• IT & Media: Hockaday (chair), McRae, Mills-Ransome
• Recreation: Armady (chair), Goode, Storch

LIAISONS

(Note: First name is the liaison, second name is the alternate -- with the Senior Center it appears there is no alternate, only two liaisons.)

• Mayor's Citizen Advisory Committee: Armady, Goode
• Planning Board: McRae, Hockaday
• Board of Ed: Mills-Ransome, Storch
• Green Brook Flood Control Commission: Storch, Davis
• UC Community Development Revenue Sharing: Davis, Storch
• Cable TV Advisory Committee: Armady, Hockaday
• Plainfield Housing Authority: Hockaday, Mills-Ransome
• PMUA: Davis, Armady
• Plainfield Central District Management Corporation: Mills-Ransome, Storch
• Shade Tree Commission: Storch, Goode
• Senior Center: Armady, Mills-Ransome

As with the committee assignments discussed yesterday (see here), the liaison assignments are also a little lopsided (seven councilors and 11 liaisons don't make it easy).

Councilors Armady and Mills-Ransome are liaison to three organizations; Davis and Storch to two; Hockaday and McRae to one each; and Goode is primary liaison to none. The Senior Center appears to get two liaisons, with no alternate (if the letter outlining the appointments is correct).

The alternate seats are a little more equally split, with Armady, Davis and Mills-Ransome getting one; Goode and Hockaday getting two; and Storch getting three. McRae got no alternate liaison assignment.

Committee and liaison assignments, as with Council officers, serve until December 31. Then the procedure begins anew with the reorganization of the 2020 Council, which can take place any time between New Year's Day and January 10th.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Some surprises in City Council 2019 committee assignments

Council President Mills-Ransome has made committee
and liaison assignments for 2019.

CORRECTION: Councilor Goode's name was inadvertently left off the list of those with three committee assignments. Correction has been made below.

While residents are most familiar with the work of City Council through its public meetings -- to set agendas and vote on resolutions and ordinances -- there is an important component of their public service that takes place out of view.

And that is their work in committees and as liaisons to various boards and agencies.

There are seven (7) committees to which the various councilors are assigned, with one acting as chair and two others as members. These meet periodically with department and/or division heads to check up on long- and short-term goals and to discuss questions or concerns.

The seven committees are: Finance, Health & Social Services, Economic Development, Police, Fire, Information Technology & Media, and Recreation.

In addition, councilors serve as liaison to various boards and agencies. In some cases (as with the Planning Board) they are statutory, voting members. In other cases (for instance the Senior Center and the Board of Ed) their function is purely as a liaison, with the responsibility of reporting back to the Council.

The eleven (11) liaisons are: Mayor's Citizens Advisory Committee,  Planning Board, Board of Ed, Green Brook Flood Control Commission, Union County Community Development Revenue Sharing, Cable TV Advisory Committee, Plainfield Housing Authority, PMUA, Plainfield Central Business District Management Corporation (the SID), the Shade Tree Commission, and the Senior Center.

It did strike me as odd that while the committee structure seems to parallel city departments (for the most part), there are no committees relating to either Public Works or Human Resources.

After indicating their preferences for assignments, Council President Mills-Ransome designated committee and liaison assignments.

While each councilor was assigned the chairmanship of one committee, I was surprised at the lopsided distribution of committee assignments.

Two councilors (McRae and Armady) have four committee assignments each. Councilors Goode (omitted in original post), Hockaday, Mills-Ransome and Storch each have three. Councilor Davis has only one. One would have expected with 7 councilors and 21 assignments that each would have three.

It further struck me as odd that with the Central Business District almost entirely in her ward (Ward 1), Davis was appointed neither to the Economic Development Committee nor as liaison to the SID -- either of which would seem naturals -- nor to the Recreation Committee where she also would be a natural, having worked in the Parks & Recreation Division.

Besides that, I am curious about appointing a liaison to the Cable TV Advisory Committee. Its last activity was about five years ago, when its then-chair Lamar Mackson quit to become the manager of PCTV and the commission lapsed into quietude.

I wonder if there is an explanation for the way the assignments were made.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Free family concert by the Plainfield Symphony Saturday

NJPAC teaching artist David Rimelis returns
with three pieces for young audiences.

t
As part of its mission to provide educational opportunities through youth and family-oriented concerts, the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra will present its annual free family concert on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 3:00 pm at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainfield, NJ.  Under the baton of Maestro Charles Prince, the program will feature two noted soloists and two 2018 Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey Prize winners.

“As New Jersey’s oldest community symphony, we have brought music education to the Plainfield area for 99 seasons,” said Peter Lomonaco, PSO President. “Both children and adults will enjoy and learn from this season’s free family concert.”

In a return PSO performance, Dr. Paul Cohen, one of America’s most sought-after saxophonists for orchestral and chamber concerts and solo recitals, will be the featured soloist on Fantasia for saxophone, three horns, and strings, W. 490 by Villa-Lobos. This brief work in three movements was written in 1948 by Heitor Villa-Lobos, a Brazilian composer who has been called the best-known South American composer of all time.

David Rimelis, artist-in-residence for the New Jersey State Council on The Arts and teaching artist for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, also returns to PSO with three of his informative and entertaining pieces for young audiences: Symphony Street, Melody-Harmony-Rhythm, and Jazz is Just a Child of the Blues.

The program will begin with performances by two 2018 Young Pianist Competition of New Jersey Prize winners. Pianist Sarah Ouyang will perform the third movement, Rondo Allegro Scherzando, of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Op.15. and 13- year-old pianist Jeffrey Xu will present the first movement of Shostakovich’s Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet, and String Orchestra, Op. 35. Ms. Ouyang has participated in and won numerous prestigious piano competitions and appeared in major venues throughout the metropolitan area as well as in Italy, and Mr. Xu has won numerous competitions, most recently the Gold Prize in both the Young Artist and Concerto divisions of the Young Pianists of Central New Jersey competition.

The concert starts at 3:00 PM sharp this Saturday. The Plainfield Symphony Orchestra performs at Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, at East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue. Parking available in the church lot on First Place, on the street or in the Swain Galleries lot across from the church.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Have your email and password(s) been hacked? How to check.

The results for my most-used email address. Oh, no!

One of my geeky email newsletters contained a story the other day that brought me up short and may give you pause -- or worse (see story here).


While the story's slant is toward "enterprise" users -- employees of companies and large organizations -- the issue is one faced by us as individual users also.

Many of the websites on which we maintain accounts (think Amazon, eBay, your favorite department store, your bank, etc.) use a simple formula for logging in to your account: username and password.

In many cases, the default "username" is your email address -- often because that is how the site communicates with you about the status of your orders, accounts, etc.

The password is of your own devising, but some passwords are better than others. I hope none of my readers uses "9999" or "1234" as passwords (these go back to the earliest days of personal computers and are so 20th century). Just as bad are your SS#, and your birthday, anniversary or some other date.

Much better is to use a combination of letters and numbers. The article suggests adding in symbols ($, #, *, etc.) as a way of strengthening your passwords.

Also -- and you have heard this many times before, but it bears repeating -- use different passwords for different accounts, and change your passwords periodically.

Most modern browsers will store your passwords on a site-by-site basis, so you don't have to keep a list somewhere.

However, there are password managers that can be downloaded and will do the job for you. See a review of 2019's top ten password managers here.

How scary is all this?

One security website, Have I Been Pwned, has a database of nearly 773 MILLION email addresses that have been hacked, plus 21 MILLION passwords.

I suggest you visit the site and check for yourself if your email(s) or password(s) have been hacked.


The search is lightning fast -- I had barely hit the "enter" key than my result was returned.


The bad news: several of the email addresses I use have been hacked.

As for passwords, my most common password has been hacked, but two others that I use have not.

Moral of the story: It pays to have several passwords, to make them complex, and to change them periodically.

I urge you to go to the Pwned website (here) and check yourself out.

And then make the changes that will protect you.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Council Tuesday: Is South Second Street residential project finally getting under way?

Rendering of the proposed 90-unit apartment building
on South Second Street at Grant Avenue...

...and the site as it looked in 2018. The completed
ABC building is visible in the rear.

City Council's agenda for Tuesday night's combined meeting (Monday is the observance of MLK Day) contains both a resolution (R077-19) and and ordinance (MC 2019-01) relating to the long-dormant residential project on South Second Street and Grant Avenue.

Both call for an amendment to the redevelopment agreement. But the online documentation for both the resolution and the ordinance mentions -- but does NOT include -- the amendment, which is labeled "Exhibit A".

So, we will be left in the dark until the amendment is explained at the City Council meeting -- if someone asks for an explanation.

The recent Courier story on Plainfield redevelopment (see here) mentioned that ground is expected to be broken shortly on the Grant Avenue apartments, and a lengthy quote from developer Patrick Terborg references the project as "forthcoming".

In any event, it will be nice to see work finally beginning on this 4th Ward residential project.

Also on the agenda is the awarding of contracts to law firms for the 2019 calendar year.

In 2018, 19 contracts were approved for a total of $385,000 (ranging from 7 at $5,000 each to a high of 2 at $65,000 each).

In 2019, Tuesday's agenda only contains 10 contracts for a total of $340,000. Gone are the small $5,000 and $10,000 contracts of 2018.

Does this mean that there will be no contracts for those small (mostly solo attorneys) from 2018? Or that they will come later in the year? If they are gone for good, this would amount to a net reduction in legal costs -- something which seems highly unlikely, given the natural inclination of government to grows its expenses.

If, on the other hand, legal costs really are shrinking, the City out to be tooting its horn.

The new Acting Fire Director, Martin J. Mandell, is also on the agenda for the Council's advice and consent as a permanent department head. A residency waiver is being requested. No resume was attached to the online resolution, but a copy can be obtained through OPRA for those who are interested.

City Council meets for a combined agenda and business session at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street and in the lot across from Police Headquarters.

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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Mayor Mapp and First Lady will host 11th annual MLK potluck Saturday

Then-councilor, now Freeholder, Rebecca Williams (l)
among crowd at an MLK potluck at Mayor Mapp's home.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp and First Lady Amelia are welcoming the community into their home Saturday, January 19th for the 11th Annual MLK Potluck and Food Drive.

Begun by the New Democrats club, the event has been sponsored by the Adrian Mapp Civic Association in recent years. The must-make event provides an opportunity to socialize over a potluck dinner, honor the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and pitch in to help fellow Plainfielders experiencing rough times.

Donations of non-perishable food items -- canned goods, pasta, beans, rice, etc., or toiletry items (especially women's products) -- will be gathered for delivery to Shiloh Baptist Church's food bank. Items may be brought along to the potluck or left ahead of time on the mayor's porch at 535 West 8th Street.

Any kind of dish will be welcome for the potluck, which always includes an amazing variety of tasty foods plus a dessert table.

The event runs from 6:00 PM to midnight.

Come along and have a good time!

---

10th ANNUAL MLK POTLUCK & FOOD DRIVE

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19
6:00 PM - Midnight

The home of Mayor Adrian and Amelia Mapp
535 West 8th Street

---

  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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What if the Courier's owner is sold?

Gannett has had a number of logos in NJ,
this one was after the acquisition of the
Asbury Park Press.

Reuters reported on Sunday evening (January 13) that newspaper chain MNG Enterprises is preparing to make an offer to buy Gannett, the parent company of the Courier News and five other New Jersey newspapers, including the Bergen Record and the Asbury Park Press as well as USAToday (see the Reuters story here).


MNG, better known as Digital First Media, owns such papers as the San Jose Mercury and the Denver Post, is widely known for its aggressive whittling down of newsroom staffs.



I don't have to tell Plainfield Today readers that the Courier is but a shell of its former self, a faded remnant of the once proud Plainfield Courier.


The paper's coverage of Plainfield began to plummet when longtime Plainfield reporter Bernice Paglia was reassigned from having a Plainfield beat to having to cover communities in three counties.


Since her retirement, things have only gotten worse for Plainfield coverage and for Gannett generally.


There have been constant cuts to newsroom staff, so that no one with any institutional memory or grasp of Plainfield issues and players remains, and reporters are helicoptered in to cover stories without knowing the context, the background, or the players.


Needless to say, coverage is not only thin, it has no real substance (this is not the reporters' fault, they are victims of the same relentless pressures).


While it is not a sure thing that Gannett will agree to be bought (it has turned down offers from MNG before), the current offer is at a considerable premium, which may cause Gannett to give it serious consideration.



What might things look like if Gannett is taken over?


My guess is that the separate operations of the Courier and the Home News Tribune would be the first thing to go. Neither one has healthy subscription bases any more (the last I was aware, the Courier had merely 14,000 subscribers) and my guess is they would likely be merged and one of the two offices closed.


In addition, MNG would probably pare the staffs even further than they have already been reduced.


The net result for Plainfield? We would simply become an afterthought as the further slimmed down paper chased car crashes, teacher misconduct and Somerset County news.


Stay tuned.

---

Mu -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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(Note TIME correction) Board of Ed set to take up tenure charges against union president Eric Jones Tuesday

Will the Board of Ed pursue tenure charges Tuesday?

CORRECTION: The public portion of Tuesday's meeting begins at 6:30 PM, not 8:00.

For the second time in 60 days, the Plainfield Board of Education has served a Rice notice on Eric Jones, president of the Plainfield Education Association (PEA), the union representing teachers and support staff in the Plainfield public schools.

A Rice notice means that the governing body (the Board of Ed in this case) intends to discuss action against an employee, and may take such action. The notice gives the employee a choice to have the matter heard in a public meeting if the employee so wishes, or in executive (closed) session.

Jones has decided to have the charges aired publicly, which will take place at the Board of Ed's work/study session scheduled for Tuesday, January 15.

According to Jones, as of midnight on Saturday he has received nothing in writing (other than the Rice notices) from the Board of Ed.

Take a look at NJSA 18A:6-11, the law governing tenure matters,which requires that (emphasis added) --

(1) any charge made against an employee of a board of education under tenure during good behavior and efficiency shall be filed with the secretary of the board in writing;

(2) the written statement of evidence under oath to support the charge shall be presented to the board;

(3) the board of education shall forthwith provide to the employee a copy of the charge, a copy of the statement of the evidence and an opportunity to submit a written statement of position and a written statement of evidence under oath with respect thereto;

(4) after consideration of the charge and any statements of position and/or evidence presented, the board shall determine by a majority vote of its full membership whether there is probable cause to credit the evidence in support of the charge and whether such charge, if credited, is sufficient to warrant a dismissal or reduction of salary...

QUESTIONS OF PROCESS


So, it would appear that in order to even have a tenure proceeding, some person would have to file a complaint. Can that person be a Board member? Can the Board of itself bring tenure charges without filing a formal complaint according to the statute?


Secondly, can the Board legitimately conduct a tenure hearing if a) the subject individual has not received the required copy of the charge and of the sworn "statement of evidence", and b) the opportunity to respond in writing with a sworn statement?


A LITTLE BACKGROUND


It is no secret that the PEA has annoyed several members of the Board of Education, especially its most recently elected members, against three of whom a complaint was filed in connection with an unauthorized use of a school facility during a Back to School Night at Hubbard School (see my post on that event here).

At that event, former Board president Wilma Campbell (wife of current BOE member John Campbell) was reported by the PEA to have made a threatening remark to PEA member Lisa Logan Leach.

And, lest we forget it, the campaign photos of the Campbell slate in the November BOE election were taken inside the PHS library. Campaigning on school property -- without a facility use form being filled out? Evidence of which was delivered to every postal customer in Plainfield. The whole business was unacceptable, but these are the people preparing to sit in judgment of Jones.

Jones continues to advocate for the union and its members and is vocal at BOE meetings. This is in contrast to the union's previous leadership, which was widely thought to be in the Board's "back pocket".

THE "CHARGES"?

Word in the street is that the Board's allegation is going to be that Jones carried on "political" activity while on the clock. (As union president, he receives his salary from the district but has no teaching duties, his union leadership role being considered full-time).

It is true that the PEA not only endorsed candidates, but campaigned for them as a slate (two were independents and one was a member of Mayor Mapp's team).

Since school board elections are nonpartisan (no matter WHO endorses a candidate), it will be interesting to see how an argument can be made that exercising First Amendment rights of speech is impermissible "political" activity.

The newly elected Board of Ed members cannot possibly be on higher moral or ethical ground given the Hubbard School and campaign photography incidents cited above.


SETTLING PERSONAL SCORES OR UNION BUSTING?


It certainly is fair to ask what is really going on here.

Is this a matter of vengeful Board members attempting to use their privileged position to settle a personal score?

If so, that would be continuing a long history of politics in Plainfield as a blood sport. We've seen this movie before, and it is never nice.

But it is also possible that the Board members who are behind this move are attempting to bust the union.

Bear in mind that Jones' term is ending and there will be elections for new officers of the union local this spring. Though Jones is extremely popular and no doubt would be re-elected hands down, a suspension would make matters difficult for the union going into an election for officers.

Then there is the matter of the PEA contract, which is up in 2020. Could the Board be looking forward to demoralizing the union in advance of what may be difficult negotiations, given the union's new, more assertive stance?

As a union supporter, I cannot see these possibilities as anything but troublesome.


WHAT CAN HAPPEN TUESDAY NIGHT?

In the first place, if the Board of Ed has not met the legal requirements for a tenure proceeding, perhaps NOTHING will happen at all.

If the Board meets the legal threshold to conduct a hearing, the four possible outcomes (outlined to by Jones on his Facebook page) are --

• suspension without pay for 120 days (four months);
  
  
• being banned from entering any district facility/school;
  
  
• being banned from using district communication (aka email); and ultimately
  
  
• termination from the Plainfield Public Schools.

While five out of nine board members must vote in the affirmative on charges, it is not clear what the outcome might be.


Several BOE members are members of unions themselves and may find themselves reluctant to take extreme measures against a fellow unionist or to be seen to be union-busting.

Besides voting for (Aye) or against (Nay) a resolution, Board members may abstain or vote "present, not voting".


Even if action is taken on Tuesday evening, Jones will have the right of appeal.

Tenure proceedings are expensive and time-consuming to a school district and may be seen as a waste of taxpayers' money.

In any event, supporters will not want to miss this meeting, at which the public always has an opportunity to weigh in before actions are taken.

The Board of Ed work/study session is scheduled for 6:30 PM in the High School Conference Room. Be aware that the venue may change depending on the projected attendance. (Note this is a time correction.)

Plainfield High School is at 950 Park Avenue between 9th Street and Stelle Avenue. Parking available on the street and in the Stelle and Kenyon Avenue lots.

---

  -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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City Clerk reminds candidates of mandatory change in petition forms

Image shows location of required email address.

In an email sent Wednesday, Plainfield Municipal Clerk "AJay" Jalloh reminded those interested in running for office in the 2019 that petition forms must now include a working campaign email address.

Passing along information sent out by Union County Clerk Joann Rajoppi, Jalloh noted that a law enacted last summer requires the addition of a working campaign email address.

Old petition forms may be used provided the circulator includes a functioning email address on the front page of the petition (see image above).

New petitions are available from the Municipal Clerk's office on the first floor of City Hall.

2019 will see elections for all members of the Assembly, three Union County Freeholders and Councilor for Ward 2 and for Wards 1/4 at-large.

In addition, 2019 is the year for election of members of the Plainfield Democratic City Committee (who are also members de facto of the Union County Democratic Committee). Those petitions must also conform to the state law.

For more information, contact the Clerk's office at (908) 753-3222.

---

Mu -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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Mills-Ransome is new Plainfield City Council president

City Council elected its new officers Monday evening.

The Hon. Joylette Mills-Ransome is the new Plainfield City Council president for 2019.

Mills-Ransome, who was elected to her own four-year term as at-large councilor for Wards 2 and 3 in November, will serve as president of the City Council through December 31, 2019.

Municipal  Clerk "AJay" conducted the reorganization meeting until Mills-Ransome was elected as there is no Council President between the end of the year and the reorganization.

Once elected and sworn in, she was seated as president and conducted the balance of the reorganization meeting.

The first order of business was the election of a vice president, and Councilor Steve Hockaday was elected unanimously.

First Ward Councilor Ashley S. Davis and Citywide at-large Councilor Elton Armady were also sworn in and seated.

The Council will meet next on Tuesday, January 22 (Monday is the observance of Martin Luther King's birthday) in a combined Agenda and Business meeting.

Note that five combined meetings are scheduled for this year -- January, June, July, August and November.

It is refreshing to see that Council has apparently taken up its historic pattern of changing presidents every year -- a practice that fell into abeyance during the several years of former councilor Bridget Rivers' tenure.

---

 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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Plainfield City Council reorganizes Monday evening, with a couple of surprises

Plainfield City Council reorganizes Monday.

 

Plainfield City Council will reorganize for the 2019 term on Monday (January 7) at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers / Municipal Court.

Municipal Clerk "AJay" Jalloh conducts the opening segment of the meeting as all Council officers from the previous year expired at midnight on December 31st, the term of their appointment.

His  role includes the certification of newly elected Council members -- Ashley Davis (Ward 1) for a four-year term, Joylette Mills-Ransome (Wards 2/3) for a four-year term, and Elton Armady (Citywide at-large) for Rebecca Williams' unexpired term -- as well as the conduct of the election of the new Council President for calendar year 2019.

After being seated, the new Council President conducts the election of the Council Vice President (who also serves until December 31st) and then conducts the rest of the Council meeting.

While the reorganization meeting is usually quite pro-forma (the appointments of judges, prosecutors, public defenders, and various board and commission members, plus assorted financial and legal housekeeping matters), there are occasional surprises.

For instance -- the Zoning Board of Adjustment, where long-serving chairperson D. Scott Belin and member Rich Sudol were dropped. In their place, Mayor Adrian O. Mapp proposes to move alternate Nancy Gerald to a full seat and add newcomer Ryan Sears.

On the Planning Board, Anthony Howard is being reappointed to a full seat, Barry Person is moving up to a full seat from Alternate 1 (replacing Maritza Hall, who served after Gordon Fuller's death and is not being reappointed), Alma Blanco is being reappointed as Alternate 2, and Ricardo Hunt will come on as the new Alternate 1.

These two all-volunteer boards are key in overseeing the development and use of land in the Queen City.

An unusual (for a reorganization agenda) series of resolutions (R 037-19 through R 041-19) from the Economic Development Department have to do with a proposed grant application (referred to as "Innovation Planning Challenge") to the NJ Economic Development Authority, executing various Memoranda of Understanding between the City of Plainfield, Union County College, the Plainfield Central District Management Corporation (PCDM -- which replaces the former SID) and Injectron Corporation on South Second Street.

The City is the lead partner, with the others as "strategic partners" and their roles are delineated in the various MOUs. The City is responsible for a 20% match of the grant amount (the MOUs propose in-kind city staff time as the form of the match), and the planning period is projected to be 26 weeks -- with a possible 3-month extension.

Look for Director Valerie Jackson to explain more about the grant application.

The newly-elected Council President will make remarks, as will Mayor Mapp.

I became aware on Thursday (the day Congress convened and Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House of Representatives) that Councilor Armady had served Speaker Pelosi as an intern -- you can view his Facebook post (with Elton with Pelosi) here.

Nancy Pelosi is still at the top of her game and managed to get elected Speaker in spite of considerable and vocal insistence that it was time for a change. At 77, she knows that change is inevitable, and acceded to limiting her leadership to the next four years.

She is a most worthy role model for newly-elected Councilors Armady, Davis and Mills-Ransome: she "knows how to count", she is laser-focused on priorities, and she takes no guff from the Executive branch when it comes to Congress' prerogatives.

The Council reorganization gets under way at 7:00 PM in the Council Chambers / Courthouse at Watchung Avenue and East 4th Street. Parking available on the street and in the lot across from Police Headquarters.

---

 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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Looking ahead to 2019: Plainfield, New Jersey and the nation

What does the Magic 8 Ball see for 2019?

What will 2019 hold in store for Plainfield, New Jersey and the nation politically?

THE NATION

With the Democrats now holding a majority in the House of Representatives, 2019 may well be President Donald Trump's annus horribilis -- meaning that he will no likely be the subject of several (at the least) revealing and embarrassing investigations. And this quite independently of the Mueller investigation, which appears to close observers to be wrapping up.


Then there will be the difficult task of attempting to govern with a Congress split between the two parties' control and an unpredictable President who seems intent on ridding himself of all the "adults in the room."

NEW JERSEY

The unresolved conflict between Gov. Murphy and Senate President Sweeney looks like it will go on unabated.


Among the issues over which the wrestling will continue throughout 2019 are: the Alvarez rape allegation scandal, Sen. Nick Scutari's redistricting proposal, the selection of a new NJ State Dem chair, marijuana legalization, the $15 minimum wage, and more.


Max Pizarro of InsiderNJ predicts that most folks will ignore the Trenton goings-on. I'm not so sure. Some of these issues have real economic consequences for ordinary people's ... and then there is New Jersey's obsession with politics as a blood sport.

PLAINFIELD

With no national races on the ticket, the rump faction of Democrats who ran Ron Johnson for the citywide at-large seat in 2018 may try once again for the electoral brass ring.


The two Council seats up in 2019 are Ward 2 and Wards 1/4 at-large.


Councilor Cory Storch (2) would be running for his fifth term and Councilor Barry Goode (1/4) for his second. You can read the results of their prior election here.


The Plainfield Democratic City Committee is also up for election for two-year terms in 2019.


It has been rumored for months that Chairman Mapp is dumping all those who voted for Colleen Mahr against Sen. Nick Scutari in the race to replace the late Assemblyman Jerry Green for chair of the Union County Democratic Committee.

Those people, plus some who have moved, died or are declining another run brings the total to be replaced to approximately 40 -- an astonishing turnover since Mapp won control of the committee in 2015 with 46 seats (see the tallies here).



Whether you are active politically or consider yourself a "watcher" -- 2019 will certainly prove an interesting year.

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 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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Public invited as Plainfield marks City Hall's 100 anniversary at Saturday event

This period photograph shows the "topping out" of Plainfield City Hall, in which construction workers affix
a flag at the highest point of construction (in this case,
the cupola atop the building).

Residents are invited to join Plainfield Mayor Adrian O. Mapp and First Lady Amelia in an event Saturday to recognize the 100th Anniversary of Plainfield City Hall.

The event gets under way at Noon with a gathering in heated tents in City Hall parking lot.

Among other things, Mayor Mapp will issue a proclamation recognizing the 100th anniversary of the nationally-landmarked structure.

The event will include a self-guided tour of City Hall, where exhibits on each floor will recount the history of the building's construction and uses over the years. (Kids will love getting a peek at one of several walk-in safes scattered throughout the building.)

There will be music and refreshments.

Saturday's event is the first in a year-long series to recognize the sesquicentennial of Plainfield's incorporation as a city.

Saturday's event has been in the planning stages for several months by a broad-based committee under the chairmanship of Director of Health and Social Services Shep Brown. (Full disclosure, I am a member of the committee.)

So, come on along and join fellow residents as we kick off this year of celebrations of Plainfield's 150th birthday.

---

 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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Former Councilor Malcolm Dunn passes away on New Year's Day (Updated with obituary)

Malcolm Dunn and group from Plainfield that visited
Vineland UEZ in 2002. (l to r) employees Pat Ballard Fox
and Wayne Awald, City Council members Adrian Mapp,
Liz Urquhart and Malcolm R. Dunn, and UEZ coordinator
Jacques Howard. Photo by Dan Damon, then the city's
Public Information Officer.

UPDATE Mon, Jan. 7: Obituary here; visitation will be Friday at PHS, funeral Saturday at Fountain Baptist Church.

(CORRECTED: House was on 8th at Spooner, not vice versa. Thank you, JP.) I learned through Facebook on Sunday afternoon that former Ward 3 Councilman (and Council President) Malcom R. Dunn passed away on New Year's Day.

I have known Malcolm since shortly after moving to Plainfield when he inquired if my partner Nat was from Queens. (Answer: Yes.)

It turns out that Nat's father, who was a fixture in Queens politics, was instrumental in getting Malcolm's Dunn & Sons business the maintenance  contract for the Twin Towers, which turned out to be the basis of Dunn's financial well-being. (To this day, Malcolm's brother Danny reminds me of his gratitude for that fact whenever I bump into him.)

When we moved here, Malcolm and Flora and family lived in a home on Spooner Avenue near West 8th Street.

When Mayor Al McWilliams launched his community-based strategic planning effort in the late 1990s (more than 500 residents participated in intensive meetings in over a period of many months), Malcolm played a leading role.

He and I served on the coordinating committee which also included Pastor LaVerne Lattimore Ball (of Rose of Sharon Church) and Fred Hipp (of Muhlenberg Hospital, then Solaris Health System).

For months, we toiled to coordinate the discussion groups and then the preparation of the final report -- one of the first to be published on the city's earliest website (now long gone).

When the report was finally finished, I was able to land a feature story about it in the monthly magazine of the NJ League of Municipalities -- and Malcolm and Mayor McWilliams made the front cover in a photo of them standing on the NJ Transit overpass on Watchung Avenue, with the North Avenue business block in the background, discussing the plan -- with a rolled-up blueprint as a prop.

In 2002, Malcolm and I were part of a team sent by Mayor McWilliams to investigate the Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) in Vineland, then one of New Jersey's leading such programs (see my 2010 retrospective on that trip here).

It was fascinating to watch Malcolm work -- he was quick to grasp the essence of a situation or presentation and had little time for fluff or small talk. He summarized the points that interested him succinctly and could present his conclusions from memory -- and forcefully.

All of these things made him a formidable presence -- never more so than in his two terms as Council President.

As I observed in writing up a special Council meeting during the tenure of the hapless Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and referring back to Malcolm's days (see that post here) --

As Council President, Malcolm terrorized City Administrators and department heads, scathingly chewing them up and spitting them out when they came before the Council ill-prepared.


Though I do not miss the meetings [Dunn chaired] that often dragged on toward -- and sometimes past -- the midnight hour, I do think that we could do with a firmer approach by the Council President toward the Robinson-Briggs administration, at least by demanding that [then-City Administrator Mark] Dashield come prepared and then by taking on the list-making role of Ko-Ko, the Mikado's Lord High Executioner.

Malcolm was also able to be quite unashamedly controversial -- as when, as PMUA Commissioner along with his sidekick Cecil Sanders, he engineered the scandalous $1 million payout to PMUA Executive Director Eric Watson and his deputy David Ervin on their way out of the agency.

Though the settlement caused a firestorm of negative publicity, Malcolm never retreated and never apologized for his decision.

Malcolm was a master of what is called in New Jersey parlance "transactional politics". It hard to think of a deal in which he was a participant that he did not come out on the good end.

He was endlessly lobbying for "local contractors" whenever there was a Plainfield project involving construction. Whenever that plea was heeded, one could usually find a connection to Malcolm in whoever got the contract as a "local" businessperson.

All told, Malcolm R. Dunn was a dominant figure in Plainfield politics at the turn of the 21st century, and one of its pivotal figures -- along with Mayor Al McWilliams and Assemblyman Jerry Green.

His passing, along with that of Assemblyman Green, marks the end of an era.

Rest in peace, Malcolm.

---

 -- Dan Damon [ follow ]

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