Muhlenberg Issue Resurfaces

A letter to the editor in Thursday's Courier News urged support for the proposed mixed-use, residential and commercial redevelopment of the Muhlenberg campus, citing the backing of clergy and community members after about a year of discussions. In the letter, The Rev. Gary Kirkwood also deplored some of the reactions to public comment by The Rev. Gerald Lamont Thomas at a Sept. 9 City Council meeting regarding the proposal by JFK Health Systems. Thomas had warned that if the governing body did not accede to the plan, JFK would leave. Since the hospital closed, the site has had a satellite emergency system with transportation links to JFK's hospital in Edison.

Shortly after the council's lack of action on the proposal, the web site "Moving Muhlenberg Forward" went dark and the council endorsed a city-sponsored planning study of possible uses for the campus. The letter is the first signal since September that those who support the 600-unit apartment proposal are reopening the debate.

The project was announced in a February 2012 news article and then at a town meeting in March 2012. Residents in neighborhoods surrounding the campus objected strongly to having such a large development in their midst and those who rallied against the closing of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in 2008 insisted they will settle for nothing less than a full-service, acute care facility on the site. Activists rallied again in August to mark five years since the closing.

In October, residents cheered the council's decision to launch an independent study of the site and numerous candidates weighed in on the move. See post here.The study has a six-month timetable including four community meetings, but there has been no public update on its status. Some opponents of the JFK proposal have also urged the city to look into assessing taxes on the site, since its primary use has changed.

The city will have a new administration once Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp takes office on Jan. 1 and it looks likely that the Muhlenberg issues will come to a head in 2014.

--Bernice

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Queen City Sights

It all depends how you look at things - and whether you are dealing with 19th century glass or modern plate glass. (Click to enlarge any image.)

 A pile of leaves makes a cozy nest for a feral cat.

This sprightly fellow came from Enchantments in Fanwood, all the way from Zimbabwe, and now sits in Plainfield. Check out this gift shop across from the Fanwood train station for unusual items.

Tuesday's snow bedecks this graceful tree behind the old Elks building downtown.

New fences around two Landmark properties on Gavett Place make one wonder whether construction is coming.

PMUA employees hung their stockings with care on the commissioners' dais.

Keep away! It's a possum, and he's not playing!

Hookahs! Seen in Lot 9, the new hot spot for development.

Throwing gang signs - in cement.

Gang rivalry.

Another view of that tree. I hope it doesn't get knocked down if Lot 6 becomes a parking deck.

Lavender instead of blue and gold - hmm.

A solemn remembrance at the Quaker Meeting House.

Hey, everybody! Celebrate walkability in Plainfield! Take a walk and bring a camera!

--Bernice

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UCIA Director Presents $1.09 Million Check

It wasn't a huge photo-op check, but the one Union County Improvement Authority Executive Director Daniel Sullivan presented to city officials Monday will still put $1.09 million in Plainfield's coffers.

Sullivan, Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-22) and Union County Freeholder Chairman Linda Carter made a surprise visit to the City Council meeting for the presentation. The check represents proceeds of a settlement the authority made with the city in August over disputed payments in lieu of taxes and certain costs incurred when the authority was in charge of redevelopment projects. Sullivan was named executive director of the authority in August, following the May resignation of former director Charlotte DeFilippo. Sullivan expressed hope that the settlement will "signal a new era" for the authority and the city.

The UCIA developed the office building on the downtown Park-Madison lot, but years passed without the authority carrying out conditions imposed by the Plainfield Planning Board. See Plaintalker's 2006 post here. The settlement provides for resolution of several issues, including use of the building's parking deck and relocation of  a street clock. See Plaintalker's August post here

Green, who succeeded DeFilippo as chairman of the county Democratic organization, told the council the settlement was better than having wasted eight years and then incurring $1 million in legal costs.

Carter, a former City Council member, said, "This was an issue when I was on the council."

Carter said she hoped the two entities would be "able to move forward with a clean slate."

--Bernice

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Mapp Initiatives Final, Barring SRB Veto

Legislation that Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp has called key to his new administration passed Monday, but may still be vetoed by outgoing Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

The City Council approved final passage of a salary increase for the title of chief financial officer, as well as creation of the title of "chief of staff" and a salary band to go with it. The city has only had a full-time, in-house CFO for about two years of Robinson-Briggs' eight years in office and is currently relying on a part-time CFO who gives the city five to seven hours per week. The council increased the maximum salary to $125.in 2012 and now has increased it to $155,000.

Regarding the chief of staff, Mapp has a full-time job in another municipality and tried in November to convince the council that he will need someone in City Hall who can handle communications, policy and intergovernmental relations. In November, opponents argued that the city administrator handles day-to-day operations and there is no need to have a chief of staff.

The three ordinances were defeated, 4-3, on Nov. 12 but brought back and passed on first reading at a special meeting on Nov. 26. They  passed, 6-1, on second reading Monday and will take effect in 20 days. Councilman William Reid cast the lone "no" vote, calling creation of the chief of staff "premature."

The remaining hurdle for Mapp, if the mayor vetoes the ordinances within 10 days, is to have the council overturn the veto with five votes.

Although the mayor's position is part-time, Robinson-Briggs claimed she devoted 60 or more hours a week to the job. She defeated Mapp in 2009 to win a second term as the city's first female African-American mayor. But Mapp defeated her in the June primary and beat three challengers won with 70 percent of the vote in the November general election. Despite the clear mandate from the electorate, Mapp faced opposition from a faction favoring the mayor on Nov. 12 and depending who fills his Third Ward council seat when he vacates it to become mayor on Jan. 1, could face further opposition in 2014 for his initiatives.

--Bernice

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Wishing for a Watchdog

The late Councilman Robert Ferraro liked being called a "watchdog" and was always on the alert for proper use of the taxpayers' money. One of the things he found fault with was a road repair project several years ago that included handicapped ramps. He pointed out that the ramps and the road were not aligned correctly and so anyone using them in bad weather would encounter puddles or ice at the bottom of the ramps.

As someone who crosses Park & Seventh almost every day and sometimes more than once a day, I have often had to pick my way around deep puddles and slippery ice often at the corners.

Now Union County has a new project to repair the street and of course there are new ramps. I wish Bob was still cruising around in his blue van to check up on this project and to make sure the grading will be an improvement over the last time the ramps were done.

The workers who did the paving patched the edges with asphalt. I am looking forward to a nice, smooth Park Avenue soon, with no puddles at the corners.

--Bernice

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HAP Appointments on Agenda Tonight

A Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority.official and a former school board member are nominees for seats on the Housing Authority of Plainfield.

PMUA Purchasing Agent Dollie Hamlin, who formerly worked in the City Clerk's office and ran for the school board in November 2012, is nominated for an unexpired five-year  term ending July 1, 2016. Joylette Mills-Ransome, a former Plainfield school board member  and retired Director of Science for the Newark Public Schools is nominated for a five-year term ending July 1, 2018.

The packet for tonight's meeting unfortunately has identical resolutions for the two, saying both are replacing Hattie Williams, whose term expired this year. However, the roster on the city web site lists a vacancy caused by the resignation of Owen Fletcher, which appears to be the unexpired term for Hamlin to fill, leaving Mills-Ransome in line to replace Williams.

Both are direct council appointees.The Housing Authority is empowered to have seven members, five appointed by the council, one by the mayor and one by the Commissioner of Community Affairs.

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs has previously offered the name of Rickey Williams to succeed himself as the mayoral appointment, but the resolution has never been moved to the agenda. Rickey Williams was appointed in March 2006 to a term that expired July 1, 2006 and has remained on as a "holdover" ever since.

--Bernice

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Condolences to the Hicks Family

A sad addition to Monday's agenda is a resolution honoring the life of Dawud Hicks, 21, the city's latest loss to gun violence.

A life of promise cut short - all too common a story in urban communities and made even more poignant by the fact that the elder Dawud Hicks had brought to the City Council his concerns about the fragile passage of young men of color through adolescence and early adulthood.

In her role as pastor at Ruth Fellowship Ministries, Councilwoman Tracey Brown has officiated at many funerals of young victims of gun violence. Her message to the community Saturday, as reported in the Courier News, was for those who loved Hicks not to seek revenge, but to find ways to help others.

Much is made of spikes in crime and times when the crime rate falls. An official with many decades in law enforcement once said a mayor cannot be blamed for the former nor take credit for the latter. But in whatever way possible, the new administration will have to take up the battle against violent crime that is disproportionately affecting Plainfield's young people.

--Bernice

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