Piwowar asked in public comment at Monday's City Council meeting whether public safety measures had been taken in light of a major week-long event at the Plainfield Country Club.
Among her concerns:
"Woodland Avenue will be impassable."
"No Plainfield parking lots will be used."
"How are we supposed to get to the hospital?"
"I hope Somerset and Overlook were notified."
"I hope no one dies."
Not being athletically inclined except for yard work, I missed the announcement on this event. As one can see, the announcement of the Barclay's 2011 event dates back to 2009. There should have been ample time for planning regarding traffic and public safety routes.
But Police Director Martin Hellwig said Monday Plainfield was "not part of the planning process." Kind of amazing, considering one of the city's most ardent golfers heads the Recreation Division. Oh well, so much for communication and regional planning. Hellwig allowed as how there would be no problem getting to Muhlenberg, but Nancy was talking about getting to JFK Medical center in Edison, where the club is located just over the Plainfield border. Hellwig said information will go out to police, fire and rescue squad personnel on the upcoming event.
--Bernice
Bernice, would you want to park your car in Plfd while you were at the golf event, only to return to find it vandalized, broken into or gone all together?? Just ask any commuter... As usual, Plfd was left in the rough when it could have been included. They are busing them in from Clark which is a greater distance than Plfd. Maybe if the lots were paved, striped and lit we could have had a hole in 1.
ReplyDeletePlainfield did drop the ball and failed to attend numerous planning meetings for the event. I'm told you will see officers from a neighboring town directing traffic in our city during the days of the event.
ReplyDeleteThis event would have been a perfect opportunity for the City of Plainfield to have participated in some form in order to benefit from positive media coverage; however, there is no planning or vision by the administration and the leadership of this City.
ReplyDeleteThere is no sense of anything, seriously.
If it doesn't involve a free chicken dinner, a pancake breakfast, hooking up thugs with jobs and benefits or a social entitlement deal, there's no interest by the leadership.
Sad. Sad. Sad.
The lot's near the hospital are well lit and safe. Not every parking lot in Plainfield is subject to vandalism.
ReplyDeleteIt's not a question of whether we think the lots are safe, it's whether the tournament organizers want their mostly affluent, white visitors to park in the lots of a hospital that was recently closed because Medicaid users were too too high a proportion of the patients, especially when there are parking alternatives close by.
ReplyDeletePlainfielders need to see our town a little more like outsiders see us to understand why we're often not included in their plans.
FYI - according to the PCC "The First 100 Years", it was one of Plainfield's own that devised a handicap system for the PCC in 1904, which became the origin of the modern handicap system for golf. Leighton Calkins, who was Mayor of Plainfield, 1915-1920, also coined the word "par." He is buried in Hillside Cemetery on the same rolling hills as the golf course.
ReplyDelete