Parade, Concert Plans Raise Questions

A notice on the city's web site tells us the July 4th celebration will take place on Saturday, July 7 and will include a parade, fireworks and a concert.

The traditional concert was not held last year, but according to the notice, it is being put together to make up for a popular Union County concert that was canceled. The parade slogan is "Declaration of Unity - Honoring Our Veterans, and Building a Better Future." Let us, as the modern kiddies say, unpack these two items.

The concert: Union County's decision to cancel the "Rhythm and Blues by the Brook" concert and another event called Musicfest was announced in early March. The reason given was a tight budget, although Musicfest was marred by "accounting mishaps" as well, according to a Star-Ledger news article.  However, the county will now be helping Plainfield to put on the concert, the city flyer notes.

One wonders how the city can plunge in and save the day this year when last year the Plainfield concert was canceled ostensibly to save money. And in exactly what capacity will the strapped county be pitching in?

Performers get booked early for summer events. Before the city lost the backing of other municipalities for the annual celebration, an Independence Day Committee normally began making arrangements a year ahead of the event. Now that the city does its own thing, there is supposed to be a committee made up solely of Plainfield residents, but instead an ad hoc group does the planning. Maybe at Wednesday's budget session, the City Council can get the Recreation Division to pin down exactly how much it will cost the city for this late decision to put on a concert.

The parade: Alex Toliver, a veteran and a PMUA Commissioner, suggested at the March 5 agenda session that the city should hold a parade welcoming home veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He called on council members to commit to the plan. Part of his premise, as outlined in an April 6 letter was that the theme would increase attendance at the parade and "encourage surrounding cities to honor their veterans as well." Toliver said he would take on the task of "coordinating and urging participation from all veterans" in the parade.

The idea for such parades was sparked by one in St. Louis in January that drew 100,000 spectators and 20,000 participants. Toliver told Plaintalker his proposal was not related to the efforts of the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America to promote the parade concept, but it did make one wonder how much it might increase the scope of the traditional hometown parade. This is another situation that might need explanation of funding and logistics at Wednesday's budget session. The interface of municipal and volunteer efforts should be spelled out.

The fiscal aspects of the July 4th celebration have come up every year in recent times, as noted in this Plaintalker post from last year. It is not unpatriotic to ask questions about spending the taxpayers' money, especially in the current economic climate. Plaintalker hopes to take a separate look at the broader scope of work by IAVA and other organizations to assist returning veterans. The issue here is what will happen on July 7. The date change itself, as also happened last year, is no doubt based on costs of municipal employees working on a holiday.

The budget deliberations on Recreation, Inspections and Public Works divisions as well as the offices of the mayor and city administrator are 7 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall Library.

--Bernice