Nearly 150 people turned out Wednesday for a Friends of Sleepy Hollow forum featuring contenders for two City Council seats in the June 5 Democratic primary.
Facing the crowd at Emerson School were Rev. Tracey Brown and Veronica "Roni" Taylor, candidates for the city-wide at-large seat, and incumbent Council President Adrian Mapp and Rasheed Abdul-Haqq, who are vying for the Third Ward seat.
After opening statements by each candidate, moderator Dawne Clarke of the Union County League of Women Voters read questions from the audience. Clarke first noted she had a dozen cards with questions about "Muhlenberg," shorthand for a complex set of issues that arose after the 2008 closure of the acute care facility.
Mapp said he was not in favor of keeping services "as is," meaning only an emergency room still open. He wanted to bring back "quality health care." He was also not in favor of a proposal by the shuttered hospital's owners to place 660 apartments on the site and wanted "bottom up approval" of whatever goes on the campus. He advocated a group called Community Residents Engaged About Muhlenberg, or CREAM, that would seek "better quality health care."
Abdul-Haqq called Mapp's wish for restoration of acute care "pie in the sky" and said a straegic planning task force is needed. He also wanted the hospital's owners to return the land to the city, saying it had been held tax-free for 100 years. Abdul-Haqq suggested uses such as a cancer center, Wegman's or Whole Foods on the site.
Taylor said people "do not want nor do we need" 660 apartments. Although she would like an acute care facility, Taylor said, she wants to make sure the emergency room stays. (It is due to close in 2013).
"We need to keep that emergency room there," she said, noting the large number of uninsured people in the city.
Brown disputed what she called "mean-spirited" blog comments that alleged she was in favor of the 660 apartments and said she had stated at an NAACP forum Sunday that she had not yet "done her due diligence" on the issue. On Wednesday, she said she had now done her due diligence and she was not in favor of the apartments. She said she was in favor of a health facility that would provide adequate service.
Other topics included crime, economic development, relations between the mayor and council, roads, foreclosures, housing and the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority. Brown is currently a PMUA commissioner and Clarke said she had six or seven cards with the same question, on why Brown said she would not answer any questions about the PMUA at the NAACP forum because it was a conflict of interest..
Brown said her attorney advised her not to answer any questions related to the PMUA. Clarke then asked Taylor what the conflict of interest might be. Taylor said she did not see one, and questioned how someone could run for public office and not answer questions.
The PMUA is currently under study for possible dissolution. Taylor said she supports "the front-line workers" at PMUA.
Mapp said he was not an employee of the PMUA, never served on it and had no relatives working there, so had no conflict. He said as a member of the governing body he is "constantly bombarded" by questions from the public. If he had a conflict, he said, he would not be in public office.
"The PMUA has been quite a problem," Abdul-Haqq said. "there definitely needs to be a plan."
He said when Dan Williamson, the current Plainfield corporation counsel, starts his new position as executive director of the PMUA, he expects him to economize. The authority's board of commissioners recently approved a $1 million settlement with the former executive director and assistant executive director. Abdul-Haqq said he believes the settlement should have been made through arbitration and criticized Mapp for allegedly flip-flopping on the issue.
Brown sought a rebuttal despite her attorney's advice not to talk, and said she had voted for arbitration.
The two-hour forum attracted 145 residents, who submitted 76 questions for the moderator, according to Jim Spear, one of the organizers. This writer came home with 26 pages of notes in very small script and so will not try to get it all into one blog post. The entire forum was videographed for viewing on local channels and Rev. Zechariah Jackson also taped it for YouTube segments.
Clarke urged all to get out and vote on June 5. Winners of the Democratic primary will be on the ballot for the Nov. 6 general election along with Republicans Bill Amirault for the at-large seat and Randy Bullock for the Third Ward seat. Independents who file June 5 will also be on the Nov. 6 ballot.
--Bernice
I would like to know how would Mr. Williamson economize at the PMUA when he does not pay his own PMUA bill. Today he is listed in the Courier News for the PMUA Tax Sale
ReplyDeleteBrown is full of it. She was absent from the meeting when the vote was taken to approve the settlement and withdraw from arbitration.
ReplyDeleteSitting in the second row, I hear and saw it all. I was not impressed by Rev. Brown. She was disingenuous and hiding behind her lawyer. For a resident of Plainfield she seems out of touch with what Plainfielder's want. Mr. Haqq was not on point at all and did not seem to have well thoughout plans for anything. Roni Taylor was upbeat and full of good ideas and Councilman Mapp showed how important his experience can be. Overall, a very interesting night.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is not who was absent but who put the bums on the PMUA.
ReplyDeleteIn this case it was in fact New Democrats Mapp and McWilliams. They vote for Dunn whom everyone know is a long-time PMUA ally. Mapp knew the history and the deep entangled relationship between Dunn and Watson.
Still he voted "YES".
"Why" is a question that should have been raised at the meeting and reported in the blogs.
The fault here lies with Mapp and McWilliams for voting for the bums to be put on the PMUA in the first place.
Now we are stuck with them for 5-years.
This is how I imagine it went - Green asked, Mapp said yes if your give me the line. Need I say More?
DeleteRobin
Tracy Brown’s body language alone speaks for itself. Every time someone mention the Mayor and how incompetent she was Tracey frowned. I would think she would be more concerned with herself and not the mayor after all she is the one running. She also started by calling people hateful and mean-spirited, is this an off-the-cuff assessment a Reverend should be making? She came across as incompetent for the position she is running for and ignorant to the facts of politics. What I got from her, she was only concerned about the people in the 4th ward who are in desperate need of nice, new affordable housing, news flash (moving the people that helped create an environment is not a solution), helping the drug addicts, jobless, homeless people that come to her church. While this in itself is very righteous and honorable, what about the rest of the residents in Plainfield? Do we not matter or should we not complain about the disgraceful PMUA bills we receive quarterly along with the ever rising taxes that are forcing a great deal of people out of their homes. A vote for Tracey would be rubber-stamping the Mayor’s bad behavior over the years.
DeleteVeronica Taylor is a no-brainer and clearly the right choice for this position. We need to move forward and we cannot do it with a Mayor Robinson-Briggs clone.
On another note, while Haqq didn’t do as well as hoped, Mapp was way out of line at the end when he made reference to the Campbell’s having a vendetta against him. Haqq should have made a rebuttal that Mapp was not running against the Campbell but him and that’s what he really needs to be concerned about.
What I liked best about this forum is that at the end of the evening, there were clear and defined lines as to each candidate's position on the issues and the level of competency among them.
ReplyDeleteWhat concerned me most about Ms. Brown's comments, besides her unwillingness to address PMUA issues, were all the social initiatives she indicated she would like to implement, including more affordable housing.
Plainfield has suffered long enough from the effects of "affordable housing" and everything that comes along with it. Plainfield has also suffered from the effects of all the social programs and charity it's provided, for decades, at this point.
Plainfield cannot move forward if we keep getting dragged down with new social initiatives. All the money Ms. Brown would try and save us on property taxes would be needed to subsidize the programs she wants to implement.
Perhaps Ms. Brown would consider getting together with the leadership from the multitude of other tax exempt worship houses in Plainfield and address these social issue about which they feel so strongly.
I'm all for helping those less fortunate and have done my share of volunteering, but I'm tired of my tax dollars funding failed social initiatives that keep people in welfare's vicious cycle.
Most of us in Plainfield didn't start out being homeowners with a car in our driveway; we've worked very hard to attain what we have, no matter in which ward we live -- nothing less should be expected of anyone else.
We all have to start somewhere --self-respect, pride and humility come to mind.
As each day goes by, I now realize that the people of Plainfield vote with their emotions/loyalty. I am not voting for a candidate because he/she is my neighbor, pastor, friend, etc., I will be voting for the person who shares my views for making Plainfield a better place. I have a strange feeling that the majority of Plainfield voters vote the party line regardless of the facts set forth time and time again. I have been doing my research on the history of Plainfield and, once upon a time, Plainfield was truly the "Queen City." What happened?
ReplyDeleteBetween the BOE, City Council, PMUA, Green and the Mayor, I say vote all of these individuals out because it seems as though they are all connected one way or another and, we will continue to get the same poor representations.
PMUA I think was cast adrift to pirate its ratepayers during its formative years, when Al McWilliams was mayor, Malcolm Dunn was Council President, and the Council included current PMUA chairman and former mayor Harold Mitchell, and Adrian Mapp who was a newbie back then. Mapp and Annie McWilliams should explain their votes, though it is doubtful they ever will. But it certainly looks like the fix was in, and Watson and Ervin would get their payday. The wheeling and dealing has a strong aroma about it. I expect them to beat around the bush to keep the watchdogs at bay and prying eyes away.
ReplyDelete3:11 leaves out the fact the the Council only votes on those the mayor, her shadiness, puts before them. The Council is not responsible for that. Let's get it straight now!
ReplyDeleteTo the commenters who used the terms "coward" and "liar," try to make your points without using such labels. I am not publishing those two comments.
ReplyDelete