Friday, May 3, 2013

About Economic Development

Someone asked yesterday, "Does the administration have any ideas about economic development?"

Certainly it started off in 2006 with some ideas, one of which was to put economic development activity in the hands of the Union County Improvement Authority. See a 2006 "scorecard" here. Since then, some developers such as Capodagli have gone on to other municipalities, notably Rahway, where former Public Works & Urban Development Director Jennifer Wenson Maier was and still is a councilwoman. The blog Rahway Rising has 30 posts on Capodagli's activities there. Heartstone, another developer, dropped plans for market-rate condos on West Front Street in favor of a project in Rahway.

Since Wenson-Maier was not reappointed to serve in the mayor's second term, economic development seems to have devolved to to a division-level post. It does not inspire confidence to know that this division, in charge of Urban Enterprise Zone funds since the state disbanded the program, has failed to give an accounting of projects despite requests from the governing body and promises by the administration to respond.

Since moving to Plainfield in 1983, I have seen a spectrum of approaches to development. See this summary written in 2010, as the mayor's second term began. Of course, no matter what a city's goals and aspirations, market conditions can cast a pall over plans. But relegating economic development to a division-level activity is possibly another damper.

Currently, the city is receiving guidance from The Anglin Group on economic development. I have read the 148-page document on "Promoting the Community and Economic Development of Plainfield" produced by Anglin and associates at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and can recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. It outlines five strategies for Plainfield that could be applied in the next four years. If they are being applied now, somebody should be able to tell the public how and give specific examples.

The key to progress appears to be a shared interest among all "stakeholders" including elected officials in a positive outcome. If the administration and governing body are at odds, developers will likely go somewhere else. This is not to say Plainfield has to agree to any scheme that comes along without proper vetting and controls over development, but there has to be more welcoming and less territoriality from officials. A developer can't be expected to intuit the turfiness of a city and pick one faction over another, hoping it is the right one to get things done.

If you are interested in economic development here, please take time to read all the links and even explore the Plainfield Plaintalker archive, which spans June 2005 to mid-2010 (except for a couple of later misplaced posts). Unfortunately, there hasn't been a lot to report on economic development in the successor blog, Plaintalker II. Comments as always are welcome.

--Bernice


6 comments:

  1. Another reason to vote for Mapp. He has plans and determination to bring business to Plainfield. Not only does he want a vibrant economy and downtown, he actually talks about how bringing in business will help bring relief to taxpayers.

    Imagine, a mayor who will actually care about all the citizens of Plainfield!!!

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  2. Location, location, location - the mantra of real estate.

    Downtown, downtown, downtown - that's the core location that needs fixing in Plainfield. For years I have advocated focusing on North Avenue opposite the train station. If that 2 block stretch gets a facelift the psychological boost for the city will be tremendous, not to mention how it will change the impression of the city for all who commute by on the train.

    From there, a ripple of development can expand outward, but the core needs the work first. If the territoriality you mentioned involves council members angling for development in their respective Wards then we'll never get anywhere.

    Barbara

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  3. Insightful and simple commentary by Barbara... most surely it will be lost on most of the city council who are at best mouthpieces for Jerry Green's agenda of simply...being Jerry Green. What a rise of fortunes we've seen from that approach to self employment protection.
    Downtown is the key.
    It looks like a haphazard gutter of 3rd world efforts to eek out an existence.
    No standards, no zoning enforcement, no regulation enforcement, no cohesive efforts for a unified clean crisp look and most certainly no attempt to impress in the least visually.
    What Plainfield's got is what Plainfield will have until you have someone with enough money to start pushing the Local Dem's in Plainfield and Union County around.
    It's all about the money. The Dem's have what they've got and can't mess up what little they're getting off the meager gravy train they've been riding. Any attempt to knock them off this course will have to come from a financial power player. They don't listen to reason and common sense, they listen to the sound of money.
    Downtown could still have the same number of vacancies and same mix of businesses but look INCREDIBLE. It's the same mentality as keeping your car 3/4 full of gas vs 3/4 empty, it costs you no more to do that. Just a change of attitude and actually deciding that's how it's going to be.
    If the city can't invest in itself then most certainly no one will invest in the city.
    ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT.
    This city can beat up homeowner after homeowner over uneven side walks but when it comes to a commercial property owner it sits like a some whimpering puppy in the corner bemoaning it's status and wailing aloud, "Woe is me, what are we supposed to do."
    Try this.... Act like you are the ones that make the rules and start enforcing them.
    If the city agency that is responsible for this can't or won't do it : CLEAN HOUSE.
    Let someone else be inept at it instead of the same tired people.
    At least then we can all say you tried something instead of looking like a collective group of half wits wondering why doing nothing different produces nothing different.

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  4. I don't know if "territoriality" has been our problem or if an administration without concrete direction is the problem. Add to that the Council members who have been attached to Sharon and ignoring their responsibilities to all of Plainfield, or those members of the Council who don't respond to Sharon's "ham fisted" methods and lack of understanding Plainfield's problems. Either way, when Sharon is gone, hope is high that we can get something done with a full cabinet and a mayor with a plan that can be implimented.

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  5. The Mayor has certainly failed in the area of economic development (among almost every other area in her portfolio) but some blame lies with the city council as well - anyone who has been to an agenda setting meeting has heard "no economic development committee update at this time" from Counilman Storch. In fact, i have never heard any updates in this area. Plenty of blame to go around. Food for thought at election time - this year and future years.

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  6. Thank goodness we got rid of those Republican members who were concerned in the downtown and made Plainfield a great Democratic Party stronghold.

    GB

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