Sunday, May 19, 2013

Sharpton Returning Friday, Mayor Says At Forum

She's running for a third four-year term, but at a candidates' forum Sunday, Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs leaned heavily on political touchstones of the past - the 2005 homicide rate of her predecessor, the 2010 Town Meeting featuring Rev. Al Sharpton and the ensuing flap over a $20,000 check to WBLS.

Her immediate future - as in Friday - will include welcoming Sharpton back for another visit and she also revealed a "five-star plan" for the city's future, which she will share with the press and post on the city's web site. The May 24 visit is 6:30 p.m. at Washington Community School, 427 Darrow Ave. and is to discuss "Partnerships, Priorities and Progress for Plainfield." The date is also on Sharpton's National Action Network calendar for 8 p.m. Friday.

Robinson-Briggs was on familiar turf Sunday at the NAACP forum. She served as branch president and is a lifetime member, she said. Her husband, Peter Briggs, is the current president and conducted the forum. Her opponent in the June 4 primary, Councilman Adrian Mapp, did not attend due to a prior commitment.

The mayor cited shared services and road repair among accomplishments of her administration, but with no questions at first from the audience of 15 people, she launched into a recounting of how her tenure saw a reduction in homicides from a 2005 high under former Mayor Albert T. McWilliams and how, when gang activity caused a spike in shootings, she organized the Aug. 1, 2010 Town Meeting with a panel of 22 speakers, including other mayors and Sharpton. Lives were saved through the three-hour radio broadcast over WBLS and WLIB, she said.

To disprove criticism over the $20,000 cost that led to an investigation by the governing body, she produced large poster board "visuals" showing, she said, that bids for the broadcast were sought and that there was nothing wrong in receiving a $15,000 check from Investors Savings to help pay for it. The check was earmarked for the July Fourth celebration, but the mayor said the bank agreed to change its use.

"It proved to be very successful," she said of the broadcast, noting a gang truce eventually took place.

A question came from the audience regarding the shuttered Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center and the mayor said she had urged former Gov. Jon Corzine to authorize a statewide lottery to fund hospitals, but never got a response. She said she is against a proposal to erect 600 apartments on the site but believes the parent company is "massaging another proposal" with less density. A satellite emergency that remains at the site is scheduled to close in August.

Her future plans include more beautification, such as was recently carried out at City Hall, and establishment of a downtown storefront location where day laborers who now stand on the street can congregate. The five-star plan calls for more shared services; a debt collection task force that may pursue payment of court fines as well as $1.3 million the mayor alleged is owed by the Union County Improvement Authority; a contest to recognize the cleanest blocks in the city; a youth center; and expansion of the Office of Emergency Management.

The mayor also wants to establish an African-Caribbean Commission along the lines of the Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs.

Late in the forum, the mayor traced events that ended with her not receiving the Democratic Party line for the June primary and disparaged Mapp, who did get the line despite a rocky relationship with the party over several years. Acknowledging Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Green as her mentor early on, she alleged he has been telling people she was not listening to him.

"I'm a grown woman," she said, alluding to reaching a point where mentoring was not needed.

She reminded the audience that Union County Democratic Chairman Charlotte DeFilippo, who gave Mapp the line, had recently been rebuked by state Local Government Services Director Tom Neff , and said Mapp "stole votes" in his Third Ward race which she said should have gone to his challenger, Rasheed Abdul-Haqq.

Calling herself "a woman who has given her all" to the community, Robinson-Briggs said of the primary, "This is an election that is going to change the face of Plainfield."

--Bernice

12 comments:


  1. Did the mayor really say that Councilman Mapp "stole votes," Bernice?? That is a serious accusation! How on earth could he have managed that? This mayor is the most disingenuous, fraudulent, and ridiculous person I have ever had the displeasure of being around. The voters need to send her and her idiocy away for good on June 4th.

    Rebecca

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  2. Like the state of the city was posted on the website. That's right none of them are there.

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  3. Who's paying for Sharpton? The taxpayers again? Since this is a city-sponsored event taxpayers have a legal right to know. If it is coming out of campaign funds, she can't have it at Washington School. Who at the school system authorized it?

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  4. This administration has done nothing related to economic development.

    "Lesser density" for Muhlenberg? No freaking way!! 200 apartments = ghetto, 300 apartment = ghetto. WE DON'T NEED MORE HOUSING!! We need JOBS!! JOBS!! JOBS!!! Muhlenberg needs to be redevelopment as a medical use. That equals jobs. The city lost 1000 jobs -- why can't they come up with a plan to get another medical use in the facility?

    What about the city's high unemployment rate? Where's the "five star plan" to deal with that?

    Putting up housing and "luxury" (read Section 8) apartments is NOT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT!!!

    I agree -- who is paying for Sharpton? And why not bring in someone who speaks for the whites, hispanics and other groups in the town? Do only black issues count in this town?

    The mayor is WRONG -- the money was earmarked for the parade, she took it for another use. It was ILLEGAL what she did. The bank, probably to stay the town's bank, agreed to "change the use." How much hanky-panky has gone on money-wise? Why did Sharon's buddy, the recreation director, resign? More misappropriation of funds perhaps?

    What about getting the drug dealers off the street? That would be the best "beautification."

    Sharon -- how about getting a PERMANENT CFO??? Oh, right, that might interfere with your "creative accounting."

    We don't need four more years of this kind of unprofessional and incompetent "leadership."

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  5. 5 Star What ???
    Well.. I've said it before and I'll say it again.. She may be a hot mess but she's got one hell of a set on her, that's for sure.
    ( Sharon... bit of advice, on your way out the door... Burn the house down... I am sure you've got enough on enough people to make it even more interesting as you leave as when you were here )

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  6. Odd, very odd.

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  7. What local committee and elected officials attended this "forum"?

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  8. The only thing I can say is finally a public official is acknowledging that the Union County Improvement Authority owes the City $1.3 in unpaid PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) fees. Of course that wasn't mentioned when Sharon was on the good side of the Democratic machine. Let's see how the issue is tackled next or will it be left to fester robbing the city of much needed revenue

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  9. And how many times has her Commission on Hispanic affairs met?

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  10. Pat Turner KavanaughMay 20, 2013 at 3:09 PM

    Bernice: I am sorry I could not attend the NAACP event, but we had the rainy FOSH Garage Sale and a concert at Crescent Avenue Church. FOSH and the Plainfield League of Women Voters are sponsoring a "forum" featuring the Mayor and Councilman Mapp at 7 pm on Wednesday this week at the Plainfield Public Library, as you noted in your civic calendar. We certainly hope for more than 15 in the audience. This primary is essentially THE mayor's election, much as I like Sandy Spector. Please attend, bring your family, friends and neighbors.

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  11. What is the attraction to race baiting riot inciter Rev. Al Sharpton? I don't get it.

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  12. One of those "five stars" will undoubtedly be a halo above her head. Sharon seems to think she is responsible for all the good things and none of the bad ones. ENOUGH!!

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