So the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners will meet in closed session tonight to discuss the ordinance passed by the City Council last week despite Executive Director Randall Wood's plea to withdraw it. Wouldn't I like to be a fly on the wall at that meeting!
TAKE NOTICE ACTING CHAIRPERSON PAMELA DUNN-HALE HAS CALLED A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF THE HOUSING AUTHORITY OF PLAINFIELD FOR JULY 22, AT 7:00 P.M. IN THE COMMUNITY ROOM OF RICHMOND TOWERS, 510 EAST FRONT STREET, PLAINFIELD, NEW JERSEY.
SPECIAL MEETING TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION REGARDING ORDINANCE HEARD BY CITY COUNCIL ON JULY 14, 2014.
This is the latest twist in the tangled web of intrigue around two city-owned lots on the block currently dominated by the Pueblo Viejo nightclub.
Click image to enlarge
The small lot at lower right was once destined to have 12 condos built on it, but the plan never materialized.
The fenced-in lot has a view to the east of the Park-Madison parking deck.
The other lot is a little-used municipal parking lot that occupies the corner of West Second Street and Central Avenue, spreading north to West Front Street. Last winter, it was mostly bare except for a Pueblo Viejo trailer.
The two lots appear to be a tight squeeze for the 86 apartments the Housing Authority projected at an October
conceptual hearing before the Planning Board.
A discussion on conveying the lots to the Housing Authority was on the City Council's agenda in March, but was dropped. The matter appeared again as a discussion item this month, but somehow a full-fledged ordinance had been prepared for council approval. The ordinance was moved to the regular council meeting on July 14 and passed, 4-2, despite a letter from Wood requesting that it be withdrawn. In his letter, Wood states, "My intention was to introduce a draft Ordinance to the Council Members for consideration, advice and consent only."
Well, consideration is one thing and "advice and consent" implies action. There is more confusing language in the letter, which no doubt was part of a July 11 discussion involving Wood, Deputy City Administrator Carlos Sanchez and City Administrator Rick Smiley. Sanchez spoke at the July 14 meeting to corroborate Wood's desire to withdraw the ordinance, but Councilman William Reid alleged he had spoken to Wood just prior to the meeting and Wood wanted the ordinance to go forward.
Council President Bridget Rivers took the stance that the ordinance, having been moved to the regular meeting agenda, was now out of the Housing Authority's purview. The moral of the story for Wood might be to be sure of what the Housing Authority intends before putting it on the hook for action in the first place.
The next regular City Council meeting is on Aug. 18 and a notice has already been published announcing a public hearing and vote for final passage on second reading for the ordinance, MC 2014-16. Can this juggernaut be stopped? Stay tuned.
--Bernice
How is it that Randy Woods can bring forward an ordinance without the knowledge of the commissioners? Then he says he didn't want it to go forward in a letter to the city council. Then Councilman Reid says that Woods told him right before the council meeting that he wants it to go forward. Is he lying to the city council, to Reid or to the commissioners or to all 3? Look at the video, hes embarrassing. He needs to be fired for this. Who is he to choose Cecil Sanders and Malcolm Dunn to be the developer with all their conflicts? Dunn says he is not involved but behind the scenes everyone knows he is, just talk to people in the know. His daughter is on the housing authority. If the land is conveyed they can use another developer can't they Bernice?
ReplyDeleteYes but do you really think they will??
ReplyDelete1) 2009 letter to Wenson-Meier indicates early interest by Cecil Sanders. Letter cc:d to M. Dunn.
ReplyDelete2) Sanders leads development group presenting to Planning Board and City Council in Fall 2013. Group includes Housing Authority and architect Oliver Franklin. Franklin is the former president of Johnson Jones Architects, the school's architect, which filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2012. Dunn has undisclosed financial ties to Johnson Jones. He says he's not involved.
3) Family conflicts run between the HAP Board, City Council, the former mayor, PCDC, and other interested parties.
4) Wood says he was told to show up at the Council Meeting, by the Council President, with an ordinance in hand. Who is the ultimate decider when all is said and done, or was she just winging it?
5) Aside from the State Ethics Law issues, two other laws enter into play:
NJSA 40A:12A-21 "...When acting in its capacity as a municipal redevelopment entity, a municipal housing authority shall, in acquiring property and undertaking and financing redevelopment projects, act as an instrumentality of the municipal government as provided for in this act."
and NJSA 40:69A-163 of the Faulkner Act: "No officer or employee elected or appointed in any municipality shall be interested directly or indirectly in any contract or job for work or materials, or the profits thereof, to be furnished or performed for the municipality..."
Is it cutting hairs to say stop with this foolishness? Wouldn't it be more productive for HAP to concentrate on doing something useful with Elmwood Gardens and the many vacant properties around the city that need rehab and revitilization?
Yes, this juggernaut can be stopped if the Feds would stop quietly investigating and start slapping cuff on all of them. I guess they want to catch them all with their pants down like they got Jersey City, Bayonne and Hoboken, they really move too slow.
ReplyDelete