Sunday, August 10, 2014

Council to Mull EMS, HAP Deal Monday

Proposed legislation up for discussion Monday (Aug. 11) would make Union County the "primary first due agency" responding to and providing all emergency medical services to Plainfield for the next five years.

The City Council's agenda-fixing session is 7:30 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.

According to the agreement, the emergency medical technicians will be county employees using a county-owned ambulance and the cost of services will be billed to those using the services. The agreement anticipates "the full cooperation of the City's first responders," namely police and fire personnel and the Plainfield Rescue Squad.

The agreement follows the recent announcement of additional EMS services for western Union County with an ambulance stationed at the Plainfield Rescue Squad building.

Another item of note is an ordinance up for second reading that would convey a city parking lot and another parcel to the Housing Authority "by sale or long term lease." The ordinance itself was not in the council packet, so bloggers could not verify whether it was the same as MC 2014-16, which was passed on first reading in July. A previous version, MC 2013-21, was deemed "not legal" by Corporation Counsel David Minchello at the Nov. 26 council meeting and was tabled. A revised ordinance was submitted by HAP Executive Director Randall Wood for the  July 7 agenda-fixing session, but at the July 14 meeting, officials said Wood wanted to withdraw it, as per a July 11 meeting with the administration.. But as seen on David Rutherford's video, Council President Bridget Rivers said Wood did not have the right to withdraw it, as it was the council's ordinance. Minchello has since resigned and new Corporation Counsel Vernita Sias-Hill will now make any legal determinations on the matter.

A puzzling item to the layperson is a five-page list of grants that the administration wants to cancel as they "no longer represent monies available for either spending or reimbursement to the city of Plainfield." The dates and amounts - $99,185 in 2007, $50,172.12 in 2009, $92,852.94 in 2006, among 126 grants - call for some explanation and maybe assurance that better attention is being paid to grant timetables. It brings to mind the 2007 "Tepper's Empty Box" situation. (By the way, it's still empty.}

--Bernice

9 comments:

  1. The HAP ordinance is no less illegal today than the original was when Minchello, along with Redevelopment Counsel Robert Renaud, weighed in on the matter.last November. Before the municipality is even empowered to 'convey', and the HAP to 'acquire' property, New Jersey's Local Redevelopment and Housing Law requires the adoption of a Redevelopment Plan, the same process that is being put forth for the South Avenue area mentioned below in the previous post. Four (maybe five) members of the City Council are fixated on circumventing the law, and by doing so are actively engaging in violations of the State's Local Government Ethics Law as well. All indications and documentation suggest that the driving force behind the scene is a development group created by PMUA commissioner Cecil Sanders, whose public contracting with the municipality that appoints him is legally constrained by Faulkner Act prohibitions. Sanders has already received one illegal contract, the Leland Ave. demolition that was gifted to him a few weeks after being appointed to the PMUA Board in 2011, and just a few weeks before he and fellow commissioners Malcolm Dunn and Alex Toliver voted to hand over the outrageous settlement money to quitting execs Eric Watson and David Ervin. Dunn may be a silent partner to this deal. As City Council president, he was instrumental in the original corruption and fraud surrounding the PMUA Inter Local Agreement, and Toliver, along with his wife Diane (who is running as Jerry Green's choice for City Council in the 1st Ward), have received countless thousands in illegal compensation. Sanders and Dunn, as PMUA commissioners, oversee the work of PMUA purchasing director Dollie Hamlin, who is herself a HAP commissioner. Dunn's daughter, Pamela Dunn-Hale, is HAP's Acting Chairperson. City Council President Bridget Rivers is the sister of HAP commissioner Joanne Hollis. And finally, Sharon Robinson-Briggs, mayor when this illegal conveyance first came up, is the wife of Peter Briggs, PCDC's vice-chair, the HAP affiliate which is also a party in this attempted real estate giveaway. HAP executive director Randall Wood looks like a deer caught in the headlights of official corruption. Someone, or someones, are the driving force on this road to ruin. Wood says it's not him or HAP pushing this thing forward, but if he's not lying than it's the Council President, who says otherwise. I think both of their strings are being pulled. Wood knows HAP can't operate outside the strictures of the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, which establishes housing authorities and mandates the redevelopment process. However, there does appear to be an unspoken consensus that no one reads the fine print, or the bold print, and that Plainfielders generally are just too stupid to understand any of it in any case. Or, they just don't care what the law says. That would be nearly criminal, don't you think?

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    1. 11:12'S comment not withstanding, I agree with you, although I would probably have left out the "nearly" in the last sentence.
      It is a shame that anyone would think that "the reality is people will get around laws, deals have already been made" is an acceptable [or even accurate] way of life.
      Even in Plainfield, the rule of law must count for something.
      Keep up your efforts to keep the public informed.

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  2. If Sharon comes to the next Council meeting if the Council President will ask her why her administration let so much money slip away. It does make one wonder. Its not like Plainfield couldn't use the money.

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  3. Alan thinks because he does research on governmental issues makes him an expert.What he does is insert his opinion based on what he thinks are the facts. Alan obviously have something against Two African American Men who have legitimate businesses.Alan is such a hater and really needs to get a life or run for office.I feel sorry for him(Alan)it seems like he is obsessed with degrading these individuals, and others. The reality is people will get around laws,deals have already been made.Alan people laugh at you in private, even the lawyers. Lawyers have told your targets when they are ready to sue you please call them. I can't wait until that happens.

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    1. I'm sorry if you prefer a city where laws are broken or disregarded, and public officials can profiteer off the municipality that appoints them. Perhaps you would prefer no government and no rules, or maybe you're just someone who likes officials to put their own personal interests ahead of their public obligations. I suppose that the people you say are laughing at me have the most to hide.

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  4. If the council votes this forward, I say it is time to send official letters by citizens reporting this corruption and back-room dealing to the Attorney General.

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  5. I believe that one government entity can transfer publicly owned property to another without the need for a redevelopment study and plan. The redevelopment law comes into play if there are thoughts of selling publicly owned property to a private developer or using eminent domain to acquire further sites.

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    1. Think again and think about how corrupt some of our elected and out-of-office people are, both in local and state government. We need to rid ourselves of the lot of crooks and liars.

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  6. Anonymous 1:26 PM Who cares what YOU believe. It is illegal if it violates the public ethics law. Or are YOU and your relatives the benefactors.

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