Eric Watson's first City Council meeting as acting director of Public Works & Urban Development brought a couple of barbs regarding his PMUA role.
Watson headed the department previously under Mayor Mark Fury before leaving in 1995 to become executive director of the newly-formed Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority. He served 15 years as PMUA director before leaving with a large settlement.
On Monday, resident William Michelson said in public comment he had no problem acknowledging Watson was completely qualified for the city post, but noted Watson is the same person who retired from the PMUA "with $760,000 of the people's money."
"When I found out about it, I felt like I had been raped," Michelson said. "Mr. Mayor, what were you thinking to bring this man into City Hall?"
Michelson offered "possible solutions" including legal malpractice charges for the PMUA law firm regarding the "golden parachute" or, he said, "Let Mr. Watson do his job but just don't pay him."
"I don't understand how this administration could rub this in our face," Michelson said.
Whatever his point about Watson, Michelson's allusion to rape provoked an outraged response from two councilwomen.
"To compare one's dismay or disgust at a city hire to rape is probably the single most disgusting comment I have heard," Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said, drawing applause from the public.
Councilwoman Tracey Brown, who is also the pastor of Ruth Fellowship Ministries, called Michelson's comment "appalling."
"I counsel women who have been raped," she said, calling the comment "morally incorrect."
Michelson, an attorney who is running as a Republican for the Second & Third Ward City Council seat, left the courtroom abruptly after the councilwomen spoke.
But Watson later came in for a quip from Councilman William Reid, who asked him as Public Works director to look into security for playgrounds where vandals have broken into bathrooms to steal metal.
"If you solve that problem, you can keep the 1 million dollars," Reid said to Watson.
Mapp named Watson as acting director as of Sept. 15. Watson can serve 90 days before Mapp must obtain advice and consent of the City Council to make the appointment permanent through Mapp's term ending December 31, 2018.
--Bernice
Michelson should have stuck with 'pillage' and 'plunder'.
ReplyDeletehttps://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-51dYlart-_SzdMQktVUGFmakU/view?usp=sharing
Ah, but would Reid & Co. have understood it?
DeleteCan we say overly sensitive? Politically or morally correct or not someone needed to shock the council and the mayor for this outrageous decision and make sure to hold them all accountable.
ReplyDeleteIt is a shame that Michelson left so abrubtly -- being an attorney he should have had the ability to appropriately respond to the councilors offense.
And to run away at the smallest sign of conflict does not bode well for him to be able to convince anyone that he deserves any consideration to sit on the council.
Anybody planning to sit on that council needs a strong backbone in order to deal with the toxic waste that needs to be cleaned up.
I didn't run away. See my explanation below. Whether it was Ms. Williams, Ms. Rivers or both who motioned the policeman to throw me out, I guess that's the price we pay in Plainfield - speak freely and you will be treated like a criminal.
DeleteCouncilwoman Williams' reaction to my heartfelt complaint - about which I offer no apology to anyone - was typical socialist political correctness. Instead of discussing the issue that has been raised (Watson's settlement with the PMUA), you turn on the speaker, change the subject altogether, and viciously berate him, for having used a word you didn't like. I wasn't talking about women's protection or domestic violence.
ReplyDeleteAs I had already had to leave the mike because my five minutes were up, she launched into her attack, leaving me with no way to reply. A police officer then came over to me, for no apparent reason, and asked me to step out. So I went home. I did not see or hear Council President Rivers direct the officer to get involved, rather, an eyewitness later told me that it was Ms. Williams who directed the officer to do this!! I did not know that the other Council members had the right to do that - in my estimation, they don't.
Typically for a radical socialist, Rebecca never actually addressed whether Watson should be rehired by the City. The problem is that when the Watson case was before the PMUA, the public never had a chance to voice its opinion, much less to stop the highway robbery that was taking place. I felt strongly then about the "golden parachute", paid for with my money and every other citizens' money, and I feel it strongly now. This kind of thing has been happening in many New Jersey towns, but it makes us America's laughing stock. Since when does a retiring official have a right, aside from his pension, to further compensation? This is why I spoke on the subject. I guess Ms. Williams was unhappy that I had woken her up.
As for Councilwoman Brown, she was the PMUA Commissioner who, as I understand it, was the most responsible person for giving away our $1 million, by absenting herself from the meeting where it was done, and not even calling in to vote, as she was apparently expected to do. These were the only two people who addressed me or my comments.
I think Ms. Williams showed her true colors: a far-left zealot who wants all non-PC speakers to be silenced. The odd thing is, I wasn't trying to goad her into doing or saying anything. It's a good thing for me that New Jersey doesn't have a Siberia to which she could have me deported. With her on the Council, beware everybody, she will try to have you arrested for exercising your civil right to address the governing body of your City. I think the voters will remember that on November 4. I am glad to be her opponent.
We will remember what a fool you are and how Rivers and Reid aided and abetted you. You are very easy to forget. I'm not happy about the appointment, but RAPE! Get real.
DeleteMr. Michelson - i can defend your use of the word rape when describing the hiring of Mr. Watson. While I may have chose a different word your intent was to be dramatic and remind everyone that he took advantage of the city financially, in many ways. However, this post of yours is just a little too goofy for words. I would have considered voting for you before just to get some fresh blood on the council but you have too much of a Fox New Republican tone for me. I can vote for a moderate Rockefeller type Republican but I draw the line and nutty.
DeleteThis is a response to Mr. Michelson: Whomever it was (the alleged "eyewitness") who told you that I directed a police officer to escort you out LIED to you. I did no such thing. If you have ever heard me regarding the 1st Amendment, you would know that I champion free speech at every opportunity, and that I would never suggest that an officer remove someone due to speech. However, I certainly am also free to verbally respond to what I view as offensive speech--your comparison of a city hire to feeling "raped" was disgusting. You got to say it, and it is your right to say it. It is my right to say that I found it disgusting. You have uttered an ABSOLUTE LIE about me attempting to silence speech. Your hyperbolic silliness in your comment above is probably what voters will remember.
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What voters should remember is that Watson was a ringleader of PMUA abuses, and the Authority sits untouched while every local politician beats around the bush. Referring to him simply as a "city hire" is particularly offensive. Mapp should have no room to breath now that he's rehired such a rapacious employee.
DeleteProf Williams - blah blah blah already. For someone as intelligent as you it is amazing how thin skinned you are about every perceived slight. Please just put the soap box away for once and try to get something done. Mr. Michelson was making a point and was intentionally trying to be dramatic. While the use of the word rape can be debated, his intent was to show the level of disgust he had with the Watson hiring. There are many that would try to find a different descriptor but the intent would be the same - the Watson hire was a bad idea.
DeleteInterestingly, as much as you like to pontificate and drag that soap box out, you have been very quiet on the subject of Mr. Watson as DPW director. Maybe you have posted something and I just missed it because it was too lengthy and boring.
I think enough has been said, except to correct one of Rebecca's details. It is not the city rehiring Mr. Watson that made me feel like I had been ....well you know. It was learning, two years ago, about the monetary settlement and the payment of public money. I'm a lawyer. I know when an incorrect legal result has occurred, from which someone has received an unearned windfall.
DeleteIt is soooo boring reading yet another self-righteous reply to her critics by Rebecca, aka Prof Williams. She's half right, he a little less so, but in the end it's just wasted hot air and still nothing gets done. Congrats to both of you.
ReplyDeleteIt is soooo disheartening to go through this idiocy month after month. The Plainfield council meetings jumped the shark long ago: the players come and go but the scripts are uniformly stupid and pointless. Can't anybody here do this job?
Anon 2:58 - this has to be one of my favorite blog posts of the year. Every time I see a reply from Ms. Williams I just pray that she has started to say more with fewer words - while the points are often good the length and tone have long since bored me to tears.
DeleteAs for the "disheartening idiocy" it is very painful. There isn't a single member of the council with the ability to move an agenda. Even the New Dem representatives are ineffective. One spends time rolling eyes and talking endless about nothing and the other one looks like a deer in the headlights half the time. And they are the better of the bunch. There must be people in the city that can do the job without grandstanding and game playing. Maybe one day they will run.
I was curious about Michelson as a candidate in may ward (2) and didn't know much about him. Calling Rebecca Williams a "radical socialist" tells me that we're dealing with a clown. You're dismissed from my consideration William Michelson.
ReplyDeleteps - I wasn't offended by the use of the word "rape" in that context, but understand how others could be and would consider not using it in the future rather than spouting nonsense about radical leftists and political correctness. Grow up.
Michelson is the typical Rush Limbaugh Republican.
DeleteMichelson is a joke, l was not sure howI was going to vote until he opened his mouth.If he would have done his homework during the million dollar give away Brown as I recall was home recovering from major surgery, and heavily medicated. He seems totally and completely delusional.
ReplyDeleteMr. Michelson, you have my vote! Just for standing up to the fake, phony and very bitter Rebecca Williams. While your "rape" comment was not the best way to express your disdain, I totally understand how you feel because Adrian Mapp is doing just that, raping this city for his own personal agenda. While the council members berated you for using an offensive word, not one of them has addressed the issue of that crook Eric Watson being paid more of OUR money! Not one of them did ANYTHING about it when he was running PMUA and nothing about it now. At least you had the guts to say what everyone else was thinking! Rebecca Williams and Tracy Brown are the real jokes! They sit high and mighty in their seats and do NOTHING for this town!
ReplyDeleteLet me start by saying I have lived in Plainfield for over 20 years and have never heard of Mr. Michelson before, so I have no ax to grind. However, I found his response to Rebecca Williams' criticism of his "rape" comment disturbing. Instead of saying I misspoke, wasn't thinking clearly or just simply had a lapse in the choice of words I used, you go on the attack and double down by stating you don't care who doesn't like it and are not taking it back. What you said was hurtful, insensitive and just plain dumb. I would think most logical thinking people would think so, especially those women, men and children who have found themselves the victims of this most horrific crime. I would have been more willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, if you had just admitted you made a mistake, hell, we all do, but it's how you handle it that makes the difference. An apology probably would have gone a long way and we all could have just moved on. However, you seemed to immediately started spewing the same hateful, divisive rhetoric we see and hear from the GOP on a regular basis. If this is your reaction to something that could have been ended with a simply mea culpa, then maybe you will fit right in with the rest of the do nothing city council who would rather drag this city down by engaging in half truths, turning a blind eye and pointing their accusing fingers at everyone but themselves for the horrible decisions they make. Maybe you are not the change you claim you want to be for Plainfield. As an attorney, shouldn't you be better trained at not jumping to conclusions without all the facts. You assumed immediately that the person who told you Ms. Williams pointed you out to the police to be escorted out was being forthright, but did you know that for a fact.? We all know what happens when one assumes don't we? The classic line from a classical song says "believe half of what you see and some of none of what you hear". I will end with this: I am a resident of the 3rd ward and vote across party lines and always for the person I believe to be the best candidate for the job. I will be doing my civic duty and voting in the upcoming election. The question is will it be for you?
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