The purloined photo.
The latest entry in the local blogosphere includes some very misleading numbers and misquotes me, for starters. I will excerpt some things for your amusement and edification.
Norman Ortega, recent school board candidate and former commissioner on the Plainfield Advisory Commission for Hispanic Affairs, posted a diatribe against me for, as he puts it, being "nostalgic" for the high-end retailers of Plainfield's past.
"Bernice Paglia writes the Plainfield Plaintalker, a “hyperlocal blog” where most of the high-end nostalgics gather to support each other’s high-end grief," he writes.
Geez, if that's all I do, I certainly have lost a lot of time attending public meetings and staying up at night to report on them.
So then he emails me to let me know he quoted me and asks if he did it correctly. I tell him to look at the blog post he says he quoted and see whether he did it correctly.
He emails me back: "Done!"
Well, not quite.
What Bernice wrote: "Do you shop downtown? I must admit to more online shopping and spending money in Westfield. Will new downtown dwellers find it to their liking? Does it need a better mix of offerings?"
My readers since 2005 know very well that I go out of town to get what I call Things You Can't Buy in Plainfield, like sturdy walking shoes, and I get all my black turtlenecks online from L.L. Bean. But enough about my pedestrian taste in fashion, let's talk about math.
Norman says, "At the time of the high-end departures in the 80s, the Hispanic population in
Even a math-challenged old lady can tell you that would be a 370 percent increase.
Worse yet for someone with political aspirations, Norman does not understand election results. He analyzes the school board election like this:
Candidates
|
Party
|
# Votes
|
%
|
Personal Choice
|
14
|
0.10%
| |
Non - Dorien HURTT
|
Independent
|
1,321
|
9.62%
|
Non - Norman E. ORTEGA
|
Democrat
|
1,814
|
13.21%
|
Non -
|
Democrat
|
1,922
|
14.00%
|
Non - Michael A. HORN
|
Democrat
|
1,953
|
14.22%
|
Non - Terrence S. BELLAMY
|
Democrat
|
2,012
|
14.65%
|
Non - Carletta D. JEFFERS
|
Democrat
|
2,318
|
16.88%
|
Non - David M. RUTHERFORD
|
Democrat
|
2,379
|
17.32%
|
Total # of Voters
|
13,733
|
100.00%
| |
A total of 13.733 voters turned out to vote. Of those 13,733 voters, 1,814 voted for the Latino candidate (Ortega). If you notice, the Latino candidate had the least amount of votes, with the exception the Independent candidate, who received 1,321. If at least 500 of those Latino voters had come out to vote, the children who make up 70% of the student body of
Norman forgets that each voter gets to make three school board choices. According to the Union County Clerk's official results, 7,981 0f Plainfield's 22,133 registered voters turned out at the polls on Nov. 4. His total would have meant a 62 percent turnout, when in fact it was more like 36 percent.
Well anyway, Norman, welcome to the world of blogging in Plainfield. But one last thing. If you are going to use one of my photos on your blog's Facebook page, it would be polite to add a credit.
Happy blogging!
--Bernice
He also listed Rutherford, Jeffers, and Bellamy as Republicans (which he knew was not true) in the initial post and only corrected after being called out. Not only does he have bad math skills, he lacks integrity.
ReplyDeleteBernice;
ReplyDeleteI must object. It was not a diatribe "against" you. High-End Nostalgia was a satirical piece. Other than that, I must admit, when I read your post this morning, I could not help but to laugh. Thanks, that’s worth a lot. And let me clarify. Regarding what you do, in my book, you are one of Plainfield's high-end assets. :)
Is he asserting he didn't win because he is Latino? I didn't vote for him because he kept posing for pictures during the LWV forum while giving half-assed answers to the questions. Don't insult the Latino children of the city, they need way more than someone with a pretty face.
ReplyDeleteI wish you would have included a link to NO's post so we could read for ourselves what he had written in context.
ReplyDeleteBut that aside I find both his and your paragraphs on the voter turnout to be pointless: his because it's near incomprehensible, yours because it's a little bit sour and makes an irrelevant point.
IF 500 more latinos had turned out AND voted uniformly for Ortega (a huge assumption - are there even 500 more latino citizens in Plainfield eligible to vote?) then yes, Ortega probably would have ended up in third place even though the vote totals of the other candidates would have increased as well in the larger turnout. So I get his point - as many latinos as possible have to get registered and must get to the polls - but his explanation is very hard to decipher. But maybe that's just nostalgia for hi-end logical exposition.
What Norman should be doing is getting more Latinos registered and making sure they vote. And yes, Bernice, please post a link to Normal's blog--we "high-end" people have nothing else to do!
ReplyDeleteI thought board of Ed candidates don't have a party representation! It's non partisan. So your picture with the candidates is wrong And Norman wasn't that far off from the next candidate. And as for the high end stores, stop living in the past, contribute to the city, talking about how Plainfield's downtown is not high end is not good at all.
ReplyDeleteChristian, that was Norman's "picture with the candidates." And yes it is nonpartisan but Norman either didn't understand that or had another agenda. Or maybe since his campaign was run out of the democratic headquarters by democratic chair Jerry Green he is confused. Throughout the campaign Norman, his running mates and Jerry Green said the opposing candidates were republicans. Norman changed it in his post after someone commented.
DeleteI find anyone who thinks that we don't need quality retailers in the downtown of Plainfield out of touch with reality. Do we want our downtown to be a place for low quality merchandise that many Plainfielder's won't buy or would it be better to have reasonably priced items many of us would purchase. I know I won't waste my time going down town. There are two or three stores I might go to, but the parking and traffic aren't worth it, when I can go to Target or some other store, get what I want at a much better quality and not much more of a price. The Plainfield "downtown" shopping area needs upgrading and that has nothing to do with being "high end". It has to do with attracting all kinds of people to shop in our downtown and make Plainfield prosperous. We need to think of our future and I hope it isn't for us to be the shabby, cheap side of western Union County.
ReplyDeleteWhy did need 500 Latino votes as opposed to 500 Plainfield votes
ReplyDeleteBernice, you listed the "needs" of Latino students, but aren't those the needs of ALL the students. I am not a " high end" shopper, however I do like " quality" a bargain prices. I don't see that on Front Street. Finally the rise of
ReplyDeletethe Latino population is due in part because Plainfield is a sanctuary city that accepts people who are here illegally.
Oye Vey!
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is half black half Puerto-Rican, I decided to check out Plainfieldlatino.com. I was immediately turned off. Instead of advocating for Latino needs or more political involvement by the Latino community, the blog clearly comes off as self-interested and whining.
ReplyDeleteWhy have a blog complaining about the lack of Latino vote? It is clear you failed to motivate them to vote for you during your campaign? And why assume they would vote for you...simply because you are Latino? That is the type of political involvement we do not need in Plainfield.
The biggest turnoff is the blogger makes broad statements about that the Latino community's needs and wants. How do you know this and how can you take it upon yourself to be the "voice" of the entire Latino community. The Latino population in PLFD is vast and there is no singular voice or philosophy. Just like any other race of voters.
Case in point, this paragraph in plainfieldlatino.com of over-generalization and stereotypes.
"We hope that the new director, Phillip Izzo, takes into account the needs of Latino residents of Plainfield and apply the rules fairly, with dignity and taking into account the Latino culture on housing issues. We tend to keep our families together and close to us. Also realize that we are in the lower household income bracket."
R. Stewart
When I used to go to Council Meetings I voiced my opinion on how we used to have quality stores and would have family's from Fanwood, Scotch Plains, Westfield and other towns come here to shop. Since we started allowing all stores into our community not of high quality things have gone down. and The young man that thinks we have quality stores must not have been down Front Street lately as I was just today and the store fronts are crowded and un professional looking. I too must confess to going to Westfield, and other communities to get quality clothing that fit and will last. As a plus size woman I need my clothing to last longer than 2 weeks. Thank you Bernice for standing you ground.
ReplyDelete