Among many less-than-quotable quotes at Monday's City Council meeting, there was this one: "We have to come up with legislation to stop these blogs."
The first negative mention of blogs was from the unsoaped mouth of Alex Toliver, who, after making homophobic and demeaning remarks to Councilwoman Rebecca Williams, went on to complain about her blog. (See Sergio Bichao's report on Toliver's verbal attack on Williams)
Later, Councilwoman Gloria Taylor spoke of the "situation with blogs" and said they should be held "accountable."
There used to be as many as 30 blogs in Plainfield on subjects ranging from politics to trees. Currently fewer than a dozen are left, and only a handful publish daily. Taylor did not name any blogs specifically.
"I think the blogs have to be responsible," said Taylor, who has pointedly noted on several occasions that she does not read the blogs. "I hope we can do something as a community," she added.
Council President Bridget Rivers, after offering an apology for the attack on Williams, said she gets attacked all the time and blogs unfortunately contain information "attacking other individuals."
"You have to be able to take criticism," she said, but then added, "We have to come up with legislation to stop these blogs from what they are saying."
Rivers said she gets "beat up on the blogs" all the time.
In retrospect, it was hard to decipher whether her message was that public officials are subject to criticism and have to get used to it, or that "the blogs" should cease existing.
You are currently reading a blog about Plainfield. What do you think?
--Bernice
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Yes, because these 2 are prime examples of who I want dictating mine and your Constitutional Rights....before we go after the Blogs, lets legislate against do nothing county patronage jobs..then we can go after the blogs.
ReplyDeleteThat will trouble many of Jerry's friends on the City Council and Sharon, after she realized that no one would hire her on her previous job record. . Let's do it!
DeleteAny such move to pass an ordinance regarding blogs would be ill advised. The same amendment Ms. Rivers holds as so precious when allowing Mr. Toliver to go on his homophobic rant, would most certainly be used as a court challenge to said ordinance resulting in a loss for the city along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in wasteful legal expenses. I think Ms. Rivers and Ms. Taylor have both moved beyond the realm of Dr. Yood’s Oz and are now in a universe that only they can understand.
ReplyDeleteRivers and Taylor's remarks keep confirming what the city knows, which is that they are clueless.
ReplyDeleteRivers has no problem not holding Taylor accountable on being verbally disrespectful to Williams (did I hear Taylor call Williams "Dearie"?), yet she has a problem when people point out the illogic and plain stupid remarks and actions of the council. If your skin is that thin, resign.
Taylor said to Williams, "I don't think you have the place to tell me what to do, darling."
DeleteThe blogs are one sided Ms. Paglia I can say you have been the most correct with your information. Dan Damon is somewhere in oz. The council can not form any type of legislation to stop blogger they will just have to deal with it and maybe form their own blog. This situation with Mr. Toliver is oh so wrong he did not attack her sexuality. I get so tired of people putting race and gay in the same sentence. It is so very different. I have to say Council women Williams have attacked several people characters on her blog. She is not the angel that everyone is trying to make her out to be. Yes I will sign my name.
ReplyDeleteLisa
Williams and Cory Storch both have blogs related to their council roles. Williams also has additional blogs.
DeleteI wonder why Rivers, et. al., don't have their own blogs. I don't think they could handle the flak they would get for their unprofessional behavior. Rivers is a joke and I wish we could get rid of her now, but we will when she comes up for re-election. Her constituents are so very tired of her.
DeleteWhat do I think? Why not ask Ms. Rivers what she meant and we wont have to guess or formulate an opinion.
ReplyDeleteDee Dameron
You can ask but she won't have an answer, she just likes to talk out the side of her neck because she thinks acting like a thugette make her look tough.
DeleteI am not shocked by Rivers feeling that she can do something about the blogs. That is par for the course with her. I am shocked (ok, I am not) that Taylor would think there was anything that could be done - she was a teacher after all, she should be somewhat well versed in constitutional rights. Has anyone ever checked the test scores for the schools she worked at? I bet those were scary.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, it would be great entertainment for them to try to do something. First they would have to write a resolution, pure comedy there. Then they would have to explain how ridiculous the notion is when they try to put it on the agenda or even vote for it. Now, if it actually passed the real comedy would begin.
I'm glad Taylor is no longer a teach or principal. She is not fit to work with children if she treats them the way she treats the adults around her. She's lucky it was so hard to fire inept teachers in her time.
DeleteI was a strong supporter of Mayor Mapp, I voted for Council women Williams but this last stunt is just ridiculous. Again I was there and Mr. Toliver did not attack gays. THIS IS POLITICS AT ITS WORST.
ReplyDeleteCouncil women Williams have attacked Council women Taylor several times. She has attacked Council women Taylor every chance she gets.
This stunt is to keep the city from talking about the real issues facing plainfield today.
Taxes going up, Senior center, Planning board, the demo. Come on Plainfield open your eyes this is a distraction.
Renee
What universe do you live in? Did Jerry get you your job? I also want to thank you for all the innuendo and no facts about the Senior Center or the Planning Board. Very ignorant and divisive.
DeleteRenee - what in the world are you talking about and which tense are you intending to actually use?
DeleteRenee, You do realize that the city council (the people you support) voted to deny the citizens of Plainfield an opportunity to apply for up to 300 jobs by voting down a PILOT. Their reason - no guarantees. So I ask you what guarantees are there in life?
DeleteHowever, they had police reports of several violations against a of a strip club (several reports including neighborhood reports), and that is not a guarantee, so they voted to have a strip club in Plainfield.
So your point about taxes etc. is well taken, but to expect this council to do anything about it constitutes more than a miracle.
I guess tweedle dee tweedle dumb and tweedle doh on the council need to be spoon fed what the first amendment says
ReplyDeleteLaughable all around.
ReplyDeleteSo, Rivers and Taylor, who are barely capable of addressing the needs of their constituents and are incapable of functioning as representatives of the Plainfield community as a whole, are interested creating legislation that will shut down blogs. Ha!
They want to shut down the First Amendment - freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Well, good luck ladies. You can barely deal with the legislation that comes before you. They can’t event deal with the problems of their constituents in this small town. That’s what Plainfield is, a small town with City after its name which makes it seem much bigger than it really is.
For those who have yet to understand the extremely low level capacity and ability these women have as public servants, where they would make these types of statements, this instance should plainly demonstrate their inability to rise above the rhetoric, address important issues, work with the community and demonstrate they are willing to do what's right for everyone, not what's right for them and their narrow-minded agenda.
They are losing the battle in the court of public opinion. They see their cohorts around them being replaced by more knowledgeable and capable individuals and they don’t know how to manage the unrest amongst the voting public by any other means, other than making ridiculous comments. In the real world, they would have been fired from their job.
The likes of Rivers, Taylor and company have been at the helm in Plainfield for decades and the City has spiraled into a hole and their very constituents have suffered the most. They have failed for years and the data shows it, especially in their respective communities.
On the positive side, Plainfield is moving in the right direction. It may take longer than any of us would want, but it is changing and this is what these ladies don’t like. They fear loss of power, loss of recognition and loss of patronage jobs. Well they are right to fear all of that, because the change has been happening for a while and it’s picking up momentum.
As for the Tolivers, very pathetic, angry individuals who could benefit from some time in obedience school and a few years-worth of anger management classes.
Wow. You have nailed it and put it in the light of truth. When the truth makes people angry we need to remove them from us as soon as possible. I know we will remove these incapable Councilors in the near future. The damage they will do until then is what's scary.
DeletePOLITICS-PLAINFIELD=CORUPTION
ReplyDeleteKEEP YOUR EYES OPEN
Go to the Council meetings. Read the blogs. The papers do not report on Plainfield like they use to........ Snooozzzz you looozzz
DeleteIt's hard to do busine$$ with those blogs out there. Keep shining a light!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct more people need to show up at Planning board,zoning board,and council meetings! Get the facts for your self,then maybe you will be more careful the next time you vote.
DeleteClarify please. Are you for or against the First Amendment and for the Jerry Green Council members?
DeleteKeeping it real as for your comments the Mapp administration have been around for an extremely long time. Mayor Mapp have not been serving his community well at all. He fooled the community that there will be change and there is no change at all.
ReplyDeleteLet's start with his City Administrator simply pathetic and incompetent he could not answer a question correctly if he wrote it down.
His finance director he sat on the Muhlenberg board and watched it close down and never informed his community at all.
His CFO is brilliant, His director of planning is a great guy and because he stand in the way of corruption, and will not allow Frank Cretella to do what he's doing in Jersey City The Mayor wants him out.
I say to Bill Neirdstadt you have a future somewhere else do not go to jail for them.
His public works director he robbed PMUA for over 1 million dollars I am still scratching my head to figure that one out.
and the beat goes on.
As for Council women Williams she have been extremely nasty to many. Her and Council women Taylor fight like children in elementary school. Get off the pity pot
I guess you think Sharon was a good mayor. Mapp has made mistakes, but we are generally heading in the right direction. We will do better when we get rid of the Jerry Green influence in town and Jerry's kids on the City Council.
DeleteI did not mention the Mapp administration in my comments; although I did elude to the fact that Plainfield is moving forward and a big part of that is due to this administration. Although I don't always agree with their decisions, strategies or tactics -- they are doing a great deal more for Plainfield as a whole than the previous administration ever did.
DeleteThe Mapp Administration has been around for almost 2 years. All things relative, that's not a very long time.
Bottom line here is we need professional, knowledgeable and capable individuals in the City's leadership. Rivers and Taylor do not meet those qualifications, at least not in this setting.
Anon 11:19 - interesting comments - did Jerry Green help you formulate those? Poor grammar makes me wonder.
DeleteIs River and Taylor really suggesting we challenge the 1st Amendment, now that is truly hilarious.
ReplyDeleteRB
Perhaps they had Assembly Green in mind. He keeps a blog.
ReplyDeleteIf you can call those narcissistic nonsensical ramblings a blog then yes one might call it that
DeleteI prefer to think of it as the diary of someone delusional that we can all point and laugh at
One the first acts of a nascent Totalitarian society is to censure criticism. Thin skin is commensurate with enlarged ego. The best cure for those offended is to remove themselves from the public arena. Last night I watched the Council meeting during which the Plainfield Police reported on their investigation of the hijinks at the Express nightclub. An investigation in which an agency of the Union County Police participated. It was disheartening to watch the Council strain to concoct theories as to why the Police singled out the Express, whereas other bars were omitted form the investigation, or that similar violations were not reported which are occurring abundantly all around town. By implication, the Union County Police were complicit in this discriminatory conduct. The Sergeant's logical responses were dismissed and the grilling became so egregious that the Police Commissioner intervened. The Commissioner's explanation failed to improve the attitude of the Council. It is difficult to imagine what effect it has on the morale of the Police Department when their good works are rejected by the Council. In effect the Council has made the accused a victim, and the police the felon.
ReplyDeleteMost of you need to get a life, you all appear angry, nasty,vindictive, and some of you are plain racist(Black and White), and take sides no matter who is right or wrong.I have seen Williams and Taylor attack each other.In the beginning Williams provked it whenever Taylor would knock the mayor ideas. William was attacked by a man that is clueless , but she is not innocent, she writes horrible things about people who do not share her point of view. She calls them terrible names on her blog. She really got a taste of her own medicine right in her face.No, it was not right.Plainfield is done, there is no hope for this town. The best thing people can do is move if they can. Things will get worse before they get better, I do doubt if they will ever get better. This city is cursed.The corruption that is going on will be nothing like what is to come. I have tried to help this city, but it is like fighting a losing battle.
ReplyDeleteAnon 1:31 I am glad they voted down a 30 year pilot for a south avenue deal. It would have never brought more economic development to the city of Plainfield it would have sent all the economic development to the surrounding towns.
ReplyDeleteI could have also been for a 30 year pilot had they talked about mix use.
Now for the gentlemen's club that I am told had only been open for about 5 months, I am glad they didn't take their liquor license to give to Frank Cretella or John Stewart.
Renee
Dear Brenda oh I mean Renee.
DeleteKS
Renee, the council cannot give liquor licenses to anyone! Please, if you are going to make a comment, get it right!
DeleteNot everyone likes living over a bar or fast food shop.
DeleteI can say this for sure I will not be doing any business in the City of Plainfield. I thought about it once upon a time but that time have passed me by quickly. You blogs give Plainfield a bad name. It is defiantly ok to give information whether or not it's a council meeting, a board of education meeting, a housing authority meeting, or a pmua meeting, but to let the haltered of the posters continue to be displayed it's a disgrace. Plainfield is in trouble in the worst way. I will take my money elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteBob the Builder
Good for you Bob the Builder. Should we cancel the coverage of the meetings by the media and cancel the tapping for television as well?
DeleteKS
Bye, bye Bob!!
DeleteGood! Don't let the door hit you on the way out!
DeleteAs far as being an author of a blog in Plainfield, remeber:
ReplyDelete"No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" - The Continuing Theme of City Hall.
Perfect, we don't need any more cartoon characters in Plainfield. Good luck to you pal!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see so many people are paying attention to these pesky blogs. I guess we do need them. Oh, there's the First Amendment thing too.
ReplyDeleteA friend shared this video with me. And when asked "why don't you post it?" they responded that they were embarrassed for Diane and didn't see the point. Well after witnessing Diane explain her behavior at the start of a council meeting and then reading about her husband’s comments from a later meeting, I don't get the feeling that either of them embarrass easily. And I feel as if the public should judge for themselves whether we need people like this making decisions for us. After all, Yoda said “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering"
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgcZZdYAEl8
The video is after she was pulled back from going after the man who she said got in her face. But you can see how emotionally explosive she was.
DeleteCan you say crazy! One of the beautiful things about being a Christian is the fact you do not have to advertise it. People will see the glow and notice your behavior and know that God is working for you and through you. If Mrs Toliver didn't repeatedly say 'I'm a Christian' I would have never known from her behavior. Her actions before this video was equally deplorable. Remember, she said ‘he got in my face, I don’t want nobody in my face’ she didn’t say he hit her or touched her, just got in her face, whatever that means.
DeleteLets face it folks Plainfiled need sweeping changes. Lets start off with the Mayors Office City Council and even City Hall. Boot them all out and start fresh.
ReplyDeletePst I hear that a New Blog is in the Works
ReplyDeleteand its gonna blow the roof of the City
Hurry up before blogs are outlawed!
Delete