This year is starting off with some very warm weather for January. Some people are still going around in shorts and T-shirts. I put up a new outdoor thermometer and it registered 59 degrees yesterday.
To learn more, I visited one of my favorites sites, that of the New Jersey Climatologist David Robinson.
This graphic tells all about the warming trend in 2011.
What will 2012 bring?
--Bernice
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Mayor Wants Four PMUA Nominees
Of the four, one can guess that current Chairman Harold Mitchell, a holdover since his term expired last February, is being nominated to succeed himself. If so, he would be in line for the balance of a five-year term to Feb. 1, 2016.
Cecil Sanders was just confirmed in November for an unexpired term as Alternate No. 2, succeeding Eugene Dudley for five years to Feb. 1, 2014. However, the city's own records state that Dudley's term as an alternate was only two years ending Feb. 1, 2012. So perhaps this nomination is to properly give Sanders a two-year term from Feb. 1, 2012 to Feb. 1, 2014.
The terms of incumbent commissioners Carol Ann Brokaw and Alex Toliver expire on Feb. 1, 2012, so perhaps Darcella Sessomes and Wilbert O. Gill are meant to receive five-year terms succeeding them. Until it is spelled out, one can't say. Gill previously served as an alternate from 2004 to 2006. Sessomes never served previously but apparently had some links to the authority's re-entry program in her role as head of the Department of Corrections' Office of Transitional Services.
After six years of making appointments to boards and commissions, the mayor and her staff should know the need for details. In addition, the names of both Mitchell and Sanders were spelled wrong. Mitchell was a councilman and a mayor before becoming a PMUA commissioner. Surely he deserves better than a typo or misspelling by now. Sanders is also very well-known in Plainfield and was just recently the subject of a resolution in which his name was spelled correctly. How hard could it be to check?
Maybe the mayor "indicated her intention" to submit the names in order to allow time for interviews. But these nominees themselves need to know what they are committing to, such as how long their terms will be and when they start. The PMUA reorganizes in February and it would be good to have these seats properly filled now that the authority is attempting to get off on a new footing.
--Bernice
Friday, January 6, 2012
Redemption:Two Sides of the Coin
Assemblyman Jerry Green takes credit for the legislation that resulted in Rasheed Abdul-Haqq's departure from the school board and talked on a news program about "dark secrets" that must be brought to light.
On the other hand, in this 2009 blog post, Green expresses great concern for the plight of parolees trying to find their place in the community.
The post popped up when Plaintalker did a search on the name of Darcella Sessomes. She is described in the blog post as being a state Corrections official at the time. Now someone by that name is being nominated to be a PMUA commissioner. Readers may know that the PMUA hires parolees, giving them one of the few job opportunities readily available to individuals trying to re-enter the community.
So on the one hand Green wants to punish the likes of Rasheed Abdul-Haqq for a decades-old transgression for which he paid in jail time and in several decades of voluntary service to the community, but on the other hand he endorses giving people fresh out of prison whatever it takes to help them find a place in society. Apparently their "dark secrets" will remain their own business as they try to get on with their lives.
Ironically, Green's legislation has inadvertently created a new class of lawbreakers in that all board members and charter school trustees who failed to meet a deadline for registering to get criminal background checks are now facing removal from office. Even if their crime is only procrastination, they are now liable to be charged with a fourth-degree offense.
--Bernice.
On the other hand, in this 2009 blog post, Green expresses great concern for the plight of parolees trying to find their place in the community.
The post popped up when Plaintalker did a search on the name of Darcella Sessomes. She is described in the blog post as being a state Corrections official at the time. Now someone by that name is being nominated to be a PMUA commissioner. Readers may know that the PMUA hires parolees, giving them one of the few job opportunities readily available to individuals trying to re-enter the community.
So on the one hand Green wants to punish the likes of Rasheed Abdul-Haqq for a decades-old transgression for which he paid in jail time and in several decades of voluntary service to the community, but on the other hand he endorses giving people fresh out of prison whatever it takes to help them find a place in society. Apparently their "dark secrets" will remain their own business as they try to get on with their lives.
Ironically, Green's legislation has inadvertently created a new class of lawbreakers in that all board members and charter school trustees who failed to meet a deadline for registering to get criminal background checks are now facing removal from office. Even if their crime is only procrastination, they are now liable to be charged with a fourth-degree offense.
--Bernice.
PMUA Sets Up Fund for Injured Worker
The Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority has set up a fund to benefit employee Robert Morris, who was severely injured on Dec. 26 while working downtown.
Morris was pinned between a PMUA truck and a vehicle that struck him on Watchung Avenue. He suffered an amputation of one leg and injuries to the other that will require extensive medical care and rehabilitation. He is still in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital undergoing a series of surgeries.
Due to an outpouring of sympathy for Morris and his family, the authority has set up a special bank account and is accepting monetary gifts marked for "The Bobby Morris Fund." Donations may be sent to the PMUA, 127 Roosevelt Ave., Plainfield NJ 07060, Attention: Bonnie Mills, Office of the Executive Director.
--Bernice
Morris was pinned between a PMUA truck and a vehicle that struck him on Watchung Avenue. He suffered an amputation of one leg and injuries to the other that will require extensive medical care and rehabilitation. He is still in Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital undergoing a series of surgeries.
Due to an outpouring of sympathy for Morris and his family, the authority has set up a special bank account and is accepting monetary gifts marked for "The Bobby Morris Fund." Donations may be sent to the PMUA, 127 Roosevelt Ave., Plainfield NJ 07060, Attention: Bonnie Mills, Office of the Executive Director.
--Bernice
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Green, Abdul-Haqq on NBC Thursday
After a Star-Ledger article noted that 350 school board members and charter school trustees will have to step down for failure to get background checks, NBC reporter Pat Battle visited the Queen City Thursday to interview Assemblyman Jerry Green and Rasheed Abdul-Haqq. View here.
Green sponsored A-444, the legislation that established the requirement for background checks and disqualification of those who had criminal histories. Locally, some saw it as arising out of a vendetta by Green against Abdul-Haqq for the latter's outspoken commentaries on the legislator, while Green pointed out the vast support the bill garnered in the Legislature.
Abdul-Haqq resigned last month and a vacancy now exists on the board. Although the Plainfield board initially proposed a possible direct appointment as was made in the case of a vacancy earlier last year, this week the vacancy was advertised with an open invitation for anyone to apply. However, Plaintalker learned today that because the vacancy was caused by a lack of qualifications under the new law, the selection process is in question, according to spokesman Michael Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association..
"We are waiting for the NJDOE’s legal interpretation concerning which entity has the authority to make appointments to fill these vacancies. Our interpretation of state law is that, since these are vacancies were created by lack of qualifications, the NJDOE’s executive county superintendents have the responsibility to make the appointment. The NJDOE, however, is the regulatory authority and its interpretation of the law would determine if the executive county superintendents or the local school board would make the appointment to fill the vacancy," Yaple said Thursday.
Whoever fills the vacancy will only serve until the annual school board election in April. The winner will then fulfill the unexpired balance of the three-year term Abdul-Haqq won in 2010. The filing date for candidates this year is Monday, Feb. 27 and the school board election is Tuesday, April 17.
Although 354 individuals are facing removal for failing to register for background checks as required by the new law, Yaple said the number stood much higher before the NJSBA mounted a campaign for compliance.
"According to the New Jersey Department of Education, the number of board members who have not registered for background checks is 189. There are also 165 charter school trustees who have not submitted for background checks. That’s a substantial change over the past several weeks; As of Nov. 17, roughly 1,600 board members and charter school trustees still had not complied, according to the state Department of Education (NJDOE), which is the state agency that operates the criminal background checks for school employees and, now, school board members.
"One reason for greater compliance was clear communication from the NJDOE last month, including establishment of a firm deadline of Dec. 31 to complete the process. Before December, there had been a communications gap, with no clear deadline. NJSBA’s role has been to provide service to school board members through news and information. For instance, NJSBA issued automated telephone calls and e-mail blasts to its members this fall about the need to comply with the new law. We’ve written numerous stories about the law in our newsletter, which is sent to all school board members and superintendents," Yaple said.
Every year, three school board seats are up for election in Plainfield. The incumbents this year are Lisa Logan Leach, Brenda Gilbert and Keisha Edwards, who was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Patricia Barksdale's resignation last year. Additionally, voters will choose someone in April to serve the unexpired term of Abdul-Haqq. Applicants should be aware that they will be subject to criminal background checks should they win board seats.
--Bernice.
Green sponsored A-444, the legislation that established the requirement for background checks and disqualification of those who had criminal histories. Locally, some saw it as arising out of a vendetta by Green against Abdul-Haqq for the latter's outspoken commentaries on the legislator, while Green pointed out the vast support the bill garnered in the Legislature.
Abdul-Haqq resigned last month and a vacancy now exists on the board. Although the Plainfield board initially proposed a possible direct appointment as was made in the case of a vacancy earlier last year, this week the vacancy was advertised with an open invitation for anyone to apply. However, Plaintalker learned today that because the vacancy was caused by a lack of qualifications under the new law, the selection process is in question, according to spokesman Michael Yaple of the New Jersey School Boards Association..
"We are waiting for the NJDOE’s legal interpretation concerning which entity has the authority to make appointments to fill these vacancies. Our interpretation of state law is that, since these are vacancies were created by lack of qualifications, the NJDOE’s executive county superintendents have the responsibility to make the appointment. The NJDOE, however, is the regulatory authority and its interpretation of the law would determine if the executive county superintendents or the local school board would make the appointment to fill the vacancy," Yaple said Thursday.
Whoever fills the vacancy will only serve until the annual school board election in April. The winner will then fulfill the unexpired balance of the three-year term Abdul-Haqq won in 2010. The filing date for candidates this year is Monday, Feb. 27 and the school board election is Tuesday, April 17.
Although 354 individuals are facing removal for failing to register for background checks as required by the new law, Yaple said the number stood much higher before the NJSBA mounted a campaign for compliance.
"According to the New Jersey Department of Education, the number of board members who have not registered for background checks is 189. There are also 165 charter school trustees who have not submitted for background checks. That’s a substantial change over the past several weeks; As of Nov. 17, roughly 1,600 board members and charter school trustees still had not complied, according to the state Department of Education (NJDOE), which is the state agency that operates the criminal background checks for school employees and, now, school board members.
"One reason for greater compliance was clear communication from the NJDOE last month, including establishment of a firm deadline of Dec. 31 to complete the process. Before December, there had been a communications gap, with no clear deadline. NJSBA’s role has been to provide service to school board members through news and information. For instance, NJSBA issued automated telephone calls and e-mail blasts to its members this fall about the need to comply with the new law. We’ve written numerous stories about the law in our newsletter, which is sent to all school board members and superintendents," Yaple said.
Every year, three school board seats are up for election in Plainfield. The incumbents this year are Lisa Logan Leach, Brenda Gilbert and Keisha Edwards, who was appointed to fill the vacancy caused by Patricia Barksdale's resignation last year. Additionally, voters will choose someone in April to serve the unexpired term of Abdul-Haqq. Applicants should be aware that they will be subject to criminal background checks should they win board seats.
--Bernice.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Frigid Weather Inspires Invaders
Not only was a squirrel trying to gnaw its way into my apartment today, a big creepy bug actually came out of nowhere and crawled around near the kitchen.
The creepy-crawly was a Leaf-legged Bug, so named for leaf-like appendages on its rear legs. It was moving really slowly on one of the hinges left from when the kitchen had doors and was a closet in the Yates mansion.
I accidentally knocked it out of place, setting off a hunt for its whereabouts. This went on for some time until I saw it crawling up the back of my jeans leg. It was dispatched forthwith to the traditional burial at sea (flushed) that we also employed for two stinkbugs in the past week or so.
I still had shivers from hearing the squirrel chewing his way into the building. Squirrels have gotten in to the large enclosed porch several times in the past and wreaked destruction trying to get back out. We haven't had one since Mau the feral cat came to live indoors. But picturing a battle between Mau and a squirrel was not reassuring.
Mau fancies himself a Cat of Leisure, not a warrior.
It must be the cold weather that is inspiring this critter interest in being inside. I like very much to be inside in cold weather myself, but I don't like to share the premises with strangers of other species.
One year a band of squirrels began practicing their version of polyamory in the dropped ceiling and crashed down into my space. I think that's when I must have had the heart attack that showed up as part of my cardiac history recently. The thought of another invasion is giving me palpitations already. I'm sorry to say I wouldn't mind if the outside feral cats decided to step up their squirrel consumption before one of the fuzzy-tailed rodents drops in on me again.
--Bernice
The creepy-crawly was a Leaf-legged Bug, so named for leaf-like appendages on its rear legs. It was moving really slowly on one of the hinges left from when the kitchen had doors and was a closet in the Yates mansion.
I still had shivers from hearing the squirrel chewing his way into the building. Squirrels have gotten in to the large enclosed porch several times in the past and wreaked destruction trying to get back out. We haven't had one since Mau the feral cat came to live indoors. But picturing a battle between Mau and a squirrel was not reassuring.
It must be the cold weather that is inspiring this critter interest in being inside. I like very much to be inside in cold weather myself, but I don't like to share the premises with strangers of other species.
--Bernice
Read Adrian's Speech
Council President Adrian Mapp has published his "agenda for 2012" on his blog. He makes a number of very good points and proposes some significant initiatives.
Of course, even the council president is just one of seven people who represent the citizens of Plainfield. Their unanimous approval of Adrian to serve as president is a good omen for the kind of cooperation that the governing body must come up with in 2012 if the city is to move forward with economic development and improved quality of life for all. I'm sure Adrian will welcome various points of view on how best to accomplish his goals, but as Annie McWilliams did rather deftly in 2010 and 2011, I believe he will deflect the negativity of those who prefer battle over collegiality and progress.
May "Team 2012" truly be one in the months ahead.
--Bernice
Of course, even the council president is just one of seven people who represent the citizens of Plainfield. Their unanimous approval of Adrian to serve as president is a good omen for the kind of cooperation that the governing body must come up with in 2012 if the city is to move forward with economic development and improved quality of life for all. I'm sure Adrian will welcome various points of view on how best to accomplish his goals, but as Annie McWilliams did rather deftly in 2010 and 2011, I believe he will deflect the negativity of those who prefer battle over collegiality and progress.
May "Team 2012" truly be one in the months ahead.
--Bernice
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
