Council Meets on May Day

Monday is May Day! Do your Maypole dancing, marching for workers' and immigrants' rights and anti-war demonstrations early, so you can come to the City Council meeting.

A May Basket for you!

Among items of interest at the council meeting, the Citizens Budget Advisory Committee will present recommendations for the 2017 municipal budget,

The agenda-fixing session starts at 7:30 p.m. in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave. (according to the first page - inside pages list Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave. as the address). The regular meeting, at which agenda items will be voted on, is 8 p.m. May 8 in Municipal Court.

I was pleased to see that two young people, Daionna Taylor and Khahriyyah Muhammad, have applied to serve on the Plainfield Youth Commission. There are two youth commissions established when Linda Carter was on the City Council, but they have lacked members for a long time. The city needs a youth perspective, so we wish them the best and hope they get some others to join.

There are numerous applications for events, late Spring through Fall, promising fun and education for all.

Under Administration & Finance, one item concerns a proposed feasibility study "for the preservation and rehabilitation of the historic Firehouse No. 4.

The Department of Public Works & Urban Development section includes resolutions for roadwork, a contractor for the long-awaited skate park on Madison Avenue, continuation of the Sign & Facade Program, three resolutions to accept grants for hazardous discharge remediation, a new redevelopment investigation in the West End and a resolution regarding possible redevelopment of the Enterprise Zone.

See the entire agenda here.

Happy May Eve!

Happy May Eve

to all our 

Pagan friends!

Primary Forums Coming in May

The Plainfield League of Women Voters usually holds a forum before the November general election, but this year will also hold one in advance of the June 6 primary.

The date will be Wednesday, May 31, at Emerson School, 305 Emerson Ave. There are four mayoral candidates and six City Council candidates. Plans call for the mayoral segment to run from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with the council candidates following from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m.

The nonpartisan forum is conducted by an out-of-town LWV-trained moderator and usually has opening statements, written questions collected from the audience and presented by the moderator, followed by closing statements. The Plainfield LWV also prepares candidate information sheets. Each candidate is asked to submit brief background information, along with answers to three questions from the Plainfield LWV. The candidate sheets will be available at the forum and will be posted online at the Plainfield LWV website.

The website will also be updated with the information above regarding the forum location and format.

The Plainfield Area NAACP has also announced a forum on May 21 on its website. The forum will be held at 5 p.m. at the Plainfield Elks, 1357 W. Third St. Check the website (at NAACP link above) for any updates.

Once again, here is the roster of candidates, with their slogans:

REGULAR DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZATION OF UNION COUNTY
Mayor, Four-year term: Adrian O. Mapp
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Joylette E. Mills-Ransome
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Steve Hockaday

DEMOCRATIC PARTY UNITY CANDIDATES
Mayor, Four-year term: Dr. Henrilynn Davis Ibezim
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Cameron E. Cox
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Elliott Simmons

DEMOCRATS OF PLAINFIELD
Mayor, Four-year term: Bridget Rivers
City Council, Second & Third Wards Unexpired Term: Alma Blanco
(no Fourth Ward candidate filed)

PLAINFIELD DEMOCRATS FOR CHANGE
Mayor, Four-year term: Tracey L. Brown
Fourth Ward, Four-year term: Terri Briggs

(Second & Third Ward candidate filing was ruled invalid)

No Republicans filed for the primary.

Tuesday, May 16 is the last day to register to vote in the primary and Tuesday, May 30 is the last day to apply by mail for a Mail-In Ballot for the Primary Election, according to Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi.

See the Party Declaration rules here

The Union County Board of Elections publishes updated affiliation statistics in May. As of April 3, 14,754 of Plainfield's 23,643 registered voters were Democrats. The Second & Third Wards had a total of 8,570 and the Fourth Ward had 2,641.  To check in May, click UC Affiliation Statistics and scroll down to page 14 for Plainfield.

--Bernice

Taking A Day Off

No blog post today, maybe I will catch up tomorrow.

Downtown Plainfield Alliance Cleans Up

A note from Ron Johnson of the Downtown Plainfield Alliance:

 I just wanted to let you know that Downtown Plainfield Alliance's first cleanup event was very successful! On Saturday we got around 25 people to come out and help clean up the Train Station area. We also planted ornamental grasses on Roosevelt Avenue and E. 3rd Street.

This was a team effort between the Downtown Plainfield Alliance, PMUA, City of Plainfield DPW, Community Development Office, Planning Office, Queen City Pride, the Plainfield Seventh Day Adventist Church, The Great Swamp Nursery and Angels of Action. Also, all the plants were paid for directly from donations. We actually doubled our donation goal in less than 4 days on GoFundMe. We thank everyone who donated tremendously! We all united together, at one point in the rain, and did Plainfield's part for Earth Day this year. We hope to keep the beautification efforts going by starting another GoFundMe soon.

He sent along some photos:

See more about the Downtown Plainfield Alliance. 

Arbor Day At The YMCA Today

In my travels this week, I noticed these beautiful plants outside the YMCA.

It turns out they are harbingers of an Arbor Day planting today (Friday, April 28) at 11 a.m. The large planting beds were created several weeks ago. Can't wait to see the finished project! Public Works and the Shade Tree Commission always put together a very nice Arbor Day program. Stop by if you are able.

Coriell Mansion Fate Raised At HPC Meeting

In an "after-the-fact" application Tuesday, the Historic Preservation Commission attempted a probe of changes to the Coriell Mansion, but after some testy exchanges decided to try again in May.

The application listed the owner as "Joshwa Money School. LLC" and the items at issue included front double wooden doors, hanging light fixtures on the porch, removal of second story French doors and outdoor floodlights.

Jon Steingraber, who posted a video about the mansion he bought four years ago for $85,000, told the commissioners he replaced the doors after several break-ins, and gave his rationales for the other items. The discussion quickly became contentious, with Steingraber insisting he gave proper notice of the meeting to neighbors, though some in the audience said they never got notice.

HPC Chairman Bill Michelson asked Steingraber about rumors that he intends to lease the mansion for some sort of rooming or boarding house and said, "A great many people in the neighborhood are very unhappy with you."

Steingraber said the lease was for single-family use, but Michelson said, "We have been concerned that the tenant is going to move a bunch of people in there."

Michelson said the city will "seek an injunction" if so.

The mansion at 957 Central Avenue is said to be the largest residence in Plainfield. In the video, Steingraber says it has 26 rooms, including 10 bedrooms and 10 baths. As mentioned in the link, it was once on the way to becoming a bed and breakfast before Steingraber acquired it. On Tuesday, he said he had spent $500,000 on the house already.

Commissioners gave Steingraber advice on correcting the work he did without consulting the HPC, but in public comment resident Rowand Clark returned to the issue of the mansion's future. Steingraber said he didn't want a new tenant to do anything against the law, but also made some off-topic comments such as saying he had been in three relationships but was now getting married. Although the discussion had mellowed a bit as commissioners gave helpful advice, Michelson said there was probably no action to be taken that night.

Steingraber soon swung back to defensiveness, saying it was a "gossipy neighborhood" where someone alleged the mansion would become "a whorehouse."

Commissioner Larry Quirk told Steingraber to "tell the truth," but he replied, "I have so many haters."

He said he was approached by the unnamed company and added, "At the end of the day, I don't have a choice."

Quirk called him a speculator and a flipper before the commission voted to carry the application to the May meeting.

--Bernice