Planning Board Approves Elmwood Gardens Redevelopment Plan

A redevelopment plan for Elmwood Gardens won Planning Board approval Thursday and will be forwarded to the Council for possible approval in January.

The shuttered former public housing complex on West Second Street will be replaced by 60 townhouse or flat units, each with its own front door and a gated front yard for security. The Housing Authority of Plainfield is pursuing three options for financing and will return to the board for site plan approval. The board agreed to a range of 1- to 3-bedroom units and asked architect Henry Myers to design the buildings so that the front doors would be visible from the street.

The emphasis on security came from concerns about the old layout, where apartments shared a common hallway. At times when drug dealers and other criminals invaded the complex, residents became afraid of opening their doors to the hallways.The hallways also made it hard for police to apprehend criminals. The complex is now vacant and boarded up, awaiting environmental remediation and demolition. HAP Executive Director Randall Wood said Thursday the firm of Remington, Vernick & Arango is preparing an environmental study.

The board and Brian M. Slaugh of the firm Clarke Caton Hintz discussed the terminology for the apartments at length. Slaugh first described them as "townhouse over flat" design, citing a plan used in Absecon. It features a two-story  over one-story dwelling, each with its own direct outside access. Planning Board attorney Michele Donato said "townhouse" refers to housing with no "above or below," so it would really be a two-story flat.

After some discussion, the board moved on to ask how many units were proposed. The authority previously talked about 55 units, but now wanted 60, 54 2-bedroom and six 1-bedroom units. Slaugh and Wood called it a "slippery concept,' as the project might include 12 3-bedroom units if HAP received affordable housing credits. The higher number of units will also mean an increase in density to 16 units per acre.

Planning Board Chairman Ron Scott Bey objected to the range, saying the redevelopment plan "shouldn't be open-ended." Councilman Cory Storch, the governing body's liaison to the board, asked "Why not?"

Donato said the plan could be flexible and Storch said, "They need the flexibility."

Bedrooms are not density, Donato said, explaining density as the number of units per acre.

"I'm concerned with the number of units," Scott Bey said. Told it was 60, he said, "I'm done then."

After more discussion, the topic drifted back to what to call the project concept. Slaugh offered the term, "stacked townhouse,' but Donato asked whether there was any reason why he used that term instead of "stacked flats." Myers suggested that "flats" means one family upstairs and another family downstairs.

Whatever they will be called,  they will all be in six buildings, which kicked off a discussion of what kind of view residents will have. The idea was not to have the front of a building facing the rear of another.

Other considerations before the motion was passed included "defensible space" and whether the new complex should be designed as traditional 19th Century architecture. The board decided it should "complement" historic architecture.

After the meeting, Wood hailed the approval as a milestone in a three-year phase of the Elmwood Gardens transition. He said the last residents had only moved out a year ago.

(My recollection was that talk of a change at Elmwood Gardens went back a while, and I found evidence in this 2008 blog post.)

--Bernice

New Latino Blog

OK Folks, you asked for it.

View the new Plainfield Latino blog

 here.

Norman's Bad Math and Other Misdeeds

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.

Norman: In one of her blogs, Bernice asked “Do you shop downtown?” And admitted “to more online shopping and spending money inWestfield” rather than in Plainfield. Like many of her high-end readers, she believes that downtown “need a better mix of offerings”.

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 Plainfield was about 3,291. From 1980 to 2000, the Hispanic population grew to a whopping 12, 203. That’s a 112% increase.

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 - Tania CENTER	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 Plainfield would have had a Latino representing all their needs in the school system. And what are those needs? Effective teachers, after school programs, adequate books, healthy lunches, security and quality education. 

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

City Missed ShotSpotter Renewal Target Date

ShotSpotter, the California-based provider of gunshot detection systems, billed the city in November 2013 for renewal of service, according to an invoice up for approval on Dec. 8.

The invoice was due by Feb. 1, 2014 and covers service from that date through Jan. 31, 2015. It was only after Plaintalker questioned the status of ShotSpotter service that the bill turned up, no doubt by coincidence.

From the Oct. 20 blog post:

The article also mentioned a shooting that was picked up by ShotSpotter. By chance, the top item on my "whatever happened to ..." list was ShotSpotter, the gunshot detection system that was first proposed in 2010 and last heard of in 2013, when the company president came to Plainfield to discuss "tweaks" in the system. Instead of a $1 million purchase, the city had agreed to a $169,000 grant-funded lease. So is there still a lease and is it still grant-funded? I guess I have to find out.

Actually I forgot to look up the details in the Dec. 1 packet, as I am finding the electronic version of the agenda more cumbersome than riffling through the paper version at the Plainfield Public Library. Each item has to be downloaded separately and I fear overloading the laptop.

The funding source is identified only by an account number, so I don't know whether it is grant-funded.

Anyway, the tardy payment of the ShotSpotter bill points up the fiscal disarray that the finance team of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp is trying to address. The bill for a $120,000 service renewal was dated Nov. 6, 2013, in the waning days of the previous administration, when Finance Director Al Restaino was on his way out. It was due for payment before Feb. 1, 2014. At least the Mapp team can handle the next bill, when the service subscription term expires in January.

While this may just have been an oversight, it is not uncommon for an outgoing administration to behave ungraciously to the incoming one, especially if political hostility is involved. From my days as a reporter, I recall a rather egregious instance a couple of decades ago where a lame duck mayor failed to inform his successor that the developer for the Park-Madison site had withdrawn. One also hears tales of document shredding at times of turnover and even glue in locks.

--Berniceually

PMUA Nominees In Limbo

An anticipated consensus to move PMUA nominations to the Dec. 8 agenda fell through at Monday's City Council meeting, with some members citing the need for a state investigation to play out first.

Mayor Adrian O. Mapp submitted two nominations, Wilbert Gill to replace PMUA Chairman Harold Mitchell for an unexpired term to Feb. 1, 2016 and Mitchell to fill a vacant alternate's seat for a term ending Feb. 1, 2015. The council last month tabled the nomination of Michelle Graham-Lyons to replace Malcolm Dunn for a term ending Feb.1, 2019.

Councilwoman Tracey Brown asked that the tabled nomination not be moved to the agenda, because she wanted to wait for results of the investigation. Council President Bridget Rivers said she could have put all the names on the agenda, but wanted to hear from her colleagues regarding the PMUA.

"I for one would love to see some change over there," Rivers said.

Councilwomen Vera Greaves and Gloria Taylor also said they wanted to wait for the investigation, but Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said it was not the council's role to investigate anything regarding the PMUA, just to give advice and consent to mayoral nominations.

The apparent block spurred pleas from Mapp and City Administrator Rick Smiley to proceed with the appointments for the sake of reforming the PMUA, but they received no support.

Councilman William Reid said he didn't think Graham-Lyons was qualified to be a PMUA commissioner. When Smiley cited her extensive experience in finance, Reid said, "But you're not convincing me, sir."

As the discussion went on, Councilman Cory Storch arrived and asked, "What happened?"

Rivers said, "You have to count four," meaning there was no majority on the seven-member body to move the nominations, so there was no point in putting them on the agenda.

"What's changed?" Storch asked, having been under the impression that there were four votes. ""Who changed their mind? I think we are allowed an explanation."

He said when Mapp was council president, reasons for not putting items on the agenda were clearly explained.

"We already explained," Taylor said. "He came in late."

Williams said what was not stated was why the names were not accepted as qualified to serve on the PMUA. Brown said she had nothing against the nominees, but having done research on some projects and contracts going on at the PMUA, she felt they should be finished before any changes.

Corporation Counsel Vernita Sias-Hill said contracts at the authority are "purely administrative" and under authority law the PMUA's governing body cannot be involved in those contracts. Brown then cited "other things" that will save taxpayers money. Taylor also alluded obliquely to "things" she wanted before voting.

"The council's role is advice and consent," Williams reiterated. "All the bloviating we just heard is not helpful."

Storch spoke of the investigation into payment to two retired employees and "two folks who voted 'yes' to that settlement," naming Dunn and Cecil Sanders. He wished they would just step aside, as there was going to be a "very embarrassing situation."

One of the settlement recipients, former PMUA Executive Director Eric Watson, was sitting in the front row of the meeting room, as he is now director of Public Works & Urban Development, the title he held before formation of the authority in 1995.

Rivers said she did not see anything positive going on at the PMUA and noted the discussion "just wasted half an hour of our time."

With that, the council moved on to other business.

--Bernice

Reid on Audit: "Forget About the Past"

Despite Councilman William Reid's urgings not to look back, the City Council agreed Monday to vote next week on a forensic audit from 2006 to mid-2014.

The time frame spans former Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' two terms and the first six months since Mayor Adrian O. Mapp took office.

Reid began his comments by saying, "What happened, happened already. We closed the book."

He deplored the $60,000 cost, which will come out of the Police Division's budget.

"Move on and forget the past," he said. "The past screwed up. We know that already. We don't need to put $60,000 on the taxpayer any more."

In contrast, Councilwoman Rebecca Williams said a forensic audit could uncover illegalities and problems in city systems.

"It will uncover if there is something still going on," she said, calling it "the height of irresponsibility to not do right by the residents."

As reported by Plaintalker, the city lacked a permanent chief financial officer since 2007 and had a high degree of turnover in the cabinet during the previous administration. Council President Bridget Rivers noted the city is audited every year and asked whether that auditor could "dig deeper," but Finance Director Ron West said the annual audit is based on information provided by the city.

"You tend not to want your internal auditor" to take a forensic look, he said, adding, "They may also be on the hook."

In October, auditor Bob Swisher and CFO Al Steinberg reported to the governing body on the 2013 audit, which gave a picture of fiscal disarray, including poor cash handling practices and not keeping up the general ledger, which Swisher said was off at one point by $55 million.

Councilman Cory Storch endorsed the forensic audit Monday, saying, "This is one way to find the problems in a way that our staff doesn't have time to do."

All council members except Reid agreed to put the resolution for a forensic audit on the agenda for the Dec. 8 meting.

Concerns about city finances pervaded the past eight years, with Reid alternately defending and deploring actions by Robinson-Briggs. When Steinberg was named CFO for a four-year term in January, the audience at the council meeting broke into applause.

--Bernice

Council to Consider CCTV Purchase

The long quest for CCTV cameras may be close to conclusion with a proposal to spend $463,530 on the equipment.

A resolution up for consideration tonight and possibly up for a vote on Dec. 8 says the cost will be funded with $250,000 from the Special Law Enforcement Fund and $213,530 in Urban Enterprise Zone funds. Yearly maintenance costs of $40,000 will be paid through the Police Division's annual budget.

The funds cover 30 high definition cameras, a monitoring center and software "to monitor for crime and other Quality of Life issues throughout the city." The supplier is Packetalk LLC of Lyndhurst.

The purchase and use of cameras has been discussed for many years. In 2009, the city-owned Tepper's basement was considered for a monitoring center but was eventually deemed unsuitable. But as far back as 2006, the City Council discussed options. In 2012, work began on a monitoring center in police headquarters.

Besides how to acquire and monitor them, another much-discussed topic was where to put the cameras. Some said downtown, others felt they should be placed in high-crime areas. Officials were reluctant to specify locations for fear of vandalism or displacement of crime to other locations.

The resolution only states the cameras will be deployed "in areas deemed necessary by the Police Division, in order to provide effective crime control." The expectation is that their use "should contribute to the revitalization and economic growth of the city."

The meeting tonight is 7:30 p.m. in Municipal Court. View the agenda here

--Bernice.