Four city land use boards will meet Saturday to share information and common concerns.
The meeting is from 9 a.m. to noon in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave. and will include the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Adjustment, Historic Preservation and Shade Tree Commission. A legal notice says the purpose is to review the master plan, land use regulations, development proposals and the roles of the boards. Agenda items of high interest are the status of the former Muhlenberg Hospital tract and the status of a 212-unit, $50 million development project on South Avenue.
The agenda kicks off with a welcome from Mayor Adrian O. Mapp and remarks by Economic Development Director Carlos Sanchez and Public Works & Urban Development Director Oren K. Dabney. Chairmen of each board will give brief opening remarks before a discussion of ongoing planning and zoning initiatives including a reexamination of the Master Plan and what's coming in redevelopment.
Guests will be Michael Bange, Manager Operations of New Jersey American Water; Sheridan Balmeo, Regional Public Affairs Manager of of Public Service Electric & Gas; Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority Executive Director Daniel Mejias; and Housing Authority of Plainfield Executive Director Randall Wood.
Topics for an open discussion for board members and the public include board jurisdiction, group homes/historic districts, the annual ZBA report and future planning and zoning initiatives.
Issues of mutual concern among the boards and commissions are listed as "information on city web site - current, additions, public notices" and "Social Media - prior to, during and after meetings." Regarding public notices, Gov. Chris Christie has suggested doing away with paid legal notices in newspapers in favor of posting online, a concept that newspapers have vigorously challenged. As for social media use around land use meetings, hearings usually are matters of legal record, which would seem to preclude any offline exchanges. Both topics represent new challenges related to technology..
--Bernice
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Dem Accord A Contrast To 2015
How times change. Democratic factions in 2015 are now one, according to Dan's report today.
Mayor Adrian O. Mapp will get the party line to run for a second term and attorney Steve Hockaday (rendered by Dan as "Hockabee") will be the Fourth Ward candidate.
In 2015, Hockaday was backed by the Regular Democratic Organization of Union County and ran for the First & Fourth Ward at-large seat in the June primary against Mapp's Union County Progressive Democratic Organization candidate Barry Goode.
Hockaday lost the 2015 primary to Goode by 66 votes, 522 to 548. In earlier unofficial results, the gap was even smaller.
Incumbent Fourth Ward Councilwoman Bridget Rivers recently announced a run for mayor in an already crowded field including Mapp, former Councilwoman Tracey Brown and former candidate Mustapha Muhammad.
In 2009, Rivers won the Fourth Ward primary over Vera Greaves by six votes, 245 to 239. In 2013, Rivers ran unopposed and got 384 votes.
It appears from Dan's report that the 68-member Democratic City Committee, whose members are elected on Primary Day, will also avoid the 2015 clash of factions.On the Monday following the primary, the committee members will choose a chairman for two years. Mapp is currently the chairman and the seemingly healed political split augurs well for his re-election as chairman.
Given the national uneasiness, it could be a blessing of sorts to have some harmony at the local level..
--Bernice
Mayor Adrian O. Mapp will get the party line to run for a second term and attorney Steve Hockaday (rendered by Dan as "Hockabee") will be the Fourth Ward candidate.
In 2015, Hockaday was backed by the Regular Democratic Organization of Union County and ran for the First & Fourth Ward at-large seat in the June primary against Mapp's Union County Progressive Democratic Organization candidate Barry Goode.
Hockaday lost the 2015 primary to Goode by 66 votes, 522 to 548. In earlier unofficial results, the gap was even smaller.
In 2009, Rivers won the Fourth Ward primary over Vera Greaves by six votes, 245 to 239. In 2013, Rivers ran unopposed and got 384 votes.
It appears from Dan's report that the 68-member Democratic City Committee, whose members are elected on Primary Day, will also avoid the 2015 clash of factions.On the Monday following the primary, the committee members will choose a chairman for two years. Mapp is currently the chairman and the seemingly healed political split augurs well for his re-election as chairman.
Given the national uneasiness, it could be a blessing of sorts to have some harmony at the local level..
--Bernice
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Demand Booms for Municipal IDs
It's Saturday, but City Hall is open to accommodate a new demand for Plainfield's Municipal ID card.
In 2016, 111 people enrolled, City Clerk Abubakar Jalloh said, but since the first of this year 217 more have obtained the ID, which he said is accepted by all branches of municipal government, including the Police Division.
Jalloh said today City Hall Library is full of applicants for the ID, which requires use of a special computer and printer. His office on the first floor of City Hall will be open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays as well as from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays to meet the demand. The office will need an additional computer and printer to speed up the process.
"We are currently booked into the last week of March," he said, noting at an average of 40 a day times 33 days, the office plans to book and issue IDs to 1,500 to 2,000 additional people over the present total of 328.
At the "Day Without Immigrants" rally on Feb. 16, Maritza Martinez of the Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs urged participants to apply for the Municipal ID (note an application in the hands of a man at lower right).
The view in the photo is from the steps of City Hall, where the rally began at noon and continued for hours as stores and restaurants were shuttered to demonstrate how Plainfield would look without immigrants. Similar rallies took place in cities across the nation to show the value of immigrants to the economy.
Since then, the Trump administration has launched roundups of immigrants from communities, ostensibly to remove dangerous individuals, but sweeping up innocent people as well. Plainfield has passed legislation designating the city as "fair and welcoming," meaning in part that local law enforcement will not assist in ICE raids. (Plaintalker will post separately on the legislation.)
Click to learn about Plainfield's Municipal ID
--Bernice
In 2016, 111 people enrolled, City Clerk Abubakar Jalloh said, but since the first of this year 217 more have obtained the ID, which he said is accepted by all branches of municipal government, including the Police Division.
Jalloh said today City Hall Library is full of applicants for the ID, which requires use of a special computer and printer. His office on the first floor of City Hall will be open until 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and Fridays as well as from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays to meet the demand. The office will need an additional computer and printer to speed up the process.
"We are currently booked into the last week of March," he said, noting at an average of 40 a day times 33 days, the office plans to book and issue IDs to 1,500 to 2,000 additional people over the present total of 328.
At the "Day Without Immigrants" rally on Feb. 16, Maritza Martinez of the Plainfield Advisory Commission on Hispanic Affairs urged participants to apply for the Municipal ID (note an application in the hands of a man at lower right).
The view in the photo is from the steps of City Hall, where the rally began at noon and continued for hours as stores and restaurants were shuttered to demonstrate how Plainfield would look without immigrants. Similar rallies took place in cities across the nation to show the value of immigrants to the economy.
Since then, the Trump administration has launched roundups of immigrants from communities, ostensibly to remove dangerous individuals, but sweeping up innocent people as well. Plainfield has passed legislation designating the city as "fair and welcoming," meaning in part that local law enforcement will not assist in ICE raids. (Plaintalker will post separately on the legislation.)
Click to learn about Plainfield's Municipal ID
--Bernice
Thursday, February 23, 2017
UCIA Renames Park-Madison "The Jerry Green Building"
Regarding my thought that the Park-Madison building could be renamed in memory of Union County Improvement Authority Executive Director Charlotte DeFilippo, a reader informs me that the Union County Improvement Authority voted in December to rename it "The Jerry Green Building."
Assemblyman Jerry Green is the current chairman of the Union County Democratic Committee, a post that Charlotte DeFilippo also held for many years earlier. He has served in the Assembly since 1992 to present.
Green's legislative office is located in the building, which was built on a lot called Park-Madison that had been razed for urban renewal decades ago. Development plans changed over and over while the lot was used for parking. It was transformed into a grassy commons with walkways during the tenure of former Mayor Harold Mitchell before the UCIA development.
Thanks to the reader who provided documentation of the UCIA vote!
--Bernice
Ervin Garners Consulting Role
Somebody tasked me with finding out about David Ervin's new role with the PMUA. Checking the minutes online, I saw that the deal went down at the December 13 meeting, which I did not attend as I was on a self-imposed break.
So I made an OPRA request (which the inquirer could have done by him/herself) and received a copy of the resolution. It cites the ability of the authority to award a contract for the provision of "in-house specialized consulting services" and goes on to describe a contract with David Ervin of Inner-City Environmental LLC for a 12-month term at an amount not to exceed $17,500.
So there you have it. In my current confused state from being ill, I can't locate the pertinent comment, but as I recall, the writer took umbrage at Ervin's receiving extra money after he and the late Eric Watson received large settlements in 2012.
See Plaintalker's report on the settlement here.
The PMUA needs only three of five commissioners to approve actions.The vote on the new contract was recorded as Michelle Graham-Lyons, Henry V. Robinson and Charles W. Tyndale saying "yes" and Robin C. Bright and Carol Ann Brokaw saying "no." As an alternate, Pedro Estevez was present but not voting.
The make-up of the commission has changed since then, with Estevez now a full commissioner and Brokaw and Tyndale off the board.
--Bernice
So I made an OPRA request (which the inquirer could have done by him/herself) and received a copy of the resolution. It cites the ability of the authority to award a contract for the provision of "in-house specialized consulting services" and goes on to describe a contract with David Ervin of Inner-City Environmental LLC for a 12-month term at an amount not to exceed $17,500.
So there you have it. In my current confused state from being ill, I can't locate the pertinent comment, but as I recall, the writer took umbrage at Ervin's receiving extra money after he and the late Eric Watson received large settlements in 2012.
See Plaintalker's report on the settlement here.
The PMUA needs only three of five commissioners to approve actions.The vote on the new contract was recorded as Michelle Graham-Lyons, Henry V. Robinson and Charles W. Tyndale saying "yes" and Robin C. Bright and Carol Ann Brokaw saying "no." As an alternate, Pedro Estevez was present but not voting.
The make-up of the commission has changed since then, with Estevez now a full commissioner and Brokaw and Tyndale off the board.
--Bernice
Charlotte DeFilippo Passes
Former Union County Democratic Chairman and Union County Improvement Authority Executive Director Charlotte DeFilippo has passed away, according to several news articles published yesterday.
DeFilippo's role in Plainfield included a last-minute denial of the party line to former Mayor Albert T. McWilliams in 2005 as he sought a third term. McWilliams then tried to run as a Republican, but could not for legal reasons. See Plainfield Plaintalker's report here. Finally, McWilliams mounted a write-in campaign.
The write-in campaign did not succeed. See a post on McWilliams' legacy here.
Under DeFilippo's leadership, the UCIA built the large office building at the corner of West Front Street and Park Avenue.and a strip of storefronts on West Front Street. The project also included a large parking deck. The UCIA was also designated to lead development at other sites, as reported here
The office building was never named for anyone. Might it be named in DeFilippo's memory?
--Bernice
DeFilippo's role in Plainfield included a last-minute denial of the party line to former Mayor Albert T. McWilliams in 2005 as he sought a third term. McWilliams then tried to run as a Republican, but could not for legal reasons. See Plainfield Plaintalker's report here. Finally, McWilliams mounted a write-in campaign.
The write-in campaign did not succeed. See a post on McWilliams' legacy here.
Under DeFilippo's leadership, the UCIA built the large office building at the corner of West Front Street and Park Avenue.and a strip of storefronts on West Front Street. The project also included a large parking deck. The UCIA was also designated to lead development at other sites, as reported here
The office building was never named for anyone. Might it be named in DeFilippo's memory?
--Bernice
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