Millions of people worldwide - Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jains - are marking the holiday known as Diwali, sometimes known as the Festival of Lights. We have residents and business owners in our community who will be celebrating Diwali, so let us wish all a Happy Diwali.
To learn more about the holiday, click here.
--Bernice
Friday, November 5, 2010
Council to Agencies: Share Services, Publicize
More shared services and better public information are two needs the City Council identified in budget talks Thursday with representatives of the Health Division and social service agencies.
City Council President Annie McWilliams asked Health Officer Mark Colicchio to develop a citywide calendar for his division’s many public health events. The division offers flu shots, health screenings and advice on meeting prescription costs, among other things, but currently only uses the city’s web site or flyers to advertise its services. Councilman Adrian Mapp suggested an electronic bulletin board at City Hall or a “ticker tape” ad on the local television channels to reach more people.
Mapp also asked Colicchio about sharing of health officers in Union County. Colicchio said Westfield has a regional health department. Plainfield will look into shared health services “once we get everything in order,” he said, noting he has only been on the job since mid-2009.
Al Restaino, acting director of Administration, Finance, Health & Senior Services, received similar queries when he presented information on Plainfield Acting Services, the city’s anti-poverty agency. Restaino said the agency wants to create its own food bank, but council members asked what food distribution was already in place citywide and also suggested the agency might be better located at the county office building downtown.
Also asked about relocating to the county office building, Prema Achari said the idea was explored under former Finance Director Douglas Peck but was rejected by the building’s management. Achari conducts the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program in City Hall Annex. Mapp said when he was a Union County freeholder, he pushed the program as a means of combating childhood obesity, but questioned where it should be provided and how much other municipalities should contribute, as the program is open to qualified residents outside the city. The only other Union County site is in Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth.
Also up for discussion Thursday were the Senior Citizens Service Program and the Bilingual Day Care Center.
All presenters got quizzed about performance measurements, goals and objectives, impact of possible layoffs and other answers the council is seeking this year in writing from each one. Council members were a bit displeased to receive all the information just that night and McWilliams said they may ask for answers to the 10 questions at least 48 hours before upcoming presentations.
Next week, the council will hear from the tax assessor, tax collector, audit & control and purchasing from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at City Hall Library. On Tuesday, the Plainfield Public Library, the City Clerk’s office and IT/Media will be reviewed at the same time and location. The last session scheduled so far is 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 10 at the senior center, when the capital budget, planning and economic development will be reviewed.
--Bernice Paglia
City Council President Annie McWilliams asked Health Officer Mark Colicchio to develop a citywide calendar for his division’s many public health events. The division offers flu shots, health screenings and advice on meeting prescription costs, among other things, but currently only uses the city’s web site or flyers to advertise its services. Councilman Adrian Mapp suggested an electronic bulletin board at City Hall or a “ticker tape” ad on the local television channels to reach more people.
Mapp also asked Colicchio about sharing of health officers in Union County. Colicchio said Westfield has a regional health department. Plainfield will look into shared health services “once we get everything in order,” he said, noting he has only been on the job since mid-2009.
Al Restaino, acting director of Administration, Finance, Health & Senior Services, received similar queries when he presented information on Plainfield Acting Services, the city’s anti-poverty agency. Restaino said the agency wants to create its own food bank, but council members asked what food distribution was already in place citywide and also suggested the agency might be better located at the county office building downtown.
Also asked about relocating to the county office building, Prema Achari said the idea was explored under former Finance Director Douglas Peck but was rejected by the building’s management. Achari conducts the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program in City Hall Annex. Mapp said when he was a Union County freeholder, he pushed the program as a means of combating childhood obesity, but questioned where it should be provided and how much other municipalities should contribute, as the program is open to qualified residents outside the city. The only other Union County site is in Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth.
Also up for discussion Thursday were the Senior Citizens Service Program and the Bilingual Day Care Center.
All presenters got quizzed about performance measurements, goals and objectives, impact of possible layoffs and other answers the council is seeking this year in writing from each one. Council members were a bit displeased to receive all the information just that night and McWilliams said they may ask for answers to the 10 questions at least 48 hours before upcoming presentations.
Next week, the council will hear from the tax assessor, tax collector, audit & control and purchasing from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday at City Hall Library. On Tuesday, the Plainfield Public Library, the City Clerk’s office and IT/Media will be reviewed at the same time and location. The last session scheduled so far is 7 to 9 p.m. Nov. 10 at the senior center, when the capital budget, planning and economic development will be reviewed.
--Bernice Paglia
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Garden Club Plants 350 Daffodils
Members of the Plainfield Garden Club gathered early Wednesday at the Shakespeare Garden in Cedar Brook Park to plant 350 daffodils of a variety named to honor the Garden Club of America's Centennial.
Job number one was digging out stray trumpet vines. The vines used to cover the garden's pergola, but were not authentic for a Shakespeare Garden. The new pergola is planted with honeysuckle and hop vines, both mentioned in the Bard's works.
There were plenty of weeds to be removed before the planting.
The rock-rimmed hillock is raked, weeded and ready for the daffodil bulbs to be uncrated.
Ornamental grasses have already been planted to fill in the space and disguise the spent daffodils after blooming. The fading leaves may last until June before they wither completely.
Holes for clusters of bulbs are dug nine inches deep.
Five or six bulbs are placed in each hole, not too close together as they will make offsets in future years.
All bulbs were planted before being covered with soil and left with good wishes for a beautiful spring crop.
Imagine 350 of these Garden Club of America daffodils all in bloom! Stop by in spring and see the display.Thanks to the Plainfield Garden Club and the Union County Parks for partnering to give us the beautiful and serene place known as the Shakespeare Garden!
--Bernice
Vandals Deface New Sidewalk
A police officer was taking down a report early Wednesday on graffiti scratched into the new sidewalk at Crescent and Park avenues. The sidewalk was only installed yesterday, but the blank space was apparently too tempting for "Pretty Boy Swagg" and his friends, who marked up the whole thing.
"$Fast Young Blaze" was rather quick to add his signature.The irresistible urge to put something on a blank space is well-documented on many other sidewalks around the city and made me think of the mad artist Gulley Jimson, protagonist of the 1958 film, "The Horse's Mouth," starring Alec Guinness. Jimson was driven by the sight of a bare wall to plot his masterwork. It's a very funny movie, although Jimson's oeuvre could be considered vandalism on the grand scale.
--Bernice Paglia
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Williams, Reid Win Council Seats
Democratic Primary winner Rebecca Williams went on to win the Second & Third Ward at-large seat in Tuesday's general election by a large margin, assuring New Democratic clout on the City Council when she takes office Jan. 1.Supporters gathered at her East Seventh Street headquarters to see the unofficial results, which by her campaign's numbers came in at 4,179 versus 753 for Republican Jim Pivnichny, with Ward 3, District 6 missing due to a broken machine. The City Clerk's office came up with 4,426 for Williams and 754 for Pivnichny, supposedly with all districts reporting. Official results will be posted by Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi on Monday.
Councilman Adrian Mapp described Williams as "the architect behind a number of campaigns," including past ones of council members Cory Storch, Linda Carter, Annie McWilliams, Mapp himself and Rashid Burney."It was her time, her year this year," Mapp said.
Williams ran off the line and defeated Burney, the incumbent and the Democratic Party's choice for re-election.
Williams called her victory "a very timely win," saying she was not being boastful, but that it was a positive thing for Plainfield "to keep it moving forward."Pivnichny stopped by to offer Williams his congratulations.
William Reid, who had the Democratic Party's endorsement for re-election to the First Ward council seat, received 1,715 votes to Republican Sean Alfred's 118 votes in the unofficial tally. He and Councilwoman Linda Carter, who won a Union County freeholder seat Tuesday, visited Williams' headquarters to mark their mutual victories.(This writer stopped in because it was right on my block - very convenient for an avowed pedestrian and no slight intended to the Regular Democrats several blocks away.)
--Bernice
Walk This Way
On my way to the library this afternoon, I saw a group of men working hard to construct a new sidewalk. Not so unusual a task, perhaps. The unusual part was that it replaced a footpath worn in the lawn of a building at Park and Crescent.
This building once had a flimsy, shin-high fence made of wire and bits of metal fence posts. It was actually a hazard more than a deterrent to shortcuts and it was eventually removed. For a long time, walkers, bike riders and parents with strollers then used the path whether it was dusty, muddy or icy, rather than obey the 90-degree angle of the corner's sidewalk.
When I saw this new curve of sidewalk, honoring those who voted with their feet for it, my thoughts wandered to urban design. It turns out this propensity of people to make their own paths has a name and is respected in some quarters. Click here for more information.
Across the street, a similar apartment building has a chain link fence around the corner - no shortcuts allowed. So which is better, or is there room for both approaches? Do you like shortcuts or do you stick to corner sidewalks? I tend to do the latter. If you can spare a moment from election drama, please share your thoughts.
--Bernice Paglia
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