Schools - Muhlenberg - Assemblyman Green - CN

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Published in the Courier News on July 7, 2003

http://www.c-n.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,761007,00.html

Proposals could save Muhlenberg
and build new schools

By BERNICE PAGLIA
Staff Writer

PLAINFIELD -- A pair of proposals have been announced that could save Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, build a new middle school and help bolster a West End neighborhood.

The proposals were announced last week, and one already has support from hospital officials and Assemblyman Jerry Green.

The other proposal needs support from both the City Council and Board of Education and would link private development with planned school facilities to enhance a West End neighborhood.

The planned middle school is part of both proposals, but school board president Robert Darden said the board as a whole hasn't discussed either.

Two state programs are involved in the proposals. Green said Thursday talks have begun with Gov. James E. McGreevey and state agencies on a "school renaissance Zone" plan that would put the new middle school on the Muhlenberg campus and bring in as much as $150 million to modernize the hospital and retire its $24 million debt.

The "demonstration project" proposal is a chance to have the middle school, a new administration building and a private project fast-tracked for construction, Epic Group vice president Joel Lizotte told the council.

The school board held a series of community talks last year on where to put the new middle and elementary schools. Only the middle school site, on South Second Street between Plainfield and Grant avenues, won board approval in January.

The district received state approval two years ago for $185 million in new school construction, including the middle school, four new elementary schools, replacement of two elementary schools and renovations to 10 schools.

Donald Moore, a city resident who is in charge of design and construction for Abbott districts in the New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation, said four or five projects could be under construction next year.

Work has begun on a "swing school" in a four-story building on West Front Street where students could go while their schools are being replaced. Clinton School students will be the first to use it while their school is demolished and a new one is built, he said.

Moore said the school construction can leverage other kinds of development in the city. He called Green's bid to link the middle school with saving Muhlenberg "a brilliant move on his part."

The South Second Street site would require land acquisition and a cleanup that Moore said has been stalled, even though the city received $1 million to do it. Using the hospital campus, or adjacent school-owned land at Hub Stine Field, might be easier.

Mayor Albert T. McWilliams, a board member at Muhlenberg, said the hospital told the board about the proposal at a briefing Wednesday in advance of Green's announcement.

On the other proposal, McWilliams said he asked his staff to get more information on the pediatric day-care facility suggested as a part of the demonstration project and to clarify what the city would have to do to take part.

McWilliams said that if the school board decides to build the middle school at Muhlenberg, the city could keep South Second Street for industrial use to bring in taxes. But he said the community also should have a say.

"If the community has bought into a particular scenario, you'd have to go back to the community and get a consensus," he said.

But Green said Thursday, "If you're going to save a community institution, who's going to challenge that?"

The hospital also has been seeking state permission for a cardiac surgery unit to bolster its viability. Green said when he became ill after a hectic primary election, the need for such a facility came home to him. He said he had his son drive him to a full cardiac care facility in Newark, where he had angioplasty surgery to repair a blocked artery.

"My mind is made up," Green said. "I'm not getting involved with local officials. If I can't put this proposal together, Muhlenberg is heading toward getting closed."

Bernice Paglia can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or bpaglia@c-n.com.

[Sidebar]At a glance:

* School renaissance zone: A state-designated locale for revitalization through coordinated planning of state agencies with a school facilities project eligible for state support as its focal point.

Gov. James E. McGreevey announced in March that revitalization of a former factory in Trenton would be the first school renaissance zone. The former Roebling steel rope facility will become a school for grades K-8 and will complement existing neighborhood revitalization. In April, McGreevey announced the second zone in Neptune. There, an abandoned warehouse will become an early childhood center to complement a 700-student school for grades K-8.

The Plainfield proposal would link a new middle school with revitalization of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center.

* Demonstration project: Includes an Abbott district school facility and community design features and is tied to local redevelopment. The Plainfield proposal includes a new administration building and middle school already approved for state school facilities funding. The proposal also includes an "academic walkway" linking Washington Elementary and Hubbard Middle schools and could be tied to a privately developed day-care facility for children up to age 4 who have chronic health conditions. Thirty districts are eligible to submit proposals by July 31, and six will be chosen. Designation would speed up construction.

Link to online story.
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Schools - SL - SCC's final cut for construction

Table from the 4/26/2007 Star-Ledger detailing SCC construction plans. Click on image to enlarge for printing.

Schools - CN - Green proposes school for Muhlenberg site

http://www.c-n.com/news/c-n/story/0,2111,869579,00.html

[Muhlenberg – Schools]

School planned for Muhlenberg site

By CHAD WEIHRAUCH, Staff Writer

Published in the Courier News on Sunday, December 14, 2003

PLAINFIELD -- Details slowly are emerging on a $60 million plan that would place an elementary school on the grounds of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center.

Assemblyman Jerry Green, D-Plainfield, said he is still negotiating with the state to deliver the funds, but said the package would swing money to both the district -- which needs a new school -- and the financially ailing hospital.

"This is needed," Green said. "Right now Muhlenberg is losing six to eight million (dollars) a year."

One of the primary reasons the hospital struggles to survive, Green added, is that it treats a high number of illegal immigrants and the state will not reimburse Muhlenberg for the money it spends on those patients.

Meant primarily to upgrade equipment at the medical center, Green said the funds would be earmarked for current facilities and services, and perhaps could help the hospital back away from efforts to secure permission for a regional cardiac surgery center."The reality is that may not happen," he said, adding that he is "also hoping that we can get the (state) Department of Health to partner up Muhlenberg with one of the hospitals that do offer open-heart surgery."

Muhlenberg is one of three Central Jersey hospitals seeking state permission for the cardiac unit, along with Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth and Somerset Medical Center in Somerville.

Green said keeping Muhlenberg open and viable is the No. 1 priority.

"The money is a pressing need right now," he said. "Even the $60 million is not going to bail them out."

Mark Hendrickson, a spokesman for the medical center's parent company, Solaris Health System, said he could offer no specifics on the elementary school plan, adding that it has "been on the table since late summer."

"We always look for ways, obviously, to bring the best health care to residents, so we're always open to looking at other options," he said.

Hendrickson said he was unaware of any connection between the elementary school plan and Muhlenberg's cardiac unit bid.

Exact details of the school proposal remain unclear, though Green said it's probable that the hospital would construct a parking deck to clear space for the school.

"This would be a home run for the city because we wouldn't have to take any property off the tax rolls to build a new elementary school," he said.

Chad Weihrauch can be reached at (908) 707-3137 or cweihrau@gannett.com

Letter to Mayor Robinson-Briggs concerning 'Plainfield Gazette' flyer

April 19, 2007

Hon. Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Mayor
City of Plainfield
515 Watchung Avenue
Plainfield, NJ 07060


Dear Mayor Robinson-Briggs:

Attached please find a copy of a flyer by the "Plainfield Gazette" found on the literature table in the rotunda of City Hall on Thursday, April 19, 2007, and reportedly circulated throughout City Hall and City Hall Annex.

What concerns me in writing you is not the errors of fact concerning myself, but the use of the word 'faggot' as an epithet and that the materials were placed and circulated in public buildings.

Have people learned nothing from the recent Don Imus episode? The "F" word is as derogatory as the "N" word and can be characterized as hate speech -- totally inappropriate for distribution in a public building.

Secondly, this kind of speech cannot but make a hostile work environment for those many gay and lesbian employees of the City of Plainfield who can now expect it to be used against them if they exercise their First Amendment rights in a way that displeases the anonymous author(s) of this diatribe.

Lastly, there was an episode of distribution in City Hall of a leaflet under this heading ("Plainfield Gazette") during the primary campaign in May of 2005, in which you were running against then Mayor Al McWilliams.

At that time, it was suspected that the materials had been prepared by a city employee on a city computer and run off on a city color copier. Though the McWilliams administration was not able to identify the person or persons who published that particular flyer, further flyers did not appear once employees learned the administration was investigating the matter.

It would be reassuring if you communicated to all employees through an official letter that you consider such language hate speech and that it is never appropriate for City employees to use it. It would also be reassuring to learn that you are having the production and distribution of this flyer looked into, with an eye to determining if it was produced by a city employee or employees or if city equipment was used in its production or distribution.

Sincerely,

Dan Damon

CC:
Dan Williamson, Corporation Counsel
Marc Dashield, City Administrator
Courier News
Star-Ledger
News 12 NJ
PoliticsNJ
Garden State Equality
Plainfield Area Equality

Plainfield Gazette attacks Damon, McWilliams, Saturdays and Truth

Did I leave anything out? You'll have to read the anonymous broadside yourself. It was circulated at City Hall and City Hall Annex Thursday, April 19, 2007. Click on the image to enlarge it for printing. -- Dan

McWilliams - News Obituary - Courier

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Published in the Courier News, Saturday, April 7, 2007

'His heart was with Plainfield'
Renal cancer claims former mayor Albert T. McWilliams

By CHAD HEMENWAY
Staff Writer

PLAINFIELD -- Albert T. McWilliams, a former two-term mayor of the Queen City whose personality inspired others to help revitalize the city, died early Friday morning. He was 53.

"I remember a soft-spoken man who had the ability to influence and get people to rally around his cause," said Freeholder Adrian Mapp, a former city councilman.

McWilliams died at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick after a brief battle with renal cancer, his friends and family said. McWilliams, a corporate lawyer for Engelhard, now BASF, in the Iselin section of Woodbridge, is survived by his wife of 25 years, Darlene, and five children.

"His heart was with Plainfield," said Councilman Rashid Burney. "He got the city back up and running."

Dan Damon, the city's public information officer during McWilliams' tenure, said his old boss was diagnosed with cancer several months ago. Damon said McWilliams wanted to keep news of his illness among close friends and family.

Former campaign chairwoman Rebecca Williams described McWilliams as a family man who was "funny, intense and charismatic."

Many officials contacted Friday did not know McWilliams was sick. The Rev. Rick Taylor, who was Plainfield's mayor from 1984-89, called the Courier News newsroom to confirm McWilliams' death and offer his condolences. Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, who defeated McWilliams in November 2005, said she was "shocked and surprised" at the news.

"My sympathy goes out to his family," Robinson-Briggs said. "The city will do whatever we need to do to honor him."

Even Assemblyman Jerry Green, D-Plainfield, once an ally of McWilliams who turned his support to Robinson-Briggs in her contest with McWilliams, said McWilliams "was a champion in moving the city ahead." Green said he now supports many of McWilliams' initiatives as well as councilpeople whom McWilliams played a large role in getting elected -- those of the "New Democrats."

"I'd like him to know that what he did for the city was appreciated, because it was," Green said. "Plainfield is better because of him."

McWilliams, first elected mayor in 1997, was described as a man who "believed in the human spirit" -- a "people's person" much less concerned with taking part in politics than his commitment to the people of Plainfield.

Supporters of McWilliams credit him for ridding the city of political bickering, restoring the Queen City's infrastructure and laying foundations for redevelopment while involving the community in the planning process.

"For 25 years this place was stagnant. The 80s and early 90s passed the city by," Damon said. "Plainfield was a totally underdeveloped town. People came and went and broke their vows of getting things started. Nobody could get it done, but he (McWilliams) found a way."

Many agreed McWilliams' legacy will be the Park-Madison complex on West Front Street that used to house Tepper's department store. McWilliams also had roads resurfaced and began a streetscape project. Others credited the former mayor with ridding the city of trash and crime.

"He turned around a city that was in a downward spiral and those who now serve after him have a foundation to build upon," said Mapp, who served as president of the McWilliams' New Democrats -- a group which includes current councilpeople Rayland Van Blake, Cory Storch, Linda Carter and Don Davis.

"He started my political career," Storch said. "I ran for office because he inspired me to get involved. Instead of focusing on politics, he focused on his vision for a better city."

That vision would apparently keep McWilliams up late at night, said Burney.

"He was a tireless worker," Burney said. "I'd get e-mails from him. I'd look and they'd be from 2 or 3 a.m. He's say, 'I just had to get those ideas down.' That was just Al."

After losing his re-election bid in the June 2005 primary to Robinson-Briggs, McWilliams switched his political affiliation to become a Republican, but wasn't allowed on the ticket. He later ran as a write-in and was defeated.

Storch said McWilliams was "more than a little disappointed" at losing, but "backed off gracefully."

McWilliams "fought the good fight in the face of the entrenched machine," said Williams. Just a week ago, she and McWilliams looked back at his time as mayor.

"I think he was proud of what he set in motion," Williams said. "When we were campaigning, we knew the odds but he was always upbeat in spite of them. Even when we lost, he said, 'It's not over. We'll continue to fight for this city.'"

Chad Hemenway can be reached at (908) 707-3148 or chemenway@gannett.com

Link to online story.

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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

McWilliams - News Obituary - Ledger

Published in the Star-Ledger, Saturday, April 7. 2007

Albert McWilliams, ex-Plainfield mayor
Lawyer led a downtown renaissance in city

BY JOE RYAN
Star-Ledger Staff

Albert T. McWilliams, a soft- spoken corporate attorney who rapidly ascended through the bare- knuckled ranks of Plainfield politics and served eight years as the city's mayor before losing a bitter election in 2005, died yesterday at St. Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick.

He was 53.

The cause was cancer of the kidneys, which had been diagnosed several months ago, said his wife, Darlene McWilliams, 52.

A native of Georgia and father of five, McWilliams moved in 1987 to Plainfield, a once-prosperous city left scarred by the riots and urban flight of the 1960s. He fell in love with the town's elegant Victorian homes and majestic trees, and in 1996 friends encouraged him to run for city council.

"He really cared deeply for Plainfield, and he wanted to rescue the city from its downward spiral and decay," said Adrian Mapp, a Union County freeholder and friend of McWilliams.

With strong backing from Plainfield's Democratic Committee, the articulate and debonair McWil liams won an at-large seat. The next year, he ran successfully for mayor.

Over the next eight years, McWilliams oversaw a small renaissance in downtown Plainfield, where new offices, stores and apartments rose for the first time in decades. But crime, especially murders, remained a vexing problem.

By his second term, McWilliams had fallen from favor with the city's most powerful Democrat, Assemblyman Jerry Green. When McWil liams tried for a third term, Green backed his own candidate, a school board member named Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

Robinson-Briggs coasted to vic tory, and McWilliams stepped away from politics.

Yesterday, Green saluted his former rival.

"There were times we didn't see eye-to-eye, but he did move Plainfield in a positive direction. I think the city is a better place became of Al McWilliams," Green said.

Born in Atlanta, McWilliams was the youngest of three children. His father, Albert T. McWilliams Sr., was among the first black bus drivers hired after the city's historic bus boycott. His mother was a den tal assistant.

After studying public administration and political science at Georgia State University, McWil liams earned a law degree from the University of Michigan.

He moved to Dallas and be came a lawyer for Diamond Sham rock, an oil company.

It was at a Super Bowl party in 1979 or 1980 that McWilliams caught the eye of Darlene Crow, a 26-year-old runway model.

She liked his Calvin Klein jeans and well-trimmed afro. He called her a few days later. And for the next 45 consecutive days, they met for picnics, walks and horseback rides.

They married in 1982 in the backyard of the bride's parents' home in Gurdon, Ark.

McWilliams took a job with Engelhard in 1987, and the family moved to New Jersey.

Once he became mayor of Plainfield, McWilliams set out to redevelop long-vacant properties in the city's downtown and recruited some 500 residents to help draft a long-term plan to cut crime, bolster economic development and spruce up flagging streets.

With Green's support, he won re-election in 2001. Then the alliance crumbled.

McWilliams dismissed a political ally of Green's from city hall. The assemblyman accused the mayor of blaming him for the city's woes. And a political war erupted.

Despite his measured and courteous demeanor, McWilliams was no pushover. Between 2002 and 2004, he backed five victorious council candidates against Green's hopefuls. In 2003, the mayor won control of the city's Democratic committee.

Then came the election of 2005.

In an effort to preserve Green's authority in Plainfield, the powerful Union County Democratic Committee donated $65,000 to Robinson-Briggs' campaign. She sailed to victory.

At the urging of supporters, McWilliams registered as a Republican and challenged Robinson- Briggs in the general election.

It proved a luckless gamble in a town as Democratic as Plainfield.

McWilliams took the loss hard.

"Politics in New Jersey is a blood sport. This is not a gentleman's game, and he was a gentleman," said Dan Damon, McWil liams' former spokesman and longtime friend.

The loss, however, gave McWil liams more time for his passions: fishing with his children, riding his bicycle, reading his four daily newspapers and tending racks of mes quite-smoked ribs on his barbecue, wearing his beloved royal-blue Williams-Sonoma apron.

McWilliams is survived by his wife; mother Annie Ruth McWil liams, of Atlanta; and children Annie, 22; Allison, 18, Albert T. III, 16; Adam, 14; Avery, 12; and two sisters.

The family was still planning fu neral arrangements last night.

Link to online story.

(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Ex-Plainfield mayor dies - PoliticsNJ - 4/6/2007

Published in Politics NJ, Friday, April 6, 2007

Ex-Plainfield Mayor dies
By Editor - April 6, 2007 - 10:41am

Former Plainfield Mayor Albert McWilliams passed away early this morning after a battle with renal cancer.

McWilliams was elected Mayor in 1997 and re-elected in 2001. In 2005, he lost his bid for a third term, losing to Sharon Robinson-Briggs by about 300 votes in the Democratic primary after losing the support of the Union County Democratic organization. He later switched to the Republican Party and ran as a write-in candidate. Funeral arrangements are pending.

"Al McWilliams was a man who cared much more about the people of Plainfield than about politics," said Union County GOP Chairman Phil Morin. "He was a man with vision and hope for the City of Plainfield, and he worked tirelessly to make that vision a reality. Plainfield's renaissance is due in large part to his efforts.""

COMMENTS:

He will Be missed
Submitted by walkdown on April 6, 2007 - 2:43pm.

Albert was a good Mayor who took a pragmatic approach to government. He well be missed.

A Super Individual
Submitted by PoliticsSJ on April 6, 2007 - 3:25pm.

Al was a gentle man who had great ideas for Plainfield, and was cut loose by the democrats when he wouldn't play their game. He kept his integrity to the end. Al could teach all politicians what it means to have integrity. God Bless the McWilliams family."

Link to online story.
(Note: Online stories may be taken down by their publisher after a period of time or made available for a fee. Links posted here is from the original online publication of this piece.)

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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