Hispanics - AG Peter Harvey's Plainfield Meeting - 2005

AG meets to discuss attacks on Latinos

Plainfield crimes spur talks with activists, police and community leaders

 

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

 

BY JULIA M. SCOTT

Star-Ledger Staff

Plainfield needs to make "systematic changes" to prevent crimes targeting Latinos, according to state Attorney General Peter Harvey, who met with community leaders for two hours last night behind closed doors.

"I don't just want to be in response mode," he said to reporters following the meeting.

Of the attacks that targeted Latinos in Plainfield and North Plainfield in spring 2004 and summer 2005, only one of the beatings has involved charges of bias intimidation.

To make sure those patterns don't emerge again, Harvey proposed giving immigrants identification cards so they can open a bank account and deposit their wages instead of carrying around cash.

"They have cash in their pockets and some people know it," he said, adding that many of the crimes happen after someone leaves a bar.

To make the community safer, Plainfield needs to hire more Spanish-speaking police officers, increase police patrols, educate the community about safety and hold more meetings between law enforcement and residents. Harvey also suggested posting signs in Spanish in bars alerting patrons to past attacks and linking car services with bar owners to encourage patrons to get a ride home.

Harvey scheduled last night's meeting shortly after activist Carmen Salavarrita renewed claims of bias attacks against Latinos last month. Harvey said that it is "fairly rare" for a community to come together and show concerns about bias crimes, even though he meets frequently with local law enforcement and residents.

Almost 30 people, including Union County Prosecutor Theodore Romankow, Plainfield Police Chief Edward Santiago and Safety Director Jiles Ship, attended the meeting at St. Mary's School on West Sixth Street.

Salavarrita believes some of the attacks on Latinos have been bias crimes, even though officials have said otherwise.

"A lot of people want to keep it quiet but that's not going to solve anything," she said. Salavarrita, who lives in Piscataway, said victims come to her for help because she has close ties to the community as a board member of Plainfield's El Centro Hispanoamericano and as a trustee of the Plainfield Health Center. She blames "a group of black people" for the attacks.

Another Latino activist, however, says the entire community is actually working together.

"The message we are sending is our community will not be divided," said Flor Gonzalez of the Latin American Coalition.

Gonzalez was not the only one to downplay Salavarrita's allegations.
"Crime statistics reflect that victimization is not solely a Hispanic issue," Santiago said. The police chief agreed the city needs to hire more Spanish-speaking officers in addition to the 14 currently on staff.

"We are getting more and more investigations that require interviews with Spanish speakers," he said after the meeting.

Santiago suggested starting a citizens' education program at the police academy to increase awareness of safety issues.

Councilman Ray Blanco similarly dismissed the claim that there is tension between the African- American and Latino community.

"They're not killing us on the streets," he said to a resident who had come to give Harvey a personal letter. "You know this and I know this."

 
Julia M. Scott covers Plainfield. She may be reached at jscott@star ledger.com or (908) 302-1505.


© 2005  The Star Ledger © 2005 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

Maps: Plainfield: Ward 4 Districts

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Maps: Plainfield: Ward 3 Districts

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Maps: Plainfield: Ward 2 Districts

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Maps: Plainfield: Ward 1 Districts

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Plainfield 2010 Primary Election Results (Council)

Plainfield 2010 Primary Election Results (Council)

District-by-district results for City Council seats.

Wards 2/3 at-large was a contested race between three Democrats --

• Rashid Burney (Regular Democratic Organization [Incumbent])
• Don Davis (Hold On To Plainfield)
• Rebecca Williams (New Democrats for Plainfield)

Republican Jim Pivnichny ran unopposed.

In Ward 1, Democrat Bill Reid and Republican Sean Alfred were unopposed.

WARD/DIST	BURNEY	DAVIS	WILLIAMS	PIVNICHNY
WARD 2
District 01	22	3	22	0
District 02	14	5	56	5
District 03	20	10	47	5
District 04	24	4	24	2
District 05	13	1	66	9
District 06	38	2	77	23
District 07	35	7	26	2
District 08	30	4	40	12
District 09	18	3	59	17
District 10	30	3	49	12
District 11	33	11	26	8
TOTAL - WARD 2	277	53	492	95
WARD 3
District 01	15	3	25	7
District 02	13	14	28	2
District 03	20	19	40	5
District 04	22	23	40	2
District 05	42	18	35	3
District 06	35	15	41	6
District 07	26	9	38	2
District 08	25	6	20	2
District 09	49	18	35	1
District 10	24	19	10	2
TOTAL - WARD 3	271	144	312	32
TOTAL - WARDS 2/3	548	197	804	127
WARD 1	REID			ALFRED
District 01	49			1
District 02	25			1
District 03	37			2
District 04	20			6
District 05	22			2
District 06	24			0
District 07	35			1
District 08	34			0
TOTAL - WARD 1	246			13

Total voter turnout was 2,286 citywide.

In Wards 2/3, 1,549 Democratic votes were cast. With a total of 7,384 registered Democrats,
this is a turnout of 21%.

(As for unaffiliated voters declaring themselves at the polling place, my experience in one of the busier districts at Evergreen School was ONE person declaring Democratic voter affiliation on Primary day.)

Fraud - Courier - Cop faces insurance fraud charges

Published in the Courier News, Friday, June 12, 2009 (A-1)

Cop faces insurance fraud charges
20-year division veteran suspended

By MARK SPIVEY
STAFF WRITER

PLAINFIELD -- A 20-year veteran with the city's police division has been suspended without pay after being charged with insurance fraud, Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig said Thursday.

Officer David Thomas was charged with second-degree insurance fraud in connection with a homeowner's claim involving a computer, according to Hellwig.

A Union County Prosecutor's Office spokesman confirmed the charge Thursday but said no additional information was immediately available.

Thomas is entitled to a hearing within 30 days, said Hellwig, who added that the division plans to terminate him in the case of a conviction.

Calling Thomas a "good officer," Hellwig said the veteran cop worked in a "very critical area" of the division, helping compile Uniform Crime Reports, gather intelligence and issue daily reports.

The suspension may further strain the division's administrative ranks, Hellwig added, because of the recent retirement of two lieutenants and a captain.

Mark Spivey: 908-243-6607; mspivey@mycentraljersey.com.

This story did not appear online.

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Plainfield Schools - Courier - Guard suspended after strip search

Published in the Courier News, Saturday, May 16, 2009, page A-8

Guard who searched student suspended

By MARK SPIVEY
STAFF WRITER

PLAINFIELD -- A female security guard at the city high school has been suspended after she strip-searched a 15-year-old female student who was falsely accused of stealing a cell phone, school and police officials said.

Police launched an investigation into the incident shortly after it happened on May 8, according to Public Safety Director Martin Hellwig, who said authorities determined no touching or sexual gratification was involved and, therefore, no criminal charges are pending. But Hellwig said he supported the school district's decision to suspend the guard, callin the situation "an overstepping of her bounds."

"Although it's not criminal, it's certainly an intolerable action," Hellwig said.

Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III said the guard said the guard was suspended with pay immediately after the incident being reported, and added that a final decision on further action will be takend after school officials have an opportunity to review reports from police and the state division of Youth and Family Services, which conducted its own review.

Gallon said that based on preliminary assessments of the matter, he is recommending that the guard, whom he declined to be identified, be terminated.

"This allegation is something we take very seriously," Gallon said. "These alleged actions were taken outside any current appropriate procedures employ in regard to student safety."

Gallon said school officials have offered the student their support.

This item appeared in the print edition ONLY on Friday, May 16. Archived here.

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

New Dems - PolitickerNJ - Mapp gets in game against Robinson-Briggs

PolitickerNJ

January 26, 2009 - 6:16pm

In Plainfield, Mapp gets in the game against Mayor Robinson-Briggs

By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter

[Image: Councilman Adrian Mapp]

PLAINFIELD - Pledging transparency in government, better city services and better advocacy for residents, Ward Three Councilman Adrian Mapp today formally announced his intention to challenge one-term Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs.

A former two-term member of the Plainfield City Council and former Union County Freeholder, Mapp won re-election to the council last year on a ticket with Annie McWIlliams, daughter of the late former Mayor Al McWilliams, whom Robinson-Briggs defeated four years ago.

"I had planned as far back as 2007 on running for Mayor," said Mapp, "but put that thought on the back burner after I was approached by residents about running for the Ward 3 seat. Folks were concerned that with the issues the country and the City were facing, a more experienced and pro-active presence was needed from the Third Ward.

“Like the rest of the country, Plainfield is facing an extremely difficult future for at least the next two years,” added Mapp, a chief financial officer for the City of Roselle. “People are losing their jobs and their homes, the likelihood that our tax receipts will be negatively impacted is very high, and we must come to grips with the realities of the situation. Plainfield simply cannot afford four more years of a mayor who rushes to hug people but seems incapable of actually helping them.”

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.

Related topics: Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Rick Smiley, Jerry Green, Annie McWilliams, Al McWIlliams, Adrian Mapp

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

2009 Primary - PolitickerNJ - Robinson-Briggs vs. Mapp's New Dems

PolitickerNJ

December 21, 2008 - 6:05pm

In Plainfield, Mayor Robinson-Briggs
will try to withstand Mapp's New Democrats

By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter

[image: Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs]

PLAINFIELD – Get it right in four years or you’re gone.

That’s the message the voters consistently deliver in the Union County city of Plainfield, and looking at past results, most of their elected leaders get it wrong.

In 125 years of political wrangling, only one mayor won reelection here.

That was the late Al McWilliams, a self-professed New Democrat who in 2005 failed to get over a rising crime wave and lost his bid for a third term to machine Democrat Sharon Robinson-Briggs by 325 votes, 2,713 to 2,388.

Now Robinson-Briggs, 49, Plainfield’s first woman to serve as mayor, readies for her reelection campaign next year in what will likely be a hard fought Plainfield contest with once and future councilman Adrian Mapp, a McWilliams ally and now leader of the New Democrats, who’s energized by his successful return to local politics.

Mapp already filed to run for mayor – a $35,000-per year part-time job - with the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), but insists he’s not yet made a final decision.

“If more and more people approach me I will consider running,” says the 52-year old former county freeholder and at-large city councilman, who earlier this year defeated Robinson-Briggs ally Don Davis by a 10 percent margin to become the 3rd Ward councilman.

“If there’s a groundswell of support for me, I would give it very serious consideration. I would be guided by the desires of the people.”

Should he run, Mapp, a CPA and chief financial officer in Roselle, is likely to make competence the issue as Plainfield’s nearly 48,000 residents this year lost Muhlenberg Hospital – the city’s biggest employer of 1,000 jobs; while homeowners fear the prospect of a local tax increase of 9.5 percent.

“The roads are in a state of disrepair, people are paying high taxes, and we have a shrinking commercial tax base,” says Mapp. “Residents don’t feel their tax dollars are offering a return on investment. They want to know their elected officials are capable of leading. Clearly, the city needs someone to get out front.”

In defense of her administration, Robinson-Briggs says the 9.5 percent figure reflects on a working $78 million budget that has not yet received state extraordinary aid. She continues to examine every option in difficult economic times, she says, including renegotiating contracts and implementing a four-day work week for city employees.

As for the hospital, Robinson-Briggs with pain in her voice argues that she did everything she could to avert what was ultimately a private sector decision made by the suits at Solaris Health Systems.

Her administration lobbied the hospital itself, and failing that, “We sent an overabundance of letters to Gov. Corzine,” says the mayor. “We proposed a statewide lottery with money to be divided among (urban) hospitals (like Muhlenberg). That was an idea that didn’t pan out. We started to work on the issue at the end of last year. We wrote over 2,000 letters. I understand the governor is in a tight spot and looking at things equitably in the State of New Jersey.

“But I told them, if you close the hospital, people will die.”

While the mayor refrains from listing her accomplishments days before her New Year state of the city speech, observers of Robinson-Briggs’ administration say positives during her four-year watch include crime reduction, fewer workers on the city payroll than when she took office, and construction of a senior citizen complex on Front Street for under $1 million.

People like her. What she lacks comparatively in schooling, she makes up for as a ceremonial force whose positive energy fills a room.

“The mayor is very warm can and can connect with people in an emotional way,” says At-Large Councilman Rashid Burney. “Adrian Mapp’s base is more affluent and educated.”

“No, Adrian’s not Bill Clinton,” admits 2nd Ward Councilman Cory Storch. “But he’s really good with constituent relations. I saw that when he first served on the council. Then there’s his financial background. He’s going to run on fiscal management and delivering overall quality of services.”

If the mayor’s poise and interpersonal skills – “Let me give you a Plainfield hug,” she tells a newcomer - and Mapp’s numbers-crunching prowess jump out as arguably the political antagonists’ most obvious strengths, both the councilman-elect and Robinson-Briggs also have important allies on their respective sides who underscore the city’s political divide between the regular Dems and the New Dems.

Robinson-Briggs boasts the political muscle of Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Plainfield), speaker pro tempore in the state legislature, who championed her early in her career on the school board and who has ready access to Democratic Party campaign cash. Green’s own PAC dropped $8,200 on Shannon-Briggs’ massive $200,000 campaign effort in 2005, while the assemblyman generated significant campaign contributions from Statehouse allies like Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) and Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Paterson).

Mapp, meanwhile, enjoys the alliance of the New Democrats’ symbol of polished poetic justice in the person of Annie McWilliams, 24-year old eldest daughter of the late and – in some quarters – beloved – mayor, who died of kidney cancer in April of 2007.

As Mapp’s running mate, the young McWilliams crushed the organization’s at-large candidate in the June primary by a 3-1 margin.

A Wharton School of Business graduate who will serve as the city’s at-large councilwoman when she gets sworn-in with Mapp come January, McWilliams comes out of the ward that contains the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood, Plainfield’s own ivy covered homage to Victorian grandeur. She supports a Mapp mayoral candidacy, and at the very least makes it clear, “I will be disappointed if we see this mayor back in office.”

Coming off their win, the Mapp-McWilliams duo can make a compelling case that the New Democrats have momentum as they consider a citywide contest in Plainfield’s four wards.

Mapp in November seized control of the council seat in the mayor’s home ward, officially dealing her some disrespect in her own neighborhood. In addition to his base support in the 3rd ward, where presumably he would have to fight the mayor house to house for votes, Mapp can count on the old McWilliams support in the 2nd ward, reanimated by his daughter and reinforced by Storch. The 2nd remains the New Democrats’ strongest ward, where Al McWilliams built his own base of operations.

In their 2005 face-off, McWilliams won the 2nd over Robinson-Briggs by 273 votes: 924 to 651.

The late mayor lost in the city’s three other wards, by 224 votes in the 1st, 170 in the 3rd, and 204 in the 4th.

Already in possession of a political structure in Robinson-Briggs’ home ward and anchored in the 2nd by McWilliams, Mapp faces the challenge of reaching out to those two wards where the sitting mayor has an advantage over the New Democrats, the regular Democrats’ bread and butter districts: the 1st and 4th wards.

Predicting the usual political conflagration here next year, politicos like Burney are staying uncommitted for the moment.

“If I pick a side now and that side loses, I’m out,” says the at-large councilman, who ran and won as a New Democrat but has since tried to be more independent, in his words.

“I respect and like Adrian Mapp a lot, as I do the current mayor,” says state Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union). “I will say that any attacks on elected officials regarding the hospital closing are absolutely unfair. From the get-go, market factors made it impossible for the hospital to remain open.

“The two main issues in Plainfield are education and crime,” adds the senator. “It’s no longer an Abbott School district. Crime is reduced. Usually in an economic downturn you see an escalation of crime but that’s not happening.”

Eighteen miles southwest of Newark, Plainfield resembles a smaller version of New Jersey’s biggest city – at least demographically: 62 percent African American, 21 percent white, 25 percent Latinos of any race. Its downtown looks like some headlong train trestle melding of Union City, Orange, and Passaic, heavily textured from the neon-lit windows to the curbs.

“The Queen City,” says native son, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who served on the city council representing the 2nd ward from 1985 to 1991 before he moved to Westfield, the second to last Republican to serve on the council.

On Friday, the city mobilizes to confront a snow and ice storm.

The mayor’s on duty in City Hall.

A fire truck slaps slush in the windshields of oncoming traffic as it heads downtown, through a blur of African hair braiding studios, Mexican restaurants, grocery, private detective and bail bonds stores, tattoo parlors, donut shops, past the Religious Society of Friends- Quakers, they settled the town - under train tracks and past Central Americans in front of diners trying to make eye contact with drivers of passing cars, and public works employees in yellow vests on foot in the falling snow, shoveling.

A gray public building, one of New Jersey’s blue collar pyramids - in this case a post office - emblemizes the older era, when some WPA architect dreamed Greek columns could as appropriately adorn Watchung Avenue as the Parthenon between the liquor stores and a passing beef-pork-poultry truck out of Elizabeth.

It’s been over 40 years since the 1967 Plainfield riots, an era when Mayor George Hetfield conducted city business from the auspices of a local country club and the hard luck 4th Ward went up in flames and a mob killed Officer John Vincent Gleason, Jr.

And Hetfield – guilty or not, those who were there judged – was voted out of office, carrying on the one and done mayoral cycle that Al McWilliams finally broke and that Robinson-Briggs wants to break again.

On the hill overlooking the rest of the city, above the factories and abandoned factories and projects of the 4th Ward - “There used to be a Mack Truck factory there, a great big factory,” remembers Bramnick – stand the 2nd Ward Wall Street millionaires’ massive summertime mansions of all styles - Colonial Revival and Jacobethan Victorian, Queen Anne’s, Tudor, Second Empire, after a while you can start inventing names that evoke elegance but still not get to the architectural finery that is only, of course, part of the city’s legacy; as Robinson-Briggs and Mapp and McWilliams and Green, and everyone, gets ready for yet another season of politics in Plainfield.

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.

Related topics: Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Rashid Burney, Nicholas Scutari, JON CORZINE, Jon Bramnick, Jerry Green, George Hetfield, Cory Storch, Annie McWilliams, Al McWIlliams, Adrian Mapp

[Link]

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

New Dems - PolitickerNJ - McWilliams resigns from Board

PolitickerNJ (Then known as PoliticsNJ)

September 24, 2005 - 6:34pm
Press Release

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New Democrats for Plainfield

By desnuda

Mayor Albert McWilliams Resigns from Executive Board
of the New Democrats for Plainfield

Plainfield Mayor Albert T. McWilliams submitted his resignation from the executive board of the New Democrats for Plainfield today. Mayor McWilliams served as Immediate Past President of the organization since July of this year. In accepting his resignation current president, Union County Freeholder Adrian Mapp thanked the mayor for his service and wished him well on his future endeavors. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2005

Contact:
Adrian Mapp at (908) 577-0630
Shep D. Brown at (908) 405-5755

Mayor Albert McWilliams Resigns from Executive Board of the New Democrats for Plainfield

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2005

PLAINFIELD - Plainfield Mayor Albert T. McWilliams submitted his resignation from the executive board of the New Democrats for Plainfield today. Mayor McWilliams served as Immediate Past President of the organization since July of this year. In accepting his resignation current president, Union County Freeholder Adrian Mapp thanked the mayor for his service and wished him well on his future endeavors.

Mr. Mapp announced the Mayor's resignation in a statement to members today reminding them that according to the by-laws of the organization the New Democrats for Plainfield could only endorse registered Democrats.

“Although the organization will not be making any endorsement in this race, we will seek to play a positive role in the upcoming elections by hosting a candidate's forum where all candidates for local office will be invited to share their views with the members of the New Democrats and the general public, said Mr. Mapp in his statement. “I believe that it is in the best interest of all the citizens of Plainfield to have a comprehensive issues based debate for all mayoral candidates."

Shep Brown, spokesperson for the New Democrats said that no date or location has been set for the candidates forum. He went on to state: “In keeping with our mission to increase the civic involvement and participation of residents in all segments of Plainfield community life, we encourage other organizations and neighborhood associations in Plainfield to keep up their tradition of hosting their own candidate forums so that they can hear where all of the candidates stand on the issues that are important to them."

For further information contact Shep D. Brown at Walliedog1@nycboe.net

###

Address : <http://www.politickernj.com/new-democrats-plainfield>

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

2009 Primary - PolitickerNJ - New Dems field challenger in LD 22

PolitickerNJ

April 9, 2009 - 6:08pm

News

With eye on mayoral line, New Democrats field
Plainfield challenger in LD 22

By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com Reporter

Jim McGreevey’s residential status in Plainfield sends Union County Democratic Party operatives into off-the-record spin mode characterizing the disgraced former governor as a fixture of the local rebel camp of self-styled New Democrats, a charge that today made mayoral candidate Councilman Adrian Mapp chuckle just before he shot it down.

“Jim McGreevey is a neighbor of the McWilliams’s (family of the late Mayor Al McWilliams and Councilwoman Annie McWilliams),” said Mapp, who’s challenging incumbent Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs in the Democratic Primary. “He’s not affiliated with the New Democrats in any shape, or fashion. There’s no affiliation.”

Running for her second term, the party establishment-backed Robinson-Briggs is allied with Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Plainfield) and Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood), who face a 22nd District general election challenge from Republicans former Scotch Plains Mayor Martin Marks and his running mate, newcomer Bo Vastine.

In the meantime, Green and Stender will have to get through Rick Smiley, 49, the New Democrat Assembly candidate who heads a ticket in Plainfield that includes mayoral candidate Mapp, an ally of Councilwoman McWilliams’s and leader of the organization.

Employed by the City of Plainfield for 23 years as director of community relations among other jobs, Smiley is on leave from his job coordinating the opening of Headstart facilities, to focus on the campaign.

“The closing of Muhlenberg Hospital transcends Plainfield,” said Smiley. “My message will get around. I’ve got a little time now to get my message out there.”

The New Democrats’ decision not to field a second assembly candidate who does not hail from Plainfield indicates their focus on the mayor’s race.

“I’m comfortable having Rick on the ticket,” said Mapp, Roselle’s chief financial officer by profession. “There is such a level of dissatisfaction in Plainfield and in the 22nd District. Every town in the legislative district was affected by the closing of the hospital.”

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.

Related topics: Sharon Robinson-Briggs, Rick Smiley, Martin Marks, Linda Stender, Jim McGreevey, Jerry Green, Bo Vastine, Annie McWilliams, Al McWIlliams, Adrian Mapp

(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 CLIPS endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

Report Card on Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs

Like the report cards we used to take home for our parents' review and signature, Mayor Robinson-Briggs will be earning grades ranging from A to F (plus E for effort) --

A - Excellent
B - Above average
C - Passable
D - Does not meet standards
F - Fail
E - Evidence of effort

ITEM	GRADE	LINK	COMMENT
01/08/09: State of City Address: Homicides 01/12/09: Preparation of Council documents 01/12/09: Withdrawal of Resolutions 01/29/09: On Obama Stimulus	F C C F	See story HERE. See story HERE. See story HERE. See story HERE.	Failed to compare 2008 to 2007. No excuse for not reviewing. Half-fast not the way to go. No evidence of local proposal.

---

-- Dan Damon

Abbott Schools - Ledger - MacInnes: Court's Delusion

Published in the Star-Ledger, Tuesday, November 25, 2008

[OpEd]
The Supreme Court's Abbott delusion

BY GORDON MacINNES

The New Jersey Supreme Court dealt a crushing blow to Gov. Jon Corzine and the Legislature with its decision to re tain its own formula for funding poor school districts, at least for this year. The court's decision effectively kills the plan to improve educational opportunities for poor children who happen not to live in the 31 Abbott districts recognized by the court.

That the court invited the Abbott districts to seek more funding on top of the new school aid for mula -- despite a looming $5 billion deficit -- only accelerates New Jersey's collision with bankruptcy.

Perhaps most disturbing is the court's lack of any doubt about the so-called "remedies" that it ordered 10 years ago in an effort to close the achievement gap between poor and affluent children. It proceeds as if the 1998 court decision had finally solved a problem that has nagged the nation for four decades. The justices appear to think that if only the Abbott districts continue implementating [sic] these remedies and the administration and Legislature provide more funding, the goal of a "constitutional" education will be achieved.

One would hope that, after 35 years of litigation and the expenditure of billions of additional dollars, the court would show more curiosity about why poor kids in the Abbott districts do not perform better and why the gap persists. All branches of New Jersey's government should face some inescapable realities.

Abbott is supposed to be about inequities that constrict the educational opportunities of poor children residing in poor districts. Un happily, 50 percent of New Jersey's poor children reside outside the Abbott districts. Moreover, Abbott districts like Hoboken, Burlington City, Phillipsburg, Neptune Township, Pemberton and Garfield are much less disadvantaged than many non-Abbott districts.

The court expects New Jersey's poorest districts to accomplish something that has not been achieved anyplace, despite 40 years of programs, remedies, reforms and other panaceas. No district or state has succeeded in closing the educational gap between poor, predominantly minority students and affluent, predominantly white stu dents.

The primary reason these efforts have not succeeded is the failure of courts, advocates, bureaucrats and governors to define accurately and concretely the problem to be solved.

Children from poor families ar rive at kindergarten with too little general knowledge and vocabulary and too few ideas to start reading and writing in first grade. This is the gap that most districts never close. The court, to its credit, recognized this problem and ordered high-quality preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds in Abbott districts. "High quality" is what matters, and it takes time, focus, talent and persistence to bring it about in every preschool classroom. Despite the new formula tripling the number of districts that must provide preschool, the Corzine administration has reduced the staff that provides this crucial training.

The court-ordered remedies of 1998 reflected the latest in educational fashion. In particular, the justices ordered that every elementary school adopt a model of "whole school reform" based on the testimony and research of the designer and chief salesman of one such model. The problem was that none of the models was aligned to New Jersey's then-new curricular requirements, so that, even if those were perfectly implemented, Abbott students would continue to fail (and did).

Worse, the court cut out the district central office at just the time its leadership was essential to give coherence to the implementation of hundreds of new curricular standards. So everyone was focused on the wrong thing.

Abbott funding has helped districts like Elizabeth, Union City, Orange and Perth Amboy achieve dramatic improvements in student performance, while others have spent more money to no effect. The districts that have concentrated on early literacy and student achievement tend to spend less money than those that have faithfully implemented the court's "remedies."

Camden increased per student spending from $8,300 to $15,400 without any improvement in performance. Distinctions should be made between districts that are focused on improved achievement and those that are not. Instead, all districts have been encouraged by the court to seek more funding.

Courts can determine if funding for schools with concentrations of poor children is equitable, and they should. What courts cannot do is to require classroom instruction. The Abbott decisions overlook entirely that poor Latinos are the fastest- growing population in the Abbott and many other districts. How can jurists decide among several pedagogical approaches to educating students who speak no English and whose parents read no Spanish?

This is a pretty tough nut to crack, but the court felt no compunction about ordering solutions to all sorts of other pedagogical puzzles (to no consistently efficacious result). The court's latest decision was a chance to back out gracefully from such bravado by agreeing that, with all their shortcomings, local districts are better positioned to deal with the stu dents in their charge and should be given the responsibility to do so.

The overriding reality is that New Jersey and the nation are tapped out. No one is sure how deep or long this Great Recession will be. Other states have acted quickly to reduce spending. New Jersey's time will come, presumably. When it does, additional costs of hundreds of millions of dollars from a few school districts will not be welcome.

Gordon MacInnes was the assistant commissioner for Abbott districts at the state Education Department from 2002 to 2007. He is a lecturer at the Woodrow Wilson School and a fellow at the Century Foundation, which will publish his book on Abbott next month.

Online story here.

(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.)

Armory - Courier - Bids on Armory start at $1M

Plainfield Armory going up for sale; bids start at $1M

Courier News, Thursday, June 30, 2005

By CHAD WEIHRAUCH

Staff Writer

PLAINFIELD -- It was once considered a good location for a new senior citizen center and has been used as a place for martial arts classes, speeches and large-scale gatherings.

Now, the Plainfield Armory is for sale at a minimum bid of $1 million.

Assemblyman Jerry Green said the State House Commission decided last week to sell the property, recommending to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs that it be auctioned off after it was declared a surplus building.

The commission is in charge of selling and leasing state-owned property.

Green, D-Plainfield, said it would be preferable for the city to retain control of the armory by purchasing it from the state. He said city officials, including Mayor Albert T. McWilliams, were sent a letter in April notifying them of the sale, but they never replied.

"By him or the council not responding, they (the state) decided last Monday to put the property out to bid," Green said.

McWilliams said he never received that letter -- a copy Green submitted showed it was dated April 27 -- but said the city might be interested in the armory. However, McWilliams added that the building needs a new air-conditioning system and other upgrades.

"There's a lot of work that has to go into the site, but it's a great location," he said.

A spokesman for the state Department of the Treasury, which manages state-owned properties, indicated there is at least one month for Plainfield to act.

"The property will be offered to state agencies and the municipality first, and if there is no interest expressed, it will be sold at an auction with a minimum bid of $1 million," spokesman Tom Vincz said Monday.

The statement Vincz read was part of a letter sent to McWilliams, dated June 22. In it, Gene Hayman, chief of the Office of Real Property Management at the Treasury, asks the city to contact him by July 29 if officials are interested.

If the city does nothing by then, the state will auction the armory to the highest bidder.

The building at the corner of Leland Avenue and East Seventh Street is about 18,000 square feet, and when it was considered as a possible new senior center site six or seven years ago, it contained mostly small offices and narrow corridors. The tight spaces and lack of handicap-accessible features made seniors hesitant about relocating there.

Vincz said the older building is a candidate for the state and national Register of Historic Places, meaning there would be restrictions on alterations and uses by any potential buyer.

"In other words, you can't knock the building down," Vincz said.

Green noted that armories such as the one in Red Bank -- which became an ice rink -- have been converted for public use, which is what he would like to see in Plainfield.

"It's a lot of options out there. I have staff doing research now how other municipalities have responded to this," he said."

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS01/506300328/1006

Armory - Ledger - State puts Armory up for sale

State puts Plainfield armory up for sale

Friday, June 24, 2005

BY JULIA M. SCOTT

Star-Ledger Staff

The Plainfield armory is up for sale with a price tag of a million dollars, officials said.

The state-owned building will be offered to state agencies and the city first, said Tom Vincz, a spokesperson at the state Treasury Department, which is overseeing the sale. It could not be determined exactly when the property will be put on the market.

The armory was closed in the early 1990s because it was underutilized. But instead of selling the space, the state rented it to veterans groups.

Recently, the Military and Veterans Affairs Agency requested the armory be designated as surplus, prompting the sale. On Monday, the State House Commission approved the sale.

Plainfield Mayor Albert McWilliams said the city might be interested in the property if the price is right. But the building needs "hundreds of thousands" of dollars for a cooling system and to make it handicapped accessible, he said.

"If we had the money to do the upgrades, it would be a great community center for the city," he said. "We would have to look at the details."

Assemblyman Jerry Green (D-Union) has worked with the state to make sure the city has first dibs.

"I think the city should control a valuable piece of property," he said.

The armory is eligible for the state and national registers of historic sites, said Vincz, meaning the building cannot be torn down.

Julia Scott cover Plainfield. She may be reached at (908) 302-1505 or jscott@starledger.com.

Armory - Courier - Task force considers Armory

Courier News, Sunday, July 10, 2005

IN BRIEF

Plainfield eyes deal for armory

PLAINFIELD -- A task force has begun meeting to consider the possible acquisition of the Plainfield Armory by the city.

Mayor Albert T. McWilliams announced the establishment of the group earlier this week, and the task force met for the first time Wednesday night, he said.

The nine-member panel, chaired by resident Michael Pyne, an AT&T executive who has been active in several other city groups, will consider possible uses for the property and the feasibility of acquiring the armory, from finances to development.

A public hearing may be scheduled to gather community input.

The state announced in late June that it had declared the armory, at the corner of Leland Avenue and East Seventh Street, a surplus property and would sell it at auction with a starting bid of $1 million.

-- Chad Weihrauch

http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050710/NEWS01/507100379/1006

Immigrants - Courier - Connolly Properties: LAC engages lawyers

Published in the Courier News, Sunday, August 31, 2008

Plainfield Hispanic-rights group hires lawyers in immigration suit

By MARK SPIVEY
STAFF WRITER

The Latin American Coalition, a city Hispanic-rights group, has retained attorneys from a prominent New York City-based civil-rights organization in response to a federal lawsuit that has the potential to turn the city into the epicenter of the national debate concerning illegal immigration.

The coalition retained the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which will work pro bono in opposing the Washington, D.C.,-based Immigration Reform Law Institute, the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform. The institute previously supported anti-illegal immigration ordinances in Riverside and Hazelton, Pa., but both towns were ultimately forced to abandon them. The Defense and Education Fund played a pivotal role in one of those cases, when U.S. District Judge James M. Munley overturned the Hazelton ordinance by ruling it unconstitutional, and Riverside rescinded its ordinance when township officials said the town could not afford the legal costs of defending it.

The lawsuit was filed in June against defendants with Connolly Properties, a locally based real-estate investment and management company that oversees apartments here and in East Orange and Allentown, Pa. The plaintiffs in the case are Maribel DelRio-Mocci, a former leasing agent for Connolly, and two current tenants of Plainfield Connolly Properties, Linda Elliot and Robert Bolmer, who allege that the real-estate group has run and continues to run a scheme to lease rental units to undocumented residents. The plaintiffs contend this is done "through a pattern of encouraging and inducing illegal aliens to reside in the United States and harboring those aliens from official detection in knowing and/or reckless disregard of the fact that such aliens were present in the United States in violation of federal law," according to the language of the suit. Connolly, an official for which declined comment for this story, has until Sept. 15 to file a formal response with the U.S. District Court of New Jersey in Newark.

Setting legal precedent?

The lawsuit is unique in that it ranks among the first ever to cite RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) statutes, which the federal government has traditionally used mostly to fight organized crime, in order to declare Connolly as being tantamount to a criminal-harboring enterprise. The lawsuit also alleges multiple violations of the Fair Housing Act, claiming that Connolly agents deliberately segregate tenants by race and nation of origin in order to reduce the risk of illegal aliens being discovered by authorities.

Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund Executive Director Cesar Perales said the potential ramifications regarding the outcome of the suit are enormous.

"The civil rights implications are very clear, and they go well beyond Plainfield," Perales said. "If this concept that anyone who rents to undocumented people is harboring (criminals) ... and violating federal law, this is going to affect landlords and immigrants all over this country."

Immigration Reform Law Institute Staff Attorney Garrett Roe would not comment extensively on the specifics of the case but agreed that a powerful precedent could be set by its outcome.

"The ideal situation," Roe said, "is that small towns around the country that are dealing with the same problem (of illegal immigration), hopefully they're going to see this,and it will help them deal with such issues."

Along with RICO and Fair Housing Act violations, the lawsuit claims that illegal aliens were "encouraged or allowed to use false identity documents" by Connolly when applying for housing, along with claims that such tenants were not subject to the same maximum occupancy restrictions to which legal citizens were subject. The suit also claims that some legal citizens were falsely informed that no vacancies were available in certain buildings and goes on to cite substandard living conditions existing at some Connolly properties, specifically Plainfield's Central Avenue and Pingry Arms Apartment Complexes.

Tenants say conditions are bad

Two tenants with 25 years of combined residence at Pingry Arms independently claimed some of the allegations in the lawsuit are true, specifically echoing assertions that the demographics have changed and the conditions have deteriorated at the building rapidly since Connolly acquired the property almost directly across from City Hall on Crescent Avenue several years ago.

"They've (Connolly) been getting away with murder," said Troy Moyd, 68, and a resident at Pingry since 1995. "Since they got this place in the last four or five years, the place has been going downhill ever since. They don't believe in fixing anything."

Moyd cited water leaks in his bathroom and ceiling, mouse and roach infestations, and other factors, closely mirroring claims from Bolmer outlined in the lawsuit. Another tenant, who asked only to be identified by his first name, Roger, cited drug dealing and urination in the hallways.

Both men also said they believe Connolly is guilty of deliberately mistreating non-Hispanic tenants in order to homogenize the building by driving other tenants out, even claiming that some phone calls made for maintenance are answered by company employees who claim not to speak English.

However, Clarence McGhie, a retiree who lives in a Central Avenue residence just steps away from the Central Avenue Apartments, said he is not aware of any adverse effects to his neighborhood caused by the nearby Connolly property.

"We're talking about a complex that's maybe one-fifth of a mile from my house, and it's not like I'm ever looking over my shoulder to see who's coming and going," McGhie said. "I've lived here for almost three years and had no problems at all."

McGhie said he isn't sure just what to make of the lawsuit but said he did believe many area immigrants — legal or otherwise — are only looking to improve their lives.

"I don't think it's a black-and-white issue or yes-and-no issue," McGhie said. "But a lot seem to be hard workers who may not be getting a fair deal."

Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs said while she is unaware of the specifics of the lawsuit, she will be keeping an eye on how it unfolds due to its potential to affect the city at large.

"My position, and the position of the city of Plainfield, is that we advocate equal rights for everyone and fair treatment of everyone, regardless of anyone's nationality or ethnic background," Robinson-Briggs said when asked what the city's policy on illegal immigration was. "And we are looking for any and all companies in Plainfield to be fair and equitable to all members of the community."

Company experiences huge growth

The lawsuit further alleges that Connolly was able to achieve much of its financial success — it cites the company as going from overseeing one six-unit building to operating nearly 2,000 units in 45 separate complexes during a 12-year span — due to the existence of the alleged scheme. The plaintiffs contend that Connolly "has been able to acquire extensive real-estate holdings in old and dilapidated apartment buildings, and to operate such holdings as a residential rental enterprise without investing funds correcting the ... dangerous conditions therein."

Connolly oversees at least 27 separate housing entities in Plainfield alone, according to the company's Web site, the vast majority of which are bunched in a narrow corridor spanning Seventh and Ninth streets between Spooner and Richmond avenues. The site includes photos of all 27 properties, advertising rental units ranging from one to three bedrooms and ranging in size from under 350 square feet to more than 1,500 square feet. The site also says Connolly was formed in 1996 "with the intention of making real-estate investment and ownership available to investors who may possess little or no expertise and may have limited capital for investment."

Carl Reed, broker owner for one of the city's most successful property-management firms, ERA Realty on Park Avenue, said he believes Connolly is anything but a criminal enterprise.

"I happen to know the quality of the property he (owner David Connolly) runs and manages, and they are in the top percentage of the properties in this city. He is by no means a slumlord," Reed said. "I would be honored to own some of the properties he owns; he's actually raised the real-estate values in Plainfield. And I believe most of the landlords in town feel the same way."

Reed went on to label the lawsuit as unfairly targeting one property-management company that only is mirroring what countless others do every day.

"I don't know why Connolly was singled out when a majority of landlords in this town probably have a similar situation (in renting to undocumented residents)," Reed said. "In a town that is struggling in an economic downturn, with a population that is such a melting pot, it's unfortunate."

Not all city real-estate officials echoed Reed's words, though. Jeannette Edghill, senior housing administrator for the Plainfield branch of Covenant Manor, a senior citizen apartment complex on East Front Street, said she believes Connolly properties within a block of her building are hotbeds for crime.

"I've had some question marks in my mind about this whole Connolly thing; all of a sudden they're owning all the realty in Plainfield," Edghill said. "Right across the street, there's a lot of drug-dealing going on in there. It's just constant crime."

Flor Gonzalez, director of the Latin American Coalition, said she believes the lawsuit threatens not only tenants of Connolly properties but the city's entire Latino community.

"If this lawsuit is successful, it will result in Latinos being denied the opportunity to obtain housing. It will make many landlords reluctant to rent to Latino tenants ... and have a chilling effect on all landlords," Gonzalez said. "We intend to defend our rights."

Gonzalez also said, in spite of being on the defensive, she was eager to embrace an opportunity to make a statement concerning Hispanic rights that could resound around the country.

"It's time for us to really try and make history," Gonzalez said, "to not allow this to go forward."

Mark Spivey can be reached at 908-707-3144 or mspivey@mycentraljersey.com.

Online story here. Archived here.

(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.)