“One of the reasons people
hate politics is that truth is rarely a politician's objective. Election and
power are”. Cal Thomas
“I will always do anything in my power to help this
great city”
(Assemblyman Jerry Green’s Plainfield Report)
Thus wrote Plainfield’s political Boss.
Conceivable he meant to help “OZ” go down the tubes to become
another Camden but without any critical health care facility. Why did he author
legislation that would make it impossible for another hospital to replace JFK’s
abandoned Muhlenberg?
Within the past two weeks he has stepped in to block a deal
that would not only upgrade the Liberty Village affordable housing project to
expected high HUD standards.
At the Emergency Liberty Village Town Hall meeting he spoke out
against adopting a very favorable PILOT agreement that would net the city
almost $70000.00 more annually for 25 years than the present agreement. If this
resolution is not passed on May 5th the deal will not be
consummated.
Why did Green make it an issue that the Deputy City Administrator
in charge of Economic Development,
Carlos Sanchez had not personally spoken to “HUD” even though Green was shown a
letter of approval from HUD for the proposed sale? Why all of a sudden was
Green going to reach out to our Congressman and Senators to arrange a meeting
with HUD officials about transferring the property?
Why has a last minute Congressman Holt Town Hall with Green
as moderator been scheduled to conflict with the Special Council meeting called
by the Mayor to pass at the last possible minute the PILOT resolution? To give
those RDs on the Council the excuse to not attend the meeting. Why did not
Rivers call that meeting as she had promised?
The proposal had been submitted for approval to the previous
administration. It has been noted that at that time Council President Rivers
along with Councilors Mapp and Storch met with the proposed purchasers yet it
stood dormant until the Mapp Administration brought it to the Council.
Yet Green and his flunkies on the Council claim they were
suddenly presented with the PILOT resolution and did not have time to study it.
Rivers, Greaves, and Taylor claim that there must be certain
guarantees of improvements by the purchaser in writing before they would
approve this PILOT. I question if they are illiterate; but there are more improvements than those Councilors
want spelled out in not only in the support papers for the resolution but also in a document that the would be new
owners must sign as part of the agreement. Perhaps it is true that one of the
above never opens her package before the meeting.
There
seems to be a hidden agenda that the Plainfield Housing Authority by default
should become owner of the property. Disregarded is the fact that for about 25
years that body managed Liberty Village until it received a near 45% HUD
approval. It had reached true slum status. After the present ownership through LEGAL
action replace PHA with a professional management the changes were so dramatic
that its HUD approval was over 75% with the deficiencies mainly on needed
outside repairs which are covered in the proposed agreement.
Not mentioned is that if PHA owns
the property it is exempt from taxes and perhaps the present PILOT which means a
loss of revenue for the City.
Monday will reveal who has the
best interests of the city and its people as their concern.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete4:28 Sorry but your comment smacks of racism.
ReplyDeleteI'd like to know who knew what when. There was the 2013 meeting, but from what I've heard, the buyer did not have any specific improvements to offer at that time. There are a variety of Council committees, but did the ones with immediate oversight shirk their role, or were they shut out of the process? It is obvious in any case that the whole kit and kaboodle didn't show up out of thin air. Where was the oversight, concern, and inspections over the many years of decay? I think the current list of improvements, with time constraints included, covers most of the bases, but there is some concern of guarantees that point to a certain desire for the buyer to set aside funds for improvements. Of course the buyer loses the PILOT if they don't make the agreed upgrades. All in all, the resolution to be voted upon looks like a good one, save for perhaps a sellers concession to the school district, but that may be cutting hairs at this point. The takeaway is continuing municipal dysfunction, lack of communication between the executive and legislative branches, and political gamesmanship that holds all of us hostage, particularly the most vulnerable and disenfranchised among us. There were months to get this done in a way that would be positive for Liberty Village's tenants, as well as the City's coffers, but that is asking too much of many of the participants in this fiasco.
ReplyDeletePlainfield is “Jerry’s World”. As chairman of the Democratic City Committee, Jerry Green has been running the Cit of Plainfield for over 20 years. With very few exceptions, he has personally chosen Plainfield’s elected officials. For example at this year’s Democratic City Committee, Jerry dispensed with the need for a vote on candidates by just announcing his selections. Jerry’s candidates are expected to carry out his agenda. Unfortunately for residents of Jerry’s World, Jerry’s priority always seems to be to spend the resources of Plainfield to gain political points for himself with his bosses in Trenton. The needs of the citizens of the citizens of Plainfield seem to always come in a distant second.
ReplyDeletePlainfield’s dysfunction, waste and abuse are Jerry Green’s political legacy. Jerry tries to claim he isn’t responsible for the day to day running of Plainfield, but let’s review. He personally chooses the elected officials by giving them the democratic line in the primary and if they don’t displease him by not following his wishes, he replaces them by choosing someone else for the democratic line in their next election. Even in 2005, when Jerry lost control of the Democratic City Committee and thereby the democratic line in the primary, he conspired with the Union County Democratic Party leadership to “steal” the democratic line in the primary for his chosen candidates.
The sad thing is that Jerry Green is the one person in Plainfield with the power to turn Plainfield around. He could put the “best and brightest” in office. There are talented, experienced professionals living across this city who would gladly donate their time and talent in a legitimate effort to make Plainfield a successful, thriving city once again. A good example of that was 20 years ago, when over 200 people from all four wards worked together as part of the Citizens’ Committee For Social and Economic Revitalization of Plainfield, which Jerry even chartered, to analyze the key problem areas facing the city and to develop, together with The Council and The Administration, and integrated plan to address them. Unfortunately implementation would have upset the political “gravy-train”, so word came down to shelve the plan. It is like so many other efforts through the years that look so promising yet go nowhere. Hope springs eternal that Plainfield can come around to living up to its rich history and remarkable potential. But then again, this is “Jerry’s World” and he would have to choose what’s best for Plainfield over what’s best for Jerry and based on history is unlikely.
Tom Kaercher