SOME HUMOR FOR A HEAT WAVE

Thanks to nephew David:

A young woman brought her fiancé home to meet her parents. After dinner, her mother told the girl's father to find out about the young man.

The father invited the fiancé to his study for a talk.

"So, what are your plans?" the father asked the young man.

"I am a biblical scholar," he replied.

"A biblical scholar, hmmm?" the father said. "Admirable, but what will you do to provide a nice house for my daughter to live in?"

"I will study," the young man replied, "and God will provide for us."

"And how will you buy her a beautiful engagement ring, such as she deserves?" asked the father.

"I will concentrate on my studies," the young man replied, "God will provide for us."

"And children?" asked the father. "How will you support children?"

"Don't worry, sir, God will provide," replied the fiancé.

The conversation proceeded like this...and each time the father questioned, the young idealist insisted that God would provide.

Later, the mother asked, "How did your talk go, honey?"

The father answered, "another Democrat, he has no job, he has no plans, and he thinks I'm God."

And two cartoons about separation of parents and child.

ABOUT COMMENTS

The good news is that I was able to rescue some comments from cyber space. How and why is a mystery to me I will try to check site in future since I don't think basic comment problem is solved.
Please continue your comments and I hope they will be posted but if you do not find them in a day or so it is not that I am ignoring you but the software is corrupt.

I have some new cartoons that are about recent happenings and not all anti-Trump:

IMPORTANT

I received this communication yesterday. Despite my intention of devoting this week to family; I am posting a copy because it  calls attention to another  local political disregard of  constitutional albeit local law. Is Mapp's administration emulating that of Trump's authoritarian disregard of the Constitution?
Is Democracy dead? Perhaps not yet but will be if we the people ignore these actions.

Plainfield Taxpayers Fleeced by the 22^nd District Legislative Team; Transparency in Short Supply in the Mapp Administration; Legislature adds 5 Departments and 10 Confidential Aides to the City Charter  (See Senate Bill 2763 attached)

I was the Secretary of the Plainfield Charter Study Commission that was elected in 2012 and did its work in 2013. The Commission is now dissolved and has no existing authority, but I still have an interest in the project.   So, I was happy when the City Council passed Ordinance MC-2018-8, which was described as an ordinance to re-petition the legislature for passage of a special law to amend the charter as recommended by Charter Study Commission.

That ordinance was passed on April 9, 2018. I learned several days ago that Senator Scutari sponsored a Bill introduced on June 18, 2018.  I downloaded that Bill to read it. I was dismayed to find a material change to the Charter Study Commission recommendations. Plainfield ‘s Charter provided that the City had to operate with 3 departments, which is fewer than many municipalities. We recommended that. from time to time, the City could add between 1 and 3 departments, with a 2/3 vote of City Council.  Our legislative history contains the text of our rationale for this suggestion.  Among other things, we suggested that our City Council should conduct a careful study before implementing any change due to budget, personnel and space considerations. The Scutari Bill allows the addition of 5 departments, with no enhanced voting standard - only a vote of majority of council.

On June 23, 2018, I sent an email to all of the City Councilors, Mayor Mapp and the City Clerk. Among other things, I asked if there had been any public notice to the citizens about this change, whether City Council voted on it, and who drafted the changes. On June 24^th, Councilor Storch responded that he thought he had voted on the Charter Study Commission Recommendations as presented without amendment, and he also asked the administration who had drafted the changes. On June 25, I got a terse response from the City Clerk telling me that I should accept, as the official response, that the Charter Study Commission Recommendations were forwarded to the Legislature” as is”, and he said “It is my understanding that once these recommendations were submitted to the legislature, the bill was subsequently amended.”  No one else got back to me to tell me that they were surprised about the changes.

Today, I checked the status of the Bill and learned that the Bill, in addition to being sponsored by Senator Scutari in the Senate, had been co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Carter and Assemblyman Kennedy.  To my surprise, the Bill was amended again to add a section allowing Department Directors to hire up to 10 Confidential Aides.  Our City Council does not have to approve the Confidential Aides.  Instead, the Mayor can appoint the Aides. The Bill was passed on June 22nd, with no public hearing or other notice that I know of to Plainfield citizens.

I am deeply concerned about these developments. It is now clear now the taxpayers of Plainfield face the financial burden of patronage jobs based on revisions to our charter that were never approved by the Plainfield governing body.  UCDC Chair Scutari now has jobs to hand out at Plainfield’s expense and I am very disappointed in Assemblywoman Carter, who is clearly working for the party leaders and not the people of Plainfield. 

The City Council must vote to establish any new departments.  I am putting them on notice that I personally expect them to carefully study any new department suggestions, show that any additions are revenue neutral and to get detail on any additional cars and hires that will be necessary.  I am confident that I will not be the only one watching. We all need to work to prevent further sell out of Plainfield citizens.

Mary Burgwinkle, 1785 Sleepy Hollow Lane, Plainfield

FYI

Family here until Thursday when they go on 10 day "resort hotel" cruise out of Bayonne. God for family get together but not my idea of cruising which was small ships 100 to 300 passengers usually open seatings and visiting out of the way ports . biggest ship we were on had  about 1500 passengers Every thing was well organized until debarking in Southampton when our luggage was sent to Rio instead of Newark. .

May post commentary blog Friday.

PLAINFIELD LAMENT

 What’s new in Plainfield??? The same old??

 Dan is only partially right; The Council has forgotten its manners by not formally thanking Rebecca Williams for her services and also not congratulating her upon becoming a Freeholder.

 In almost 30 years that I have attended Council meetings it has been an accepted custom to do both. Since I missed the previous meetings I do not know if this Council failed to recognize Linda Carter’s appointment to the Assembly.

 But what should we expect from a Trump, pardon me a Mapp Council that can finish the business of two sessions in less than 90 minutes.

 We do hear of progress in revitalizing Plainfield. Perhaps “One Plainfield” means that it is no longer a Jerry Green possession but a Mapp controlled city.

 As further evidence of the new revitalized Plainfield  we are given as examples  not only the approval of apartments  on the Muhlenberg Campus  but the vague promise  of a “Medical Mall” there without any clear definition of what  in will contain that will improve the health care for the area.

 Of course what should we expect from a series of  local politicians that permitted without a fight the closing of the hospital and the availability of institutional urgent/ emergency care to locations that could be 30 minutes away.

 Yes we seem to disregard the anticipated closing of the YMCA, the vehicle motor inspection center, the reduction of open hours in Plainfield’s chain pharmacy-Walgreens, etc.as evidence of the new “One Plainfield”.

 Also there is questions about the future of the west end Community Health Center as noted in this April news article;”A federal court hearing will be conducted April 10 on the procedures for the sale of the health center's 7.8-acre property at Rock and Myrtle avenues as part of the bankruptcy proceedings for the health center's parent company, Neighborhood Health Services Corp. (NHSC), that has dragged on for four years.”

 I have no knowledge of any recent developments except rumors of professional staff shortage.

 There has been no Westfield type stores or restaurants relocating “down town”. Or any manufacturing plants which bring tax income and jobs, anywhere into the city.

 The building spree in apartments with the hopes of renting to commuting no children families will only be successful if direct trains become a reality. That seems to be at best decades in the future.

 I regret that what is ongoing here is so reminiscent of Trump’s and a Republican Congress’s Washington.