AGENDA SESSION #1

There was a public intimate personal discussion that lasted for several minutes between Council President Rivers and Councilor Williams last night at the Agenda Session.

Apparently Williams’ repeated and unanswered requests for Administration to supply her with information about contracts related to the 4^th as well as certain expense items had created a spark.

Rivers did say that the affair was the “best ever” and the parade noteworthy with the inclusion of three high school marching bands and more were expected next year.  She praised Recreation for the job “they” did.

Noteworthy at present the only FT in the Recreation “division” is a secretary. Williams wanted to know who negotiated and signed the contracts; if there were any.

Unfortunately neither City Administrator Berry, nor Director Restaino of Administration and Finance were present or available.  Eric Jackson Director of Public Works and Urban Development acted as City Administrator for the meeting. He too did not answer her questions about a division in his department.

One objection Rivers had was that she had not been “cc'd” on the initial emails. Williams noted that she was following protocol by directing her right as a Councilwoman to directly ask the City Administrator for information.

Lame Duck Mayor Robinson-Briggs’ request to appoint Rickey Williams to a new 5 years term as Commissioner of the Housing Authority was tabled. Councilors except Reid felt that such a long term appointment should be made by the new Mayor. 

Meanwhile RW will continue to serve in his hold-over status.

Corporation Counsel Minchello requested to be placed on the agenda was a resolution of problems between the City and UCIA over I suspect Park/Madison. The details will await publication for next Monday’s meeting.

The Council did agree to place on the agenda the resolution relating to Certification of the Police Department. Some of the positive financial reasons according to Director Hellwig seemed vague including the amount of anticipated savings in insurance. He also announced that there would be various new reductions in some of the fees.

Enough for today.

SCOTUS IMPACT ON MARRIAGE #4 BUDDHISM

As in all other religions Buddhism as practiced has many different interpretations  often unique to the Country where it is practiced; be it Tibet, China, Japan, Thailand,  and even in the western nations.

Obviously there are mostly commonalities in the religion; however there are some differences when it comes to marriage and sexual relations. 

The early monastic practices only recognized males as being eligible and they were supposed to abstain from any type of sexual activities. Later women were permitted to be ordained separate from the men. 

Supposedly Buddha himself said “: Do not destroy any living creature; take only what is given to you; do not commit any unlawful sexual act."

But scholars claim that nowhere in Buddha’s teachings or sayings does he fully define what an "unlawful sexual act" is. So all we can get from this is that there are some sexual acts that are unlawful--and thus should not be engaged in.  But homosexuality is not addressed.

The Dalai Lama In a 1994 interview stated "If someone comes to me and asks whether homosexuality is okay or not, I will ask 'What is your companion's opinion?' If you both agree, then I think I would say 'if two males or two females voluntarily agree to have mutual satisfaction without further implication of harming others, then it is okay'’.

The Dalai Lama has often stated” his support for the full recognition of human rights for all people, regardless of sexual orientation.

However he remarks that the issue is that the question is proper sexual acts or Buddhists call bad sexual conduct. “Sexual organs were created for reproduction between the male element and the female element — and everything that deviates from that is not acceptable from a Buddhist point of view", while penis-vagina non-procreative sex is not considered to be sexual misconduct. and unbelievers,

"From a Buddhist point of view, men-to-men and women-to-women is generally considered sexual misconduct. From society's point of view, mutually agreeable homosexual relations can be of mutual benefit, enjoyable and harmless.

A sexual act is deemed proper when the couples use the organs intended for sexual intercourse and nothing else... homosexuality, whether it is between men or between women, is not improper in itself. What is improper is the use of organs already defined as inappropriate for sexual contact.

In 1999, in an interview with Alice Thompson, he stated: "They want me to condone homosexuality. But I am a Buddhist and, for a Buddhist, a relationship between two men is wrong. Some sexual conduct in marriage is also wrong" speaking regarding masturbation and oral sex. Also saying that "If an individual has no faith that is a different matter... If two men really love each other and are not religious, then that is OK by me."

The question of same sex marriages is not addressed by Buddhism except to note that is a secular act.  According to Wikipedia references after the “marriage is completed” (consummated?) the couple often seek the monk’s blessings. None the less there are throughout Buddhism writings frequent admonishments on the treatment of a spouse.

The fact that there has been a great deal of STDs in many of the countries where Buddhism dominates would suggest that people are people everywhere. Religious doctrine may impact on civil law, but the issue should be considered instead from genetic in addition to psychological and philosophical aspects before tagging it immoral.

Subsequently we will try to analyze the question of homosexuality and same gender marriages from those concepts.

WHAT IS WHACK?

It is a given that the most important Plainfield Blog is Bernice’s Plaintalker II; the only real replacement for a local news media.

There is another blog that is equally notable as a service for the community. That is Dan Dammon’s “Clips”; an aggregator not only of links to other blogs but also a source of links to news items.

When I wish to read today’s bloggers this is where I start even though the other blogs are “bookmarked”.

In his linkage to the other blogs Dan includes a commentary to aid the surfer decide if there is interest for him.

That said; sometimes Dan’s lead-ins are puzzling. Over this weekend I posted two blogs relating to Monday night’s Council Agenda session; and on Sat Dan’s comment was “Olddoc reviews Monday's Council agenda”. (Saturday Clips).  Nothing unusual with that.

However for the 2^nd part on Sunday the introduction reads;” Olddoc takes a second whack at Monday's council agenda”.( Sunday Clips).

Weird !, I thought that I had done nothing more than continued my review with  as usual some  personal comments of Monday night’s agenda items. *I did not believed that I was critical of Council’s to be actions which are the impression of my interpretation of “WHACK”; “to be strongly critical”.

Not with standing I turned to my well worn Thesaurus and also my equally worn Dictionary and among the synonyms found as example the following;”bang, bash, lambaste, clobber”.

Since I cannot conceive that any of the above described my post I thought that perhaps the reference was to a slang interpretation. Never the less since neither the old Mafia usage (to kill) or the sexual connotation seems to fit; perhaps Dan can explain how I “whacked” the Council. (In all due respect, Dan did not say I was taking a whack at the Council; but rather  at the "agenda".  Still a Whack

is a Whack.)7/8-9:15 am

If these blogs had been after a meeting the Council might well as often is the case, deserved being "Whacked". Since that is not the fact, if I did them harm I would apologize.

AGENDA FIXING MEETING #2

Every month with justification I complain about the absence of a Public Comments spot at the Agenda Fixing meeting before the resolutions and ordinances are presented for consideration. 

This was a valuable although time consuming segment of that session first introduced by Annie McWilliams. It gave the people to ability to impact on the Councilor’s acceptance of items for voting. Often negative factors that had been overlooked did prevent bad legislation from being place on the floor. The short session at the business meeting is most of the time too close to influence preconceived opinions.  

Unfortunately, perhaps because of the format for the meeting as prescribed in the Municipal Code; this important tool as been missing this year. The only vehicle for outsiders to call attention to errors or inappropriate legislation is in direct communication or publicly in the blogs.

That is why Ordinance MC 2013-06 which amends and supplements various portions of Plainfield’s Municipal Code dealing with (a) the Council President-(description), (b) the duties of the Council President, (c) sections devoted to regular meeting and the agenda meeting(d) as well as the “order of business at these meetings. Is important and should be enacted.

Much of the changes eliminated excessive verbiage that are restrictive and replaces where needed with language that permits the Council to better perform its duties. Thus replacing “the 2^nd Monday of the month” as the legal business meeting date by giving the Council the right to set the dates for its meetings as long as there is one business meeting a month gives flexibility in adopting the schedule in January.

The restrictive format for the meetings is eliminated and the Council President will have the right to set the format with the Council’s approval. The public comment period can now legally be part of the agenda session if the Council is willing. Yes even the superfluous flag pledge and prayer can be dispensed with. Neither contributes anything to the business on hand.

The Resolution (Z7) regarding the preservation of the Lambkin house merits serious consideration this time. There is a long range plan to follow that will only be an asset to a community that needs upgrading. The transfers of vacant and condemned properties to the redeveloper who now has the deed on the Lampkin site will increase taxables.   

There are three resolutions refunding tax payments to a total of about 85K for 2012-13 paid by lien holders on properties that were “bellied in error on Tax Exempt Property identified as ;1247-71 South Ave,1213-33 South Ave, and 1007-11 Park Ave( Park Madison/County?).

An explanation of why and when these properties were taken off the tax rolls is needed.

AGENDA FIXING MEETING #1

Of the 36 resolutions and 2 Ordinances on the Agenda Fixing meeting’s docket there are about 8 that will require no deep thought and belong on the Consent Agenda. A few "do-gooders” that are memorializing something or body or other should not merit Council action. Too many such resolutions cheapen their importance.

For once the public’s viewing copy at the Library contains a plethora of material. Some should have been proof read before submission since they contain statements that are erroneous or misleading.

Resolution “J” authorizes the Mayor and City Clerk to sign an agreement with the County to “modify the “Inter-Local Services” agreement. This “Services” agreement is for sheltering the homeless or for emergency shelter. However the modifications and/or list of County responsibilities are not available.

Another Resolution “S” which is to amend the  2013 Budget to include many dollars in Grant funds contains various errors including one for a grant for years  2012-13 lists Zelinski as the CFO; he was long gone.

To return briefly to “V”; The Certification of the Police Department; Since the City abolished the Chief of Police position; why should we care if the state organization of police chiefs approves our Civilian headed Department. 

I know that it will not initially cost the City a penny since the funds will come out of a County held abundant City fund. However it is not a one shot program and there are annual costs that are not specified after the 3^rd year. Are there better uses that we could be permitted to use that six figure fund?

I am against giving away money just because it is not coming out of our pocket. The question someone should answer is would the Council find this program worthwhile if it did cost taxpayer’s money?

I have no problem with the list of educational programs that are part of the certification process and the ongoing reinforcement material. Since they are basic instructions for performance of duty; I am sure that in a department of Plainfield's size all have received such training. Unless the Department’s administration been negligent in their application these past years.

Once again should a “civilian” be the day by day head of a Police Department?

More to come.

POTPOURRI RANT

Once upon a time in a world now beyond recall in ancient OZ the Queen City's (aka Plainfield NJ) 4th of July parade was the premier event in New Jersey. It was not just fire trucks and pseudo floats, but the real thing; military units and bands, all the works.

But that was also the age when the annual Art Show attracted commercial artists from all over the Mid-Atlantic States and the Northeast. The exhibition area was along Front Street from Central Ave. to Church St, with extensions down Park to 2nd , Somerset to the bridge, and Watchung Ave to both (The brook and 2nd).

For sales volume it attracted artists that would exhibit in prime locations in  New York City's famed Washington Park shows.

Yes, unfortunately those days have gone perhaps forever and replaced by questionable shoddy events marked by questionable fiscal actions. Councilwoman Williams since being elected  has asked annually questions about the 4th finances and contracts (http://rebecca4plainfieldcouncil.blogspot.com/)   I am not sure that she and we have ever received a true  answer.

The agenda for the Monday night Council meeting was e-mailed  Wednesday night; apparently City Hall will be in absentia on Friday; a 4 day week end.

I will go over highlights if I can read the backup material Friday or Saturday at the Library. There are 36 Resolutions and 2 new Ordinances on the Docket. One resolution that I had thought had been buried previously from Public Affairs & Safety is for $82643.00 to hire The Rogers Group,LLC and companion agreements with Innovative Data Solutions, Inc. and Guarding Tracking,LLC to obtain certification of our Police Division as an "Accredited Law Enforcement Agency" by the NJ Chiefs of Police Association.

What an egotistic bit of crap! If we have a department that is not capable of doing its job the our Administration and the  Department Director have been negligent over the years. The Police department is one of the biggest items on our yearly budget. Seriously this "accreditation" is self-serving and there  are ongoing fees. If we have the money for this; should it not be better spent towards m ore patrolmen. Shades of ShotSpotter.

 There are other Resolutions that merit review but this one is outrageous.

INTERLOPER

Not on the light side, but a break from the pedantic and probably to serious series  on various factors that determine our views on sex, gender, and marriage. 

I like the time spent on  this subject, since he has been a great educational experience for me and will encourage my finishing the set of "Great Courses on Religions." there too Buddhism is next.

There are two major happenings this mid week that stimulated this extra "blog"; The first being the announcement from the White House that the President has succumbed to pressure and is postponing the implementation of the ACA requiring employers of more than  50 full time equivalents to provide a form of health insurance. 

If you have read my rants on the impact of the ACA in the past I will point out that I had noted the potential dangerous economic fallout. It seems that some one  in DC suddenly started to stop daydreaming and return to the real world.

The requirement for all individuals to buy insurance by Jan. 1 2014 or face penalties is still on the books. Once more I will noted that I believe that young adults will find it cheaper to pay a fine than the premium. 

There have been many news media articles on the potential rise in premiums, or  the degradation of coverage to so called "bronze" policies which will offer minimal partial coverage (high co-pays and limitations on services). Already those that bought long term care insurance without a fixed life time premium have found that there has been an increase ranging form 25% to 145%.

The other news today that we will have to watch as it unfolds is the political/revolutionary crisis in Egypt. Already there has been a 15% increase in oil prices and it will go up. The added unrest in Turkey and Egypt to the overall turmoil in the Near East is bound to be bad for our economy.

AS noted the SCOTUS &SEX  series will be on hiatus till free space next week. If stuff warrants  I will post over the next few days. Have a safe 4th.