Updates from the Chair

NPCCR Chair Mark Williams writes:

Hello NPCCR Folks!

Just a quick update on some of the things going on with NPCCR.

As always, check out and contribute to our NPCCR blog at http://www.npccr.org (e-mail communityrights@gmail.com) and contact me if you have any  questions, concerns, ideas, etc. at npccr@yahoo.com

RECENT ACTIVITIES – NPCCR had a booth at the North Plainfield Street Fair on June 21. Weather was good, turnout was good. Thank you to the Special Events people who organized the fair, and a BIG THANK YOU to our many NPCCR booth volunteers, Linda, Jerry, Robert, Barbara, Katherine, Antoinette. I know I’m forgetting one other person.

We talked to a lot of people, listened to their concerns, distributed business cards, brochures, buttons and forms, collected $5.68 in donations, signed up 15 for the e-mail alerts list, and got signatures on petitions (more on this topic later).

A few weeks later, NPCCR rolled in the Fourth of July Parade.Antoinette Rinehart drove the NPCCR-mobile (her flower-bedecked convertible), while I waved and smiled to the crowds along the way. A good time was had by all and thank you to the Special Events folks who organized the parade – hard work well done.

Then on July 15, several members attended a civic leadership seminar in Plainfield, sponsored by the Metuchen-based Center for Civic Responsibility. Lots of useful information that we’ll be implementing
as NPCCR continues to grow and strengthen.

ADMINISTRATIVE HOUSEKEEPING – As I get more comfortable in the leadership hot-seat, I’m increasingly turning my attention to fulfilling the promises I made when elected for a six-month term back in March – obtaining 501(c)3 status, and formalizing how we at NPCCR initiate and carry out projects.

Although it will be discussed in more detail at a later time, the basic idea for project coordination is to have a clearly limited number of projects going at any one time, one responsible person coordinating each project and reporting in to the chair on both progress and problems, and a clear system for closing out each project on completion and reviewing each project to identify goals achieved and lessons learned for the future.

PROJECT UPDATES – Speaking of projects, we’ve had a bunch of things in the works these last couple months, including participation in the Save Muhlenberg campaign being run by the Plainfield chapter of the
Peoples Organization for Progress, an Economic Development Study of North Plainfield businesses, three initiative and referendum campaigns to create political space for the citizens of North Plainfield to
decide important local issues for themselves, citizen-journalist coverage of local committee meetings; active monitoring of the School Board’s administrator contract review and approval process, planning for a second Meet the Candidates Night (the August 7 Town Meeting) and planning for a Candidates’ Debate in October.

SAVE MUHLENBERG – On Monday July 7th I attended the regular meeting of the POP/Save Muhlenberg movement held at the DuCret School of the Arts, 1030 Central Avenue, Plainfield. Meetings are held there every Monday at 6:30 p.m. Despite the recent decision by the State Health Planning Board to recommend the conditional closure of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center the movement is strong. Close to 75 Save
Muhlenberg supporters were in attendance. Spirits were high and voices determined.

People’s Organization for Progress, the Newark-based grass-roots organization that has lead the efforts to save Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center and its Plainfield affiliate have requested the allocation of monies from a special fund to help Muhlenberg remain a full services health care facility. Apparently the Health Care Stabilization Fund has available $44 Million to assist hospitals to maintain community access.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STUDY – This activity is currently on hold. The team will resume its survey in
September.

INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM CAMPAIGNS – Although we obtained many signatures on the three packages (Municipal Open Space Tax Referendum, Charter Amendment Initiative and Shade Tree Commission Ordinance Initiative), time and people-power constraints pushed NPCCR leadership to discontinue the signature drive on the first two items shortly after the Street Fair.

Councilwoman Barbara Habeeb has asked Council President Skip Stabile to add the Municipal Open Space Tax to the Council’s July 28 agenda for discussion, since the Council itself could, by a 4-3 vote (or
better), place the measure on the November ballot to measure voter support. (Collecting a small tax of $20 per year on a $200,000 valued home would make the Borough eligible for pots of county and state open
space purchase and maintenance money, thus saving money long-term by  limiting the need for new schools, police, fire, road and other public services.) Mr. Stabile has apparently agreed to do this. Keep an eye on the blog for signs that the discussion is scheduled, so you can attend the meeting and give the Council members your views on the subject.

The Charter Amendment campaign (which would have changed local elections from partisan to nonpartisan) has been postponed to give supporters more time to educate the public about the measure, and will probably be revived next spring to go on the November 2009 ballot.

As for the Shade Tree campaign, the project was unexpectedly waylaid after two members of the Committee of Petitioners withdrew their support for the measure as written, after 169 signatures had been collected but shortly before the deadline for finishing signature collection and submitting the signatures to the Borough Clerk. This has been a learning experience for NPCCR leadership, and we’re reviewing what happened to put safeguards in place so that future initiative campaigns can run more smoothly.

CITIZEN COVERAGE OF MEETINGS – Many thanks to Morgan Shevett, who attended the June 23 Council meeting and wrote up his impressions for the blog, and to me (!) Mark Williams, because I wrote up the June
School Board meeting and the July 14 Council meeting.

!!!VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY!!! – Providing timely, relevant, useful information to North Plainfield residents is one of the main community services NPCCR provides, and we never have enough contributors. Step
up! (Morgan’s done his bit.) Commit to attend one meeting of one borough committee between now and Dec. 31 and send in a report on whatever catches your fancy. Your neighbors will appreciate it…like
you and me, they want to know what’s going on around here, but they can’t be everywhere at once. Many of you already serve on these committees. If you’ll be there anyway, it’s pretty easy to jot yourself a couple of notes and send a report on in. Just DO it!

UPCOMING EVENTS – MARK YOUR CALENDARS

JULY 23 – First off, two imminent and very important meetings are this Wednesday, July 23. Villa Maria Developer Robert McNerney will be at the Planning Board meeting, at 7:30 at Vermeule, submitting his
application to destroy the site and build 55 single family homes. Many North Plainfielders have been working hard, making contacts and learning the ropes at the NJ Department of Environmental Protection
and other agencies to rally support for protecting the site, and many will be in attendance at the Planning Board meeting to update the Board on what they’ve learned.

That same night, the School Board will be discussing contract renewals for school administrators at 7:30 p.m. at 33 Mountain Avenue. Draft contracts are posted at the blog. I will be attending this meeting.

AUGUST 7 – NPCCR Town Meeting, 7 p.m., Vermeule. Second Meet the Candidates Night. You may remember the first Meet the Candidates Night back in May, to which all candidates were invited but only GOP candidates attended, (covered at the blog under the Candidates tab up top). Some of the candidates have changed since then, due to Jenny Flynn’s resignation from the Council back in April. All current candidates have again been invited, and we expect RSVPs by July 31.

OCTOBER – NPCCR Town Meeting, 7 p.m., Vermeule. Candidates Debate.

Another VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY!!! We need help planning this event for maximum attendance and usefulness to the voters, so contact me at npccr@yahoo.com if you’re interested in helping.

[Although it’s not always totally current, mostly because the Borough’s official online meetings calendar is often out of date, most community events, including committee meetings, are posted at the Community Events Calendar at the blog. Send event notices to communityrights@gmail.com to get them added to the calendar.]

That’s it for now. Keep up the good work for open, accountable governance in North Plainfield, keep in touch and keep cool in this hot summer weather.

Mark Williams, NPCCR Chair