The Forgotten 'Charlottesville' of Plainfield

Not surprisingly, the City will be holding their own candlelight vigil for the victims of Charlottesville see here. Let us remember the counter protests in Charlottesville were to defend the removal of Confederate statues. Monuments that remind us of the harshest moments in American history, slavery.

But what is happening in our own town? Especially since we just hit the 50 year mark after the 

 Photo by David Rutherford

Plainfield Rebellion. What we see are monuments going up in all empty and underdeveloped areas in our city. Luxury apartments, high-priced retail space, etc. Who will benefit from all this? Will we? Our youth? Those that are still here living below the poverty line. But yet everyday, we have to see these monuments that didn't include us in their decision making. They didn't offer our youth an internship to show them how to lay a brick, much less offer them an entry-level job in the process of development that is now taking over our town.

What use is it to us that racist statues are coming down in the South when the latter is being erected here? We are the Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition (PAVC), and our name says it all. We are against any forms of violence and we have been on the forefront on gun violence that has plagued our city. Why the city would not include PAVC in their upcoming vigil shows us that their interests lies in their own selfish capitalistic interests. Smoke and mirrors at the end.

Here at PAVC we ask the community to join us in standing firm to reflect on the vision and mission that we can unite on the one issue that unites us all. Which is standing up against all forms of supremacy and hate. Hate that robs our brothers and sisters of opportunities and a just life. We will not allow the Forgotten 'Charlottesville' to exist in Plainfield. These are the words and heart of PAVC.

#BUILD - Being United & Involved Local Development !

Plainfield Anti-Violence Coalition

Plainfield's Pay to Play

Plainfielder's BE WARNED-  The administration put forth an ordinance eliminating the local Pay-To-Play Law.  Council President Rebecca Williams estimated that P2P adds 15-20% to the cost of affected contracts and pledged to make sure that " Plainfield passes the strongest municipal P2P ordinance possible."  Councilman Storch wrote that P2P was an "invisible tax on Plainfield residents" and "creates a lack of confidence among voters."  Even City Committeeman Bob Bolmer wrote that the P2P reform ordinances passed in 2011 were "historic measures".  I guess we'll see on Tuesday if this was really all about principle or simply meant to hinder the political opposition.  Meanwhile, the 'whereas' portion of the repeal ordinance is totally disingenuous:  This is not about Citizen's United and the unknown sources of Federal PAC money.  It is about making municipal political contributions AND receiving municipal contracts.  Our City Council should reject this race to the bottom with the same unanimous vote Rebecca urged for passage, that "would clearly demonstrate that we are public servants in the best sense of that phrase."

 

Sincerely,

 

Alan Goldstein