PLAINFIELD TODAY
The needler in the haystack.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Jerry Green's million-dollar poke in the eye
Did Assemblyman Jerry Green mean to give Plainfield Realtors® a million-dollar poke in eye, or was he just powerless not to?Tooling by the new Senior Center construction site on East Front Street yesterday, I was put in mind of the photos I took of the project's billboard from the groundbreaking on July 3rd.Billed as 'The Monarch' (are we supposed to draw our own conclusions about the reference?), the billboard contains blah-blah details about who's involved in the project, including this --
This is the million-dollar poke in the eye.Plainfield Realtors® are being cut out of the sales of the 63 condos in the new Senior Center project, which will go instead to Century 21 Atlantic Realtors.That means that the projected $1.3 million in commissions earned will not be going into the local Plainfield economy, but will be siphoned off to ... Roselle Park.
That is where Century 21 Atlantic Realtors is located.
Who are they?
Big-time supporters of Democratic causes, including the Union County Dems.Of which Charlotte De Filippo, executive director of the Union County Improvement Authority (UCIA), Plainfield's designated development agency, also happens to be the chairperson.
(An aside: While sorting through some business cards recently, I found I had picked up one of C21 Atlantic's agent's cards somewhere in my travels. It was the card of Sebastian D'Elia, sales associate. Who also happens to be Union County's public information officer.
Isn't it nice when all the pieces fit together so neatly?)So the message from 'King Jerry' to the local business community about participating in development appears to be: "Don't count on getting any of the action."Business people can fight back or get used to it.
Oh, yes, construction progress on the Senior Center?Within a week or so, the site had been fenced, scraped clear of grass and weeds, and had a construction trailer set in the back. Construction? No other evidence on day 42.
I cannot even begin to comment......Pat Q
