Yikes!!!

This spooky tableau on an Evergeen Avenue lawn could reflect the Halloween spirit, reaction to the national and perhaps global financial crisis, the local political scene or even the apparent rejection of PEP by the school disitrict.

Yikes! What next?

Thursday's budget session, wherein Assistant Economic Development Director Jacques Howard described an 8 to 12 percent vacancy rate downtown and a decline in Urban Enterprise Zone participation, did not do much to reduce the "Yikes" factor. Howard promised charts, both "linear and pie," to track the decline of sales tax revenues. The pie seemed to be mainly in the sky when projecting how an upturn might take place.

Well, when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, as the old saw goes. So this writer boarded the No. 59 bus and went to Westfield to purchase $100.37 worth of Things You Can't Buy in Plainfield. Call it "Escape from the Dollar Stores" or "Shameless Indulgence in Defiance of Market Collapse," it was worth every penny.

The new budget advisory committee has at least two more sessions of hearing from department and division heads on the proposed FY 2009 budget before the group and council collaborate on recommendations to reduce the projected 7 percent municipal tax increase. The citizen members have certainly already gotten an eyeful and earful on how the city spends taxpayers' money and the apparent lack of wiggle room for cuts.

The meeting Thursday coincided with the State of the District address by Schools Superintendent Steve Gallon III. On Tuesday, the City Council meeting and the Board of Education meeting will clash. I have not seen any reports on Gallon's speech, but comments are welcome from anyone who attended. I'm hoping the address will be posted on the district web site.

The council meeting will be the last before a hiatus for the Nov. 4 general election. Council meetings will resume with an agenda session Nov. 10 and a regular meeting on Nov. 17. After that, there is only one more scheduled pair of meetings to close out the year.

Politicians are already foreshadowing what may be a showdown in 2009 between the Regular Democratic Organization and the New Democrats. The mayoralty, Fourth Ward council seat, Assembly seat, Democratic City Committee and chairmanship of the local Democratic City Committee are all up for grabs. On the school side, three incumbents face a rising tide of demand for new faces on the Board of Education.

Yikes.

Maybe that homeowner should leave the scary display up for a few more months.

--Bernice Paglia