FYI

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Republicans didn't help with Muhlenberg
GUEST COMMENTARY By Dottie Gutenkauf

We in Plainfield have begun to get campaign mailings featuring photos of rallies with people carrying signs urging that Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center remain open, and accusing our Assembly members, Jerry Green and Linda Stender, of "allowing" Muhlenberg to be shut down. These mailings are being sent by Republican Assembly candidates Marks and Vastine, who appear to have suddenly discovered Plainfield - and Muhlenberg — even though they are both from Scotch Plains, right next door, one of the communities Muhlenberg served for more than 130 years.

Many of the people who were active in the struggle to save Muhlenberg and are now involved in efforts to restore it are asking, "Who are these people?" and "Where have they been all this time?" Those are good questions, and they deserve honest answers.

I have been deeply involved with the efforts to save Muhlenberg from the very beginning, and I can answer those questions. These people are Republican politicians, and the fact is that they didn't express any concern at all about Muhlenberg until they started campaigning. The first "Save Muhlenberg" rally was held on March 1, 2008 — and while Assembly members Jerry Green and Linda Stender and Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs spoke at the rally, Marks and Vastine were nowhere to be seen. The rally was planned by the People's Organization for Progress (POP) and drew hundreds of people.

POP then sponsored weekly meetings of the Save Muhlenberg Coalition, beginning on March 3, 2008, as well as other rallies and demonstrations; and POP and the Coalition filled the Plainfield High School auditorium at the two public hearings held by the State Health Planning Board (SHPB) on May 6 and June 5, 2008. POP and the Coalition also brought more than 150 people to the SHPB's June 26, 2008 meeting in East Windsor, at which the closure of Muhlenberg was approved.

Assembly members Green and Stender, as well as Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs, attended and spoke at those SHPB meetings urging that Muhlenberg remain open and continue to serve the 13 communities in its three-county area. Although leaders from surrounding communities, medical professionals, and Plainfielders spoke out, once again Marks and Vastine were nowhere to be seen.

The closure of Muhlenberg was approved by the State Health and Senior Services commissioner on July 29, 2008. At that point the "Save Muhlenberg Coalition" became the "Restore Muhlenberg Coalition," and began to urge the mayor and the city to appeal the commissioner's decision. With the mayor's leadership and City Council approval, the City of Plainfield filed a legal appeal, and so did POP and the Restore Muhlenberg Coalition.

North Plainfield joined Plainfield's lawsuit as a "friend of the court" and the matter is now before the State Appellate Court, where a hearing has not yet been scheduled.

Coalition meetings continued on a weekly basis through November, 2008, when they became monthly instead and I was asked to chair them. Throughout this entire time, a host of Plainfielders, too numerous to list, has been active in a variety of ways, all of them dedicated to bringing Muhlenberg back to serve Plainfield and the surrounding area.

Again, Marks and Vastine have not participated in any of these efforts - in fact, neither has ever attended any meeting of the coalition. Although there was one meeting of another group to which Vastine was brought by a Republican now running again as an Independent — and Vastine did show up at the Coalition's memorial service marking the anniversary of Muhlenberg's closing — he and Marks have been conspicuous by their absence from our community's struggle to save and to restore Muhlenberg ever since the issue first became public in early 2008.

But now that they are running for the Assembly, Marks and Vastine are suddenly concerned about Muhlenberg and the Plainfield community it served so well for so many years, and we in Plainfield must be careful not to be taken in by their campaign rhetoric and misleading mailings. No matter how one feels about our current Assembly members, Jerry Green and Linda Stender, or Plainfield mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs — and in the interest of full disclosure, I support their re-election — it is undeniable that they have consistently been there and supported our efforts to regain what we have so tragically lost.

The Republican Assembly candidates' current posturing about Muhlenberg is a cynical political ploy designed to fool Plainfielders into thinking they care about us — and speaking of cynicism, I can't help wondering if the mailings we've gotten have also been sent to the other communities in our Assembly district. I wouldn't be surprised to see Republican candidates Christie or Pivnichny show up with bright ideas and campaign promises, but the only real question is, "Where they have been all this time?" And the only honest answer is that like Marks and Vastine, they haven't been here — either in our community's struggle to save Muhlenberg or in our continuing efforts to reopen it.

The loss of Muhlenberg by this community is too important to be used as a political football by candidates who were absent until they were on the ballot. This train left the station long ago, and they missed it. Facts matter, and in this case the facts speak for themselves. And Plainfield voters are smart enough to look at the facts before they vote.

Dottie Gutenkauf lives in Plainfield.