There are both a Courier News and a Star Ledger article in this file.

Domestic Partner Benefits Unanimously Approved for Plainfield Employees

City extends benefits to same-sex partners

Plainfield City Council unanimous in support.

By CHAD WEIHRAUCH, Courier News Staff Writer, March 21, 2006

PLAINFIELD -- The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to extend health and pension benefits to same-sex domestic partners of municipal employees.

The move came during a meeting packed with items that have generated some interest in the past few weeks.  A measure that will move regular council meetings from Mondays to Wednesdays and a vote to make permanent Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' top political appointments also won approval.

The vote on the domestic partnership benefits resolutions -- there were two:  one for health benefits, another for pensions -- occurred without any voices raised in opposition.

Joan Hervey, founder of the gay activist group Plainfield Area Equality, read a statement beforehand from a former mayor, the Rev. Rick Taylor, whom she said was ill and could not attend Monday's meeting.

"He wanted me to tell you, 'To be tolerant is a gift from God,' " Hervey said, after expressing her own support.

The resolution will make registered same-sex domestic partners of city workers eligible for the benefits, under the state's Domestic Partnership Act.  Monday's easy passage comes in contrast to a measure nearly two years ago, when the City Council attempted to pass a resolution that went a step further and essentially supported same-sex marriage.

That measure died after significant opposition from religious groups.  But supporters of the new resolution have pointed out there are large differences between the two.

Only Councilman Rashid Burney, who introduced the measure, was absent at Monday's meeting.  Traveling in Texas on business, he said earlier in the day that he would be proud if it passed, because he sees the benefits issue as one of fairness.

"I almost see this as an obligation on the part of Plainfield to pass legislation like this," he said.  "What it does, it sends a message to everyone -- Plainfield is an open town; we respect all segments of the community."

After the measure passed at Monday's meeting, Robinson-Briggs echoed those comments.

"We thought this was fair for the folks this would assist," she said.

Also Monday, officials voted unanimously on final passage of an ordinance that will move regular council meetings to Wednesday nights from Mondays.

Though the new schedule has not been published, it appears likely, based on another resolution that contains parts of a revised meeting plan, that it would begin the week of April 17.

Council members also voted to confirm Robinson-Briggs' top political appointments, who had been serving in an "acting" capacity since the beginning of the year, when she took office.

They are:  Carlton McGee, city administrator; Dan Williamson, corporation counsel; Jennifer Wenson- Maier, director of public works and urban development; and Martin Hellwig, director of public affairs and safety.

Chad Weihrauch can be reached at (908) 707- 3137 or cweihrau@gannett.com

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com

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Plainfield approves partner benefits

Vote is unanimous in gay-rights boost

BY JULIA M. SCOTT, Star-Ledger Staff, Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Gay rights activists tallied another victory, if a small one, at the Plainfield council meeting last night.

The governing body voted unanimously to provide health and pension benefits for the domestic partners of city employees.

"It was a long time coming.  A lot of bridges have been built and a lot of reaching out has been going on," said gay activist Joan Hervey.

The 6-0 vote comes on the heels of expanding recognition of domestic partners in the public sector.  At least nine other counties have voted to extend health benefits to the domestic partners of county employees.

Now municipalities are "starting to catch on," said Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality, a gay rights organization.  A few dozen already have approved the benefits.

"My only surprise has been that Plainfield, which has been known to have a strong gay community for 30 years -- it should have been the first or second," Goldstein said.  "That said, putting it in the context of the state, it's still one of the first."

In January 2004, the state granted same-sex couples the ability to register as domestic partners, affording them some of the rights of marriage.

In Plainfield last night, there was no opposition to the vote, a sea change from August 2004, when a brief supporting an ongoing lawsuit for same-sex marriage met with so much resistance that it was taken off the agenda.

Then, religious leaders crowded the room and made the case that marriage is between a man and a woman, according to the Bible.

At the time, Councilman Cory Storch, who introduced it, tabled it and said it was "not the most effective way to effect change in Plainfield."

Last night, the vote for domestic partnership benefits was so noncontroversial that it was included in a block of other routine items.

Also at the meeting, the council voted unanimously to make Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs' Cabinet members full-fledged directors, removing the "acting" from their titles.  The council waived the standard interview process before the vote.

"They've been doing their jobs for the past three months," said Council President Ray Blanco.

Julia M. Scott covers Plainfield.  She may be reached at jscott@starledger.com or

(908) 302- 1505.