‘PLJ has your VIP access! Keep listening to win.

An unexpected Summer 2008 edition of the Union County Directions newspaper arrived in county residents’ mailboxes this past week looking very much like an old copy of Rolling Stone magazine. An advertising mailer also from the county arrived last week as well.

The mailer was devoted to MusicFest; billed as two days of music and family fun taking place at Nomahegan Park, Cranford and brought to you by co-presenters Union County and Overlook Hospital. Actually this piece of mail coming from the county was refreshing as the words “we’re connected to you” and “freeholders” were conspicuously missing as were pictures of the gang of nine but it did produce a chuckle. Readers are urged to go to www.musicfest.com for directions, parking information & much more. Try as I might I could not find information regarding the Union County event on the site and realized it should probably be www.UCMusicFest.com which links from the official county website and contains all the tidbits for the day that anyone could possibly need. One has to wonder who the proofreader was who let that get past.

When reading this extra surprise summer edition of Union County Directions it becomes very obvious, very quickly that the purpose of the newspaper published by the Union County Alliance was to promote MusicFest ’08 and it’s associated activities. As usual the business members affiliated with the Alliance have gotten the short shrift in favor of the freeholders and their cronies so it is no surprise that featured in this edition is the Democrat controlled city of Rahway’s Mayor James Kennedy.

Surely there are many readers who were impressed with Mayor Kennedy’s accomplishments regarding Merck and Company, the article read that Merck has maintained a presence in Rahway, is the city’s largest taxpayer and employer and “has gown under Mayor Kennedy’s leadership, adding 2,500 employees and 2 million square feet in office and research space to it’s Rahway campus since the early 1990s.” That Kennedy has been molding and shaping this international pharmaceutical giant in his spare time is absolutely amazing, what a guy!!

A special pull out section in the UC Directions is totally devoted to MusicFest 2008 which has also been plugged on NJ radio station WMTR as well as WPLJ. PLJ was giving away VIP passes entitling the holder to some special extras like food, drink, stage side seating and use of the deluxe VIP portable toilets. Actually the fancy high tech porta-potties were not mentioned but one has to assume a VIP pass holder would have access to all the VIP conveniences. Perhaps those individuals would also be allowed to park for free at nearby Union County College while others are charged $10 per car for the privilege of parking there rather than at free parking facilities which will have shuttle bus service to the Nomahagen Park venue.

Besides musical acts performing for a day and a half, starting Friday, Sept. 5th there will also be numerous “Family Activities” taking place at the park including Kids Kingdom which features stuff for children such as a petting zoo, inflatables and face painting. The Major League Baseball Traveling Road Show complete with batting cages, Laser Tag where adults and children can engage in combat missions with laser weapons, and Hell on Wheels which features BMX bikers, skateboarders and the like performing stunts.
Wedged in the middle of all of this on Saturday morning is the 5K run and the Love, Hope and Strength Foundation Walkathon which to their credit this year, the Freeholders will be giving half of the proceeds raised to a local cancer related charity, the Valerie Fund, rather than a politically oriented lobbying organization like last year.

County Manager George Devanney has described this two day extravaganza as a County Fair of sorts, a classic American tradition which is on it’s way to becoming the premier event of its type in New Jersey. Oh if only it was more of a county fair, than perhaps it would be worth the time and effort that is going into staging the events. The county claims that they are showcasing Union County as a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family and want to attract more than the 50,000 people who attended last year and bring business that day to local merchants. Perhaps they could have discussed the plans with the local residents who live in close proximity to the venue to get an idea of the residents concerns and past experiences with blocked driveways and the like before expanding the event to three stages with additional attractions and increased hours.

The banners and signs all over the county, a special edition of UC Directions, a mailer and radio spots seem to have gone a little bit over the top. The freeholders have justifiably endured a fair amount of criticism because of the expense involved with staging this outdoor concert. They have managed to increase the number of sponsors as they have increased the size of the show and claim that the concert day does not cost the taxpayers anything however many people are skeptical. Reviewing the documents from previous years it is almost impossible to piece together the financial trails as there are many costs that are not included but are part of expenses that are annually budgeted for such as park maintenance and the like. For instance what is the actual cost of the shuttle buses which the county uses that day but normally are part of other county transportation services? What additional costs will be incurred for additional police officers and will any have to be paid OT? What about security Friday night into Saturday, this would be a new expense.

The bottom line here is that this event like most everything else the freeholders do has gotten totally out of control and will once again serve as a showcase for freeholders who are up for reelection.

A Puzzlement: What of the impending bad weather we are looking at compliments of Hurricane Hannah that is in the process of heading toward the Carolina’s and expected to grace the New York/New Jersey area with heavy rains on Saturday the 6th. The MusicFest is scheduled to go on rain or shine and will move to Kean University in the event that we are hit with inclement weather. But if they have been pushing to increase the attendance over last years 50,000 and if even half that number show up where will they put them when the auditorium at Kean holds maybe 900 at best.

http://www.wplj.com/Article.asp?id=851440&spid=25204
www.UCMusicFest.com
www.musicfest.com