Supervisor Candidate Sends Mailer to Voters on Eve of Election, Failing to State His Connection with Green Knight and Grand Central Sanitary Landfill

 With six days until election, and having not made any effort to state a platform other than yard signs placed in some yards, candidate for the Plainfield Township Board of Supervisors Bob Cornman has sent out a mailer to voters.

 When Mr. Cornman was interviewed by the Morning Call a week ago, and asked about his conflict of interest with Green Knight Economic Development Corporation, he stated that he would resign from Green Knight and devote his energies to the citizens of the township.  Mr. Cornman and current Supervisor Steve Hurni have been members of Green Knight since its founding in 1999.  Mr. Hurni has not made such a pledge yet, but he is in his tenth year serving as a township supervisor, and must abstain from all votes associated with Green Knight and Grand Central Sanitary Landfill.  Green Knight is a non-profit entity created by Waste Management to sell electricity generated by burning landfill gas to the grid.

In responding to the Morning Call's question about his association with Green Knight, Mr. Cornman said "he's proud of his 20 years with Green Knight."  Examining Mr. Cornman’s mailer below, totally absent is mention anywhere of Green Knight - which should be his one of his most relevant achievements to trumpet to voters.

 Mr. Green Knight Economic Development Corporation has held itself out as an economic development powerhouse that is of great benefit to the community, and Mr. Cornman has been its Vice President since its inception.   Of significantly more importance to voters is Mr. Cornman’s association with Green Knight than the fact he is a antique car enthusiast or professional engineer.  Fellow Green Knight member John Goffredo, a candidate for County Council, also failed to mention his membership on Green Knight in his bio posted in the Morning Call's Voter's Guide (p. 5).  Why would Green Knight members suddenly be shy about sharing their connections with the organization?  Is it possible that their support of a sludge plant, followed quickly by a request to rezone farmland for a second landfill, has made it politically undesirable to reveal them?

 The mailer states that Mr. Cornman was “instrumental” in obtaining funding for the Y.  Mr. Cornman was the Vice President of the Green Knight Board which provided the funding - why not mention this?  Mr. Cornman as a Board member was also instrumental in Green Knight reducing its funding by 67% to charitable causes (from $109,000 to $36,400 average annually), which occurred in 2013 and extends through today.  This is not mentioned.

 Mr. Cornman was also instrumental in bringing the failed Synagro sludge plant project to the Slate Belt in 2016, as a Green Knight Board member and the Green Knight Synagro Project Coordinator.  No mention of this is in the mailer.  The community was united in its opposition to this project, due to its multiple potential negative impacts.  Two Green Knight members resigned as it was announced.  The project failed because Synagro refused for over a year to respond to requests to provide an environmental impact statement to address concerns that the plant and driveway for sludge laden trucks were to be located within 50 feet of a very deep and large quarry pond with connections to groundwater.  The lengthy review process due to stonewalling by Synagro cost township taxpayers $210,000.  

 Mr. Cornman lists his lengthy term on the Planning Commission as a qualification, but does not mention that only two months after he stated that he would recuse himself from participating in motions during Synagro’s first review meeting, he was replaced by the Board of Supervisors on the Planning Commission in January 2017.  This is likely due to the fact he not only participated in the discussion, but he suggested while wearing the hat of both Synagro Project Coordinator and Vice Chairman of the Planning Commission that the plan could be forwarded to the Zoning Hearing Board – essentially a draft motion after he had said that he would recuse himself from motions.  He has not been reappointed to the Planning Commission since being replaced.

A very important omission from Mr. Cornman’s mailer is any mention of rezoning to expand the township’s Solid Waste zoning district – a request of Waste Management’s that was declined by the BOS in 2020.  The Synagro plant was unable to locate on the landfill’s property essentially due to lack of available space; it was only proposed to be wedged against the quarry pond because the landfill has consumed all other useable space in the solid waste district.  The landfill is forecast to reach capacity in 2028.   Green Knight and Mr. Cornman supported both the Synagro project and the rezoning request.  A letter from Green Knight, including Mr. Cornman, to the township Board of Supervisors dated July 31, 2020 is unequivocal in its support for rezoning (although Green Knight was tardy in submitting this letter two weeks after the BOS had officially rejected the request).

Mr. Cornman has not stated that he has changed his position of supporting continued and expanded solid waste uses, such as a new landfill and the possibility of a sludge plant that would utilize waste heat from the Energy Center.  These would both be permitted uses if farmland is rezoned to solid waste.  Based on Mr. Cornman's silence, one may assume nothing has changed.  But he did not state his position in the mailer on this important issue.

Personally, I feel that Mr. Cornman has an impossible to overcome conflict of interest with the landfill and its owner Waste Management, due to his 22-year-long leadership position on Green Knight.   I believe this is why Mr. Cornman did not mention his longstanding membership on Green Knight's Board in his mailer.  This can not be erased by resigning from Green Knight, which he has stated he would do if elected Supervisor.   If elected, he would abruptly resign from Green Knight and suddenly state that he is acting in the best interest of citizens, while ignoring the interests of Green Knight and the landfill.  Put yourself in his position - is this logical or even humanly possible?  Mr. Hurni could join him on this path, with a third vote to expand the solid waste district cast by Joyce Lambert, who attempted unsuccessfully to put rezoning back before the BOS in October 2020.  Who would know the truth of the motivations of each person involved if such an event occurred - which could happen within just a few months?

If I am elected, I would have no conflict of interest with a multinational corporation, and would advocate for more visibility into the "mysterious organization known as Green Knight Economic Development Corporation," as Dr. John F. Reinhart termed it in a recent letter to the Express Times.   The township deserves leadership that is transparent, and that has integrity and character.   Leadership should have no conflicts of interest, whether viewed according to state ethics law or just applying good old common sense, and vote without bias on matters critical to the continued welfare of our citizens.