Adrian Mapp with his mother, Mother's Day, 2008.
Adrian Mapp, Councilman for Plainfield's Ward 3, announced on Monday that he will run for the Democratic nomination for mayor in this year's primary election.
Mapp, who previously served two terms as a member of the Plainfield City Council and a term as Union County Freeholder, won re-election to the Council this past November, having wrested the line from the regular Democratic organization's candidate in last year's June primary upset, where organization candidates were defeated by the grassroots Mapp-McWilliams ticket by a 3-2 margin. In heavily Democratic Plainfield, a primary victory is tantamount to election to the office.
"I had planned as far back as 2007 on running for Mayor," says Mapp, "but put that thought on the back burner after I was approached by residents about running for the Ward 3 seat. Folks were concerned that with the issues the country and the City were facing, a more experienced and pro-active presence was needed from the Third Ward."
Mapp is one of the original group of grassroots elected officials which resulted from the leadership of the late Mayor Al McWillliams and includes a majority of the sitting Council as well as a current member of the Freeholder board.
"I have become increasingly concerned as I prepared to rejoin the Council and as we begin our terms that the current administration is run in a shoddy and secretive manner that is not respectful of residents' needs or concerns, and Plainfield is thus ill-served. Like the rest of the country, Plainfield is facing an extremely difficult future for at least the next two years. People are losing their jobs and their homes, the likelihood that our tax receipts will be negatively impacted is very high, and we MUST come to grips with the realities of the situation. Plainfield simply cannot afford four more years of a mayor who rushes to hug people but seems incapable of actually helping them.
"People are angry and dismayed about the closing of Muhlenberg Hospital and cannot understand why -- to this date -- Robinson-Briggs has not tried to exert any influence through her position as a board member. In fact, she does not even participate in the Board.
"Taxpayers are properly upset at the abysmal condition of the City's roadways and the utter incompetence of the current administration in addressing the issue in a timely fashion.
"The City's fiscal situation needs to be addressed by someone who, like myself, understands the complexity of the issues we face and has the experience to deal in a thorough and timely manner with the issues.
"Mayor Robinson-Briggs has made much of her efforts at shared services -- as though the few thousands of dollars involved in sharing an animal control officer with Dunellen really amounts to something. I believe the taxpayers of Plainfield can be better served by real shared services that have significant fiscal impacts and are not just window-dressing, and I pledge to make the search for meaningful savings through shared services a mandate to which my administration will adhere.
"Lastly, I believe that the only way the community can be unified is by actively engaging all the residents and taxpayers in a search for excellence in government, responsiveness to residents' needs and concerns and encouraging all to commit themselves to community service and improvement as President Obama has called upon us to do."
-- Dan Damon
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5 comments:
Dan,
Unless Adrian Mapp has morphed into a proactive, problem solving politician that will put the citizens of Plainfield first, his election as mayor of Plainfield could be a disappointment. As a two term council person, his silence over quality of life issues, such as effective property code, noise, gun shots, drug sales, etc., was disappointing. Further, when given the opportunity as a "new democrat", he failed to advocate for an economic development strategy that would turn the city around, such as a redevelopment plan for the core downtown. Secondly, under his watch the roadways deteriorated further and the repaving plan he voted for was too little too late. To think that Adrian Mapp is his own man rather than an extension of Assemblyman Jerry Green denies his attached to the hip connection over the years. Yes, there was a falling out, but they have made-up. Too think that if Adiran Mapp becomes mayor of Plainfield, Assemblyman Jerry Green will retire is nieve. That said, Adrian Mapp has an opportunity, over the next few months, to convince Plainfielders including this cynic that he should be our choice to be mayor of Plainfield.
Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ayanna Taylor
Looks like trouble for Briggs. I truly hope Mapps really means inclusiveness for all citizens and not any particular ward. We have to get past partisan politics; the times we face require three things to be successful- Unity, Unity, and Unity!!!!!!!!!
Dan,
Your see no evil, speak no evil support for a pay-for-play politician is disappointing and reveals a side of you that is not as sophisticated as thought. This type of thinking will not move Plainfield forward nor will your many talents fully come into play in determining Plainfield's fate. Mapp is beatable because, like Carol Brokaw and Sharon Briggs, he has returned to JG's stable of pay-for-play pols - with Plainfield's interst in second place. The smart play is to elect someone who has the agenda and personality to work with JG but at the sametime be independent of him! This is what Al McWilliams didn't do and as a consequent Plainfield has SB.
I'm glad Counselor Mapp is running for mayor. He is a good man and I think he will do a good job. We need someone who understands and has been out there for us. This mayor is only seen for photo opps and she knows nothing about running a city from a financial standpoint. She came from out of the blue and thought she could be mayor. She should of run for council first so that she could see how things work. enough of these novices!
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