Van Blake resignation (Ledger)

Published in the Star-Ledger, Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Council president submits resignation

PLAINFIELD: City Council President Rayland Van Blake, who was elected Union County freeholder earlier this month, announced his resignation from the council in a letter to the city clerk.

Van Blake's resignation took effect Friday, according to the letter dated Nov. 13, which City Clerk Laddie Wyatt announced at Monday night's council meeting. Wyatt said she had received the letter earlier that day.

Elected in 2002, Van Blake became council president in August 2006 after Ray Blanco's death.

The city Democratic committee, led by Assemblyman Jerry Green, has nominated three candidates to succeed Van Blake, who represented the 1st Ward. They are: Bill Reid, Alex Toliver and Hattie Williams. The council will interview the candidates before its Dec. 3 meeting and name a successor at its Dec. 5 meeting.

The winner must run in the next election to serve ot the remainder of Van Blake's term, which ends Dec. 31, 2010.

The council will also choose its next president in the new year.

Van Blake was the choice of Assemblyman Green and the Union County Democratic Committee for freeholder, and he defeated incumbent Adrian Mapp in the Nov. 6 election. Mapp, elected freeholder as a Democrat, ran as an independent after getting passed over by the party.

In his resignation letter, Van Blake, 31, wrote, "Plainfield will always have a very special place in my heart and mind." Now, as freeholder, the city "will always be able to count on my support in its continuing efforts to improve and grow," he continued.


Transcribed by DD, from print edition -- no online story.

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