Candidate forum Wednesday is centerpiece of busy week

With Democratic Mayoral Primary, 2013 budget, and
Charter Study, Plainfield is at a crossroads moment.

 
A candidate forum on Wednesday pitting incumbent Plainfield Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs against challenger Adrian Mapp is the centerpiece of a busy week.

With the June Primary just two weeks away, the tension is mounting for the two mayoral campaigns. Candidate Mapp, who is the Plainfield Democrats' standard-bearer, has been busy campaigning door-to-door across the city and blanketing voters with mailings. Those traveling through downtown will find it hard to miss Mapp smiling down from a billboard above the Plainfield Donut Shop at East 2nd Street and Watchung Avenue.

The mayor, on the other hand, is not a 'hoofer', so the Wednesday forum (put together by the Friends of Sleepy Hollow with the assistance of the Plainfield chapter of the League of Women Voters) is one of her few opportunities to show her stuff to the voters.

The forum gets under way at 7:00 PM Wednesday at the Plainfield Public Library, Park Avenue at 8th Street. League of Women Voters rules apply.

BUDGET DELIBERATIONS TUESDAY & THURSDAY

Budget deliberations tonight and Thursday will bracket the Wednesday candidate forum.

This evening, the Council will take up the Department of Public Works and Urban Development. That will take place in the large meeting room of the Plainfield Senior Center at 400 East Front Street at 7:00 PM.

Thursday evening, the Council will take up the Department of Administration and Finance, the city's largest department. That meeting will also take place at 7:00 PM, but the venue has been changed to the Plainfield Public Library (the Senior Center is having a billiards tournament).

The Citizens Budget Advisory Commission members will be in attendance, and opportunity will be provided for residents to ask questions.

CHARTER STUDY COMMISSION THURSDAY

Plainfield's Charter Study Commission continues chugging along, with a meeting Thursday that will feature a presentation on the Faulkner Act forms of government by Dr. Ernest Reock. Dr. Reock, who is a professor emeritus at Rutgers and the retired Director of its Center for Government Services, is considered the go-to guy on the structure of local governments in New Jersey. It will be an interesting and informative evening, setting the stage for the Charter Study Commission's own exploration of Plainfield's Faulkner Act options.

The public is warmly invited, and there will be ample opportunities for questions. The Charter Study Commission will meet at 7:30 PM Thursday in the City Hall Library.

DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES MEETING FRIDAY

[Note: This is a corrected post; the meeting is for PDO candidates and supporters, it is NOT a meeting of the City Committee as stated in error.] Capping a week of nonstop meetings will be a gathering of the Plainfield Regular Democratic Organization nominees Friday evening. Assemblyman Jerry Green, chairperson of the local party, will gather the troops for a pep rally as we head into the Memorial Day weekend and the final week before the June 4 Democratic Primary.

This year, Democrats will choose party candidates for offices ranging from Governor at the top of the ticket (Barbara Buono is the nominee) to neighborhood District leaders at the bottom of the slate. 68 men and women are on the ballot for District representatives in Plainfield. Assemblyman Green, Assemblywoman Linda Stender and Senator Nick Scutari are also up for the party line, as well as Plainfield's own Linda Carter, who this year serves as Chairperson of the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The meeting will take place at 7:00 PM at campaign headquarters on West Front Street (next to the Dunkin' Donuts). Guests and supporters are most welcome.

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-- Dan Damon [follow]

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