 |
The Plainfield Democratic Organization is challenging Jerry Green for control of the City Committee. |
Now that the slates have been filed for Plainfield's Democratic City Committee seats, which are up for election in June, it occurred to me to check out Jerry Green's slate through a diversity lens.
One striking thing to note is that apparently for the first time ever, Green has failed to mount a full slate. With the city divided into 34 voting districts distributed among the four wards, the slate is composed of a male and a female candidate for each district, for a grant total of 68.
Green posted 67 candidates, while the Plainfield Democratic Organization, which is challenging him for control of the city committee, posted 65. Not at all shabby, considering the late Al McWilliams was able to wrest control of the committee from Green in 2003 with only 45 candidates running.
Of course. the rules of the game mean that there will be equal representation between males and females. But after this, things begin to diverge -- greatly.
With Plainfield's Hispanic population at slightly over 40%, it is striking that Green has not got a single identifiably Hispanic candidate for city committee. Contrast this with the Plainfield Democratic Organization's total of
As for African Americans and whites, Green's slate apparently has only a single white person.
It is also worth noting that Green has never fielded a single openly gay candidate ever, and this year only keeps up his impeccable record.
Green's slate is also notably short on younger candidates, with many -- you might say his core constituency -- representing people who have been politically active for fifty years or so. The imbalance is so marked one suspects that Green is unaware or perhaps not interested in the need to constantly draw in new and younger people.
How would I score Jerry Green on diversity? Let's say he hovers between a C- and a D+.
It's going to be an interesting campaign season.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment