I have spent the last month working with leadership on the redistricting of the new legislative map for the State of New Jersey. I am happy that the 22nd District will stay the same. Also, as Chairman of the local party, I spoke to all of the candidates that were seeking an opportunity to be elected on Council for the June Primary. The only person I did not talk to was Delois Dameron. Although I have had a long working relationship with her as a campaign worker for the Democratic Party over the years, it was her decision not to call me or talk to me about her intentions. I find her to be a nice person, and I wish her the best of luck.
Four years ago, I gave the line to Cory, and last year, upon Rebecca Williams asking for my support, I did not give it to her. So I find it very odd that from the beginning, they have a problem with me supporting Tony Rucker as the candidate for this year’s Primary race. In the past, I also supported Al McWilliams. As a matter of fact, I have support just about all of the New Democrats who have basically asked for my support. Being that I thought they were the best candidates at that time, I supported them. The two years the New Democrats and the late Al McWilliams controlled the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, they used the same process I used this past committee meeting. If I recall correctly, Rebecca Williams was the campaign director, at that time she said nothing, and she did not speak out against the process. Now that I am using the same process, in every comment in which she references the City Committee, she wants to make me sound like a dictator. I guess in her mind, the rules change when they are convenient to her.
So I feel that it is very unfair to be critical of Tony Rucker, because I feel he is the best candidate for the second ward. He made it very clear to me that he will not be a rubber stamper, and that he is running to make life better for ALL of the residents of Plainfield, including the second ward. He made no promises to me, and I made no promises to him.
At the committee meeting, we heard from a council person who has represented the second ward for eight years, but could not speak of one thing in which he has done as a council person. After hearing his presentation, I knew I was making the right decision by supporting a new face, a person with new ideas, and a person who wants the best for the City of Plainfield.
Already, some of the negative comments that have been said lead me into the next issue in which I would like to bring clarification.
Number one, when I mention the Prosecutor, I have taken to him numerous letters and blog comments that I felt had crossed the line, and some have been investigated, but none of them crossed the line. Just like I did not support those anonymous letters, I do not support the recent letter that has been circulated within City Hall. If anyone used City equipment, or did this on City time, then they deserve to be prosecuted.
I just feel that some people will try to make an issue that they have no proof as to who did or even where it was done, but will try to makes others feel guilty. Already, I see council members spending more time talking about investigation. Whether it is the $20,000 the Mayor spent, or other issues I feel are minor when compared to this year’s budget. They have already had three months to sit down with the Board of Education, where the council members and board members have joint meetings to see where they could consolidate services that will avoid negatively impacting the classroom and teaching staff.
So I would like the City of Plainfield to wake up today and hold their elected officials accountable to the millions of dollars the City will lose in this year’s budget. I have not yet heard from the Board nor the Council, nor have they asked for any meetings to discuss what we can do regarding avoiding the cutting of services that will negatively impact the quality of life for the citizens of Plainfield.
In the campaign that I plan on running this year, I have no intentions of feeding into the ‘feel-good’ comments made by the anonymous bloggers. The majority of them I know are Republicans or connected to the Republican Party. Just recently, we lost millions of dollars in education funding, and are on the brink of losing millions in transportation funding, but I am not surprised that these Tea Party members, which include some Democrats, will never speak out against anything when it comes to the Republican Party.
So I am hoping that we can talk about the budget, crime, education, the condition of the downtown area, quality of life issues, as well as the quality of the streets and roads of Plainfield, because I have no intentions of ignoring these issues in this year’s campaign.
Ps
The Council cannot use the excuse that they used last year by saying that they only had a week to look at the budget when they have had over 90 days this year’s to sit with the BOE to discuss the budget. The Council has spent those 90 days doing nothing. They probably could have saved the tax payers money by being more concerned with tax dollars than paying attention to what they have been doing for the last eight years; knocking on doors and being critical of government, but never stating what they could do to improve government.
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