Hurricane Sandy

“I want to thank everyone for their patience and support by sticking together as a community to get through this crisis and at the same time participating in an election that will have an impact on the future of this county and country for years to come. As far as getting the job done, Congressman Pallone has been a great help and the newly appointed Congressman Rush Holt who will be representing Plainfield, Scotch Plains and Fanwood in Washington; even when he was in Washington my concerns were heard. Congressman Holt made it very clear to me, I would be able to personally call him on his cell phone to communicate almost on a daily basis, the assistance he provided to me helped navigate through the red tape in order to get PSE&G to pay special attention to the 22nd District as well as FEMA is to be commended.

My reason for bringing this issue to everyone’s attention is because even though people were still in the dark and without basic necessities, they thought it was important to vote and I am extremely proud and grateful that people took their civic duty so very important when areas of the 22nd District were still in the dark. Thank you for not giving up hope and working with every level of government so we can get the 22nd District back to normal.

As the 22nd District begins to move in the direction of recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy; damage I’ve never experienced before, I would like to take this opportunity to explain to the people of the 22nd District events that took place. This was not the time to grand stand or point fingers at anyone because with these kinds of issues we are all together, our responsibility is to save lives and help. The very next day after the storm, I took it upon myself to ride through every town in my district. Some of the newer towns like Clark were not hurt as bad as older towns such as Scotch Plains and the city of Plainfield. I felt it was more important to open up lines of communication with elected officials as well as organizations that had the ability to help the people of the 22nd District get back on their feet.  I was able to participate on a conference call with the governor’s office and his staff and listen firsthand to the conditions of the state as well as the strategy to be implemented for New Jersey. One of the first organizations I contacted was the Union County Public Works Department because the majority of our county roads are the most used roads in 22nd district, they reassured me that 22nd district would get the attention they needed because they realized if these main streets were not cleaned up it would paralyze the city. I reached out for Mayor Robinson-Briggs and she identified Mr. Eric Jackson as the contact in her administration I should communicate with in terms of working with the city, which was one of the things the governor stressed. As I received information I shared with Freeholder Linda Carter, Eric Jackson on the city level and Emergency Director Sheldon Green and other elected officials.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company was one of the major problems facing the city due to the extensive lack of electricity that rendered the 22nd District unable to function at its fullest. It was important to share with the community what has really been happening behind closed doors because Sandy affected everyone, including myself who was without heat and electricity for seven days. In spite of no electricity being available at my home or office in the closing days of the general election we were able to work in the dark up until the day before election, with the aid of a rented generator in order to have heat and electricity for election day and to this end I thank each and every one of you. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office at: 908-561-5757.”

Assemblyman Jerry Green

22nd District

908-561-5757