A Portent of Things to Come?

Just for the record ...

Mayor-elect Adrian Mapp named several cabinet members at the Dec. 16 agenda fixing session, along with legal and court staff, but stated he would not be seeking reappointment of Public Defender Joy Spriggs. On Monday, six people protested his rejection of Spriggs, including two sisters, her brother-in-law, nephew and two others.

It happened during public comment at the end of the meeting, meaning Spriggs' supporters had waited through an hour and a half delay in starting the meeting, then through the votes on filling the Third Ward vacancy and naming people to the African Caribbean Commission and the Community Emergency Response team.

Only then did a woman come forward to make what she called "a prepared statement" to Mapp, who, having resigned Friday, was no longer part of the council and was sitting in the audience.

"I ask you to please tell me why you would like to begin your tenure being somewhat vindictive," Latoya Sample began.

Her cryptic remark soon turned out to be about Spriggs. She said the council had been informed that a "personal crisis" existed and then referenced being sick herself and let go "in the middle of life-sustaining treatment." After more remarks, she ended by saying, "Joy Spriggs Weatherly deserves to keep her position for personal reasons."

It still was unclear what the crisis was, when Spriggs' sister, Wilma Campbell, came to the microphone, and said she was at the meeting "on a personal note."

"I'm very emotional about this," she said. "My sister, Joy Spriggs, has been the public defender for 12 years"'

Campbell said Spriggs was one of the few "or maybe only" Plainfield resident being removed from the legal staff by the mayor-elect. Campbell said she appealed to Mapp at the Kwanzaa event and recalled personally working for him and said she was one of the people who "resurrected" his political career.

(The Campbells backed Mapp when he ran off the line and won in the Democratic 2008 primary.)

More details emerged as Wilma Campbell said it was Spriggs' husband who was ill, and noted "everyone in this room" could be one doctor's visit away from illness.

"I appealed to Mr. Mapp to have a heart. Have a heart."

Saying she was appealing to the council and thanking them for support, she voiced hope that "the mayor-elect can put political maneuverings aside."

She said her appeal to Mapp was based "maybe on the memory of a friendship."

"God only knows what help one might need," she said. "Have a heart."

Next up was attorney Brian C. Lorio of Montclair, who said Spriggs was a mentor to him. He also spoke of the need for people to represent the community when serving as public defender. He said to Mapp, "I strongly recommend you reconsider."

John Campbell, brother-in-law of Spriggs, spoke next and all his remarks can be heard on David Rutherford's video.

Always a clever speaker, he wove together several themes - the need to avoid "snake pit politics," Spriggs' tenacity in educating herself though she was one of 11 children raised in the projects; her specific need right now; how Mapp might be only a chest pain away from catastrophic illness, and so on.

Among his summations: "It's a wise man that changes his mind" and "I think this is what Jesus would do if he was in your position."

The Campbells' son, also named John, made a short speech in favor of his aunt, calling her his role model and citing her involvement in youth sports.

"She's definitely a fixture in the Plainfield community,' he said, asking Mapp to reconsider appointing Spriggs.

Next, Ellen Carter Haygood spoke in support of her "baby sister."

"A human heart is what we need" to have Spriggs stay, she said. Speaking of an "ironic division of church and state," she said, "I serve a mighty God - you can be touched by His spirit. I ask you to take the time to consider Joy Spriggs. Have a human, sensitive heart for a person in need."

... and so it goes as 2013 ends and 2014 begins.