Candidates, On Your Mark!

Interested in holding a public office in 2015?

Whether you want to run or just want to keep tabs on who does run, you need to bookmark Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi's 2015 Election Dates

This list, which should soon be available also as a brochure, tells the filing dates for the June primary and for the presumably nonpartisan school board election in November. This year, it is the Democrats' turn to reorganize locally, so there will be 68 city committee seats up for grabs and the winners will choose a chairman for the Plainfield Democratic City Committee. The seat, long held by Jerry Green, will be filled at the committee's reorganization on the Monday following the June 2 primary. The chairman serves a two-year term. The committee is deemed the most grassroots of all local elected offices, as the male and female members represent constituents of 34 districts in the city's four wards.

Also up this year are two four-year City Council seats. Second Ward incumbent Cory Storch has already expressed his intention to seek re-election. The other seat is for the First and Fourth Wards at-large, currently held by Vera Greaves. The Democratic Party or more likely just the chairman will determine who gets the party line just before the March 30 filing date for the primary. Anyone intending to run off the line should already have started campaigning, lining up petition signers and raising money for the June 2 primary.

Then there are three three-year school board seats. The filing date is July 27 for the November 3 election. School board candidates have another link for information at the Union County Clerk's Office,  which includes qualifications needed and instructions for petitions. Even if you think you will be running on a slate backed by a political leader, you should learn what running for the school board entails.

Of course, there will be three county freeholder seats as well as state Assembly and Senate seats on the ballot this year, but if you are just getting into politics, the local elections are usually the place to start.

There has been a lot of talk about Latino representation in local government. If you are Latino/a, now's your chance to learn how to do it. Groups such as the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials can help. Latinos may be courted by local power brokers, but can arm themselves with knowledge for their own integrity. A well-known politician introduced his slate one year generically as "a black female, a Latino, and a white male gay."  The "Latino" was a Latina actually. Don't be a generic candidate, be yourself whatever your identity, and good luck in 2015.

--Bernice