Rev. Tracey Brown is combining a birthday celebration with the launch of her re-election campaign for the citywide at-large council seat.
A fundraiser event at the Gumbo House & Grill is scheduled for Dec. 20, according to a flyer on Facebook.
The filing date for the June 7 primary is April 4, as noted on the state Division of Elections 2016 timetable.
Many of us are already tired of the presidential campaigns, but even for a municipal campaign, an early start on fundraising and organizing is warranted.
In 2016, two City Council seats are up for election, the citywide at-large seat representing all four wards and the Third Ward seat currently held by Councilwoman Gloria Taylor.
The 2016 election season will be the first for Mayor Adrian O. Mapp as Plainfield Democratic City Committee Chairman to back candidates in the June primary. The chairman usually announces the party's choice for the Democratic line about a week before the filing date.
In Plainfield, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by 16 to 1, a primary win is considered tantamount to victory in November. Turnout is expected to be much higher in 2016, a presidential election year, than the the 18 percent turnout in November 2015.
Independents can also file on June 7 for the November election, but they better have also been raising funds and organizing for many months earlier in order the stand a chance on Nov. 8. See the General Election timeline here.
Good luck to all who decide to run for office in 2016. It is a weighty decision and the City Council winners will be committing to four years of service.
Looking ahead, in 2017 the Fourth Ward and Mayoral seat will be up for election and then the cycle is Ward One and the Second & Third Ward at-large seat in 2018, Ward Two and the First & Fourth Ward seat in 2019, Third Ward and Citywide at-large in 2020 and so on. Council candidates must reside in the wards they want to represent, which means any voter living here at least one year can run for the citywide seat in 2016.
--Bernice
Mapp will not give her the line . And the real election battle is the third ward . Brown wins by landslide line or not .
ReplyDeleteIt isn't Mapp who won't give her the line. Some Council members and citizens forget that the Plainfield Democratic Committee, elected by the people of the city, make that decision. I am a member of that Committee. I wish Tracy Brown luck, but I don't see the Committee putting her, Taylor, Toliver,Rivers or any of Jerry's kids on the ballot. They simply haven't deserved it and have done more harm than good for the people of the city. Good luck on an independent run to all of Assembly Green's picks.
ReplyDeleteSo you really believe Mapp is going to allow the committee to choose who runs on the party line? You need to stop drinking that strong Kool Aid.
DeleteCute picture.
ReplyDeleteMayor Mapp has no choice. We are not Jerry's robots and Mapp will not be able to do the Jerry thing and just choose people without a meeting. He may present a slate, as he did with Barry Goode, but I and many others can think on our own and don't always agree with the mayor. We will work with him and for the people who elected us.
ReplyDeleteI think there are many residents looking forward to a turn-over from those Council persons who have chosen to, repeatedly, ignore the needs of all their constituents of which Tracey Brown is one.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don’t think anyone doubts Ms. Brown has very good intentions and means well, as the “at-large” council person she has often failed to be a representative of all wards, all people.
As a religious leader, she has proven to be conflicted in her voting record and public comments while at the PMUA and now the City Council. Ms. Brown’s opinions, without a doubt, are formed in great part by her religious and world views. She is incapable of truly serving in the interest of 50,000 residents when her loyalty is to the philosophical teachings of her ministry and that of her parishoners, which in total are a small fraction of the whole. Religion and politics do not mix.
Ms. Brown would do a great service to her ministry by foregoing any more political undertakings and focusing on the good work she does for those who follow her lead.
Not to mention over $36,000 in illegal and unauthorized compensation she received while a PMUA commissioner. I don't think she has ever offered to pay back any portion of that sum.
DeleteLalo, I agree with you completely.Rev. Brown is a great, preacher, Pastor, youth counselor, friend, humanitarian, but politics is not her thing.She often looks so out of place in that role, She is honest, says what is on her heart,and gets in trouble for that.Although Alan is totally and completely wrong, but who cares he is stuck on that dumb conspiracy theory.COMMISSIONERS were given health care insurance that was totally legal.He really needs to get over that, everybody else has.Getting back to Rev. Brown I hope she does not read this because I really like her, but she needs to get out of politics.She is to good for that.I don't agree with the part Lalo that she only cares about a certain segment of town that woman if given the opportunity would help anybody. Lee Evans.
ReplyDeleteLee Evans- You are not just incorrect about the PMUA commissioner compensation issue, but this was confirmed by the New Jersey Court of Appeals in September 2014 in Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority vs. Kathleen Donovan.
DeleteThat is Bergen County. If it was illegal in Plainfield, why hasn't any action been taken? I think the whole community is tired of your rant about illegal benefits.
DeleteThe whole community is tired of the endless corruption that has been going on in Plainfield for decades. Kudos to Alan for continuing to expose those who have taken advantage of the system, time and time again.
DeleteTaking advantage of the system does not make it ILLEGAL. Fix the system but don't use that term unless action has been taken to support it.
DeleteAnonymous 12:12- City ordinance 3:35-7 set the limit to $4500 in direct or indirect compensation. Benefits are indirect compensation, and healthcare benefits are the largest components of benefits by a wide margin. IRS rule 1.61-21 says "A fringe benefit provided in connection with the performance of services shall be considered to have been provided as compensation for such services." PMUA has stopped this practice as of May this year, BUT violating the city ordinance, and illegally providing such additional compensation, was the fifth official action taken by the PMUA Board after its creation in 1995. So the practice went on for nearly 20 years despite the fact that it is the City Council, not PMUA, that sets the limit. Commissioners got their $4,500 in cash salary. I wouldn't care if instead they got $4,500 worth of healthcare insurance. By the time this was ended, Chairman Harold Mitchell was collecting over $27,000 in annual compensation, and still-sitting commissioner Carol Brokaw was getting over $21,000 annually. Those amounts are a far cry from $4500! During his years on the board, Alex Toliver received over $97,000 in illegal compensation. Tracey Brown, over $36,000. It was not just a matter of taking advantage, it was against the law, costing PMUA ratepayers a substantial amount which should not be swept under the rug. Importantly, it speaks to the lack of oversight that has been systemic in our city for many years, and comes in a number of guises, not just with PMUA.
DeleteName other examples of oversight and illegality. And why no state prosecutions?
Delete@4:45AM - Things don't always happen overnight -- upon arrests and indictments of bad apples, the reports often state that investigations had been going on for years, so there is still hope for us all that those who've been running Plainfield into the ground for so long will get their just reward in due time.
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