Three candidates for a City Council vacancy were interviewed at Monday’s agenda session and the governing body will choose one at the regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 18.
The three are former Fourth Ward candidate Vera Greaves, The Rev. Jason Greer and Union County Police Officer Willie Faulks, a slate approved Friday by the Democratic City Committee. The vacancy is in the First and Fourth Ward at large seat, from which Councilwoman Linda Carter resigned Dec. 27 in anticipation of being sworn in as a Union County freeholder.
Council President Annie McWilliams posed the same set of questions to each candidate, asking what special qualities they would bring to the council, what three problems they felt should be addressed, how council transparency could be improved and their views on economic development and increasing fiscal responsibility.
Greaves cited her abilities to organize and negotiate as her strengths, while Greer said, “I am a unifier and a go-getter for righteous purposes.”
“I’m outspoken and I have my own mind,” Faulks said, adding he thinks “outside the box” but is a team player.
Faulks named crime and tax relief as two main issues, while Greer emphasized housing conditions and public safety, saying some seniors were “afraid to leave their front porch.” Greaves said young men who loiter on street corners need “some kind of program” in sports or education as an alternative.
In answering other questions, the candidates tended to speak in general terms and did not show much familiarity with the workings of city government.
Councilman Adrian Mapp asked each one to say why they would not vote for the other two and why they should get the vote. Greaves and Greer declined to say anything about their opponents and Faulks said, “I would vote for all of us as I could.”
Mapp also asked how each would get the city to “move away from politics.” Greer’s answer was to get input from longtime, prominent residents and work “to make us a united front more so than a political front.”
McWilliams sought a consensus on one candidate at the meeting Monday, but others said that would be tantamount to choosing one of the three. After discussing whether three resolutions would have to be presented for up or down votes, the council asked Acting Corporation Counsel James Ventantonio to research how the process was handled the last time the governing body had to fill a vacancy.
The regular meeting is 8 p.m. Jan. 18 in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave.
--Bernice Paglia
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It was hard to watch. Three good people who are smart, but obviously know nothing about Plainfield, sitting front and center and impressing no one.
ReplyDeleteOne sad note, I don't think any of them have a clue what they need to do as council people. They are working under the assumption that Harold Gibson is still the Council President and all you have to do is show up twice a month.
On a sadder note, I never see Vera, Jason or Willie at any of the council meetings. I do see others who religiously attend the meetings and are from the 1st and 4th ward, and who really know what is going on in Plainfield. I ask myself, why didn't Jerry chose them? Shame on Jerry.
He (Jerry) didn't choose anyone else because he needs more puppets.
ReplyDeleteVera has attended a number of Council meetings. I'm not sure about the other two. Rebecca didn't attend any until just before her election. Did that disqualify her?
ReplyDeleteTo 8:58am - Rebecca did not attend meetings, however, she is an active face and voice in the community. As I recall, she is involved with the League of Women Voters, she has been involved in helping with Library Functions as a friend of the library, she has been on the board of the Drake House, and she is active in political events other than just her own campaign to name a few. And Vera?
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