June 4 Primary Election is About Plainfield's Future

Speaking with Plainfielders about how they feel about our city, I hear a growing consensus that we are making progresss as a city.  Finally.  In my opinion, this is due to leadership in our local municipal government.  We have a Mayor and Council that are working with local, county and state stakeholders on many fronts to move our city forward.

That's why this coming election is important.  It is a contested Democratic primary.  There will be a slate of opponents challenging the Council incumbents - Barry Goode and me.  And a slate of Democratic committee candidates challenging the Regular Democratic Organization, currently led by Adrian Mapp.

Plainfield Democrats - you  have a choice on June 4!!

Your current leadership stands for continued progress.  You are seeing visible signs of it.  An accelerated road paving program.  Refurbished recreation facilities like Seidler Field.  Development across the city.  Less visible signs like an improved bond rating which will save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Crime is down and property values are up.

Our opponents want to take over city government.  These opponents include many candidates for Democratic committee who are members of the Plainfield school board or have been.  They have not yet turned our school district around.

I urge you to support our team in column A.  Why am I feeling a sense of urgency?  Recent history. 

In the 1990s Plainfield had a revolving door of School Superintendents and a divided Board of Education.  Our schools were failing our students because of a lack of leadership.  A group of concerned citizens ran for and took over the School Board.  I know this story well because I was one of them.  Good timing gave us the opportunity to appoint a new School Superintendent - Larry Leverett.  He began a reform program that started to turn the schools around.  When he left after 8 years a changing Board of Education appointed a new Superintendent who was unable to sustain progress.  Plainfield schools lost many of the gains that had been made and we are still a school district that is not providing the education our students deserve. 

My point is that progress is not guaranteed.  It takes sustained effort over years.  You cant fix what was broken over a long period of time without sustained quality leadership.  We have that now at city hall.

This primary election is not just about electing two Council members.  Its about control of the Plainfield Democratic committee. Which ever group of committee members wins the majority in this primary election will select a mayoral candidate in the Democratic primary election in 2021.  For Plainfield's future I want it to be Adrian Mapp. I don't need to agree with him on everything.  I simply want a mayor who will provide effective leadership so we can continue to see visible signs of progress for many years going forward.

For sustainable progress, choose column A on June 4.