Adrian Mapp runs the Plainfield City council. That’s to say he has five people on the council who will vote for anything he offers up. Their names are Steve Hockaday, Charles McRae, Joylette Mills-Ransome, Elton Armady, and the now infamous Barry Goode. Most members of the City Council don’t even understand what’s going on –…

On March 31, Mayor Adrian Mapp sounded alarms in Plainfield, warning that the city’s tax collection rate would plummet from 97.3% to 70% due to COVID-19. I’m not sure how he surmised that tax collection would tumble that far, and why he would spread such alarmist rhetoric just as the coronavirus was unfolding and most…

After the public outcry over his tort claim (see my Sunday night post here), I assumed that Councilman Barry Goode would either step down from the council or drop the suit. It was not only a clear conflict of interest, but a political nightmare for Goode, Mayor Mapp, and the local Democratic machine. Early Monday…

Over the past couple of years since the incident, I haven’t spoken publicly about Barry Goode’s driving under intoxication charge (link here). Not on social media, not on this blog, and not outside of conversations with a handful of people. I think I was embarrassed for him. It’s a mistake anyone can make, and I…

You are not supposed to make non-essential trips outside of your home due to COVID-19, which has infected over 100 people in Plainfield. But if you do have to get to the grocery store or the pharmacy – or to work if you are an essential employee – you can now use the Pemberton Avenue…

Today, Emily Morgan and I officially submit our petitions to run as candidates for Plainfield City Council. Tomorrow, the campaign kicks into high gear with our first event – a virtual town hall. The COVID-19 crisis has turned all of our lives upside down, and it has a huge impact on campaigning and elections. We…

The former Muhlenberg Hospital may again have a medical use during this time of crisis. New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli announced during a press conference today that a facility that used to be a hospital in Plainfield is a candidate to provide extra beds to treat residents suffering with COVID-19. “It is…

It’s great when residents decide to clean up their city – when they take a problem into their own hands and fix it. They put on their gloves and give hours of their time to remedy a problem government refuses to fix. I’ve participated in clean-ups in Plainfield and elsewhere. Once, I even spent the…

I want you to take a look at lot 8 in Plainfield. It’s located on Watchung Avenue, right behind the first block of East Front Street downtown businesses. Lot 8 has become atrocious through years of decay and neglect by Plainfield leadership. And while it has relatively new, modern parking meters – the paint job…

Anyone who regularly uses Pemberton Avenue to go from East to West in Plainfield knows that the street has been closed since the fall because, according to signs, the bridge is out. I went to the park and took this photo with my drone on December 21st. At that point, you can see that there…