Mapp Declares Mayoral Candidacy

Sworn in as Third Ward councilman less than four weeks ago, Adrian Mapp has announced he is running for mayor this year.

Mapp, who previously served as Plainfield councilman and Union County freeholder, issued a statement Monday saying his concerns about the administration of Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs led him to mount the challenge he has been pondering since 2007.

Mapp is one of a number of New Democrats who came into elected office during the tenure of the late Mayor Albert T. McWilliams. Although he won his freeholder seat with the endorsement of the Regular Democratic Organization, Mapp retained his presidency of the New Democrats and was dumped by the party after one three-year term. But in June, he and the late mayor's daughter, Annie C. McWilliams, beat RDO incumbents Don Davis and Harold Gibson in the primary. The two New Democrats went on to win the November general election.

Mapp's mayoral bid puts him in competition with Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Green's protege, Robinson-Briggs, now in the fourth year of a term marred by high cabinet turnover, stalled road repairs and controversial use of police bodyguards. Robinson-Briggs began campaigning for re-election last summer, and at Democratic Party campaign celebration in November, Green led a chant of "four more years" for the mayor.

Meanwhile, it is an open secret that attorney Carol Ann Brokaw, chairwoman of the board of commissioners of the Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority, also intends to run for mayor.

Green himself must run for another two-year Assembly term and re-election as Democratic Party chairman this year. The RDO ticket should be announced shortly before the April 6 filing date for the primary, but most likely Mapp will be relying on the increasingly powerful New Democrats for backing in his campaign.

Mapp said in his press statement that he had become increasingly concerned that the current administration is run "in a shoddy and secretive manner that is not respectful of residents' needs or concerns, and Plainfield is thus ill-served."

Mapp said the city faces "an extremely difficult future" for at least two years, as people lose homes and jobs. Taxes will suffer, he said, adding, "We must come to grips with the situation."

"Plainfield simply cannot afford four more years of a mayor who rushes to hug people but seems incapable of actually helping them," Mapp said.

Robinson's mayoral trademark has been to hug and kiss residents and officials alike, and to give out candy and snacks at public events.

Mapp cited the loss last year of Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center, saying the mayor did not use her position as a board member to influence the outcome, and also said taxpayers are justifiably upset at "the abysmal condition of the city's roads."

--Bernice Paglia