Installation, Reorganization Jan. 1

Image: Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs delivers 2009 State of the City address.

City residents and other well-wishers are invited to an "installation ceremony" Jan. 1 for Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Fourth Ward Councilwoman Bridget Rivers.

The 11 a.m. ceremony will precede the annual reorganization and will be held in City Hall Library, 515 Watchung Ave. The reorganization will be held at 1 p.m. in Municipal Court, 325 Watchung Ave. and will include the mayor's State of the City address.

An invitation was posted last week on the city web site.

Past custom called for a reception in City Hall Library, after which swearing-in of newly elected officials took place at the reorganization.

As the incumbent, Robinson-Briggs won the June 2009 primary, besting contenders that included Councilman Adrian Mapp, school board member and former Senior Center employee Martin Cox, former Plainfield Municipal Utilities Authority employee Bob Ferraro, frequent candidate Tom Turner and PMUA chairwoman Carol Ann Brokaw-Boles. Ferraro passed away earlier this month.

Rivers narrowly defeated the mayor's running mate, Vera Greaves, in the primary. In the November general election, Robinson-Briggs overcame a challenge from Republican Jim Pivnichny and independent Deborah Dowe to win a second term. Rivers, president of the Plainfield Board of Education, was unopposed. As required by the city's prohibition on dual office-holding, Rivers stepped down from the presidency and the board this month.

Both Rivers and Robinson-Briggs will serve four-year terms beginning Jan. 1.

--Bernice Paglia