Continuing the Fight for Ethical Leadership--Thank You, Plainfield

"I cannot and will not cut my conscience to fit this year's fashions."*

It's taken a bit of time to get over the exhaustion of a pretty grueling campaign, but I wanted to take the time to thank everyone who supported our campaign for ethical leadership in Plainfield--from our hard-working volunteers to the young people who got involved in the process. You all were awesome and I was deeply moved by your strong level of commitment.

I have to admit, though, that it is a bittersweet victory, as I am happy that I won, but extremely disappointed that my running mates, the outstanding Emmett Swan and Charles McRae, did not also prevail. The work continues, though. I will continue to serve the people of Plainfield. I will continue to work on getting our city moving forward.  

I won re-election to my council seat, overcoming a ballot placement all the way at the end of the ballot (alone in Column E in the 2nd Ward), where you, the voters, still were able to find me and vote for me in enough numbers to give me the margin of victory. 

I also survived a negative political onslaught by Jerry Green and his candidates that began and ended in the gutter. What was at stake this year even brought out Sen. President Steve Sweeney, whose ignorant support of Jerry Green's vicious lies about me made state-wide news. Shame on Sweeney.

I will continue to call out the self-serving tactics of those whose loyalty is to political bosses and not to the people of Plainfield, as we have brazenly seen in the engineered "special meeting" to smear the mayor on baseless allegations of ethical violations for presenting his vision of the city on the public access station. I will continue to fight for your interests and to take a stand against the lies and smears of the bully Jerry Green, whose desperate and pathetic attempts to intimidate me (to the point of slander) failed.

On election day, witnessing the former mayor Robinson-Briggs cursing out a resident who was supportive of our team showed that she truly is the mentee of the foul-mouthed Jerry Green (see his foolishness here). Can't wait to see the video of that tirade--unseemly and tacky hysterics--pathetic.  Seeing this woman, who really should get a life, embarrassing herself once again--unemployed and jumping into traffic on Park Avenue to yell at folks in cars to vote for her candidates--made quite an impression on the young folks who worked on our campaign. "That lady was actually the mayor??" was their stunned reaction to her puerile behavior--a "role model," indeed.

I will continue to ensure your safety and security, as I did in making sure that the residents of Liberty Village were not put out of their homes by the delaying tactics of some of my colleagues who only want to do the bidding of Green. My victory over his hand-picked PMUA candidate proves that you did not buy into the silly lies of a pathetic, craven bully interested only in power and control.

Regarding what Jerry Green's acolytes try to put forth, in terms of my manner, you (the voters) know better, and you know that I am fighting for you. I am not in my council seat to drip the fake honey of "we want the best for Plainfield" from my lips (as some of my colleagues continue to do) while deliberately impeding progress in our city at the behest of Jerry Green. He doesn't control me.

Ethical Fashion: "The Shirt"

To "get along" for the sake of looking good for the cameras is pure hypocrisy. I am not a hypocrite. I always get along with my colleagues when they do the right thing. They do not all have to like me. I am not on the council for them to "like" me. I am there to serve you, the public. Hold me accountable for my votes on the council.

I again thank you for allowing me to continue to serve you as your councilwoman.

All best,

Rebecca


* Quote by Lillian Hellman