SPEARS TO DAN DAMON

Except for the previous 3 days bad weather, a computer rthat would not connect to the internet, horrible Verizon support and some medical problems have kept me from posting. I have had some comments of thee Potpourri nature but will blog them later. Meanwhile this letter from Jim Spears to Dan Damon about Mapp and the local Democrat party is worth reading.

Dear Dan Damon, Now that’s one of your blog posts worth the read, (Thursday, June 6, Message for Chairman Mapp).  Adrian Mapp doesn’t allow dissent, he is tone deaf in my opinion, and he doesn’t want to hear about or acknowledge any anti-Mapp sentiment.   

 

I realize that your blog was a mix of reporting and editorial comments, and I think that you are partially correct on your analysis. But we have just walked much of Ward 2, so consider this:

 

Councilman Storch was vulnerable even without the anti-Mapp sentiment.  Especially in the districts that are part of Netherwood.  Though most residents like Cory, they are frustrated with his lack of helping and follow up on constituent services.  That is a very important part of a ward Councilman’s responsibilities.  When we knocked on doors in those districts many voters said, “I’m voting for you Sean - put the sign out”.   In addition, there is yet another real estate tax increase this year in the face of the Mapp Administration “entitlement” spending, for SUVs, trips to Hawaii, more City departments and promotions for his friends.  During our walks in the rest of the second ward we encountered some anti-Mapp sentiment - those voters rewarded Mapp after his fiscal achievements in his first term, and now have reservations about him in his second term. 

 

In the four districts that Sean lost, it was expected.  Time and resources need to be strategized in the short election window.  Those districts are not typically Mapp or Storch districts – they are Line A districts. We only needed to hold our numbers there. 

 

Regarding the Wawa project, we never raised the issue, the residents did - they made it a campaign issue.  I would say 2/3 of the doors we knocked on brought it up.  Not one voter we spoke with wanted it.  I must admit I was surprised by that, I thought some residents would have been in favor of Wawa, I was wrong.  Development in the 2^nd Ward, including Wawa, may preclude future Mapp wins in the ward. 

 

Regarding the Plainfield Democratic City Committee, if a properly managed campaign was launched to win the committee, I think it could have been successful and Chair Mapp would have lost.  I still feel he should not be Chair, he doesn’t have the time, and he doesn’t allow a democratic approach to pick candidates.  And he thinks buying folks breakfast and waving to them from a float driving by at 20 miles an hour is leadership.  It will be his demise.  

 

I think that Mapp has problems not only in the 2^ndWard, but in the 1st and 4th wards, and the 3rd as well. 

 

I do not believe that he recognizes the issues in Ward 4, and the three council people that live in the ward do not appear to be providing him any help.  That’s a blog post in itself. 

 

 In the 1^stWard, the demographics are quickly changing.  The Mapp administration paved almost every street there and Mayor Mapp barely won it in the 2017 election. On the night of his mayoral election win I said to him “you should have paved their driveways too”.  So, disconnect in the local party leadership with those voters. The bright spot is Councilor Ashley Davis, who got herself elected there with little help from Chair Mapp with “boots on the ground”.  And the leadership’s unwillingness to fully embrace her candidacy is more evidence of no tolerance for dissent of any kind, and tone deafness.  

 

In 3^rdWard, the voters seem to sense Mapp’s self-serving entitlement.  They see how he rewards his own - they don’t seem to like that.  In 2017, he received 13 less votes in the four-way race for mayor in the ward - though he did win it but with under 50% of the vote.  There are many new people that are moving into the 3^rdward, the old guard is leaving - that may help Mapp, but you must engage them. 

 

Mapp only won the city in 2017 mayoral race with 50.2% of the popular vote, Rebecca’s numbers were similar the year before - certainly not a mandate.  This year his committee lost the 2^ndWard council seat by a big margin with a popular candidate.  And he lost the popular vote in the Ward 1/4 at large.  He has problems. 

 

His campaign team (I was campaign manager in 2017) recognized the problems after the 2017 election - we sat down with him afterwards and showed him the issues we saw.  He listened, allowed some changes on the committee, but ultimately went rogue, endorsed a UCDC Chair without notice to his Committee and many of his loyal supporters, and ruled the democratic party like a demagogue.  Like I said, my opinion, he’s tone-deaf and it will be to his demise.