Happy Mother’s Day!

I wanted to take a moment to wish everyone a happy and peaceful Mother’s day.
In thinking about mothers in our community, I thought about one of my earliest concerns in our city: the safety of our children.

Specifically, when I would watch cars zooming down Watchung Avenue or listen to people making jokes about speeding in Plainfield, I used to think that I just wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror if a mother whose child had been hurt or, God forbid, killed by a speeding motorist ever came before the council. What would we be able to tell her we had done to try to prevent such a thing?

I decided to do something about it because I felt that something must be done! If not me, then who?

Starting in 2005 I appealed to everyone I could - in the previous and the current administration. In 2008 after concerted negotiations, my efforts had paid off, and Plainfield had established a traffic bureau. A traffic unit to focus police attention on dangerous driving in the city was created.

That is not to say that the job is done, but with over 1,000 summonses issued to motorists, the word is getting out that Plainfield’s streets and communities are not raceways.

But that was not all that I did.

In an effort to reduce traffic accidents and make crossing the street safer and easier for pedestrians, I fought for and got new “Speed Humps” installed on Kensington Avenue. These are the first such traffic calming devices in Plainfield and I welcome community input on the effectiveness or greater need for these. These are a new strategy and we will see over time if the data shows that they are working where they are and if other streets might benefit from the same strategy.

It is my deep hope that these types of quality of life improvements help mothers in our city feel a little more at ease on this Mother’s Day.

All the best!