Three candidates are running for two Maplewood Township Committee seats in 2024: incumbents Nancy Adams and Jamaine Cripe, and Malia Herman. The primary election is on Tuesday, June 4, 2024. The general election takes place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The deadline for submitting a Letter to the Editor for the Primary election is Tuesday, May 28, at 5 p.m. Read our Election Guidelines here. Read all of our Election Coverage here.
To the Editor:
I write to urge Maplewood Democrats to vote in the June 4 Democratic Primary and to cast your two Township Committee votes for incumbents, Mayor Nancy Adams and Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe. I am proud to serve as one of the co-chairs of their campaign. They have earned your vote through their diligent service. They have more work to do, and Maplewood voters need them at the table as strong voices in support of environmental sustainability, sound fiscal practices, keeping seniors in their homes, and inclusive services for Maplewood’s neuro-diverse and differently-abled kids and adults, as well as Maplewood’s other sometimes marginalized constituencies, especially its many immigrant communities.
In their current term, Mayor Nancy Adams and Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe have demonstrated that persistent advocacy can pay off. Mayor Adams has championed the need for a stormwater utility to provide a consistent stream of funding for needed infrastructure work. Building on the recent large Federal grant presented to the township by Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Maplewood is poised to adopt an ordinance establishing the stormwater utility. For her part, Jamaine Cripe, working with several community members, has championed the need for an Inclusive Playground, for which Maplewood just received at $750,000 grant from the State of New Jersey. She indicates that the projected Maplecrest Park playground should be ready for use in 2025 if other pieces fall into place. Jamaine has also been a strong voice for opening the Maplewood pool to all on heat advisory days, providing lower-cost memberships to families in need, and most importantly, providing free swim lessons for kids whose families cannot afford them. She is truly a voice for those in the Seth Boyden neighborhood who have too often felt disconnected from the rest of Maplewood.
I have known Nancy Adams since we met in the 1990s as members of the League of Women Voters and have never known a time when she has not been active in civic affairs, for many years as a volunteer and since 2016, as a member of the Maplewood Township Committee. She has been a shining example of what women can do in government, if given the chance. Nancy deserves special credit for creating an annual celebration of local women during Women’s History Month in South Orange-Maplewood, not to mention banning leaf blowers in Maplewood. There is too much to list here so I urge you to visit their campaign website at: AdamsCripeForMaplewood.com. While there, sign up for a lawn sign.
On June 4, help get your friends, neighbors and family to the polls and cast your two township committee votes for Nancy Adams and Jamaine Cripe.
Sincerely,
Mila Jasey
Former New Jersey Assemblywoman from NJ District 27
