I’m Bill Michelson, a 25-year resident of Plainfield. I’ve been extremely active in the civic and political life of this community for most of those years, and in 2011, I’m running for the City Council, 2nd Ward, on the GOP ticket. Why? Well for starters, I don’t think we’re better off now than we were 4, 8 or 12 years ago! Much as I love this city, it is FULL of problems, starting with excessive taxes, and ending with the poor quality and quantity of what we get for those taxes.
The core of these problems, in my opinion, is that for many years now, Plainfield has lacked a functional two-party political environment. When you vote for the same people and the same party all the time, they take you for granted, and fail to do much of anything for you. Plainfield has no checks and balances in its municipal government! The Mayor and all 7 Council members are from the same party. This is not the America in which I grew up, the one which still works pretty well at the state and national levels, as evidenced by the fact that political control shifts once in a while, from one party to the other. There simply HAS to be someone at the table whose loyalty is not the same as all the others seated there, or else nothing works right.
I will publish articles every week, from now to November 8. I hope to impress you with my ideas. I invite response from everyone who chooses to post a note. I think you will want to give me a chance to break the one-party stranglehold which has controlled Plainfield for too many years.
Michelson's View 