EXCITING NEW LEADERSHIP FROM NEW JERSEY’S WOMEN IN OFFICE!
In a Historic First, Essex County’s 28th District Has Elected a Slate Comprised Entirely of African-American Women to State Legislature!
District 28 has three representatives with track records of public service:
Senator Renee Burgess served on the Irvington School Board from 2002-2014, eventually becoming Vice President from 2005-2007 and President from 2007-2009. She also served on the Irvington Council from 2014-2022, serving as its President from 2019-2022. She replaced Ronald Rice in the State Senate in 2022 when health issues forced him into retirement, and last year she won her seat by election.
Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker began her career in 1976 in the Newark Housing Authority. She has been a member of the New Jersey State Assembly since 2008. She has sponsored many bills on topics ranging from the creation of drug-free zones around schools and setting levels of police staffing to providing additional benefits to veterans.
Assemblywoman Garnet Hall serves as Essex County Deputy Clerk. Issues that she plans to focus on in the legislature include access to housing and quality education, to healthcare regardless of immigration status, freedom from gun violence, and addressing climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050.
…Not to be Outdone, Maplewood Has Also Made History!
Left to right: Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe, Mayor Nancy Adams, Asm. Garnet Hall.
1st election of two women to Mayor and Deputy-Mayor of Maplewood in 163 years
Mayor Nancy Adams (center) has been recognized by the National Main Street Center for her 25 years as a redevelopment and revitalization professional. She is a member of the Township’s Economic Development Commission, is a co-founder of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, and partnered that organization with the Hilton Neighborhood Association to establish The Springfield Avenue Partnership.
Deputy Mayor Jamaine Cripe (left) has a Master of Business Administration degree from Metropolitan College of New York. She has been working as a Religious Educator at Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Summit. She is also a member of the Director’s Guild of America as an accredited Assistant Director.
As a township, a county, and in our state, we look forward to a new era of leadership.