Sharon Robinson-Briggs will become first woman mayor on Sunday

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Sharon Robinson-Briggs will be sworn in as Plainfield's first woman mayor on Sunday, January 1st. The swearing-in will be done by Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman [D-Mercer], retiring chairperson of the Democratic State Committee, at 3:00 PM in the rotunda of City Hall.

When she raises her hand from the Bible, Mayor Robinson-Briggs will join an elite group -- women mayors in New Jersey. Of the 72 woman mayors at last count in 2004, the vast majority serve in small or rural communities, mostly in south Jersey.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs will join just a handful of women who are leading larger and more important Northern New Jersey communities such as Hillside, Bridgewater, Teaneck and North Plainfield.

In keeping with Plainfield's charter prohibition against dual officeholding, the new mayor will be stepping down from the Board of Education, where she served a term as its president. She has also served as president of the NAACP's Plainfield chapter and has been active at the state and national levels of the civil rights organization.

Mayor Robinson-Briggs will deliver her first 'State of the City' Address at the City Council's reorganization meeting, which gets under way at 5:00 PM at the Municipal Council Chambers/Municipal Courtroom at 4th Street and Watchung Avenue.

A reception for Mayor Robinson-Briggs will take place at City Hall at 3:00 PM, following the swearing-in. The reception and the City Council reorganization meeting are open to the general public and all are invited.

Keywords: Plainfield, mayor, inauguration
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