Scotch Plains Dems Select Matthew Adams to Run for Township Council – TAPinto.net

SCOTCH PLAINS, NJ – Scotch Plains Democratic Committee Chair John Del Sordi today announced the committee has selected Matthew S. Adams to run for Josh Losardo’s unexpired term on the Township Council that was vacated when he became mayor. Adams, 39, said he is honored the committee has selected him to run for the seat to that was initially filled by Suman Dahiya-Shah, who resigned last week due to personal issues. The Democratic Committee met on Saturday and endorsed his candidacy unanimously.

“We met while I was campaigning in the fall, and Matt expressed interest in being more involved in town,” Losardo told TAPintoSPF. “He has been a planning board member since January.”

Since moving to Scotch Plains in 2014, Adams has been heavily involved in youth sports, coaching soccer, while being an enthusiastic fan for youth wrestling and baseball. He says he wants to explore efficient ways in which to enhance and expand the municipal sports fields.

“While Scotch Plains has a well-earned statewide recognition for its youth sports, the facilities are limited and inadequate for the numerous sports programs in town,” Adams said.

“Cost is always a concern and must be considered, but we must look for innovative ways to improve these fields, as well as many other recreational opportunities to accommodate young families,” he added.

Adams also focused on downtown redevelopment and is determined to help create a “world-class downtown,” noting he was pleased to see the recent opening of Black Drop Coffee and Grano Pizzeria across from the Municipal Building on Park Avenue.

“We need to strike the balance between smart growth and limiting overcrowding,” Adams said. “We need to create a destination place, while generating new tax revenue in the process.”

Adams is a partner at Fox Rothschild; he is national co-chair of the firm’s white-collar criminal defense and regulatory compliance practice group. He earned an undergraduate degree from Rutgers and his law degree from Seton Hall. Adams is a vice president of the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey and a trustee with the Essex County Bar Association.

Adams lives with his wife, Meredith, and their three young children. Politics is in his blood. His grandfather was the mayor of Neptune City for more than three decades, and he remembers campaigning door-to-door with him. But the political roots run even deeper — part of his family’s oral history is descendancy from two Presidents, John Quincy Adams and his father, John Adams, one of the nation’s founding fathers. 

So could this be the stepping stone to a long political career and an eventual run for the White House?

“Let’s take one step at a time,” he laughed. “This is my home. I’m humbled and honored to be selected and believe I have the skill set to help tackle the town’s most pressing issues.”