Born in Waterloo, Iowa, the youngest of five children, I graduated from high school in Tempe, AZ and received my Bachelors degree in political science from Boston University. Before settling in Plainfield, I lived in Chicago, Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City and for 10 years as a resident of Newark’s North Ward.
Within a couple visits to look at house, Plainfield pulled me in and felt like home. The friendliness of its residents made me feel like I was back in Iowa and I very quickly got involved in the community, joining the Board of Directors of the Plainfield YMCA and later serving as the vice chairman. I served 6 years on the Plainfield Planning Board, resigning in January 2020 when I became a city council member.
My professional background includes operations management and strategic solution development in a variety of industries from manufacturing and global sourcing & procurement to marketing operations. In 2019, I started the process of becoming a licensed real estate agent, blendling my love of real estate and Plainfield and allowing me more flexibility to serve on the council with less business travel.
A lifelong democrat, I have had a love for history, public policy and government since I was a young boy forced by my mother to haul and install lawn signs for Jesse Jackson’s 1984 presidential race. While attending BU, I was an intern for Congressman Joseph P Kennedy III – doing advance work and constituent case management.
My varied political and professional experience has reinforced a belief that government can do good things, serve its constituents effectively and be honest and transparent stewards of our hard earned tax dollars. We will never all agree 100% of the time, but we can work together to understand Plainfield’s challenges and address them in a way that creates opportunities for all of us to build a Plainfield that benefits all residents no matter our race, gender, sexual orientation or economic status.
McKenna4Mayor 