We had a feeling that people would want to know about Land-Grab-Gate, but even we have to admit that we never expected that so many readers would get into da debate of Land-Grab-Gate. We have decided that instead of us discussing this hot-button issue that has Manalapan and others in da state talking, we'll let our readers do da talking - da ones who left over 155 comments!
Here's a small sample of da comments we have received in our last blog post, entitled "BREAKING NEWS ---- Da D-E-P Goes After Mayor A-B-L Involving LAND-GRAB-GATE."
Anonymous said... "Farmer/Developer"? This guy is the consummate politician. All that's missing is him twirling his mustache as he steals milk money from kids to line his own pockets.
Anonymous said... I'm waiting to see who flinches first and demands Andy resign. This is worse than when they sued Moskovitz. It's time that someone investigate the politics in this town. If taxpayer money has to be spent on something, let it be an investigation into Town Hall.
Horace Greeley said... There's nothing like having "fiends" in high office!
Anonymous said... It's good to see the APP aggressively looking into this. The media has always been the watchdog for the people by the people against this sort of political scummyness. Where's the Snoozer on this story? Anyone who believes the news snoozer is anything more than a second rate coupon clipping lawn littering pile of garbage is a fool. Where's Bozo Bean stand on this issue? Thank You APP and Truth Squad!
Anonymous said... I'm not one to ask for an investigation just to ask for one. Too many times they are partisan and a waste of taxpayer money. However, in this case, there's an exception. You have a sitting mayor who has IMHO used his political position to cash in. If he weren't in office, that's one thing. But he is and he obviously IMHO manipulated the process. He was in on meetings by his own admission. Thos meetings determined which piece of land would be chosen. The county agreement for this was IMHO also manipulated by his friend and fellow Republican Don Holland. I believe the cvounty and township should immediately halt this process and not continue until a Federal investigation were to clear any wrongdoing. If Mayor Lucas is above board, he should be the one demanding this to clear his own name - that is unless he has something to hide.
Anonymous said... LETS NOT FORGET THIS SLIMY POLITICIAN IS THE SAME GUY WHO ALSO MADE HIS OWN CAMPAIGN MANAGER AND PARTY BOSS A SEWER COMMISSIONER AT TAXPAYER EXPENSE! JUST ANOTHER REASON HE SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED. JUST ANOTHER REASON MANALAPAN IS A POLITICAL LAUGHINGSTOCK.
Anonymous said... A-B-L needs to go to J-A-I-L N-O-W I-M-H-O!
Anonymous said.... Cream rises to the top, slimey politicians cling to the bottom. We all know which describes Andy Lucas. As for his new henchman Don Holland, that's embarrassing and sad. He used to be his own man. When Michelle Roth comes out as the ethical person here, you know something illegal has happened.
Anonymous said... I don't blame Don. He IS a nice guy and always tries to do the right thing. Anybody who knows him will tell you that. Unfortunately people like this can often be duped by evil, and in this case ABL. I didn't buy into investigating this further, but now I do.
Anonymous said... Question - How can you be a Republican who says they are fiscally conservative and want to cut taxes when you will add to the tax burden by taking over $1 million in taxpayer money to buy land for yourself? One word -- C-O-R-R-U-P-T!
Anonymous said... No doubt in my mind now. Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas and the Monmouth Agricultural Board should be investigated by the feds. There is no way "Joe Citizen" would get a deal like this.
Anonymous said... You can stomp your feet and shake your heads all you want, it won't change a thing. The Mayor is in power and he's one of the Governor's boys, end of story. Don't hold your breath waiting for an investigation. Don Holland saw which way the wind was shifting and jumped ship to the Republican Party, he's now part of the club that finds these kind of stunts acceptable. I hope Mayor Lucas at least has the decency to thank the taxpayers for buying him a new farm and the new house that will be built on it. Only in New Jersey, ya gotta love it.
Anonymous said... I'm struggling to pay my mortgage and taxes while our mayor gets a million $$ in tax dollars to buy a himself a farm and a new house ? Kick me in the a$$, I should have been a farmer or a politician in manalapan.
Anonymous said... Too many Republicans involved. Lucas is going to get away with this land grab. I rarely agree with Roth on anything, but this time she's right.
Skeletons in the closet said... Seriously, do you think this is Andy's only miscue? Remember, he was for the Village before he was against it. He was enemies with the Roths before he was their friend only to turn his back on them. He was friends with his running mate Joe before he was against him. He was friends with Stu before he turned his back on him. He was a buddy to Steve Johnson before tossing him under the bus. He was a friend of Susan Cohen before becoming an enemy and now a friend again. He was an enemy of George Spodak before becoming his friend only to turn on him again. What of Tara Lovrich? Members of the Manalapan Republican Club? Even Steve McEnery? And there are others. See a pattern here. What have you done for me lately? And what happens when you're not needed anymore? TIP OF THE ICEBERG.
Anonymous said... Four words: PLEASE INVESTIGATE MAYOR LUCAS!
Anonymous said... Four words: VERY, VERY, VERY GUILTY!
DaTruth is, and nobody is going to like this - Manalapan Mayor ABL will get his land-grab, ABL will get over $1.1 million dollars of taxpayer money to pay for it, and he will never disclose how much he paid for it. Why? Because he is following da rules of da system, da system of being a well-placed GOP'er in a system dominated by a "super-majority" of GOP'ers (not us - Lillian Burry - da GOP'er Freeloader was da one who used that term at a GOP'er dominated meeting that progressed Land-Grab-Gate another step further.)
Along da way, you had GOP'ers including members of da GOP'er super-majority Manalapan Township Committee placing blame wherever they could.
In one case, Manalapan Mayor ABL, while facing yet another rubber-stamp panel and apparently with da Asbury Park Press editorial board not there to defend themselves, decided to "stay above it all" - by sifting through da verbal trash and lobbing verbal refuse at da only newspaper who covered da story in Manalapan!
Lucas said in his speech caught on tape by Manalapan Patch, "I just want to apologize for da political rancor you guys are going to have to deal with. I'm sure you've seen some of the untruthful comments that have come through da daily rag (ASBURY PARK PRESS). Just the coverage of that one daily rag (ASBURY PARK PRESS) has referred to this application over 19 times as a "land deal" and only 4 times as "farmland preservation."
So, to recap -- Da "Rag" (ASBURY PARK PRESS) calls Mayor ABL's taxpayer-funded land-grab a "land deal" over 19 times --- Da "Rag" (ASBURY PARK PRESS) calls Mayor ABL's taxpayer-funded land-grab "farmland preservation only 4 times --- and Manalapan Mayor ABL calls da Asbury Park Press a "RAG" 2 times.
And with his lovely wife at his side, ABL then followed that up by, and we must admit no tears were being shed, that one of his "Critics-In-Chief" he blames for alerting da DEP about da ABL problems with da land, which da DEP then decided to investigate. As we all know, it was alleged that da "Critic-In-Chief" was blamed to be none other than former rival / friend / rival Da Queen, who we can only believe somehow must have trodden onto ABL Acres in her evening gown and high heels holding a flashlight in one hand and a pirate's map with an "X" that marked da spot of da illegal wetlands activity in da other.
Another Manalapan Township Committeeman has gone on record saying da price Mayor ABL paid for da land that da taxpayers will hand to him $1.1 million - that taxpayers have no need to know what he paid, saying "It's none of your business."
And, to be fair, you can never have a scenario like this without da GOP'ers blaming da Queen of Manalapan for making this "political" or invoking da "partisan politics" clause in their contracts. And, to be fair, it's not like this excuse hasn't been used before.
DaTruth is, if you sell your home, should you as "Joe Citizen" be allowed to keep all records of your home sale secret, including to da county, only because you're da mayor of a town that has a history of politics-before-taxpayers? In a way, that is what's happening in da Kingdom of Manalapan, and it appears since you're not of da right political party, we don't have that right to know, despite da fact we da taxpayers are paying for it?
Rarely have we ever found da Queen to be right about anything, but in this case when there's too many unanswered questions, both from taxpayers and da Queen, a sitting mayor getting a seven-figure taxpayer funded windfall while in office, and da single biggest controversy since da Manalapan Township Committee sued a lawyer for following to da letter an order of da court, you have to speculate that "if it looks ethically tainted, smells ethically tainted, and acts ethically tainted," then in Manalapan it must just be another afternoon in Manalapan politics.
Of course, da question is - how will this play with da peasants in November, and how does this land-grab look to da voters when it comes to da two GOP'er candidates who support it, and da one who escorted it through parts of da process? Will Land-Grab-Gate harm da political chances of Don Holland and Susan Cohen? How will da Queen position her campaign against them? Will this campaign turn ugly? Could Land-Grab-Gate be da vehicle da Queen rides to a victory against overwhelming odds?
We may know soon enough - And that's daTruth. And, as for a BaconHead Award for da month of June, that goes to none other than da local Snoozepaper, who woke out of a slumber and after a month decided this was actually an item of news that people may want to know about and actually covered it, although one can say there was a twinge of anti-Queenism attached. But kudos to da Snoozer anyway. Better late than never to get da golden opportunity to hang a BaconHead on your wall!
68 comments:
Da Squad raises an interseting question, how will this Land Grab/Land Deal play out in November ? If last years election campaign is any indicator, don't count on Manalapan's Democrats to make this issue a concern for the Yorktown Club Party. You can say what you want about Don Holland, but you can't say that he's stupid.
When he saw what was happening to his party, he filed for divorce.
The land issue certainly rubs people the wrong way & stinks to the high heavens, but it appears to be completely legal. People are used to hearing about these kind of deals and aren't shocked by them anymore. They are more concerned about why are they paying such high taxes while their street's have grass growing through all the cracks and pot holes, like the road to shanty town.
Mind your own damn business!!
Looks like the Roths are at it again, defaming someone else who has served the community a lot better than they ever did. They never learn, do they?
Lucas publicly states that he is making a "sacrifice" by putting this land into Farm Preservation for 1.1 MILLION dollars. Make him disclose what he paid for it,while a Mayor with "inside" information, and we all can see what he "sacrificed". I am willing to bet that he is getting this 95+ acres and a home site for less money than he is receiving from Farm Preservation!
I wasn't really sure who was right or wrong in this thing, but now that Spodak is back from Florida making a public statement (obviously written by Roth since he had trouble even reading it) that convinces me that Andrew has done nothing wrong. No one ever accused of anything by Spodak has actually been guilty of what he's accused them of. Being accused by Spodak is like getting a clean bill of health.
The more I read about this land grab, the more Michelle Roth is looking more believable and the less ABL is looking honest.
The only way this will get cleared up is for Lucas to come clean and start disclosing how much he paid for this land deal. He has been the farthest thing from transparent. The longer he hides the information, the more dishonest this land grab seems to become.
I don't understand the controversy. It all seems like a desperate attempt by Roth to defame someone else. It makes no difference what Andrew paid for the property. It was an arms length transaction with the former owner of the LLC. The township had absolutely nothing to do with that deal. The township does have something to do with the entry of the land into farmland preservation. So it does make a difference how much he's getting for the development rights to put it into farmland preservation, but that IS a matter of public record and IS fully disclosed. If Roth had reason to believe Andrew is getting too much based on farmland preservation standards, then she should say so. Obviously that is not a problem. What he paid for the land is the former owner's problem, not the township's, not Roth's and certainly not Spodak who lives in Florida and crawls out from under his rock once a year to attack the Republicans Roth tells him to attack for the election.
I have to agree with Roth on this one (and that's a first). I'm not sure of the legalities, but something doesn't seem right about this. Maybe Andrew should demand a state investigation into it. This way, if they find nothing wrong, it will expose Roth for what she is. However, if they do find anything wrong, Lucas should immediately resign and so should Holland.
Fair?
It seems like at least one former Manalapan mayor is speaking out about the land grab. Maybe he's just unhappy he didn't get to swindle the Manalapan taxpayers.
From NJ.com. More mayors are upset about ABL's suspect land grab.
5201. Anyone at the Freeholder Meeting Last Night?
by mallyfarmer, 06/24/11 2:24 PM
Heard things got pretty heated when two former Mayors of Manalapan called out the Freeholders on the Lucas land grab. I guess they got their points across because Curly and Mallet are demanding to know the FULL details of this land deal. How much he is paying once he gets the money from the Pig grant and how much profit he makes after he gets the land and builds a house.
This looks a lot to me like a deal where a guy in politics has no visible means of supporting himself and his family, so his friends in high places made sure to get him a windfall out of my pocket. Sweet. Can I at least get a charitable deduction outta this?
Jesus Christ, all the guy needs to say is either that the property has been in his family for decades, or just make a Bill Clinton-like statement that "I did not make a profit on this deal." I'm pretty stupid, so if he says either one of those things, I'll believe it.
I recently lost my job and am behind in my mortgage payments. How do I become mayor of Manalapan so I can get $1 million dollars from the taxpayers to buy land for me? This mayor ABL is a genious. I wish I'd thought of this scam first!
If Spodak really does live in Florida, he should not be registered to vote here. He should also not be addressing the Township Committee as a resident.
If any farmers have lost a horse recently, please post the location. George Spodak and Michelle Roth are trying to find another dead horse to beat.
Help me out here. I'm in banking, and if an employee of the bank ever tried to take advantage of a limited-resource program meant for the bank's customers, he'd be fired summarily. Why is it so different in Andrew Lucas's case?
Help me out here, I'm in finance and if I had to pay a fine of $25,000 for defrauding the system, I wouldn't be out in front attacking someone's legitimate preservation of farmland.
Sinclair, that's a good point. Kind of like if the employees at a bank branch all opened the first accounts before the branch's doors were open to the public, and took all the toasters! Except in this case it's a million dollar toaster.
Toasters? You're talking about toasters? Toasters? You think this is about toasters? If the land weren't put into farmland preservation, nine houses would have been built there in the next two to three years. Each house would have an average of two to three children. Each child costs about $15,000 in school taxes to educate each year. Twenty children comes to about $300,000 EACH YEAR. That's not counting all of the other services that would have to be provided to these houses. In total the houses would pay about 90,000 in taxes across the board each year. That means in five years the taxpayers have gotten back everything that was ever paid for the farmland preservation AND the property will remain a farm forever. That's an incredible deal for Manalapan. In fact, it's quite a bargain and the best thing in the world for the taxpayers. No wonder Michelle Roth and her three supporters are so much against it.
I'll wait till it goes on sale down the road at Cuisinart at Twin Rivers in East Windsor.
School taxes IS a big issue. So why don't you tear down your house and put you land into farmland preservation? The issue isn't whether the FP money spent is valid to save over development. If that were true, then you should be screaming bloody murder at the rezoning that allowed the developers to build on farmland. The new zone giveth and our tax dollars taketh back. It is a corrupt system as it is.
Now, a mayor votes to change the taxes back to farmland value and votes to spend tax payer dollars to afford the purchase of 95 prime acres of Manalapan land. That is a corrupt man!
By the way, find out who voted to rezone the land and who voted to approve the development plans.
FOUR WORDS: WHERE IS CHRIS CHRISTIE?
Lol ! That's great, who are you kidding, nobody was builing any house's there, the developer was stuck with the property he couldn't afford to build on. He couldn't sell it for what he paid for it, so in a scheme with Andrew Lucas, they got the taxpayers to buy it at an inflated price when no one else would/could pay that kind of money in this economic enviorment. It was the scheme of the decade, while most others are hurting they found a way to play the system and turn a profit. The illusion that 9 houses were about to be built there is hilarious.
What is truly revolting about this, is you have a Mayor who has pointed his finger at the municipal employees and told them of their need to embrace financial sacrifice, in these desperate times, furloughs, pay cuts, reduction of staff, services, were the bitter pill they all must swallow. All the while he had his other hand out looking for $1 million of our tax dollars to be deposited directly into his bank account. If this wasn't bad enough, he had the audacity to say that he's making a sacrifice and saving the township from 9 residential invaders from building homes on a piece of farmland that no developer could afford or was able to build on anyway during one of the worst economic periods in our history.
Obviously Mayor Lucas has played the system like a fiddle, while his underlings on the township committee danced to his tune.
A previous poster stated that "nine houses would have been built there in the next two to three years". That individual must either be totally nuts or on drugs!
This property was for sale for years when new residential building was thriving and they couldn't sell one lot. Presently, new building starts are the lowest in the last 50 years and developers are giving land away as there is virtually no demand for building lots of this size.
I think the Lucas Apologists are forgetting a few FACTS.
1. The developer COULDN'T SELL THE LAND for years. NOBODY IS BUILDING HOUSES IN A RECESSION!
2. ABL has been telling unions and township personnel they must make sacrifices. HOW MANY SACRIFICES IS HE MAKING TO GET OVER $1 MILLION IN TAXPAYER MONEY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORST RECESSION WE'VE EVER HAD?
3. Why did the county NOT want him to run for county or statewide office? COULD THE LAND GRAB HAVE SOMETHINGTO DO WITH THAT?
That's 3 questions for the Lucas Apologists. See if you can answer those, and I'll have more for you - if you dare!
is this the same thing they're going to book lucas on?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-27/former-citigroup-vp-charged-with-embezzling-19m.html
It's laughable how hard Larry and Fred are trying to make an issue out of nothing. If you REALLY want to know what corruption is all about, look at Hovnanian's properties on Route 33. The Republicans would not allow Hovnanian to build any houses unless they either put commercial in the 50 acres on their property where Four Seasons is, or made sure commercial was built on that corner property where the Village Green is supposed to go. When Stu became Mayor he told Hovnanian he was holding them to the same requirement. Then, suddenly, Stu was out and Michelle Roth was in and Hovnanian was allowed to build lots of townhouses on that 50 acres without putting any services or retail (pizza parlors, dry cleaners, etc.) in the area. Hovnanian made a fortune. Our taxes went up. We lost all of the revenue the commercial would have generated. There was no reason for Michelle Roth to allow that. Why did she? Answer THAT question if you want to learn about corruption in Manalapan.
That developer had planned to build houses there several years ago when things were good. In all that time he couldn't even get one home built. Now when home & property values are in the toilet, they want you to believe that 9 homes were scheduled to be built there ? That is pure B.S. & anyone who believes that
is truly ignorant. It looks like this was a brillant plan that got the developer off the hook for being stuck with tax payments on property he couldn't afford to build on while giving the mayor 95 acres of real estate at the expense of the NJ taxpayer.
A win - win for the mayor & the developer & now they want you to believe that your a winner too, because they stopped those 9 evil house's from getting built all for only a measly million bucks.
Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall would be proud !
Township employees and their families accepted pay cuts and reduced benefits as a shared sacrifice to try and stabilize the municipal budget and keep the residents from getting slammed with a tax increase during these financially difficult times...What did the mayor do to share in the sacrifice...he took $1 million dollars from the taxpayers to finance the purchase of 95 acres of township property for his own personal use, what a great example of public service.
Re: "If the land weren't put into farmland preservation, nine houses would have been built there in the next two to three years. Each house would have an average of two to three children. Each child costs about $15,000 in school taxes to educate each year. Twenty children comes to about $300,000 EACH YEAR. That's not counting all of the other services that would have to be provided to these houses. In total the houses would pay about 90,000 in taxes across the board each year. That means in five years the taxpayers have gotten back everything that was ever paid for the farmland preservation AND the property will remain a farm forever."
Is that based on anything other than your scratching your backside?
"If you REALLY want to know what corruption is all about, look at Hovnanian's properties on Route 33"
You should learn you Manalapan history. The Hov nightmare was caused by committeemen who put the township's attorneys in a position they knew the TWP could not win. The result of the lawsuit was Hov got to build anything they wanted on that property.
The attorneys took the money, of course. The committeemen took the campaign contributions, of course. Hov scored on this elaborate shell game. Many think they were in on it. However, nobody has confessed to anything. Nobody is squeeling either. Perhaps Hov was just damn lucky!
Lucas is the love child of these committeemen.
In reality only 8 homes were stopped, as the mayor will be
building his castle on the 95 acre estate he obtained from the tax payers of NJ.
You should learn you Manalapan history. The Hov nightmare was caused by committeemen who put the township's attorneys in a position they knew the TWP could not win. The result of the lawsuit was Hov got to build anything they wanted on that property
Before you start lecturing anyone about Manalapan history, YOU should get your facts straight. What you are talking about happened in the 70's and part of that agreement was, as stated, the requirement that Hovnanian put in 50 acres of commercial - -on which they would not have made millions of dollars less than what they made with the townhouses Michelle let them build with no benefit to the township
"Before you start lecturing anyone about Manalapan history, YOU should get your facts straight"
The final court ruling was not in the 70s, 80, or 90s. That is just when the HOV related corruption started. Ever wonder why there are so many HOV developments in Manalapan? They are not 9 house developments. House after house as far as the eye can see.
How much did your former mayor pay for his HOV home? Same as everyone else?
@"get your facts straight"
Start by looking up Harry Pozycki of Sayreville, who turned out to be nothing more than a Trojan horse for Hovnanian.
" How much did your former mayor pay for his HOV home? Same as everyone else? "
What ever it was, I bet it was more than the current mayor will be paying for his.
Didn't Don Holland and Susan Cohen vote with Michelle to allow the development to expand all over Manalapan?
There must be a way to stop this travesty of justice. The thought of this political figure using his position to acquire 95 acres of land and a homesite for nothing is infuriating. Then to top it off...he rubs and snubs the abused taxpayers by saying that he signed a confidentially agreement that forbids him to disclose the details of the deal that is costing them their hard earned money. It may be contrary to prior opinion...but this guy now has more balls than a bowling alley!
There is an interesting thought posted on the Manalapan Forum website. The writer questions Lucas's public statement that he signed a confidential agreement with the original property owner not to disclose the purchase price. He suggests that this alleged agreement be legally investigated, and if found false, the Mayor should be removed from office and the the land deal terminated.
There was a previous blogger here who said the agreement between ABL and the anonymous seller should be investigated. Maybe there's an easier way. Why hasn't ABL shown anyone the agreement where it says there is this alleged confidentiality clause. My guess is there is none, which is why he hasn't come forward with it. Obviously this must be investigated. I don't think you can have any trust in anyone connected with ABL, including Republicans Susan Cohen and Don Holland until he does.
Larry, give it up. Everyone knows that all 300 posts (really, that many) are written by you and your pet pit bull FS. Neither of you has credibility and neither does this issue. It's a loser. If this is the best you have for November, guess who else is going to be a loser!!
chances are he asked the seller to do the confi long after the deal was closed and the questions started. it's one thing to be a cheat, but lots worse to be a stupid one.
Would not a confidentiality agreement have to be part of the sale agreement that would legally have to be dated and notarized? If it was not, I believe any such subsequent agreement would be null and void...and possibly subject to criminal charges of fraud and deception.
Knock Knock. Who's there? Know one. Know one who?
No one cares.
Knock Knock. Who's there? Andy. Andy who?
Andy Mayor is Guilty!
The way Larry and his pet tarantula, Freddy, are keeping after andy in all their 100s of comments, it only shows why we need a fair, smart and clean attorney like Stu Moskovitz to come back and unify the Republican party in manalapan so that true conservatives can make sure that the people who will put America into bancruptcy are the same fine people who will control our town.
A local taxpayer was sitting in the audience at a recent Manalapan Township Committee meeting, heckling Mayor Lucas as he tried to explain his "land grab" deal.
Finally, Andrew pointed to the resident and said, "Will that gentleman who differs with me please stand up and tell the audience what he has ever done for the good of our Town?'
"Well, Mr. Mayor," the man said in a firm voice. "I voted against you in the last election."
I guess after having his first 350 posts totally ignored, Larry is stuck resorting to 75 year old jokes.
I wonder what Larry is going to do with his time when he has to pay for his own health insurance next January
You can tell who the Andy Boy apologists are. Now the sycophants claim that only one person is posting all the comments on this site. I guess that kool aid they're serving at Andy's house is really sweet.
It's time for an investigation. If the state won't look into this, then maybe a Federal prosecutor should. This is nothing more than a land gram manipulated by a sitting mayor who will only profit from the venture.
How absurd, our Governor talks about painful cuts, Camden & Newark are war zones, while they lay off Fire & Police because of cuts in state financial aid. Yet the stae still has millions to hand out to wanna be farmers. Don't expect the State of NJ to investigate this, they helped make it all possible.
Sty Maskerwhich is the only smart person in Manalapoon. We need him to clean up the town instead of all the Boozos new in charge.
After reviewing all of the evidence, here is what every rational intelligent person (sorry, Larry, that excludes you) thinks Andrew did wrong: [crickets]
Lets face facts. The argument can be made that politicians are corrupt. The things that many politicians in this town have gotten away with, including lawsuits to nowhere, political vendettas paid for by taxpayers, and now Lucas's land grab is now known as politics as usual in Manalapan. When our taxes go up we will know who to blame. When cops are laid off and crime jumps we'll know who to blame. Blame the guy living in a mansion built on 95 acres that taxpayers bought for him!
If Manalapan's political elitists were any more corrupt, they could run for political office in Newark or Camden!
To hand out millions of taxpayer monies to Lucas, or anyone else, for farm preservation at this time to keep a few homes from being built is insane. This country's economy and employment is in dire straits and all reports indicate that the only chance for recovery is to get the housing market back on it's feet and stimulate associated businesses....appliances, furniture, building materials, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc. By restricting home construction we are contributing to the demise of our economy and well being and these millions of dollars for selfish farm preservation could be spent much more wisely in reducing our exorbitant property taxes.
it's simply digusting, cynical and shameless that lucas has pulled this stunt and that his republican colleagues have either remained silent or, in the case of that stupid twerp don nholland, opened his mouth by insulting those who properly have questioned lucas's conduct of taking township "money-for-nothing" while holdeing a fiduciary office!!
I am ashamed of Andrew Lucas!
We need to stop writing about this and start to take some actions. How about a recall campaign.
A recall campaign would be welcomed by most residents of both political parties. The silent majority has to be heard. Enough is enough...and this "raping" of our taxpayers has to stop now! Show me a petition and I will be the first to sign my "John Hancock".
on another nmatter, it's outrageous that the traffic camera ordinance would allow access to the camera footage upon service of a subpoena in a criminal case but not a civil case. Imagine an accident at such a location where the details are recorded and can be admitted where a negligent driver is charged with vehicular homicide, but the same evidence would be excluded in a civil proceeding for wrongful death? Totally crazy!
Manalapan West: Public speaker arrested at town council meeting:
Arizona Daily Star
The Western Arizona town of Quartzsite was in a state of upheaval Monday after the Town Council ousted the mayor from power and declared a state of emergency, all because of an online video that shows a woman being arrested.
Mayor Ed Foster told The Associated Press on Monday that the Town Council held a last-minute meeting that was closed to the public Sunday night, declaring a state of emergency in the town of 3,600 just east of the California city of Blythe.
The council's declaration put Police Chief Jeff Gilbert in charge, making Foster the "deputy chief executive of nothing right now," he said. It also allows the five-member council to meet without public notice and suspend all public comment at the meetings until the members declare the state of emergency over.
"I'm going to tell you frankly, this council is out of control," Foster said. "The chief has been out of control for some time, and I've asked the state government to help a number of times," to no avail.
Foster described the government and Gilbert as corrupt and abusive of their power, and said all their recent actions are frantic efforts to cover up millions of dollars lining some of their pockets.
Both Gilbert's and the Town Hall's phone numbers rang busy Monday, and all five council members and the town manager did not immediately reply to email requests for comment.
A man who answered the town hall's phone later Monday and did not identify himself said he would deliver a message to Town Manager Alex Taft but said council members were unavailable.
Vice Mayor Barbara Cowell told The Arizona Republic on Sunday that Foster's characterization of the council imposing "martial law" was inaccurate, saying that a recording of the meeting was to be made available to the public Monday. There was no evidence a report had been released or posted Monday evening.
Cowell defended Quartzsite's leaders by saying the town is audited every year and that they're not corrupt. "Our people work so hard," she said. "We've had to cut back on staff ... just to keep us solvent."
Foster said the council members declared the emergency because they claim they've received threats from members of the public who saw a video posted on YouTube. The video shows a woman identified as Jennifer Jones being arrested and hauled away from a council meeting after she said the council was violating open-meetings laws. Jones was speaking during a public comment period, and Foster is heard on the video telling other council members who ordered her removed that "the lady has the floor."
"She's exercising her First Amendment rights," Foster says in the video before telling officers: "You are in violation of my rules of order." The officers removed her anyway, and in the process injured her elbow, which is now in a sling, Foster said. . . .
Foster was elected in May 2010 on a promise to investigate corruption allegations in the town. He said since being in office, he has discovered that every pay period, eight to 10 paychecks go to unnamed people and that he has been denied access to financial records to find out where the money goes at every turn.
He said that's been happening since 1991 and amounts to $250,000 every year. "That's literally millions of dollars," he said.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPY3BIsVQq8&feature=player_embedded
Can you believe that the News Transcript devotes a major article to some stupid flap in Howell where the Mayor made public an email about their ex-reporter KB'd Howell blog, but not a word about the continuing controversy of Lucas sucking up a million bucks out of the public's tax funds.
I hear that Frizzy shut down the Hate Site because she didn't want anyone to use it to criticize Andy-Boy's land-grab. So much for her belief in freedom of the press!
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