BREAKING NEWS: DaTruthSquad's Truth About da Manalapan Mayor Andy Boy Lucas Land Grab

It's da talk of Manalapan-land. How did current Manalapan mayor and candidate Andy Boy Lucas come into possession land that could offer up a more than $1 million taxpayer-funded payday? Were any laws broken? Is this unethical? Will Andy Boy become da richest mayor in Manalapan history? We decided to look into who was saying what about this "Land Grab" issue, and what is propaganda and what is daTruth.

A disclaimer -- Not only is daTruth in da eye of da beholder, but SHOCK QUOTE #4 may blow da lid off this entire situation!

SHOCK QUOTE #1: Da Asbury Park Press writes "At least two properties — one privately and one county-owned — which could have been preserved as open space through the fund were passed over, after conversations in which Lucas was involved, according to township documents."

DaTRUTH: This is correct. According to information from da August and October 13 Manalapan Township Committee meeting, there were three properties that could have been chosen - two for Open Space and Baron Andy Boy's land grab. However, based upon da "farm" issue and not da "open space" issue, and no overall criteria divulged by da committee, da other two properties were rejected.

SHOCK QUOTE #2: Da Queen Michelle Roth says "He manipulated the public process . . . and violated the public's trust by not disclosing this at our meeting, in order to line his own pockets. What kind of ethics are these?" Roth said. "His conflict of interest has compromised the township."

DaTRUTH: Ask any lawyer, and they will tell you a case can be made for suing a ham sandwich. Da "non-disclosure" issue is a damning one, and a case can be made that indeed not disclosing ye as a sitting mayor could get over $1 million in taxpayer money for that land quote - "bought by you from Diamond Developers" is damning. That issue alone is at da crux of this entire matter - How did Mayor Andy Boy purchase da land from a developer and is able to keep da purchase price a secret? This alone should be forwarded to da county and state to be investigated - but fortunately we have an answer to that from a very unlikely source.

SHOCK QUOTE #3: Baron Andy Boy said "there was no public use deemed valuable enough for those (unpreserved) properties."

DaTRUTH: Da question is - Who "deemed" this? When was this "deemed?" Did Baron Andy Boy vote or bring any influence to a vote on any other farmland or open space preservation property which, if voted against, could or should he have abstained from or not discussed whether publicly or privately?

SHOCK QUOTE #4: Courtesy of former Manalapan Mayor Beth Ward, who Andy Boy beat thanks to da top of his ticket, da late Joltin' Joe Locricchio, "When you sought out legal advice from the township and the county, did you make it clear that you OWN a 40% stake in Diamond Developers at Burke Farm LLC?"

DaTRUTH: Holy "I OWN DIAMOND DEVELOPERS" Batman! All of a sudden, a former Mayor comes out from wherever she was hiding and drops what could be da biggest "Conflict-of-interest" bombshell on da whole "Land Grab-Gate" affair. Even in his reply, Baron Andy Boy AT NO TIME DID NOT DENY he owned a large majority of da development company that sold himself da very land in dispute!!!!!

To be fair, would it be fair to say that something might smell fishy if current Manalapan Township Committeewoman Michelle Roth forms a "LLC" called "daTruthSquad Developers" (has a catchy ring to it), and goes out and buys 100 acres of land in da very same town she lives in. Now, she takes that very same land, and offers it up into a state plan which will pay her using taxpayer money for that land to what could be a potential $1.5-2 million dollars - but doesn't tell people she owns a large stake in da company selling da land to herself? And coincidently, she also sat in on meetings where da land issue may or may not have been discussed. Then, when pressed on da matter, she refuses to say how much she paid for da land, except to say "da seller wishes to keep that info a SECRET," knowing full well da seller and da buyer was da same person - herself!

According to da Asbury Park Press, Baron Andy Boy replied by saying "Lucas, a financial consultant, declined to say whether he paid anything for the property beyond about $42,000 in back taxes. County land records do not show a sale price for the property" and "Lucas said the seller insists that those figures remain confidential."

Interesting here, since it appears there is a probability that Baron Andy Boy Lucas is both da buyer and in some interesting way potentially da seller here too - and it's worthy to note he did not in any way at that time dispute that claim by former Mayor Ward!

Now, da question becomes - Is former Mayor Ward telling daTruth - or is current Mayor Andy Boy?

SHOCK QUOTE #5: In da Asbury Park Press it is written, "Under pressure from residents at Wednesday's Township Committee meeting, Lucas said he paid "a little less than" the $1.6 million at which he said the property had been appraised."

DaTRUTH: Here's what Baron Andy Boy admitted - "Lucas said he paid "a little less than" the $1.6 million at which he said the property had been appraised." Now, daTruthSquad has learned through a source that Baron Andy Boy and his family paid da $42,000 in back taxes, and a mortgage on da land was taken out for da sum of approximately $525,000. Now, our math skills may be that of a 2nd grader, but that leaves about $1 million unaccounted for. He says he "paid a little less" than da $1.6 million da property was appraised for. How much of that missing $1 million did he and his family pony up???? So far, Baron Andy Boy who ran on a platform of transparency has REFUSED to discuss that missing $1 million from da financial picture. Why? We will, however, give him da benefit of da doubt here, since "$1 million dollars" is in fact a little less than $1.6 million dollars!

SHOCK QUOTE #6: Says da Land Baron at da October meeting, "He said his family, longtime farmers in the township, made the purchase this way, not to hide anything, but because "farming is one of the most . . . dangerous professions out there.

DaTRUTH: I'm sure First Responders got a kick out of this one. Hmmmmm, lets see, what some of da most dangerous professions???? Prison Guard at maximum security Attica? Nope, no need for any protection here. Soldier on da front lines against al-Qaida clearing IED's? No personal safety issues here. Farmer in Manalapan?

Yes, there's Farmer Andy now, donning his kevlar vest and helmet, grabbing his grenade launcher and calling in reinforcements and Air Force backup with cluster bombs at the ready to tackle that extreme deadly threat of - dare we say - soybean clearing! Wait, his brave trooper assistant cries out in agony as he slips on a patch of manure, obviously left by a terrorist cell or quite possibly a horse. Da smell of crapola permeates his shoes! It reduces even da hard-nosed veteran farmer to tears. A dragonfly is spotted - everyone hits da dirt. Then farmer Andy hears a "snap." Did he step on a trip-wire for a grenade, or merely a tree branch? They begin to clear da soybeans, but slowly in case enemy weeds laying in wait pop out of nowhere.

Yes, farming is dangerous, indeed. Just like that country western song, "Baby, don't let your sons grow up to be farmers .... da dangers are way too severe ... they could get corn in their ears ... or slip on manure - can da soybeans endure, or da tractor could run out of gas!" (song courtesy of TruthTeller "S")

DaTruth is, and this gets more bizarre by da day. You have da Baron Mayor of Manalapan saying "I cannot control one rogue township committee person" as da reason this has become so out-of-hand. You have two former town mayors as upset as that brave trooper who slipped on da manure demanding answers to questions - and basically getting none. You have a newspaper doing what it's supposed to do - investigate and write about news of da day, and they are branded as having their strings pulled by a "rogue committee person." You have Democrats being blamed for what Baron Andy Boy did, and da Democratic campaign, which includes one guy who's so short he can't be seen in a soybean field and da other who's so young he may not have even been born when Reagan was President, which at times didn't even realize that this was their election. You have da running mate of Baron Andy Boy, Jordan "Stu" Moskovitz saying nothing about the issue in public except to say "there's much more pressing issues" than this at da debate. You have Baron Andy Boy worker bees who buzz that keeping all of da eight homes from being built on this land will forever stop traffic jams from forming on Route 9. And, maybe da most bizarre issue of them all is, all of a sudden, da voice of reason on that insanity we call da Manalapan Township Committee is fast becoming of all people - da Queen - Michelle Roth!

Now, to be fair, from a legal standpoint what Baron Andy Boy did was not 100% illegal. However, even da attorney for da League of Municipalities says to da newspaper, "New Jersey League of Municipalities staff attorney Matthew Weng, told the Asbury Park Press that Lucas was within his rights to enter into such a deal with his own township. But Weng said he would have advised Lucas wait until he left office, if only to avoid the public perception of a conflict."

So, in effect, you have da sitting mayor of your town who is running for reelection to another 3 year term buying up nearly 100 acres of land - bankingthat land in Farmland Preservation which will fetch him over $1 million in taxpayer money and other subsidies, and then we find out from one former mayor that things aren't right behind da scenes, another former mayor demanding why da sale price was such a secret, and a third former mayor dropping da massive bombshell that da developer company, Diamond Developers at Burke Farm, LLC, has a very large stake of it owned by Baron Mayor Andy Boy, a fact he did not even try to dispute at da October Township Committee meeting!

And, you have a sitting mayor running for reelection who ran on "transparancy" - and it took 3 former mayors to allow us all to see what is really happening here!

DaTruth is, and let us make this very clear. From a legal standpoint as of this writing, we have not uncovered anything that can or oculd be deemed "illegal" that Mayor Andy Boy or any member of his nice family did. It is not illegal to purchase land, or get that land into Farmland Preservation, or even sell it to yourself? However, when you're not "John Q. Farmer" and (1) you are da sitting mayor of da very town you are buying da land in - and (2) there are questions about da price - (3) da fact you stand to get over $1 million in taxpayer money for it - (4) we are led to believe you also own da company or a portion of it selling you da land - and (5) you are running for political office while doing all of this and (6) even da mere perception of you having even one iota of influence in this case, even if it is proven by a reasonable dount that you did not (we have no answer for this one) - means (A) there is no real transparancy and (B) da ethical "cloud" seems to be getting larger by da hour.

DaTruth is, and dare we say da Queen seems to be 100% right on with this - there needs to be a complete stop placed on this proposed land grab and it should be (A) investigated, and (B) most likely finalized when Baron Andy Boy is out of office to remove both da ethical cloud hanging over him, and also da Manalapan Republicans who have steadfastly backed him. At stake is da election and political power of da township. To continue on da same course could invite undue sceptcism and quite possibly, scorn on a political party where it may or may not be warranted, and also scorn on an entire town that certainly does not need a cloud of suspicion hanging over it.

DaTruth is - Manalapan deserves better - da residents deserve better - and da public trust is being violated here not for politics, but for ethics. And, if we can't expect even a glimmer of ethics from our political leaders, then this great town is seriously in jeopardy of being mentioned in da same breath of Newark and Camden for corruption, political machines, cronyism, backroom deals, and polticians that put their own personal fortunes and futures ahead of da people they are allegedly sworn to serve.

And that's daTruth!