Reading today’s blog, it is unfortunate that someone would want to take my personal dealings and accomplishments, and suggest wrongdoing. Before I got involved in politics, I made investments that would benefit me when I got older. I was 21 years old when I bought my first 2-family investment. By the time I was 30 years old, I either owned or was in control of over 20 properties; profits of making wise investments.
Over the years, I have made smart business decisions that would benefit my family and myself. I work as a full-time State Legislator, making roughly $49,000 a year. I generate just about that amount in real estate taxes here in Union County.
I owned or was in control of the two buildings in Linden that Dan Damon cites, for over 40 years. One was a 5-unit mix-use building, and the other was a 4-unit mix-use building. Together, they both generated an appraisal of one million dollars. The City of Linden and the Union County Improvement Authority offered me $745,000 for both buildings. I accepted the offer because as an elected official, especially in today's fiscal climate, I did not want even a legitimate business transaction to unnerve the public. On a yearly basis, I report the necessary property information to the appropriate entities. In fact, I lost nearly $200,000 on this deal.
I made this investment years before I had any political interest. I began to sell my properties these past few years because I saw the real estate market beginning to plummet. Thus, I find it very, very embarrassing to be accused of thievery, after I have been an honorable and sincere businessman for over 40 years. What makes it so bad is that I am being accused by the likes of Dan Damon, a person who has nothing to show for neither himself nor his community.
The City of Linden is buying up all of the properties in the area in which Dan Damon is talking about, in means of redeveloping the area. If I was making over $100,000 in rentals on a yearly basis, why would I want to sell an investment giving me this much return? Do the math Dan.
My whole life, I have played by the rules, and I have been very blessed in my responsible and successful business practices. Yet now, I am being accused by a person who has done nothing with his life, or for his community. In fact, I do not think he is happy with himself because he does not even know who he is…
Eventually, Dan is going to cross the line, and when he does, I just might end up getting his property for nothing, i.e. the courts.
Ps
Regarding the issue with the Plainfield Police officer, it is my understanding that the matter is under investigation. That being said, the officer will either be charged or cleared. No one is trying to sweep the matter under the rug. Nevertheless, if the evidence shows that the officer broke the law, then like anyone else, the consequences need to be applied to the officer. There are no double standards here.
Now that I have answered Mr. Damon’s questions, he can now answer two of mine: What did you do for 8 years for $65,000 dollars per year? Other than print misinformation, help the City loose $500,000 in grant money, help lose all communication with the governing bodies outside of the City because no one wanted to deal with your false information flooding (blaming everyone except the appropriate parties who just happened to be in your inner circle).
Secondly Dan, Adrian Mapp, and Christian Estevez: Was a young, 15 year old female’s rights violated in the Plainfield High School recently, yes or no? Sadly, I wonder if the Mapp team would be more involved and/or instrumental in this incident if his daughters were products of the Plainfield School system.
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