Speaking the REAL Truth

In reading Bo Vastine’s blog over the weekend, I was shocked at some of the comments in terms of questioning my ability to tell the truth. I would like to set the record straight because it is obvious that Bo is not prepared to talk about the issues, but rather play the “Bush Politics” game of trying to destroy a person’s reputation by turning the truth into a lie.

What really shocked me was when a merchant came before the City Council and incorrectly voiced his concerns about the festival held downtown. Let me be clear, when the merchant first asked me about the festival his statement was “I would have liked to put up a popcorn stand at one of the tables in the festival”. At that point, I explained to him that everyone had a role to play in putting this festival together and my role was to help them work through any problems that they may have encountered. I was an advisor to the group as well as a supporter of the group. I continued to explain to the gentleman that I was not involved in the vendor selection process for the event. Moreover, since they had already made plans I could not interfere with that part of the operation. Council President Burney and I met with him this past Sunday and he apologized for the mistake that he made. The good news is, due the huge success of this event I am confident they will include other vendors next year.

I do not think that the sponsors of the event would have allowed me to speak for two days in a row if I had no idea about the event. I was able to speak about how proud I was of the businesses that they have established in the city, the investments that they have made in the city, and how well their children are doing in preschool. So, I think Bo hurt himself more than helped himself in trying to turn a successful weekend into something negative.

Recently we took a poll, and it was not a push poll, showing that the Democrats were winning in the district 44% to 25%. Bo came in DEAD last in the polls. He still has not told anyone what he has accomplished politically, hence no one knew him and no one knew what he stood for. The only thing he talked about was being a financial advisor.

I hope that in moving forward Bo will spend more time talking about the issues that are facing the people in the 22nd District. He knows nothing about the housing issues, health issues, job issues, or tax issues facing the State of NJ. Bo just runs around Plainfield trying to get anything negative in hopes that this will help him get elected.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

Over the last couple of weeks, rather than answer questions, Chris Christie’s responses have been “I made a mistake” or “I didn’t know”.

Well Chris, my 3 questions are:

• What would make you think its appropriate to have stock in a firm while your office is investigating it?
  
• Are there a set of rules for you and another set for everyone else?
  
• Was Bo Vastine one of your advisors?

______________________________________

Here is the article from the Star Ledger.




Christie defends interest in firm

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Josh Margolin and Claire Heinin
STATEHOUSE AND CLAIRE HEININGER

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie acknowledged yesterday he bought and sold stock in a travel and real estate company while it was under investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office he led at the time.

Christie purchased shares of Cendant Corp. in 2004 and sold them in 2005, according to financial disclosure reports he filed with the Justice Department. In 2002, his office had renewed an investigation into Cendant, leading to fraud convictions of two of its former top executives in 2005 and 2007.

Asked about the investment during a news conference yesterday, Christie acknowledged seeing it on his disclosure reports but said his financial adviser bought and sold the stocks without his knowledge. He said he did not recall the precise value of the stock, which the forms show in the $1,000 to $15,000 range at both the time of purchase and sale. The disclosure forms don't require exact figures, just ranges.

"The way my investments work, I had no authority to order either the buying or the selling of any particular stock," Christie said. "I was not making the decision to buy or the decision to sell."

Democrats -- who had spent days defending a hedge fund investment by Gov. Jon Corzine -- were quick to accuse Christie yesterday of a double standard on financial entanglements.

"Christie has been pushing crazy conspiracies trying to create the appearance of a conflict where there is none for Jon Corzine, and this is an actual conflict," Corzine spokesman Sean Darcy said yesterday.

The stock was purchased in December 2004 and sold in August 2005, Christie campaign spokeswoman Maria Comella said.

Christie has previously said he uses a financial adviser but kept "an eye on" the stocks chosen to avoid conflicts with investigations and "to make sure that we weren't in anything that we had a problem with."

Christie told reporters yesterday his office had continued the investigation into Cendant as part of a probe conducted by his predecessor in 1998. He said the only thing prosecutors did related to Cendant during his time as U.S. Attorney was to pursue former executives who had already been charged and had left the company.

"Cendant was not a party to anything we were doing in the office," Christie said yesterday.

In 2002, he said federal prosecutors were "taking a fresh look at the entire case" of the 1998 multibillion-dollar meltdown of Cendant. His campaign website now says he "reopened" the Cendant investigation and "was able to finally convict the two "architects' that originally got away."

In March 2005, Christie's office filed a motion to intervene in a civil case against former Cendant Chairman Walter Forbes, citing his upcoming retrial on criminal charges.

The Cendant case was among the first in a series of corporate accounting scandals that sparked outrage from investors. Cendant was based in Parsippany at the time of the fraud and still has offices there, though it is now based in New York. Two of the company's former executives, Forbes and Vice Chairman Kirk Shelton, were sentenced to jail time as a result of the investigation conducted by Christie's office.

Christie has previously said he does not handle his own investments, relinquishing management to a professional from Goldman Sachs. Discussing his finances during a lengthy Star-Ledger interview earlier this year, Christie stressed he tried to avoid conflicts of interest.

He said during that interview that he decided midway through his tenure as U.S. attorney to put most of his investments in group investments like hedge funds and mutual funds, so "I'm not owning anything individually that we might be investigating or somehow impacting."

Before that, Christie said, he would "keep an eye on" the stocks chosen by the money manager "to make sure that we weren't in anything that we had a problem with." He said he didn't give guidelines to the manager because that could have tipped him off to investigations.

Christie's investment came under scrutiny as the candidates' personal finances have become an issue in the governor's race. Republicans this week have criticized Corzine over his stake in TPG-Axon, a private hedge fund founded by the corporate owner of four New Jersey casinos. Corzine says there is no conflict of interest because TPG-Axon is not invested in the state-regulated casinos.

Christie yesterday stepped up his assault on Corzine's investments, saying TPG-Axon is invested in a casino project in Macau, China. TPG-Axon spokesman Chris Kittredge said "Governor Corzine is not invested in the Fisherman's Wharf project in Macau through TPG-Axon."



©2009 Star Ledger
© 2009 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.

What Bo Still Don't Know

I was surprised today when reading the most recent blog posting of one of my opponents, Bo Vastine. I’m not surprised by the negative tone. We all know how Republicans behave. From George Bush to Chris Christie to Joe Wilson shouting at our President, Republicans would rather divide and attack than offer solutions to our problems. I’m not surprised that Mr. Vastine is following Chris Christie’s orders to tear down Democrats throughout the 22nd district. No, I’m surprised that he has so little respect for the people of the 22nd District and the people in Plainfield.

Your personal attacks on Democratic elected officials in this district cannot hide that you have no experience and no ideas. You have not talked about your accomplishments since you arrived here from Texas. What you have done is attempt to divide the community with your negativity. You don’t want the voters to know that you make your money from Wall Street, which has destroyed so many lives in this country. You don’t want the voters to know that you recently went before the Rahway City Council and publicly acknowledged that you know nothing about government. You don’t want the voters to know that you live in Scotch Plains but have no answer for how to deal with the issue of sewage, one of its largest problems. You’d rather spend your time in Plainfield trying to be critical of its Mayor and City Council.

I am proud that I helped the Hispanic community in putting together a function that lasted two days attended by over 6,000 people. When I was asked to get up and speak, I talked about the dollars that I have brought into Plainfield. I spoke about our Latino children who are receiving some of the highest test scores in the state. The majority of the parents in attendance recognized that, and from the warm reception I received, it’s obvious that they appreciate how hard I have worked for our children. Throughout my term, I have worked with the Hispanic community to deal with the special issues faced by day workers, and to ensure that ALL the people of my district have access to housing and job opportunities.

In your blog you mention the removal of the former Chief of Police. Your accusations regarding that issue are not only ignorant, but divisive and offensive. The Chief’s removal was the decision of the Mayor and the City Council, and not mine to make. To suggest that no one could be a friend to the Hispanic community unless they supported anyone of Latino descent, no matter how they performed their job, is distasteful. I judge every person by their own merits, and the fact you do not, and that you fled from Plainfield to Scotch Plains, speaks more to how you feel about the diversity in this City than I ever could.

Its time for you to tell the public what you have done, or will do, about the issues that they face. It is time for you to explain why they should vote for you. When they realize that you’re against a fair educational system for all children, that you’re against women’s rights, and that you’re against opportunities for middle income Americans not as fortunate as you, they will have no reason to support you. I have heard the voters of this district when they voted for our President. They want to hear about issues, not more personal attacks. From here on out, let’s talk about the issues. The voters are tired of hearing about “what’s in it for me”. They want to hear about you, and what you can do for them.

Central American Independence Fiesta in Plainfield

I’d like to congratulate everyone who attended the Central American Independence Fiesta the past two days in Plainfield. It was one of the proudest moments of my political career to see Hispanic people from all over the western part of my district come together in support of each other. It was one of the most successful events put on by the Hispanic community here in the City of Plainfield. It also gave me great pleasure to have been able to work with the organizers over the last six months to make this a huge success.

Unfortunately, in reading the blogs today, rather than give me credit for working with the Hispanic community in making this event a success and building a partnership in moving forward with the Hispanic community, Vastine’s blog accused me of not showing up. Well, contrary to popular belief, I not only attended the event but I was able to speak to the audience and was well received. Moreover, the people who put on the event told the audience what a great friend of the Hispanic community I have been in helping them with educational issues, housing issues and issues in general that affect their community. To hear the crowd respond in such a positive way showed that all the efforts put into the event were well worth it. So this is why I say that Marty and Bo don’t have a clue about Plainfield or the Plainfield community because we had a table set up to do voter registration and a table soliciting volunteers.

I also had an opportunity to talk with Chris Estevez and we both agreed its time to put our personal differences aside and build off of what was accomplished over the past two days in terms of bringing all people together here in the city to make the city a stronger place.

Sorry to say, I was hoping the Governor could have stopped by to show his appreciation, since he was in Plainfield, however he had a prior commitment to a group of supporters in the 2nd ward.

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12:00 PM — 3:00 PM
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It's A New Day

Today was a very proud day for me as a person. I had an opportunity to have Commissioner Davy (Comm. of Education) come into Plainfield and meet with the students, parents, Dr. Gallon, and some board members to welcome the students back to school. The reason I am so proud is because I feel the City of Plainfield, as well as our education system, is moving in the right direction. To see the students in their new uniforms and the organization of the morning was something we all could be proud of. When you have to take a leadership role and try to help a state, a district, and a city move in the right direction, sometimes you will get support and sometimes you won’t. However, today was different; everyone showed support. This gave the students an opportunity to see how much everyone cares about their future and their education. I feel, as a community, we should take pride in our students and show them that we care about them by working with them and giving them an opportunity to get a good education.

On another note, I would like to respond to some of the blog comments in reference to Speaker Roberts announcing that he will not seek re-election in November. I would just like to share the relationship that I’ve had with him over the years. The Speaker was #1 in seniority in our caucus and I was #2. We have developed a great political relationship, one of mutual respect, trust, and loyalty (which is very important). He’s given me the opportunity to serve as Speaker Pro Temp as well as Chairman of Housing and Local Government and a person who he depended on. He also gave me an opportunity to share some of the concerns in the 22nd District and the City of Plainfield.

It was a great feeling to hear the Speaker tell everyone how important the years we have served together were. As I stated before, he has opened up doors and given me the opportunity to make people here in Plainfield, the people in my district, my family, and myself proud of the things that I have accomplished. As a Legislator, there’s never been a time where I’ve gone to the Speaker on behalf of the City of Plainfield and/or my district and he’s said “no”. I will forever be grateful to Speaker Roberts and will always respect him as a person.
I feel I have gained the respect of not only the Democrats, but also the Republican Assembly members here in New Jersey. In fact, in the last session when Speaker Sires broke his foot, both caucuses agreed that I would be speaker until he was back in good health. That was the highlight of my career because it showed me not only that the other members respected my ability but also felt that I was a person who could do the job. Therefore, yes, I have been approached about being the Speaker but at this particular time I want to concentrate on getting Corzine re-elected as Governor and Linda Stender and myself re-elected for the Assembly of the 22nd District. I would prefer to spend my time working towards victory in November. I’m looking forward to dealing with this particular issue after the election.

Green’s Reaction to Roberts' Announcement

Speaker Pro Tempore Calls Roberts ‘An Advocate for Every New Jerseyan’

(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green (D-Union) issued the following statement after Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. (D-Camden) announced today that he would not be seeking re-election:

“Speaker Roberts is one of the most passionate, thoughtful and detail-oriented legislators I have ever worked with.

“He fought to extend the American dream of homeownership to the widest cross-section of New Jersey residents possible. His efforts have given working class families across the state the opportunity to live in the communities where they work.

“Speaker Roberts’ work on housing reform is a legacy that will have a lasting positive impact on our state.

“He has always been an advocate for every New Jerseyan. His love of public policy, his deliberative nature and his deep respect for the institution of the Legislature will be sorely missed come January.”