This is another long one...but please consider, this article connects a lot of dots you may not have previously realized. As always, I will ask that you please print this article and share it with as many people as you can, who may not be on social media. If you are interested in volunteering your time to distribute printed copies of this article, please contact me to discuss how we may work together: mypoliticalpizza@gmail.com.
While you might read this article and think it is partisan, in favor of Republicans, I want to reiterate that I am a lifelong Democrat and no matter to which side of the aisle you gravitate, in my view, once you appreciate the small distinctions in the argument for/against affordable housing, you will quickly find that as cheesy as this may seem, I believe, we all need to come together as New Jerseyans...as Americans.
In short, the Republicans must win and they must win, decisively.
Find out what's happening in Mahwahfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Because this article is so long, I want to offer an itemized summary of what you will read, below-
- Background on affordable housing from Assemblywoman, Holly Schepisi
- Breakout of the different players that are overseeing efforts related to affordable housing in our county
- Tying it all together with an explanation as to what affordable housing has to do with the current events in Mahwah and surrounding towns
- November 7, 2017 will decide the fate of our county and no, this is not an exaggeration
Affordable Housing
1975 was a very busy year in America. The Vietnam war came to an end, Microsoft was founded, and Bradley Cooper was born. In New Jersey, a state Supreme Court decision would wind up paving the way for an overwhelming amount of unethical, illegal, and corrupt behavior from wealthy individuals and elected officials, from that point forward. In 1983, a subsequent ruling by the Court only further accelerated the actions of this group.
Find out what's happening in Mahwahfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The New Jersey Supreme Court, in Mount Laurel I (1975) and Mount Laurel II (1983), declared that municipal land use regulations that prevent affordable housing opportunities for the poor are unconstitutional and ordered all New Jersey municipalities to plan, zone for, and take affirmative actions to provide realistic opportunities for their “fair share” of the region’s need for affordable housing for low and moderate-income people(1)."
The following was written by Holly Schepisi, our local Assemblywoman. Holly is a champion of the affordable housing debate and has written extensively on the subject. As such, I felt no need to reinvent the wheel. Please note: the information provided by Holly is limited solely to the affordable housing content included in this section. She provided no further information for any other section of this article.
"Throughout the 1980's, townships, such as Mahwah, fought against high density developers who brought what are known as Builder Remedy Suits against our municipalities. These lawsuits enabled builders to challenge a municipality's zoning laws while petitioning the courts to (essentially) throw away a town's ordinances. This forced municipalities to allow for high density housing in residential neighborhoods.
Mahwah fought back against the mandates but was ultimately forced to allow much of the high density housing to be built (this is part of the reason Mahwah has so many townhouse, condo, and apartment communities. While many of the units of the high density housing were market rate, a portion of the units built were "affordable" with deed restrictions that made the units remain affordable until recently. The deed restrictions on the affordable units expired approximately three years ago, causing Mahwah to now be subject to additional builder remedy suits with many of the townhouse communities no longer being counted towards Mahwah's affordable housing obligations. As a result, Mahwah is now facing an obligation of more than 1,000 affordable housing units, which translates into (potentially) upwards of 6,000 new housing units, in total.
In 2014, the Superior Court determined that a State regulation permanently restricting the resale of so-called Mt Laurel housing does not apply to homes built in the 1980s and 1990s. The decision, which potentially affects thousands of families who bought low or moderate income homes during that period, was issued in a case brought by Hill Wallack LLP on behalf of 160 homeowners against the Township of Mahwah.
The plaintiff homeowners purchased their homes with a deed restriction that required that if the homes were resold during the next 25 years, the homes could be resold only to other low or moderate income families and only at below market prices. The deed restriction provided that after the 25-year control period, the homeowners would be free to sell to any buyer at any price. The deed restriction was established in accordance with a court order entered in 1984 in exclusionary zoning litigation involving Mahwah Township.
Mahwah attempted to override this deed restriction on the grounds the so-called Uniform Housing Affordability Control (UHAC) regulation issued by the State in 2004 required the town to restrict future sales forever and that the regulation was retroactive—it applied even to homes built and occupied long before 2004.
In its decision, the court rejected Mahwah's interpretation of the UHAC regulation. Accepting the arguments made by Stephen Eisdorfer, Esq. and Thomas F. Carroll, Esq. of Hill Wallack LLP, the court found that the UHAC regulation applied only to homes newly constructed after the effective date of the regulation. It did not apply retroactively to the plaintiffs' homes constructed many years earlier.
Stephen Eisdorfer, Esq. stated: "The public policy when the Mahwah homeowners bought their homes was that low and moderate income households should be able to use the appreciation in the value of their affordable homes as a means of accumulating assets that would lift them out of poverty in precisely the same way that other homeowners do so. The deed restrictions for their homes reflected this policy. The court decision in this case holds that UHAC regulations do not operate retroactively to override these deed restrictions. This benefits not only the homeowners in Mahwah, but also thousands of other homeowners throughout the state who bought low or moderate income homes in the 1980s and 1990s."
The UHAC regulations are sometimes referred to as the 95/5 rule because it provides that if a low or moderate income home is sold after the expiration of the period of controls, the town may take 95 percent of the increase in value."
Before I continue, allow me to quickly state that I am (personally) an advocate for affordable housing. I believe that it is of extreme importance that we help others carve a path toward a better future for their kids than they had for themselves. I would hope others share in this sentiment, as well. Noting that, in the opening of this article, I referenced the small distinctions we must consider, with respect to our concerns over affordable housing. And it is this group of distinctions that encompass why I am concerned about this effort in our area-
- There is no law, rule, or requirement that dictates that more affordable housing must be built. The law ONLY states that a percentage of homes in a given geographic area must meet the requirements to qualify as affordable housing. In other words, we do not have to build more homes. In the 1980's it could be argued that more properties needed to be built to allow for this but that is no longer true today. Why can't we leverage properties that are already available? I realize that without deed restrictions this would be harder to achieve but the idea that building new properties is (somehow) the solution to this problem, doesn't make all that much sense to me.
- As Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi has also pointed out in one of her Op-Ed submissions, the "cost-of-living in New Jersey is 26.1 percent of income according to Bloomberg, by far the most expensive in the nation. New Jersey also has the highest property taxes, foreclosure rate and number of millennials living with their parents in the nation." She continues, later in her Op-Ed- "Rutgers economists predict average growth to be only 0.3 percent a year until 2026, an increase of only about 219,000 residents. Last year, 13 percent more people moved out of the state than in. So while our state has significant out-migration, our communities are being told they have to build to accommodate a false population increase of 3.35 million people." If so many people are moving out of the state, why would there be such a demand for new affordable housing to be built? It doesn't add up, to me.
- It is important to point out that inherently and statistically, those folks who may require affordable housing (in this region of the country), tend to be Democrats and as such, the land developers would have a much greater reason to become friends with them. In addition, please consider, Vincent Prieto is the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly. He is also the Representative of the 32nd Legislative District in NJ, which includes East Newark, Guttenberg, Harrison, Kearny, North Bergen, Secaucus, and West New York. In every legitimate and fair way, there is good reason as to why he would support more affordable housing being built. And this is the exact point. It makes little sense for this to be a state law. Each town has its own unique needs and what is needed in Hudson County is simply not needed in Bergen. As a result of his district’s need, Prieto is purposely blocking legislation from going to the Floor of the Assembly that could fix the broken pieces of this affordable housing puzzle throughout the state.
So, while I absolutely agree with the idea of providing affordable housing, I don't see any reason why new developments are needed to achieve this goal. Well, that is unless you are a land developer.
Imagine you are a land developer. You want to build a community of homes but you can't seem to let go of this one fear...that you are about to invest money from your investors, as well as (potentially) your own wallet, up front, into this effort and (in part) will only make your money back when the properties are sold. But your fears are laid to rest when you consider that, by law, the town you plan to build this community in must sell a certain number of affordable properties. This, plus the fact that there were no longer any deed restrictions that might prohibit you from succeeding. Risk is reduced for investors and, I would imagine, ensures more favorable terms in negotiating deals with them, as well. - What probably concerns me more than anything, however, are the people leading this effort on behalf of our towns, county, and state. Who are they and what (exactly) are their motivations?
The Players
Jim McQueeny- McQueeny, from what I can tell, isn't really tied to the affordable housing debate. However, I am bringing him up due to his possible, overall role with the Band of Merry Men. McQueeny is the husband of Bergen County Freeholder, Mary Amoroso. McQueeny is a regular on Chasing News, which is 'ironically' the same program Mayor Laforet has previously been invited onto, to discredit our town. This man is extremely wealthy and well-connected. He is rumored to be eyeing a position with Phil Murphy, should he win. What is not a rumor is that McQueeny and Murphy know each other well.
James Tedesco III- Before he became the Bergen County Executive, Tedesco was Mayor of Paramus where "he authorized the transfer of nearly $4 million in affordable housing funds without obtaining the Borough Council's approval, an apparent violation of affordable housing rules, public records show(2)." Chris Donnelly, a spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs at the time, noted that "the state guidelines also bar a mayor from formal involvement in releasing affordable housing funds(2). "The town council authorizes expenditures," he said. "The CFO would ultimately execute them. Tedesco, a Democrat who became mayor in 2003, ordered the largest transfer — $3.6 million — from the affordable housing fund to the Paramus Affordable Housing Corp. (PAHC) in January 2004, according to municipal records. The rest of the money was allocated in three smaller transfers over several years(2)." Who was Tedesco's lawyer at the time? Dennis Oury.
Dennis Oury- "Oury was Paramus' borough attorney in 2004. State records also list him as the registered agent for PAHC(2)." He also "pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler on September 29, 2009, to one count of conspiring to commit mail fraud and one count of failing to file federal income tax returns(3)." Oury's co-defendant, was Joseph Ferriero.
Joseph Ferriero- Former chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization, he was arrested and convicted, having been found guilty of bribery, fraud and racketeering charges. "In late 2001, Oury and Ferriero, who was then the Bergen County Democratic chairman, created a company called Governmental Grants Consulting that purported to assist municipalities in obtaining grants and low-interest loans from government agencies. Oury and Ferriero agreed to conceal their interests in the company while profiting from Bergen County municipalities—Bergenfield specifically—where Oury was to use his influence as a municipal official, and Ferriero was to use his influence as a dominant political party chairman to secure local government contracts(3)."
At this point, you might be asking yourself why I'm bringing these two fine gentleman up. Well, the answer is simple...they are all extremely well-connected with Todd Sherer, Chairman of Mahwah's Planning Board. Although I could not independently confirm it, it seems that Ferriero and/or Oury sent Sherer up to Mahwah on a mission to transition the area so that more Democrats live here. What we do know definitively, is that Sherer was a staunch supporter of Ferriero throughout the court case.
Before we delve into Sherer's history a bit, allow me to quickly refer to one point I quoted above. As you read this, please consider that it was in "late 2001" when Oury and Ferriero created their company together. Then all of a sudden...
Todd Sherer- In 2002, Sherer moved to Mahwah (although he has never owned a home here). As a former Council Member in Paramus, he decided it was just time to move to a new town where he would become heavily involved in the Planning Board. For his day job, he works for a company that helps finance businesses, including Hedge Funds(4).
But that's not all. Sherer is also on the Board of Bergen County's Community Development Countywide Committee. I reached out to Robert G. Esposito, Director of the Bergen County Division of Community Development, who stated that "the principal role of the Countywide Community Development Committee is to annually assess all applications for Community Development Block Grant funding (CDBG) received from eligible nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and county government agencies for projects that are multi-regional or countywide in scope and recommend sub-grant allocations. These recommendations are then sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for review and approval." Housing and Urban Development...interesting. And please note...he was appointed by the County Executive, James Tedesco III.
When we consider Sherer's questionable past, connections, his 'coincidental' interest in Planning Boards at the local and county level, to his profession and specializations, something doesn't smell right to me. But let's also consider that much like Ferriero, Sherer is extremely well-connected within the Democratic party and I truly and sincerely believe, is likely also eyeing a spot on Phil Murphy's team, should he win.
Tying It All Together
In the opinion of many, the biggest issues facing our area and state, center on affordable housing- I agree, completely. Allow me to connect the dots for you-
State level
Should the Democrats win at the state level, we will likely be at a point of no return with respect to any potential chances to fix this broken, affordable housing law. Holly Schepisi, who, as a lawyer, has worked with corporations on the matter of zoning and planning, "has introduced two bills, A-4666 and A-4667, giving the Legislature until the end of the year to properly study and fix the problem: one that suspends all affordable housing lawsuits and another establishing a bi-partisan commission to study the issue. If we wait any longer to stop this insanity, the impact on our communities will be irreversible and our already unaffordable property taxes will skyrocket(6)." But with Vincent Prieto as Speaker, Schepisi's bills have little chance of making it to the floor.
Local level
We cannot allow Vicky Galow and Susan Steinberg to win seats on Mahwah's Town Council. All of our efforts...every drop of our time and energy, need to be laser-focused on ensuring David May and George Ervin win. You might read that and think this entire article is just some plot or ploy to convince people to vote for my preferred candidates...not true. First of all, I have already written about how unqualified Galow and Steinberg are to earn a seat on the Council. And to reiterate a point from my previous article discussing these two candidates, the only reason Laforet wants these two on the Council, that I can find, is so he can become dangerously close to being able to fully execute the plan being laid out for him by the Band of Merry Men.
Side note: Can I absolutely prove that Laforet is part of the Band of Merry Men or that there even is a Band of Merry Men? No. However, I have always believed that if it walks like a duck and smells like a duck...it is likely a duck.
- Laforet has continually lied about everything related to the current events in our town
- He appointed Todd Sherer as Chairman of the Planning Board, despite the fact he filed for Bankruptcy and has a questionable past, at best, having associated and defended, some really bad people.
November 7, 2017
Many people ask me what we should/can do about the current challenges we face in our area. My response is always the same...we cannot focus on the symptom, we need to focus on the cause. Today, we are fighting upstream as the water flows down and what we really need to do is cut this all off at the mouth of the river.
We need to reach out to community organizers in every town and come together to achieve three, primary goals. Between Eventbrite, Meetup, and Social Media, we should be able to coordinate a Meet-up (virtually or in-person) so we can get on the same page as to what is at stake here. We simply need someone to take the reigns and make it happen. Here are the five goals-
- Get organized and focus on one topic and mission- As well-intended as everyone's efforts are, we need to focus on one mission that will help us overcome the problems that reside at the mouth of the river and which are the most immediate threat. At the state level, we need Republicans to take over as the majority party in the Assembly. Most important would be flipping district 32, replacing Vincent Prieto with a Republican. Phil Murphy is current 14 points ahead of Kim Guadagno(7). This cannot happen. I am not a fan of Gadagno...let's ensure we're on the same page about this fact. However, if we have a Democratic Governor with a Democratic majority in our Assembly, we don't stand a chance here. I see no reason or way that Phil Murphy is tied to the Band of Merry Men with respect to influencing them. I actually believe the man has so much money, he couldn't care less. Therefore, this isn't about him as a candidate but rather, how his winning would impact our future.
- Locally, Vicky Galow and Susan Steinberg must lose and lose decisively. Despite my own fears over Todd Sherer, so long as he and the Mayor can't influence the Town Council, his power is limited. But should they win, our town will be on a really bad path where the Band of Merry Men will be able to create Bloc votes, take control of the Town Council and thus, succeed in changing ordinances.
- Ignore the noise! If someone on Social Media is challenging you and mentioning nonsense topics or making useless comments...ignore it. Just ignore it. Any energy you extend to them could have been placed in achieving one of the previous areas, referenced above.
- Help in our fight. In some way...please help. If you only have time to share this article with one person who might not be on Facebook or reading Patch, that is enough. If you have a friend who has time to distribute printed copies of this article but you don't...throw in a couple of bucks, if you can, to help pay for the printing. Educate and advocate. It is 110% understandable if someone disagrees with you. But when they disagree based on inaccurate information, to me, that's a shame. My biggest concern, personally, is that there are 22,000 residents in Mahwah, alone (18+). There are 1,200 or so on Facebook. Get your kids involved in handing out flyers, print outs of this article. Do whatever you can.
- Get people to register to vote. Get people to show up to vote. Election Day, if you can...go everywhere you can and remind people to vote, work together to offer carpooling to seniors and the disabled. But please ensure they understand what is at stake here.
I reject the notion that because it is October 5th, it is too late to impact this vote. The only thing that is keeping us from winning here are our own two feet. When Murphy, Galow, and Steinberg lose, that, alone, will be huge for Mahwah. It would completely derail the agenda of the Band of Merry Men. And then in January, we recall Bill Laforet. Let's make this happen, together.
Who's with me?
-Brian
(1) http://fairsharehousing.org/mo...
(2) http://www.07020.com/forums/sh...
