By Harold Herskowitz
State Senate Republican Primary Candidate 30th District
Dear Deputy Mayor Langert,
Last night I went to a Township meeting. I actually attended with the intention of publicly demanding your resignation for a grievous conflict of interest on your part when you admitted on the air, on WOBM radio, that you are a (minority) partner in a housing project on Chestnut Street. This is a project that went through numerous zoning variances and there are no people that can recall you ever publicly stating that you are a developer.
When I got to the meeting there was a very nice awards ceremony. There was a positive energy . After the public left I decided not to say anything. I didn't want to bring a negative vibe to such an upbeat event. I sat next to a friend and watched.
State Senate Republican Primary Candidate 30th District
Dear Deputy Mayor Langert,
Last night I went to a Township meeting. I actually attended with the intention of publicly demanding your resignation for a grievous conflict of interest on your part when you admitted on the air, on WOBM radio, that you are a (minority) partner in a housing project on Chestnut Street. This is a project that went through numerous zoning variances and there are no people that can recall you ever publicly stating that you are a developer.
When I got to the meeting there was a very nice awards ceremony. There was a positive energy . After the public left I decided not to say anything. I didn't want to bring a negative vibe to such an upbeat event. I sat next to a friend and watched.
After a few speakers brought up some general concerns, one concerned citizen, unbeknownst to me, decided to ask you about your questionable financial disclosures. I watched as you seemed to adequately answer his concerns. At the end he asked you if you are an owner or partner in any property that you did not disclose. You proceeded to tell him that he got his information from an unreliable source, I assumed you were alluding to me. You told him that I have a vendetta against you and I am a liar.
At that point I decided I should get up to speak. I wanted to set the record straight.
I explained that the information you were referring to was public knowledge. You admitted on the radio to being a partner in a property that was not disclosed. You went on to say you were really a facilitator and not a partner, I guess your lawyers told you to say that. But at one point you tried to attack me about a property that I purchased for the Township with the intention of creating sane and safe parking in the Downtown. You were accusing me of tricking the Township and forcing them to buy a property from me in order for me to profit unfairly. The only problem is that I can get you a list of fifty people that will tell you that they all knew about it. They will tell you that I told the township to buy it first in order to keep any opportunist from stalling the parking project. I was told the Town cannot buy a property that quickly. Trisha Komsa from the UEZ along with Steven Reinman your appointed director of development suggested that I should purchase it and the Township would buy it from me at the fair appraised value. The tax assessed value was 470 thousand dollars and the purchase cost was 215 thousand including closing costs. I was ashamed to own such a slum house, and since I was not fixing it and holding it for the town, decided to put it under the corporate name Fafa Moon.
After waiting two years for the UEZ to finally purchase this house. After paying taxes, exorbitant insurance, cleaning maintenance,and more than a few fines,the Township made me an offer. $180 thousand dollars! When I asked for a copy of an obviously skewed appraisal I was told I cannot have one. Then I received a call from Trisha. "The appraiser made a mistake, it was really $280 thousand dollars." That appraisal was still a full $140 thousand dollars less than a comparable property they bought six months prior and $70 thousand dollars less than I was offered by a client of PG Waxman realty. I had suspicions that you or your buddies had rigged the appraisal to stop the parking project, hoping i would protest. But the downtown needed parking and at $280 thousand dollars I could rationalize that I didn't really lose money. I told Ms. Komsa that although the offer is well below the value of the property I will sell it as long as we get moving on the parking lots.
I walked out of the sale feeling altruistic that although I gave up a large profit, this would help keep our downtown from falling apart and in turn all businesses would thrive.
We all know the rest of the story. Since then you tried your best to stop the parking project every step of the way. Besides adding parking to the downtown the plan will ease traffic by allowing drivers alternate access to side streets. It would remove bicycles from the sidewalk and allow garbage and cardboard collection from containers in the back, saving the expense of private garbage cans. Deliveries could be accessed from the back as well alleviating the trucks that block the streets.
You then proceeded to accuse my store of not having kosher supervision? All in order to avoid answering serious allegations about your questionable behavior as an honest Committee member? I didn't know you were so concerned about Kosher supervision. I would suggest you send any of your concern to my supervisor, Rabbi Gissinger Shlita, he can help you with any of your questions.
So what started out as a pleasant evening watching our Mayor give out awards to deserving young students, ended with me being insulted by a person that used my best intentions, something that I sacrificed for the good of our town, that you turned into looking like it was something I did wrong. I was told that I don't need to explain anything since I am not a public figure, but I felt I needed to set the record straight.
Oh, and now for the apology. I am sorry that you have a projection disorder. You can't understand that there are actually people out there that want to see good things happen for everyone. You can't understand why someone would want to be in office to accomplish a few positive things to make their town a better place. An you definitely cannot understand if someone gives from their own pocket for the greater good. So you project your shortcomings on to another person. A Township Committee member should not be involved in housing projects in his own town. I don't know of one Mayor or Committeeman that is involved in building homes that require Town approval. It is anachronistic and highly suspect to say the least. For you to project your corruption on to me was quite ridiculous since I did nothing wrong. You on the other hand have a lot of explaining to do.
I have nothing against you personally, and I really am sorry that you have this disorder.
You can get help, and I wish you all the best. Here are some articles on the subject.
Definition:
Projection - The act of attributing one's own feelings or traits to another person and imagining or believing that the other person has those same feelings or traits.
Description:
Sometimes people who suffer from personality disorders have an unstable view of themselves which leads them to lose track of where their own identity ends and where another person's identity begins. This is sometimes referred to in psychological terms as an Identity Disturbance.
Identity disturbances can sometimes result in a blurring of the lines between how a person with a personality disorder views themselves and views other people in their immediate vicinity. This can sometimes lead them to attribute characteristics of another person to their own personality (a practice known as Mirroring) or to attribute characteristics of their own personality towards other people. This latter practice is known as Projection.
Projection can be relatively benign - such as in attributing one's own likes, dislikes, opinions, beliefs or feelings to another person.
Projection can become malignant when it involves attribution of one's own actions, words, blame, fault, hatred, liability or flawed character onto another.
Projection can be conscious - where the perpetrator knows they are deliberately deflecting blame or liability onto another person. Projection can also be subconscious - where the perpetrator is unaware that they are distorting or dissociating the facts.
Projection can simply be a result of good old fashioned Blaming - where blame or responsibility for a problem is conveniently attributed to another person. Projection can also occur as a result of Dissociation, a departure from reality-based thinking that people who suffer from personality disorders are prone to. It's extremely difficult to prove if a person believes their own statements of projection and therefore it is usually futile to spend much energy trying to determine if they do.
No matter whether projection is conscious or subconscious, it can inflict a great deal of hurt, confusion, fear and loss of self-esteem for its subjects. Nobody likes to be told what they think - even about benign issues. But whenever someone is falsely accused, slandered or held in disrepute, great harm can be done to a person's relationships, self-confidence and sense of well-being.
Acts of projection commonly result in defensiveness, indignation, annoyance, argument or even retribution and retaliation on the part of subjects or victims.
At that point I decided I should get up to speak. I wanted to set the record straight.
I explained that the information you were referring to was public knowledge. You admitted on the radio to being a partner in a property that was not disclosed. You went on to say you were really a facilitator and not a partner, I guess your lawyers told you to say that. But at one point you tried to attack me about a property that I purchased for the Township with the intention of creating sane and safe parking in the Downtown. You were accusing me of tricking the Township and forcing them to buy a property from me in order for me to profit unfairly. The only problem is that I can get you a list of fifty people that will tell you that they all knew about it. They will tell you that I told the township to buy it first in order to keep any opportunist from stalling the parking project. I was told the Town cannot buy a property that quickly. Trisha Komsa from the UEZ along with Steven Reinman your appointed director of development suggested that I should purchase it and the Township would buy it from me at the fair appraised value. The tax assessed value was 470 thousand dollars and the purchase cost was 215 thousand including closing costs. I was ashamed to own such a slum house, and since I was not fixing it and holding it for the town, decided to put it under the corporate name Fafa Moon.
After waiting two years for the UEZ to finally purchase this house. After paying taxes, exorbitant insurance, cleaning maintenance,and more than a few fines,the Township made me an offer. $180 thousand dollars! When I asked for a copy of an obviously skewed appraisal I was told I cannot have one. Then I received a call from Trisha. "The appraiser made a mistake, it was really $280 thousand dollars." That appraisal was still a full $140 thousand dollars less than a comparable property they bought six months prior and $70 thousand dollars less than I was offered by a client of PG Waxman realty. I had suspicions that you or your buddies had rigged the appraisal to stop the parking project, hoping i would protest. But the downtown needed parking and at $280 thousand dollars I could rationalize that I didn't really lose money. I told Ms. Komsa that although the offer is well below the value of the property I will sell it as long as we get moving on the parking lots.
I walked out of the sale feeling altruistic that although I gave up a large profit, this would help keep our downtown from falling apart and in turn all businesses would thrive.
We all know the rest of the story. Since then you tried your best to stop the parking project every step of the way. Besides adding parking to the downtown the plan will ease traffic by allowing drivers alternate access to side streets. It would remove bicycles from the sidewalk and allow garbage and cardboard collection from containers in the back, saving the expense of private garbage cans. Deliveries could be accessed from the back as well alleviating the trucks that block the streets.
You then proceeded to accuse my store of not having kosher supervision? All in order to avoid answering serious allegations about your questionable behavior as an honest Committee member? I didn't know you were so concerned about Kosher supervision. I would suggest you send any of your concern to my supervisor, Rabbi Gissinger Shlita, he can help you with any of your questions.
So what started out as a pleasant evening watching our Mayor give out awards to deserving young students, ended with me being insulted by a person that used my best intentions, something that I sacrificed for the good of our town, that you turned into looking like it was something I did wrong. I was told that I don't need to explain anything since I am not a public figure, but I felt I needed to set the record straight.
Oh, and now for the apology. I am sorry that you have a projection disorder. You can't understand that there are actually people out there that want to see good things happen for everyone. You can't understand why someone would want to be in office to accomplish a few positive things to make their town a better place. An you definitely cannot understand if someone gives from their own pocket for the greater good. So you project your shortcomings on to another person. A Township Committee member should not be involved in housing projects in his own town. I don't know of one Mayor or Committeeman that is involved in building homes that require Town approval. It is anachronistic and highly suspect to say the least. For you to project your corruption on to me was quite ridiculous since I did nothing wrong. You on the other hand have a lot of explaining to do.
I have nothing against you personally, and I really am sorry that you have this disorder.
You can get help, and I wish you all the best. Here are some articles on the subject.
Definition:
Projection - The act of attributing one's own feelings or traits to another person and imagining or believing that the other person has those same feelings or traits.
Description:
Sometimes people who suffer from personality disorders have an unstable view of themselves which leads them to lose track of where their own identity ends and where another person's identity begins. This is sometimes referred to in psychological terms as an Identity Disturbance.
Identity disturbances can sometimes result in a blurring of the lines between how a person with a personality disorder views themselves and views other people in their immediate vicinity. This can sometimes lead them to attribute characteristics of another person to their own personality (a practice known as Mirroring) or to attribute characteristics of their own personality towards other people. This latter practice is known as Projection.
Projection can be relatively benign - such as in attributing one's own likes, dislikes, opinions, beliefs or feelings to another person.
Projection can become malignant when it involves attribution of one's own actions, words, blame, fault, hatred, liability or flawed character onto another.
Projection can be conscious - where the perpetrator knows they are deliberately deflecting blame or liability onto another person. Projection can also be subconscious - where the perpetrator is unaware that they are distorting or dissociating the facts.
Projection can simply be a result of good old fashioned Blaming - where blame or responsibility for a problem is conveniently attributed to another person. Projection can also occur as a result of Dissociation, a departure from reality-based thinking that people who suffer from personality disorders are prone to. It's extremely difficult to prove if a person believes their own statements of projection and therefore it is usually futile to spend much energy trying to determine if they do.
No matter whether projection is conscious or subconscious, it can inflict a great deal of hurt, confusion, fear and loss of self-esteem for its subjects. Nobody likes to be told what they think - even about benign issues. But whenever someone is falsely accused, slandered or held in disrepute, great harm can be done to a person's relationships, self-confidence and sense of well-being.
Acts of projection commonly result in defensiveness, indignation, annoyance, argument or even retribution and retaliation on the part of subjects or victims.
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