Power is what you make of it

NICE n/t (0.00 / 0)

activist for hire.

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by: Jay Lassiter @ Fri Jun 22, 2007 at 12:02:09 PM UTC

No to Meryl Frank (0.00 / 0)

Are you kidding?  Meryl Frank has no real power and is no leader in anything other than lying and corruption.  After claiming she takes no money from developers, she holds campaign events at developers' private homes and raises most of her money from those developers and contractors connected with them.  Look at her ELEC reports and you'll see most of her campaign money comes from outside Highland Park.  She also violated ELEC laws by illegally taking money from an LLC.  Highland Park has been a "green," environmental community for decades.  Frank is taking credit all over the place for projects in the making long before she took office.  And she is deceiving the public by hiding the fact that her husband's energy consulting firm, Gabel Associates, is benefitting financially from her promoting a green agenda.  The head of her Green Community effort in Highland Park is the vice president of her husband's firm who is cited in the State Treasury's audit of the BPU for taking state Clean Energy funds via no bid contracts.  He and Gabel Associates received some of those funds to consult on placement of solar panels in HP's Borough Hall.

The reality: the only thing Frank knows that others don't is how to lie, cheat, manipulate the system and hide her corruption under a veil of good government. In the end, her deceptiveness and total disregard of the law WILL catch up with her.

Major Loser.  No Power; No Leadership

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by: ravencliquebuster @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 00:14:25 AM UTC

strong words (0.00 / 0)

You're a one trick pony around here. Every time Meryl's has come up you've chimed in. Seems like you're holding some kind of grudge against her. What's your beef and who are you?

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by: Juan Melli @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 02:33:18 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

No Tricks (0.00 / 0)

Just one of the many people in Highland Park who sees through Frank's lies and deceptions.  Tricks are her department.  My (our) beef: dislike of corruption, opposition to eminent domain for redevelopment, recognition that underneath the progressive words Frank is just another tool of the pay to play developers' machine.

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by: ravencliquebuster @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 19:09:20 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Tricks? (0.00 / 0)

Sounds like you're accusing Mayor Frank of being a dirty campaigner. Are there any specific tactics you have evidence of to back up your insinuation? Or is it merely spurious?

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by: Brian McGinnis @ Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 03:42:31 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Major Loser (4.00 / 2)

Raven, you're nothing more than a stalking horse for machine puppet Laurel Kornfeld. Do you have any interest in New Jersey politics outside of your irrational hatred of Mayor Frank? If not, I suggest you knock off the smear and move along.

Also, since when is making Highland Park environmentally responsible something to be criticized. Your 'connecting of the dots' looks more like a Jackson Pollack painting than anything of substance.

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by: Scott Shields @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 14:42:34 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Interest in New Jersey (0.00 / 0)

I definitely have an interest in New Jersey politics.  It's getting rid of the real corrupt machine types like Jim McGreevey, Jeanne Fox, Susan Bass Levin, John Lynch, Ray Lesniak, etc., etc.  Developers and the contractors who serve them have been running this state into the ground with their sweetheart deals at the expense of taxpayers.  It's embarrassing that New Jersey is tied with Louisiana as the most corrupt state in the country.  I want to change that and get rid of any use of eminent domain for redevelopment.  I'm all for being environmentally reponsible but not for a politician taking credit for accomplishments of others who predate her or for hiding her own personal financial gain under a green agenda.  And my views are shared by quite a few others in Highland Park.

By the way, how is Laurel Kornfeld a "machine puppet?"  That sounds a lot like Frank propaganda.  Laurel is a writer and a blogger with no love for developers who has participated in grassroots campaigns against Frank.  What's YOUR beef with her?

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by: ravencliquebuster @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 19:15:38 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

this is funny (0.00 / 0)

"You're going to see the real Bob Dole from now on."

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by: Juan Melli @ Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 20:55:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Outside of my territory (0.00 / 1)

I don't get much rarified air here in Hudson.  On the other hand, I often get to chew it, so it breaks even.

I had to look things up because I've never heard of either person.  This Laurel person sounds like a real nutjob

She's got some kind of obsessive personality disorder--in high school she was busy repudiating her religious background (her real name is Esther), in college she was obsessed with Lebanon and if you ran into her she'd go on and on and on about it, then she hooked on to politics and that's her obsession ever since. This whole thing is just an exercise in narcissism. Despite her impressive education, she barely supports herself with a bunch of part-time jobs or political volunteer stuff, and lives off her parents.

Not exactly an endorsement. 

Then I found this very odd comment:

"Unless we have all of our loyalties and are united, there is no way we could fight for seats in the House and Senate," [Kornfeld] said of the party.

This is what she says as she states that Democrats in the area do not share her ideology, and says the Democratic Party at the state level is "in trouble". 

Sounds like she switched personalities in mid-interview.  Maybe she forgot to medicate that day.

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by: Hudson Observer @ Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 04:03:12 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

That poster is the nut job (0.00 / 0)

Read This:

Hello Helen Teitelbaum
pizzashop

Well isn't this the pot calling the kettle black.  You neglect to tell us about your own mental instability.  You admitted on a public forum that Meryl Frank  threatened your job a few years ago, yet you voted for her anyway.  Does that sound like the action of a rational person or of someone qualified to judge another?  I voted for Laurel and will vouch that she does have a job, just not one that the mayor can get her fired from.  How dare you speak about something you know nothing about?  Her living situation is none of your business.  You don't have to vote for her or support her but the vicious personal attacks only reflect badly on you.  Anyone can get involved and speak out at meetings as often as they want.  Are you jealous of her freedom from Meryl's repercussions?  Do you secretly wish you had the guts to tell the truth about Meryl like she does?  resl, you've given away who you really are, someone with a personal grudge against Laurel. Therefore, you stand discredited.  Didn't you ever learn that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?

http://www.politicsn...

That poster's name is Helen Teitelbaum, she has a grudge against Laurel Kornfeld, and her post is full of false personal attacks.  Teitelbaum is hardly qualified to make any kind of diagnosis, as she publicly admits she voted for Frank even though Frank tried to get her fired from her job! Kornfeld does have a job working for a weekly newspaper, The Somerset Spectator.  Laurel is her real name, and her living situation is no one's business.  She doesn't have a "religious background" but won the support of HP's Orthodox community when she ran for council, which Meryl Frank and her supporters are extremely jealous of. She's been a writer and activist for 25 years, championing many causes including environmental conservation.  It's disgusting that Meryl Frank's supporters work this hard to discredit someone who really cares about her town and got a respectable 42 percent showing in her last primary.

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by: ravencliquebuster @ Sun Jun 24, 2007 at 17:42:51 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I suppose (2.00 / 1)

Wally Edge has a grudge against Ms. Kornfed,too.

Maybe she can get her level infinity magic-user to cast a spell on her enemies.

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by: Hudson Observer @ Mon Jun 25, 2007 at 19:30:16 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Typical Frank Strategy (0.00 / 0)

Hudson, since you don't live here in Middlesex County, maybe you should recognize you don't know the whole story.  This entire thread is typical Frank--when confronted with her misdeeds, she conveniently dodges the issue by changing the subject and attacking someone else.  In this county, Frank is known for her inflexible "my way or the highway" leadership style that tolerates no dissent.  If you want to know more about the questionable actions she's taken to suppress any dissent in Highland Park, contact a woman named Carolyn Timmons.  She's a former councilwoman who Frank supported until Timmons started thinking for herself and decided she didn't support redevelopment or eminent domain.  Next thing, Frank got Timmons fired from her county job, badmouthed her all over the town and county, and forced her to resign from the council.  And Timmons is hardly the only victim of Frank's intimidation.  Wally Edge's "DVD" cover resulted from Frank making herself into a laughingstock by filing a police report claiming Kornfeld, an opponent of hers, was copying her hairstyle and clothing! It sounds like a joke but the concept of a mayor abusing power by filing false police reports against rivals is downright scary. This doesn't even begin to address the corruption issue relating to Frank's husband's energy consulting firm and the fact that Frank lies about taking money from developers.  She seems like a perfect candidate for involvement in Hudson County politics--and a perfect target for Chris Christie to investigate.

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by: MiddlesexWatchdog @ Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 16:26:37 PM UTC

[ Parent ]