Quality of Life

A friendly reminder to senior citizens throughout the state of New Jersey. The senior property tax freeze also known as the PTR - Property Tax Relief program filing deadline is upon us. 

Safe a boatload of money on your property taxes if you qualify. Seniors must file every year if you qualify or not to keep your property taxes frozen at a lower rate. If your taxes go up, the senior must still pay them but will get a rebate at the end of the year for the difference or a credit toward next years taxes, depending on the state's budget needs.

Attention, homeowners: the deadline to apply for your Senior Property Tax Freeze is this Thursday, October 31st!

For information on how to apply for the NJ PTR Senior Tax Freeze program.

https://www.nj.gov/treasury/taxation/ptr/index.shtml

Please Remember to Vote for the people who will keep you informed and work hard for you, not the political bosses.

Vote for VICTOR KAMINSKI

Column "B" for 9th Ward City Council

OBERSON BAZIL

Column "B" for 1st Ward City Council

https://www.lindenrep.com/voter-information

Linden has been impacted by the influx of illegal immigrants overcrowding Linden schools which are running out of room and will get more expensive mobile trailer home classrooms to fill the parking lots. The mayor has chosen division, discrimination and greed over the motto slapped on the new Linden logo citing "Community, Diversity, Progress". I suppose that depends on your color or how you identify, identity politics at its worst. 

The charming always smiling mayor and his family are the new modern-day mob, and he is the "Teflon Don" so to speak. His actions and words have been long known to be divisive, discriminatory, and vengeful. Workers in the city are afraid to speak out against him or even say they may be Republicans or independents because it could cost them their jobs or promotions. The City workers know exactly what I'm talking about.

I can recall having words with his family on Facebook as they many of them jumped all over me to pick a fight for daring to speak against his plans, actions and comments. That was met with harassing anonymous calls and even threats of body harm and even death threats which I never reported. Unfortunately, I have none of those anonymous number calls recorded from his relatives who made those threats a few years ago. Imagine, that was all over words and opinions expressed on Facebook and they don't know me personally. 

So, no love lost if the mayor or his family have issues with me or even remember what they've done in the past. Karma is a.... Well, you know...

I received a call this morning from a close friend who said they spoke to one of their old buddies, now a retired Linden employee that no longer lives in NJ who was visiting and seen my signs noticing that I was running for councilman and wished me good luck beating "The Arm" as he said people always referred to the mayor Armstead and his Mafia-like family. 

He noted the mayor's sister was probably the one stealing my signs, saying she has a history of doing that. 

FYI:  I am still waiting for a response from the city on a FOIA request I recently made to review the security camera footage from the Fire station in her ward on Dewitt which I bet will mysteriously get erased or disappear, despite filing the FOIA request for it immediately. I asked the Mayor, the Police, the Fire Dept for access to and none wanted to cooperate saying if I wanted to see it, I needed to file an official Freedom of Information Act request, (that's what FOIA is).

Anyway, this story is getting a bit off track.

The mayor claims taxes haven't been raised for years, yet we get and pay our tax bills so know they have gone up and all of the money promised from the deals the mayor is doing with his rich developer friends hasn't brought in a penny to the city yet and probably won't for years to come aka No property tax relief or impact fees paid to benefit you!

We all know our taxes have gone up because we pay the bills, despite the mayor always being at least
1 1/2 years behind on paying his own property taxes. The mayor and city council voted to raise our taxes recently this year, and plan to use the power of the school board to raise them further as a work around to former Gov Christie's cap on tax raises limiting them to 2% per year.

So the taxes could in reality be raised 6%
(2% by the city council, 2% by the board of education, 2% by the county)

This is why the mayor had that antisemitic outburst during school board meeting resulting in a lawsuit against him and the city for discriminating against Jews although rumor has it, that he doesn't care much for White folks either and in case you didn't know, they don't think that is really discrimination. 

The Hasidic Jewish residents of the city do not use the public schools and if they sent their children to them, the schools would be flooded with new students the city is not prepared to handle. The mayor and the city Council should just allow them to have a school in the commercial areas already zoned for those uses and not in Sunnyside residential area which already has several schools and is what seems to be causing the anger among the other residents against the Hasidic community for using residential houses as schools, which technically is not what they are doing. 

John Kazor has done a great job as the man on the streets informing the Linden residents of a lot of different issues and happenings in the city from accidents to construction to city council meeting comedic clips via Facebook. In my last meeting with some members of the Hasidic Jewish community, it was an interesting reaction on all their faces with only the mere mention of John's name. They all know who you are bud, and they think you hate them with a passion. I don't believe that's the case; John is a direct person with a vibrant unique personality to say the least. He seems like a very honest, decent guy to me that pulls no punches, and I like that, but we need to speak with the Hasidic community instead of just investigating them and making assumptions of what they are doing and their plans assuming they're all nefarious.
They have rifts within their own community about things like renting their homes out or only keeping them as owner occupied, but things like having schools and supermarkets that better serve their community plays a big role in that. 

I enjoyed my conversation with those in the Hasidic Jewish community because I have no agenda, not looking for bribes or anything beyond their votes as I would like from all of Sunnyside's 9th ward residents.

I am not being played like some have claimed online. I offered nothing to anyone to be played except fair and honest treatment like everyone else would expect and which they are not getting from the mayor or city council. Apparently, the 10th ward councilwoman is on a mission to be a thorn in their side and not allow things they already approved to be built like their new synagogue which is almost done but they can't get the inspection approvals for some reason. Why did you issue building permits only now after people invested in the property to try and undo that decision. Being in the real estate industry since 2004, what the city is doing can be considered discriminatory however I am not getting the full behind the scenes story from the Hasidic community nor from Council members leading me to believe something that allowed this project to begin with wasn't on the level. (Not placing blame with anyone because I'm not sure what kind of deal Armstead struck with them to begin with, but my gut tells me something ain't kosher "Pun intended"). 

I want everyone's vote to be your city council representative this Nov 5th, but we need to communicate better with each other to express our concerns and their plans and put an end to the mayor and council's shady business practices which probably should be investigated. It will serve us all better in the end. 

Linden has trouble accommodating the illegal migrant population of children attending our schools with a huge increase of money needed to accommodate their needs which is too much to get into here now but
the Hasidic Jewish community isn't even asking for money to build their own school or run it, although they may be legally entitled to it as their property tax dollars are paying for education and I personally am in favor of school choice. I believe all parents should be able to choose what kind of education their children should be getting and direct their tax dollars to those schools. School choice would rid our country, state and municipality of the special interests, corruption, theft, and demand a better education for kids that isn't propelling political or social agendas either. 

The mayor doesn't want to allow them to have a school as promised because if they do, he knows he has to by law provide them with some of the education funds which all schools public and private within a municipality are entitled to, just like the Catholic schools get. He does not want to give up any of that money or control. Seems like the Mayor and the city Council got themselves into a pickle so to speak!

These are only a few of the issues of his own making which we only hear the rumors about the Hasidic Jews having illegal schools in their houses and doing whatever they want, in all the Facebook community pages. Let's ease up on the rhetoric, rumors, anger and hate that is building here in Linden. Let me clear things up a bit. I've been told but have not personally verified, that the Hasidic Jews in question have a license to care for children in that large home which has been exposed on social media as a Jewish school, is NOT an official legal school for education purposes but allowed to care for kids there, at least temporarily. 

Their community is in limbo right now concerning education for their children so many are using their own buses to ship their kids off to private schools out of the city and in some cases out of the state daily. Can you imagine having to do that while paying the taxes which should be educating your children in the city. 

They want to open their own school at their own expense which they are fine with if allowed. Another option people aren't considering but they are, is to call the mayor's bluff and flood the city schools with all their children into our already over-burdened overcrowded schools that have taken-in the influx of illegal immigrant population occupying space in our schools in the "Sanctuary State" of New Jersey within the City of Linden. Yes, our schools here are being greatly impacted and your tax dollars are paying for it, but more of your money is needed, especially if we keep the country borders open to anyone who claims asylum ....

Vote for Victor Kaminski for 9th ward councilman column "B" if you want more transparency in government with fair and honest dealing. Let's shake things up even more, if you live in the 1st Ward, let's vote out the mayor's sister by voting for Oberson Bazil for 1st ward councilman column "B".

Linden's 9th Ward Maps on City Website were wrong: 

These updates have been made to the Linden website on 10/17/2024. 

Linden has corrected the election ward / district maps posted on their website. The page was displaying links to the older Ward Maps revised on 2019, the 2022 revised map versions are now available on the city website. It may have been an honest mistake but I have added the latest information here on this site which shows several streets and the pond and vocational school are back in the 9th Ward again. See the Linden Ward Maps.

The Linden Mayor and Council members have future plans to change the zoning to match the wishes of higher up's in the Democrat party which has an agenda to do away with "Suburbia" claiming single family zoning is somehow racist and therefore want to allow larger homes that can be converted for multi-family use when the laws do change and that would destroy the beautiful Sunnyside community turning it into an urban area of high-rises, apartment buildings and multi-family houses. This is a quality-of-life issue.

Linden has 21 different language translators to interpret due to all the illegals over crowding Linden schools. The high school is running out of room and will be getting more trailers to fill the parking lot. Linden pays st elizabeth over $600K per year to rent their school space but not sure what they're doing with it. Curious?

Vote for Victor Kaminski for 9th ward councilman column B if you want more transparency in government.

If you recall the train derailment in Palestine, Ohio that contaminated the soil and water that President Biden and VP Harris failed to take interest in and visit until more than a year later which to this day still has not been cleaned up despite the EPA's claims. A train carrying the same toxic substances derailed in Linden, NJ however at slow speed so it was not the disaster Palestine faced which devalued properties, desirability to buy in the area and caused a host of medical issues for the residents. The Linden Republican Committee has been trying to get answers about safety concerns and emergency response and if we are equipped to handle an issue if a serious accident and spill were to happen. To date, we have yet to get any substantive answers from the Mayor, Council members, Linden Fire Dept, the EPA, NJ DEP, etc. 

Is this a concern I should pursue staying on top of as Linden 9th Ward councilman should you elect me? Shouldn't the Mayor and all the city council members be concerned about this?

Criminals have been checking for unlocked car doors and even amplifying car remotes to enter vehicles and even steal vehicles without having the keys. Keep your car keys away from the front door of the house or place them in a container which prevents the RF signal from being amplified. It is always a good idea to keep them away from the front door area where people commonly keep them in the event thieves break into your house to get them as well. 

Unfortunately, Ring doorbell event sharing type notifications of local crimes is no longer available to police for law enforcement in the neighborhood. There have been plenty of homeowners who have shared with the public here and there.

Never leave your vehicles unattended and running, never leave them unlocked even if in your own driveway.

Have you been stunned, awakened or almost in a car accident because a vehicle next to you sounds like a fully automatic gun fire is coming from it, or perhaps a grenade? When we grew up, it was about modifying a car so that it could go fast, these days kids and immature adults modify them, not for performance reasons but to be flashy, everything is about clicks online or getting attention. These vehicle modifications are illegal. Vote for Victor Kaminski and I will do my best to get the Linden Police to start enforcing the law ticketing or even impounding vehicles that disturb the peace and scare the heck out of unsuspecting residents at home, on foot or while driving. Let's put an end to this nonsense and generate revenue for the city from the numbskulls that play stupid games.

Crime: Prostitution, Begging, Homeless

It seems with the influx of illegal immigrants / migrants to Linden, for many prostitution is an acceptable way of life and they are not adapting or assimilating to our culture and societal norms. Beggars, homeless all over, even in Sunnyside, prostitutes, beggars and homeless are becoming the norm at the 7/11's and Walgreens which I have witnessed first-hand. Being Homeless is not a crime but they often seem high or out of their minds with unusual behavior. 

We are seeing foreign gang activity on the rise which often includes the porch pirates, vehicle thefts and break-ins, drug sales, and very violent activity like stabbings with knives and machetes. The worst is yet to come as they are known for kidnapping for forced prostitution and human trafficking. This is the modern slavery we face today with the open border and lack of immigration enforcement. Keep an eye on your kids like those old PSA commercials, "it's 10 o'clock, do you know where your children are".