John Thompson, JR
Consider a Write-In Vote on November 7th
05/30/17 Debate
at New Hope Church
On Saturday (05/27/17) Mayoral
Candidate John Thompson, Jr. appeared on Royston Allman's Changemakers Radio
Program on-line. Watch the video from
1:16:33 to hear the portion of the show that featured his
interview. Khalid R. Wright also speaks during the program,
revealing some of the ideas he and Thompson have been working on
for making better use of EO resources to improve the lives of its
citizens, young and old. Khalid's comments begin at -21:30 in the
above video.
The EO Mayoral Debate sponsored
by Policemen's Benevolent Association (PBA) Local 16, a
registered tax-exempt organization with the IRS, was held on
Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 at Peaceful Zion Baptist Church on
Rhode Island Avenue, and was between the only two candidates to
appear that evening, John Thompson, Jr. and Kenwyn S. Williams. Khalid R. Wright made a video of the
debate, which is available through his Facebook page.
05/17/17
EO Mayoral Debate Advances Thompson
and Williams as Viable Candidates - Green a Loser
That is what the headline of the Essex News Daily (aka Rear END) published on May 27th, should have
been, but the LINE-A "Lap Dog" Chris Sykes wrote the
article all about Ted Green, even though he cowardly failed to
show up and debate the real candidates, not even sending a
message to be read aloud at the debate. As John Thompson stated
after the debate: "Ted Green proved, by not showing up, how
he’ll perform as a mayor. I don’t think the guy wants
to debate and state his case for why he should be mayor.”
But to read the glowing, fake
news from Chris Sykes, it was all about how Ted Green wasn't
there, and not about the actual debate between the
real candidates who were not afraid to show up and speak to the
voters of East Orange.
Chris Sykes's arrogance shows
through his statement: "But Green’s absence begs the
question (for Sykes): How relevant could the forum have been (to
Sykes) if the candidate seen as the frontrunner did not
participate in it?" It's really all about Sykes and what he
wants and how he can control the voters of East Orange,
isn't it? That's why I posted this same shady business with a
second headline:
05/27/17 Biased News Media
Attempts to Control the EO Mayoral Election
After all, it is the TRUE NEWS, isn't it?
Good day East Orange,
My name is John Thompson Jr., and I am officially declaring my
candidacy for Mayor. I believe with the current state of our
City, we can no long afford to wait for the Democratic Party, as
it is currently stands to solve our problems. East Orange
Deserves Better!
Rising taxes, foreclosures and a bloated budget are a few of the
issues that are destroying our community. The move towards gentrification has
officially begun with the projects outlined
in a recent speech by the mayor. Trust me when I say this move
isn’t good for our community. The buildings going up with
these constructions come as the result of tax exemptions and
abatements. Who do you think gets stuck footing the bill? You and
I, the tax payers!
I believe that we live in a time where government should be ever
more cautious on spending and leery of whom we allow into our
community. Tax exemptions and abatements can be used to lure new
business, but not at the rate at which the current administration
is moving. These tax incentives for new businesses translate into
immediate tax hikes for East Orange residents. These practices
are forcing more hardship on our community, and pushing more
citizens to financial despair. Our government should not be in
the business of making its citizens poor!
In regards to education, our
kids are leaving high school less prepared than ever before. I believe our kids need more than just a basic
education. We need to go above and beyond to make sure our youth
is prepared to enter the real world with the tools to effectively
shape their communities in a positive way. They need to be shown
how they can actually solve some of the problems we face in the
world.
Too many of our teenagers and young adults are often caught up in
the web of the criminal justice system. Having a criminal record
is an unfortunate reality for many young adults and haunts them
for the rest of their lives. I believe that by making changes
within our government and implementing new policies we can create
a better platform to address these issues.
An example of one policy I hope to promote is community
intervention. Instead of taking kids directly to the police
station for a minor offense, we can introduce intervention
sessions with parents, school administration, local church
members and police officers. By moving the venue of these events
outside of the police station, we can have serious discussions as
to why this type of behavior is detrimental without having the
negative psychological effects jail can have on a young
person’s psyche.
Also, we as a community can no longer vote with the same habits!
These voting patterns have only worsened the bad fortunes in our
community. We all bear some responsibility as to how this has all
played out over the years. WE
as a community should vote OUR interest and not because a person
is associated with LINE A of the Democratic Party.
Based on the General Election, the Democratic Party as we know it
is broken. The party has gone so far away from its people it is
difficult to believe in those listed under LINE A. Looking at our community, LINE A has
destroyed it through high taxes, poor schools and decaying
neighborhoods. So continuing to support this line and any
candidate affiliated with them is only going to continue
destroying our community.
We as a community have to start voting our conscience! Today I am
here to assure you that I, John Thompson Jr., will work with the
community to set forth viable solutions that address and repair
community issues that will lead us closer to the goal of
community growth and opportunity and upward mobility. Hopefully
in the process WE the people will give life to New Democratic
leadership; one that follows up and follows through on
commitments made to you. One that is an advocate for the
community they serve and will ensure each person feels included
rather than excluded and neglected. One that is a government of
the people, for the people! East Orange let’s start voting
our conscience and let’s get away from voting our habit.
Our kids deserve better, our taxpayers deserve better and East
Orange Deserves Better.
In an excerpt
from an article written by Chris Sykes and published in The Essex News Daily on March 30, 2017, (John) Thompson said he believes the
coziness between political insiders such as (Bergson) Leneus and
other “Line A Democrats” is part of the reason why East
Orange regularly has fiscal deficits and budget shortfalls. The
only way to change that, he said, is to “vote your
conscience and not your habits.”
“You now have $3,684,634 reasons to do so,” Thompson
said, in a recent letter to the Record-Transcript. “As I
start my journey on finding ways to keep my promise of reducing
taxes for our community, I found a staggering difference between
the 2012 budget and the 2016 budget. Salary increases of $3,684,634. Now to some people, that may not seem
like a lot, but to a community like ours, this matters.
Increasing salaries in the midst of a recession is outright
ethically wrong and narrow-minded.”
“How can a government take advantage of its community when
cost of living continues to rise and taxes keep going up”
Thompson said in his letter. “The City Council salaries went from $49,000
to $67,710 in 2015. This is
all public record, so you can find this information online or you
can ask them when they’re walking around looking for support
for re-election.”
East Orange
Mayoral Candidate John Thompson Challenges Budget Claims
As I start my
journey on finding ways to keep my promise of reducing taxes for
our community, I found a staggering difference between the 2012
budget and the 2016 budget. Salary increases of 3,684,634.00. Now
to some people, that may not seem like a lot, but to a community
like ours, this matters!
Increasing salaries in the midst of a recession is out-right
ethically wrong and narrow-minded. How can a government take
advantage of its community when cost of living continues to rise
and taxes keep going up? The city council salaries went from
$49,000 to $67,710 in 2015. This is all public record, so you can
find this information online or you can ask them when
they’re walking around looking for support for re-election.
The administration mentioned, on more than one occasion, that the
previous administration left a deficit. First, it was stated in 2014 the deficit
was 3.9 million dollars. Then the Mayor stated the deficit was 10
million dollars at the State Of The City speech. Which is it? Regardless of which
information is accurate, financial deficit is an ongoing issue
within our city. One of the best ways to hide information from
the public is through a municipal budget. Trust me; it’s a
lot to look through.
Taxes are created when the municipality hires and gives salary
increases to its employees and then expense falls back onto the
people of the community. In other words, you and I, the
taxpayers, have to “foot the bill” to keep the
government salaries afloat. An article written by Milan Kundera
fully encapsulates our community’s dilemma. She states,
“The struggle of memory against power is the struggle of
memory against forgetting.” We, as a community, cannot afford to forget! We, as a community, cannot afford to
share in contributing to the problem any longer by continuing to
vote for the same individuals that appear to put their own
well-being before ours.
Would you keep rehiring a plumber to fix your pipes if he kept
breaking them? So why do we, as a community, keep re-electing
unethical and selfish politicians? We need to stop making this
mistake every four years. Our habits are hurting the community,
and judging by the $3,684,634.00 salary increase, we now have
proof that this has been taking place throughout the four years.
I, John Thompson Jr., intend to dispel the notion that property
taxes can’t be reduced. A large portion of that money will
be used to push taxes down, along with creating programs for our
youth and seniors and to prevent some of the unfortunate
foreclosures in our community. This will help our community and
help us save ourselves.
My administration will be more fiscally responsible with taxpayer
dollars by giving people within the community more of a voice.
Council shouldn’t be allowed to give themselves a pay
increase without first consulting the public; put your request
for a salary increase up for a vote. New buildings should never
have a green light for construction without approval from the
community; put your request for new buildings up for a vote. The
community is not only unwillingly responsible for paying
$3,684,634.00, but there is another hefty tax increase coming in
the form of abatements which will continue to hurt our community.
East Orange ordinance states that abatements are given with a
term of 5 years. Those new buildings will NOT, I repeat, NOT be
paying taxes, therefore, the community will have to pay for those
services. The community needs to be informed regarding the
allotment of their tax dollars and how long WE are going to be
paying this debt.
Some will argue that the only way to attract new business is in
the form of abatements. I’ll push back on this thinking. I
believe, if we can keep our taxes low and redistribute some of
the money from the $3,684,634.00 that is currently being kept
from the citizens of East Orange, we could attract developers and
negotiate a better plan that will actually contribute to the
city.
Debt-bonding, also known
commonly as taking out loans, to pay for projects like a new golf
course, is not economically a good investment if the city is
going to have a hard time paying that money back. We as a community need to wake up and
stop voting our habits or for a particular party without
understanding what we are voting for on the ballot. Because in
the end, long after these elected officials have moved on, you
and I will be stuck with more financial issues based on their
self-centered, not community-centered, decisions. The Democratic Party, LINE A, has
created noting but myths of opportunities.
East Orange Deserves better, you deserve better. We need to work
together to change the direction of our city otherwise there may
not be a community for any of us to call home.
Remember East Orange, vote
your conscience and not your habits. You now have $3,684,634.00 reasons to do so.
Sincerely,
East Orange Mayoral Candidate
John Thompson Jr.
Statements
emphasized in RED are things I have been saying for years on this
site, only John Thompson says them better. J. Gerrish
04/23/17 Ted Green's "Silent
Running" Campaign
