Fred...These Are Legitimate Questions...Would Appreciate An Answer

Fred,

About those questions from Denniss, I think they are all very legitimate and they do deserve an answer on MOL. Just the facts would be great. Regardless of where one is on the Post Office issue, everyone in town has the right to know the details of the organization that has filed suit against Maplewood.

1) Who constitute the board of VK?

2) Who has contributed money to VK, and how much?

3) Under what section of law was VK formed as a not for profit corporation?

TIA.

@fredprofeta

http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/village-keepers-maplewood-mayor-odds-post-office-development/

Regarding questions that Village Keepers could be a front for funneling money to Greg Lembrich’s campaign for TC (Profeta is co-chair of the campaign with former Committeeman David Huemer), Olin said, “That is categorically untrue. On the street that would be called a lie. In a court of law, I believe the term of art would be slander. I hope that whoever said that would not be foolish enough to attach their names to it.”
Olin added, “As a private citizen I support Greg’s candidacy, but these are two separate issues. Our goals are our goals, whether or not Greg is on the TC.” He also noted that “as a nonprofit, our finances are going to be completely public and transparent.”

sbenois said:
Fred,
About those questions from Denniss, I think they are all very legitimate and they do deserve an answer on MOL. Just the facts would be great. Regardless of where one is on the Post Office issue, everyone in town has the right to know the details of the organization that has filed suit against Maplewood.
1) Who constitute the board of VK?
2) Who has contributed money to VK, and how much?
3) Under what section of law was VK formed as a not for profit corporation?


TIA.


@fredprofeta

@sbenois, thanks for your support. I know I got wound up a bit, but this is important info that will help ALL of us understand others' posiitons better.

Go Yankees.

Why doesn't someone ask Dirk who is the chair of VK? His email address is provided in the VG article.

In Mr. Strup's article Mr. Olin is named as Chairperson for the Village Keepers. Note the article is dated 10

weeks ago.

http://joestrupp.blogspot.com/2015/04/post-office-plan-opponents-launch-lawn.html

It also has Fred saying that if someone tells him they want a sign he will "pass that on to Dirk and his group", seeming to indicate that there is a group, not just one person, and that Fred is not part of that group.

Well of course there is a group. Do you think this has been a one man show? I know damn well they are not a secret cabal........Like Engage they have no passwords, or secret handshakes and

do not meet in the dark of the night in sound proof rooms to avoid detection.

What is role is with or without the group is for Mr. Profetta to explain or not explain.

I can almost hear the words coming down through history "Are you know or have you ever been a member of....................fill in the blank..

Oh stop! To form a not-for-profit corporation you need only three people to be incorporators. We do not know who the other two besides Dirk Olin are but it's easy enough to find out.

It's not the point denniss or sbenois are making. Village Keepers Inc is the plaintiff in a law suit. The founder, Mr. Olin, said it would be transparent in its operations. As far as I can tell he has absolutely no legal obligation to tell anyone anything. It is Mr. Profeta who implies that it is a large group.

So it is he, not Dirk Olin, who is being asked these questions. Never mind "Are you now or have you ever been...". It's more along the lines of "What did Fred Profeta know and when did he know it?"

Would it be possible to not turn this thread into just another bitch festival?

Please just let Fred answer the questions.

My post was missing a comma. I know Dirk is the chair...

ETA: which means he knows the answers to these questions probably better than anyone else...

author said:
In Mr. Strup's article Mr. Olin is named as Chairperson for the Village Keepers. Note the article is dated 10
weeks ago.

http://joestrupp.blogspot.com/2015/04/post-office-plan-opponents-launch-lawn.html

It's clear at this point that Fred is not going to answer these basic queries. The question now becomes: why not? Is there something Village Keepers aretrying to hide?

sbenois said:
Would it be possible to not turn this thread into just another bitch festival?


Please just let Fred answer the questions.

Questions one and two would be more germane if they specified "at the time the lawsuit was filed."

Given that a) Dirk has written that "our finances are going to be completely public and transparent" and that, b) I assume not all (and I'd hope the vast minority) wish to remain anonymous, I don't see the issue with Dirk (or whomever at VK) answering.

I hope he answers your questions but he claimed to be going on an MOL "vacation" an hour after you posted this.

Sorry for the delay S. You, of course, always deserve an answer, no matter what the venue. But events of the weekend have slowed me down.

Only Dirk Olin, Chair of Village Keepers, has authority to disclose exact corporate information. I am not a member of the board, but I am authorized to state here that Dirk will be presenting answers to your questions in a Village Green piece. I think that he has no intention of posting anything on MOL.

I think that the board totals about 6 or 7 persons at the moment. Dirk will identify these people. Revenue is probably in the area of $6,000, all from donors. Signs have cost in excess of $1,500. I don't have the appropriate statutory citation available at the moment, but VK was incorporated under that section of NJ law which allows the formation of a non-profit corporation upon payment of the necessary fee and the filing of a certificate of incorporation. The certificate must state a non-profit mission, identify the members of the board, and name the Chair. Bylaws are not necessary to commence operation, and they must be approved by the board. A NJ non-profit is not the same as a Federal 501c3 corporation, which is a non-profit formed under the laws of any state which agrees to certain activity restrictions. This agreement allows donations to be tax deductible. Village Keepers has not applied for this status. But its non-profit status allows it to be exempt from income taxes.

Was there a corporate resolution passed authorizing the litigation?

Thanks Fred. And Happy 50th Anniversary. I'm glad your priorities are straight.

I think we are all looking forward to Dirk's answers and knowing Dirk I am sure that his piece will be very candid and to the point.

Thank you Fred.

Thank you S, and you are welcome denniss.

at the moment

Presumably Dirk will specify the names at the time of filing the lawsuit.

Edited to change "clarify" to "specify"

yes, presumably Dirk will answer the first two of the three questions, which still remain unanswered.

Fred,

While you're here, what is your relationship to Village Keepers Inc.?

Thanks.

paulsurovell said:
Fred,
While you're here, what is your relationship to Village Keepers Inc.?
Thanks.

Found the answer to my question:

http://villagegreennj.com/towns/government/village-keepers-maplewood-mayor-odds-post-office-development/

Fred is adviser to Village Keepers.

Interesting quote in the article by Vic De Luca:

“This has been a transparent process for more than three years. More community and public meetings have been held for this project than any other recent development in town. I wish the leaders of the Village Keepers were more engaged earlier but they weren’t. I don’t remember seeing Mr. Olin at any of those many meetings. And when Mr. Profeta was on the Township Committee he voted for every decision that has gotten us to this point – rehabilitation designation, consultant hiring, Master Plan approval. He voted for all of it before he opposed it.”

He was for it before he was against it? Maybe it is a virus. Chris Christie used to be for a number of things (e.g. Common Core) but has recently come out against them.

It's just a happy coincidence that there was an ohno60 parade to get in front of at the same time there was going to be a vacant seat on the TC.

mapleman said:
It's just a happy coincidence that there was an ohno60 parade to get in front of at the same time there was going to be a vacant seat on the TC.

Are you implying political opportunism?

Heaven forfend

mapleman said:
Heaven forfend

Thank you. I would think our town is above that sort of thing.

It would be reprehensible.