At tonight’s meeting, I stated the following,
The same week that Mr. Miller and Mr. Vara gave themselves
all “A’s” and stated how great things are, Mr. Licata was saying something different
as he was applying for $226,625 in Bergen County block grants for the "Club". He put the following on his grant
application and the Lodi mayor and council endorsed it just last week:
“Performance
in High School: Students’ performance in
Lodi High School shows that many young people need mentors to help them reach
their potential. The school met none of the six college and
career readiness factors; in 2012-13, only 51.8% of students went on to
four years colleges. Students who are
black or Hispanic have an even more difficult time succeeding at the school;
while 90% of white students graduated, only 60% of Black and 81% of Hispanic
students did so.”
I told the Board that they can’t have it both
ways. If they put in a flier that Lodi
now has a 94% graduation rate, Licata can’t put something else on a grant
application in order to get $226,625.
Joe Licata got snippy.
He wouldn’t answer nor allow anyone else to comment. He didn’t want to admit to fraud in his
application so he blamed a grant writer. His signature is on the grant
application.
So
I continued: many know at this point that you are moving to North Haledon. When will you be resigning?
Licata went full meltdown. He screamed that everyone knows that he is moving to North Haledon because of my
website. He pulled a Jamie Ciofalo and
said that I stalk him.
I told him that he should be removed from the Board
and there should be four open seats in two weeks. I said the $7.5 million administration
building was so important to him that he is skipping town. He shouldn’t be making decisions for people in
Lodi when everyone knows he won’t live in Lodi.
Licata yelled that he was elected three times and
asked how many times I lost.
I told him that he just lost two ethics decisions and
he should be removed.
He asked why I resigned from Elmwood Park years ago.
I told him to call Elmwood Park. I received glowing reviews when I decided to
leave there and work somewhere else.
I told him that I’m not the one with ethics violations
moving forward.
Afterwards, Licata really embarrassed himself. He handed me a wad of fake $100 bills with his picture on them and
said it was for my campaign. This is what he handed me:
Maybe he isn't aware that I don't accept dirty contributions, bribes, or kickbacks.
