Dear Mayor Armstead,On behalf of Linden’s taxpayers, I’d like to first express my appreciation towards the City Attorney’s expeditious and correct decision that the town hall meeting planned to be held in the City Council Chambers was, in fact, a carefully orchestrated rally for your re-election campaign. As such, it would have been an inappropriate use of taxpayer funded resources for your personal campaign use. I know the work of distributing flyers and building a crowd for this event may have been arduous, and the slight sting of embarrassment you may feel upon notifying those supporters the change in plans might seem tough, but we must remember that government resources are for the publics use – not singularly those of political privilege.

I am happy to provide the answers to your questions regarding my employment. And may I say, I am excited you wish to engage in a public dialogue concerning how taxpayer resources are best utilized. To answer in order:

1. I interviewed for my current position at the County of Union back in February. At the time, there was no campaign to manage because no candidates (other than yourself) had declared. Once I was told Councilwoman Hickey would be running to finally restore some fiscal and ethical sanity back to my hometown, I felt compelled to assist in any way possible.

2. Yes, I did submit a written request for unpaid leave of absence for personal reasons to the County of Union’s Office of Personnel Management. Any official documentation can be procured through the Open Public Records Act by clicking this link: ucnj.org/departments/clerk-of-the-board/opra/ and following the simple instructions.

3. See my answer to #2. I have also elected to not take health benefits, and upon returning to my job once we elect Councilwoman Hickey as our new Mayor, I will continue to not take health benefits.

4. See my answer to #2.

5. See my answer to #2.

6. This is my favorite question you asked, because at its heart lies the fundamental reason why we’re campaigning to hire a full-time professional to manage the city, as opposed to keeping politicians such as yourself in a position of influence to encourage questionable hiring practices. The County of Union is run professionally and with ironclad standards when it comes to hiring process. Gretchen Hickey’s landslide victory last June over your supported candidate may continue to irk you personally, but it had no bearing that I am aware of in my hiring process nor did it ever come up in the interview. Additionally, as I said in answer #1, I interviewed for this job back in February prior to any campaign materializing in Linden.

I sincerely commend you on the personal growth you’ve demonstrated by this sudden and refreshing embrace for openness.  I hope you will continue by answering some of our recent questions aimed at protecting Linden’s taxpayers:

1. Now that your own lawyer has forced you to cancel your thinly-veiled campaign rally on the basis it would be an inappropriate use of taxpayer resources, we request that you release to the public all communications between yourself, elected officials, city personnel, and any outside vendor that may have taken place in relation to the planning, advertising, and subsequent cancellation for the Team Armstead campaign rally scheduled for Thursday, May 10th at City Hall.

2. Please explain the source of the $32,000 of unreported donations which currently sit in your election fund. As you know, the ELEC-mandated reports containing this information were never filed by your campaign. The public has a right to know this information.

3. Please release all expense reports as well as receipts for gasoline and toll fairs you have accrued since acquiring a $70,000 luxury SUV through the police department for your use.

I look forward to a speedy reply to these appropriate and simple questions. As we build upon this ongoing discussion of the importance of accountability and integrity in government, please feel free to contact me at any time.

Sincerely,

Ryan M Vasquez
Campaign Manager