Tauber: Employer was donor, not me

I am writing in response to an Aug. 15 letter to the editor, "Land-use policies a folly in Ramapo."

The author, Ed Kobus, is wrong when he says that I am the "second-largest campaign donor" to Christopher St. Lawrence's most recent re-election campaign.

The donation to which he is referring came from Monsey Route 59 Associates. While I do serve as the property manager for their shopping center development at the intersection of Routes 306 and 59 in Monsey, it is a different individual, and not myself, who makes decisions regarding contribution decisions. I did not make this contribution, nor did I decide that it would be made.

Nonetheless, it is part of the American tradition for individuals to provide financial support to political candidates. Campaign contributions are part of our constitutional right of free speech, and ingrained and protected in our society. No one individual or group should be held to a different standard than would be applied to others in the community.

I believe that these allegations against me, which were first made by Preserve Ramapo on their Web site (www.preserveramapo.org), is nothing but a ploy to smear my reputation in an attempt to sway public opinion on proposed development plans for the Rabbinical College of Tartikov. These sideshow tactics are unfortunate.

There is no connection between Ramapo Town Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and the college, proposed for land in the Village of Pomona. It is wrong for Preserve Ramapo and their supporters to misrepresent these facts.

Michael Tauber
Monsey
The writer is the developer for the planned Rabbinical College of Tartikov.

Read Follow the Money Part Two which explains this contribution in more detail.

Follow the Money Part One covers a large donation from Sterns and Wheler that involves what we believe is a serious conflict of interest for the engineering firm.