Preserve Ramapo, is getting an early jump on the election for Ramapo Town Supervisor by attacking Republican nominee Michael A. Koplen on the subject of the proposed New Square slaughterhouse.
For years, Preserve Ramapo, a grass roots organization in Ramapo which many consider to be anti semitic, has harshly criticized the current Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, a controversial politician who is now under the cloud of an FBI investigation.
PR has now turned their guns against Mike Koplen by deliberately misquoting him and trying to tie him to the proposed New Square slaughterhouse. PR is hoping to split the Jewish vote in November, paving way for a Preserve Ramapo victory at the polls.
On June 17, 2013, The Rockland Journal News ran an article about the slaughterhouse in which Koplen was quoted as saying that if he "wants to take a rational , not an emotional approach" to the slaughterhouse proposal. He stated that many studies are needed. If the slaughterhouse could be constructed in such a way that it did not have any negative impact on neighbors, then no one would have a problem with it, but that if it did impact residents by causing odors or other problems, then it would not be welcome, even by the residents of New Square.
Preserve Ramapo's Chairman Robert I. Rhodes, immediatley attacked Koplen on the comments page ( http://www.lohud.com/comments/article/20130617/NEWS03/306170054/Plan-returns-smaller-New-Square-poultry-plant on Lohud.com), seeking to tie Koplen to the slaughterhouse. For years, Preserve Ramapo, a grass roots organization in Ramapo which many consider to be anti semitic, has harshly criticized the current Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence, a controversial politician who is now under the cloud of an FBI investigation.
PR has now turned their guns against Mike Koplen by deliberately misquoting him and trying to tie him to the proposed New Square slaughterhouse. PR is hoping to split the Jewish vote in November, paving way for a Preserve Ramapo victory at the polls.
On June 17, 2013, The Rockland Journal News ran an article about the slaughterhouse in which Koplen was quoted as saying that if he "wants to take a rational , not an emotional approach" to the slaughterhouse proposal. He stated that many studies are needed. If the slaughterhouse could be constructed in such a way that it did not have any negative impact on neighbors, then no one would have a problem with it, but that if it did impact residents by causing odors or other problems, then it would not be welcome, even by the residents of New Square.
Preserve Ramapo then attacked Koplen in an article on their website on June 18 featuring a picture of chicken hanging upside down over walls soaked in blood, which clearly misquotes Koplen. In the story headline, PR claims that Koplen said the slaughtherhouse is "workable", something Koplen never said, and then sarcastically attacks him in the articlehttp://www.preserveramapo.org//
PR strategy is clearly to try to split the Jewish vote in the upcoming election, paving a way for a Preserve Ramapo victory at the polls.
A PR Town Supervisor, which would be a disaster for all Orthodox Jews in Ramapo. Preserve Ramapo candidates have lost to St. Lawrence in each and every election. They represent the old guard of Ramapo which has always sought to prevent Orthodox Jews from having shuls and schools.
With St.Lawrence badly damaged by corruption allegations, Koplen, is seen as a very attractive alternative to both the current Supervisor, who won't be able to help anyone if he is behind bars, and the anti semtiic Preserve Ramapo. So PR is turning its guns on Koplen.
