Routel & Kowal for Readington Township Committee Press Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – May 15, 2026
Contact: readingtonrepublicans.com

IZZO AND RHOADES ACCEPT $15,600 IN DONATIONS FROM PROPOSED AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPER IN
READINGTON TOWNSHIP
Readington, NJ—With the Republican Primary race for Readington Township Committee intensifying, NJ
Election Law Enforcement Commission reports filed on May 5th reveal that Trevor Izzo and Eric
Rhoades's campaign has accepted
$15,600 in donations from Affordable Housing developer Paul Profeta and his executives. Profeta
Senior Director of Real Estate Michael Pelardis, Profeta Chief Financial Officer Steven Coleman and
Paul Profeta himself all donated the maximum legal amount of $5,200 to the Izzo and Rhoades
campaign in March of this year *. Primary voters should also be aware that Profeta, Pelardis and
Coleman are all registered Democrats. **

Izzo and Rhoades are our opponents in the upcoming June 2ⁿᵈ Republican Primary for Readington
Township Committee. The largest portion of Izzo and Rhoades campaign funding, in a Republican
primary, is coming from registered Democrat Affordable Housing developer executives. None live
anywhere near Readington.

Recall the GOP endorsement
The ticket of Izzo and Rhoades was endorsed by the Readington and Hunterdon County GOP Committees.
We are calling for an immediate meeting of these Committees to withdraw the endorsement of Izzo and
Rhoades as they have accepted massive donations from Democrats in a Republican Primary election.

The Pay-to-Play corrupt style of politics that has stained our State government in Trenton for
decades has been ushered into Readington by Izzo and Rhoades with help from their main supporter,
Township Committee member Adam Mueller. Readington has never seen anywhere near this amount of
money flowing into campaigns from outside interests. This is NOT normal. Izzo, Rhoades and Mueller
are blatantly and shamelessly selling Readington to the highest bidder to benefit themselves.

Public Comments from Izzo, Rhoades and Mueller
“Not to consider the Route 202 project is a mistake,” candidate Eric Rhoades said at the March 2ⁿᵈ,
2026 Township Committee meeting.

“I do support the project [to build 1400 apartments at the Profeta farm]”, candidate Trevor Izzo
said at the March 2ⁿᵈ, 2026 Township Committee meeting.

Current Committee member and outspoken supporter of the proposed 1400 unit apartment complex, Adam
Mueller said “the Profeta option was the best choice for us”, May 4ᵗʰ, 2026 Township Committee
meeting.

Routel and Kowal respond
By contrast, the Routel and Kowal campaign is funded 100% by Readington residents.

“Apparently, $15,600 buys you three Readington politicians [Izzo, Rhoades & Mueller] and a bunch of
fancy campaign mailings filled with their lies”, Routel and Kowal said. “Adam likes to claim
Democrats are the problem, but he has no issue in soliciting and accepting their donations for
himself and his candidates to fill their campaign coffers”, Routel and Kowal stated.

“To be clear, this is blatant corruption from the Izzo and Rhoades campaign. This is a small-town
election that is being clouded with big dollar donations, smoke-filled-back-room deals and outright
lies about Jon and myself”, said Routel.

“My farm was preserved decades ago. I had no interest in seeing it turn into a housing development.
I have a stake in several small local businesses in Readington. We sell Christmas trees and
operate a small bakery out of our barn on the farm. Plus, the local Rita’s Italian Ice shop in town
is owned by our family. The games our opponents are playing are dangerous and not in the best
interests of our community. Readington voters are smart enough to see through this effort by Izzo
and Rhoades to line their pockets with developer cash. Our future depends on it,” said Kowal.

Izzo, Rhoades and Mueller proposed Profeta development details
The developer, Paul Profeta and Associates, is seeking to build a 1400-unit apartment complex on a
350+ acre farm tract on Route 202 South, between Pleasant Run and Summer Road, in Readington as
part of the Affordable Housing mandate. Profeta has a history of real estate transactions and
developments totaling hundreds of millions of dollars in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Profeta has
rejected efforts to preserve this farm. Profeta has now found three people willing to help him
develop his property for maximum financial gain. This project is estimated to be valued at over
$400 million. Zoning changes will be needed to achieve this vision and Izzo, Rhoades and Mueller
will support those changes.

This project would meet less than 60% of Readington’s current Affordable Housing mandate. There is
no commitment from the developer to build all of the market rate units as only available to 55
years of age and older. Any discussion about access only on Route 202 is not going to be decided by
the developer or Readington but, rather, by the NJ Department of Transportation.

This project would generate 300,000 to 400,000 gallons of wastewater every day and, with no sewer
system available in the area, would require on-site disposal of all of it into the ground. There is
no development in New Jersey that disposes of that much sewage into the ground every day. The
majority of Readington residents rely on well water as their water source for their homes and
depend on clean groundwater.

*See attached NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission report for the Izzo and Rhoades campaign dated
May 4ᵗʰ, 2026, pages 4 & 6 detail the Profeta donations)

**(Party registration information via voterrecords.com)