
January 17,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ , A resident who recently spoke out at a Village Council meeting in opposition to a plan being promoted by the “Council majority” reported to me that within a few days of making those comments, a Village of Ridgewood employee visited his/her home, conducted an unannounced property maintenance inspection, and issued a summons to the resident.
Wondering if the timing of the inspection was in any way related to the comments he/she made at the recent Village Council meeting, or just a coincidence, the resident informally checked with several other people who had publicly voiced opposition to a “Council majority” plan and found, surprisingly, that a few others had also recently received summonses for property maintenance related issues.
The staff of The Ridgewood Blog wonders how many of you out there received a summons in connection with a property maintenance related issue shortly after speaking at a Village Council meeting?
We’d love to hear from you with as many specifics as you’d care to share.
There are no coincidence, when it comes to the 3 Amigos and Roberta. Look for more of this kind of incidents.
You mess with the bull you get the horn .
Is that legal? an unannounced property inspection?
I do not know if i can buy into this story without some proof.
That if corelated is a big problem that needs every citizens attention.
Back in the USSR
I’m waiting for proof……..or this post can go poof…….just sayin!
It has been well documented on this blog that the 3 amigos and their cronies have been targeting merchants and advertisers including an attempt to interfere with an election with the Mike Sendon incident it is what it is
Does someone need to complain to trigger a property inspection?
I would not let them in my home.
9:46. Absolutely. targeting citizens bc they exercised free speech with an opposing viewpoint from the majority?
Why are there no investigations of these crimes?
,Like the man said if this is “true” then why no investigation?
This is a serious charge. But, the devil’s in the details to establish any pattern as well as what kind of violations were ticketed for, as in nuisance things.
An EXCEL Sheet corrolating public comment dates to VOR unannounced property inspections dates WOULD Proove eithet illegal harassment or exonerate the allegations . Where their is smoke there can be Fire. Or cooincidence. Public Audit needed by Third party on confidential Basis at least during Fact Finding .This is very serious matter before Elections
This is serious. In a recent Facebook comment the village manager mentioned that she did not want to issue leaf summons but she had to issue them because neighbors were reporting against neighbors. Seriously, can anyone believe that more than 600 Ridgewood residents would report a neighbor for leaves? Very difficult to trust these four. Everything they say needs to be investigated before assuming it’s true.
Anon at 11:59am-
I believe that a lot of residents would and did report their neighbors. Not 600 people but enough to be “significant”. Putting out leaves outside of the collection period can be a hazard. Takes up street parking spots. Often covers up the sidewalk too. I’m glad they issued all the fines. Hopefully people will start following the rules and be better neighbors.
James at 11:07am-
It has been “reported” on this blog for sure, but “documented”? Did you ever publish “documentation” on who contacted the town about sedon’s reporting job? Or “documentation” of interference? Most of the allegations I’ve seen you publish have been anonymously sourced, correct? Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong by pointing me to posts with sourced documentation.
John you talking about old news , its well documented ,and to some degree helped with Sendon LANDSLIDE win !
I have never heard of anyone’s receiving an unannounced “property inspection.” Other than observing leaves in the street, which does not involve entering private property, I can’t imagine what that means. Will watch this space for developments and details.
I agree w John V.. driving was not as crazy as previous years navigating streets with piles of leaves narrowing streets to the point of being barely passable…. in terms of people suggesting a vendetta on inspections, that is a slippery slope that can lead to complaint issues such as slander, which can be legal, messy and expensive…
John V your wrong. Your Village Manager hire a new Code Enforcement Office to ride around and issue tickets. Don’t try to put it on neighbors vs neighbor. Maybe where you came from that the way it happens. Now that the leaves are gone the newly hired Code Enforcement has to find something else to justify the job Roberta gave her.
James,
Where is it well documented that members of the VC have been interfering with merchants and advertisers? Which specific posts with specific documentation? Again, I have no problem being wrong on this, but I’ve only seen anonymous sourcing on this blog in the past. Have you posted anything with non-anonymous sourcing or anything with “physical” evidence?
John give it up , thats the whole point of the anonymous posting and sourcing and has been the case since the blog was founded .Its also a well practiced trick employed by many New Jersey politicians to for a very long time to cut down the competition
Well James I guess John V has switch from defending the garage to leaves.
If somebody knocks on your door with the permit inspection hammers swinging within a month of a public comment including that homeowners Name recording at a meeting…doesn’t take much imagination to connect the pieces and possible motives here…for goodness sake Rwood take back your Town…
James at 1:06pm-
Okay, thanks for conceding my point then. I guess it is fair to conclude then that you’ve only documented anonymous complaints and allegations. That’s fine. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire most likely, I get that. Honestly, I’m just trying to personally calibrate my belief in the allegations. My personal take: There likely has been some unethical behavior by “amigos”, including attempts to “influence” folks in town. But it’s probably not the overarching conspiracy alleged on this blog and elsewhere, where bad motives, intentions, and ethics are interpreted in every statement and action.
Again, I’m happy to change my belief on this with more hard evidence.
John please do your homework! , Mike Sendons complaint was very public and very well documented along with several others including but not limited to this blog and its advertisers . You are making a fool out of your self playing the dumb dumb card , you need to start reading the last 6 years worth of blog entries .
Anonymous at 1pm-
Good point re: new code enforcement officer. I was unaware of that.
So perhaps new visits for property violations are just a coincidence based on season?
As someone who walks around town and into downtown in all 4 seasons, I’d be very happy to see better code enforcement. There are a lot of sidewalks in need of repair. Lots of folks don’t shovel their sidewalk regularly or sufficiently after it snows. People leave their Christmas trees and leaves in the middle of the sidewalk. When you walk pushing a stroller during all four seasons, these “code violations” can be a pretty big deal!
Anonymous at 1:03pm-
I try to defend facts and the truth. I don’t like how often people on this blog assume the worst and stretch the facts to fit their pre-existing narratives. I don’t like how often people on “my side” of an issue do that either.
James and I once got into a debate on this blog over what was more likely to be true: Bigfoot or Climate Change.
Enough said???
once again please put Mike Sendon in the search bar he is an easy one , you have also had this issue in Ridgewood sports were coaches bosses were contacted at their place of employment ,try Ridgewood Soccer, sticking up for scumbags will not win you a lot of friends in Ridgewood
James at 1:24pm-
Okay here’s a post from this blog: https://theridgewoodblog.net/reader-says-the-deafening-silence-on-the-mike-sedon-email-is-very-telling-that-little-breach-of-civility-had-real-consequences/
Do we have an IP address that indicates it was someone from the town or council emailing Sedon’s employer? Or a “source” saying it was such a person? Is it too much to ask for a quick recap of the facts that lead you to believe the mayor or others in town sent this email? Point me to the evidence and I’m happy to shut up!
contact the Ridgewood police they will gladly fill you in, BTW there 100’s of post on Mike Sendon
James at 1:35pm-
And which one of those hundreds of posts have the specific evidence that it was a village council member or town employee that contacted sedon’s employer about him running for council? I’ve read at least a few dozen of your Sedon posts. I’ve been reading every post and have been subscribed for this blog for about two years. All I’ve seen is a “call for an investigation”. I don’t recall seeing any “hard evidence”. If I missed something, just send me the link.
Thanks for soccer references. I will look those up.
I think we all
know our government needs improvement.
This whole matter goes back to yet another ill-conceived comment made by a man that wants to be our next Mayor. Regardless of whether there’s any correlation to surprise inspections and summons’ to Mr. Pucciarelli’s very public threat, one has to question the man’s judgement for making the comment in the first place. This is not the first time Mr. Pucciarelli has spoken before thinking.
What was the surprise inspection! Something visible from the outside? Did the homeowner let the village rep into the home? I would not let them in.
John V, have you attended any council meetings? Or have you watched any council meetings from home? If yes, how many?
Much more info is needed, before anyone marches on village hall with pitchforks in hand.
just wait lol
Anon at 6:31pm-
I haven’t attended any in person, but have watched maybe a half dozen. Why do you ask?
I know of several individuals who feel they have been targeted by the village after making complaints. At the time, I told them to contact the village manager. I thought that was the way to go. Most peoplle feel too uncomfortable expressing their concerns at a public meeting. I now feel that is the only way to go. My own personal experience occurred two years ago. I had sent a letter to the Ridgewood News. I had forwarded a copy to the council. At a council meeting, I was approached by the mayor and he asked me to pull it. I said I couldn’t because it was past the deadline and I was under the impression they were printing it. It was not an imflammatory letter. It was not printed and I later found out through many sources that the mayor had gone to the paper and intervened. The mayor had implied that I had gotten it all wrong but later admitted that he had. I think at best , the actions taken by the mayor and subsequent cover up was problematic. Many people believe that the email to Mike Sedon’s place of employmnpent did come from the village as it was sent immediately after his petition was handed in at that location. I hope it wasn’t so but it seems like a familiar pattern.
Anonymous email sent to Ridgewood Council candidate’s employer
March 28, 2014 Last updated: Friday, March 28, 2014, 12:32 AM
By Darius Amos
STAFF WRITER |
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Anonymous email sent to candidate’s employer
An anonymous email reportedly sent earlier this month to the editor of a New York newspaper suggested Ridgewood resident Michael Sedon, if he campaigned for and was elected to the Village Council this spring, would inherit civic responsibilities that might interfere with his employment duties as a staff reporter.
Sedon, 34, successfully filed his candidate petition forms and was officially added to Ridgewood’s ballot March 12. Two days later, he submitted to his supervisors at the Staten Island Advance a letter of resignation, effective March 28.
Speaking openly this week about his campaign and employment at the daily newspaper, Sedon said he received from the Village of Ridgewood on March 6 a certified letter stating he is a viable council candidate. Prior to that point, Sedon did not inform anyone on the Advance staff of his intentions to seek public office.
“I wanted to wait until I received the official word from the village, and that letter made it official,” he said, adding that he intended to inform his desk editors Friday, March 7.
When Sedon reported to work March 7, his immediate editors informed him that Brian Laline, Advance editor in chief, had previously received an anonymous email essentially saying the job of a news reporter conflicted with the candidacy for a publicly elected office, Sedon said. According to Sedon, his editors explained the potential conflict of interest and gave him “an ultimatum” — either drop out of the Ridgewood Council race or step down from the newspaper.
Editors asked for his decision by Tuesday, March 11, at which time Sedon said he would not withdraw his name from the Ridgewood ballot. At the same time, Sedon requested a copy of the anonymous email that Laline had received.
Sedon said he met again with his editors on Friday, March 14. During the meeting, Sedon said he was told that the legal department at the Advance reviewed the case and ruled that a conflict did not exist.
“They said that there would be a perception issue because people might view you differently if you’re an elected official and you’re reporting,” he said. “At that point … I told them that I could handle that for them and I handed in my resignation.”
Despite appeals for the anonymous message, Sedon said on Wednesday that he has yet to obtain the email. He said he filed a report about the email with the Ridgewood Police Department, which accepted the complaint; however, village authorities told Sedon that they might not have jurisdiction over the matter.
Ridgewood police officials said the case will be handed to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, but the department intends to cooperate with any investigation, according to Chief John Ward.
When reached Wednesday night, Laline said he will not comment on any of the particulars regarding Sedon’s departure from the Advance staff. He also did not respond to The Ridgewood News’ request for a copy of the anonymous email.
Sedon, who worked at The Ridgewood News from 2007 to 2011, said he hopes to work with the election commission to determine who sent the anonymous email.
“I’ll see what the commission has to say, whether it’s just a dirty political trick and that’s OK or if there’s criminality involved. I’ll let the experts handle that and I’ll focus on other election issues,” he said.
Sedon would not speculate on the identity of the sender, but he noted that he received the certified letter from the village on March 6 while the anonymous email was received by Laline on or before March 7.
“The information about who was running wasn’t made public” until The Ridgewood News published the candidates’ names late Monday, March 10, he said. “This all happened prior to that, so [the email sender] had to be someone who knew me, had to be someone who knew where I worked and someone who knew that I was close to being certified or certified.”
“And they had to be savvy enough to notify the top editor of the newspaper with a personal, private message,” he added.
Email: amos@northjersey.com
Ridgewood May Investigate Emails Sent to Village Council Candidate’s Job
The anonymous emails suggested running for a seat on the council was a conflict of interest for one candidate, report says.
Ridgewood-Glen Rock, NJ
By Jessica Mazzola (Patch Staff) April 12, 2014 5:10 am ET
ShareTweetGoogle PlusRedditEmailComments31
Ridgewood May Investigate Emails Sent to Village Council Candidate’s Job
Residents are calling for Ridgewood to investigate anonymous emails that caused a village council candidate to quit his job, NorthJersey.com reported.
According to the report, several people have asked the council to look into the emails, which were sent last month to the Staten Island Advance, where candidate Michael Sedon works.
The emails reportedly suggested that there was a conflict of interest if Sedon continued to work as a reporter there and run for a seat on the council. Even though the paper’s legal team determined there was no conflict, Sedon tendered his resignation, the report said.
More from Ridgewood-Glen Rock Patch
Sedon has filed reports with the Ridgewood PD and the state Election Law Enforcement Commission to look into the emails, the report said.
When several residents suggested the council allocate funds to look into it as well, village officials said they are unsure how they could investigate, but are looking into possibilities, it said.
Sedon, James Albano, and Susan Knudsen are running for two seats on the council in next month’s election.
John V – You clearly are just arguing for argument’s sake. The Mike Sedon affair is clearly documented and for you to raise your ignorant eyebrows about it is just ridiculous. Read The Record. Read The Villadom Times. Read The Ridgewood News. Educate yourself about what happened before you suggest this is all the product of anonymous bloggers.
Agree with you 7:55. See John V if you had lived here for the entire time that the 3 Amigos have been on council maybe you could see them for what they really are . Just watching 6 council meeting doses not give you the full picture of what these three are capable of. There has been a lot of history with these 3.
Another carpetbagger
James and fellow posters you should ignore John V posting. his posting are being done to invoke your responses . He is toying with you. Maybe it away for him to get his cookies off.
James and fellow poster. You should ignore John V posting. It is only done to stimulate you to post back. He is toying with you to get a response. Some people get their cookies off that way
7:19pm-
Thanks for your story. That definitely seems like an inappropriate way for a politician to influence the press! And thank you for being relatively specific with details. A lot of the stories shared here have lacked such specificity, thus my general skepticism. But yours doesn’t. Thanks.
Anon at 7:37 and 7:57-
Thanks for sharing those stories. I appreciate it. In summary, it seems that the timing between sedon getting certified and the email to his employer is the most suspicious aspect? That certainly would imply someone “in the know” may have sent the email. Other alternatives beyond the VC or town staff: any of the people who signed his candidate petition or had heard he might be running. That doesn’t explain timing of course. Too bad email never shared!
Side note: I’m actually kind of surprised this story got such traction! Wouldn’t sedon have had to resign anyway no matter what? Surely his employer would have found out eventually? At worst, seems like a “dirty trick”. Unethical for sure and kind of a “dick move”!
6:52 John V, because you only speak based on reading the documents released by the three council members and their spokeswoman. That’s marketing material. Created to convince you. Not always a lie, but stretched as much as allowed by the law and obfuscated / hidden as much as allowed by the law. If you start watching the council meetings and see for yourself how the avoid real questions or what their facial expressions are when their ‘truth’ is questioned.. you will understand the facts. They are good at paying money (OUR MONEY) to outside consultants to prove their points, but it doesn’t always make sense logically.
7:55pm-
Definitely not arguing for arguments sake! Those who read my comments on parking and other issues have seen how much I care about pointing to the relevant facts, even quoting and linking to the sources. Not enough people do the same.
James and others have presented the sedon email issue as a “documented fact”. From the evidence I’ve seen, the source of the email being from the “amigos” is a “likely supposition”. The distinction matters to me. It might not matter to to you, but It should. Words matter. Definitions matter. “The truth” matters.
Where in those sources you cite is “proof” on the sender of the email? I read all those sources quite regularly. I read this blog. I’ve googled and read plenty of articles on this topic.
If you knew me, the last word you would ever use to describe me is “ignorant”. A touch pedantic and argumentative, but not ignorant!
If I’ve missed a specific set of source(s) with a specific set of facts that indicates who sent the email, just post the link(s) here. Is that so hard?
8:12pm-
Agree that I have a limited picture being relatively new to town. My opinion is definitely not very positive of the “three amigos”. Albert P seems to have a particularly terrible demeanor and way of treating people. The exact opposite of what I value.
But I would be much more easily convinced (and so would others in town) if you all would just cite specific facts and examples more readily! Enough with the innuendo and assumed intentions and motives…
8:47pm-
Agreed that you need to “read between the lines” rather than taking such reports at face value. If I’ve given the impression that I take such reports at face value, I apologize. I try to read with a critical eye. But I do admit to reading and citing such reports! Others I’ve seen here just reject them out of hand if they don’t fit with pre-existing narratives.
Agreed on the importance of in-person observation. My impressions of Hauck and pucciarelli not so positive frankly given my relatively limited viewing of council meetings. The mayor seems to be slightly better/smarter at politics at least and “looking good”?
Again, I cite studies and reports b/c they are available and often have relevant facts. I would be happy to be influenced by other data and other points. Just include the links!
8:34pm-
Trust me, I get my cookies off from actual cookies! And ice cream too for that matter. I am definitely not a troll or trying to troll anyone. I simply have high standards for facts and truth and don’t typically shut up until I get the answers to questions I’ve asked.
So in all seriousness, I literally just wanted someone to post a link to the sedon email evidence that points to someone on the village council being the source. Thank you to those who did. The closest evidence seems to be the time between certification and the email. I don’t think it would hold up “beyond a reasonable doubt”, but it is certainly suspicious…
If you have followed their antic from the time they were elected till now and then apply the bleow test you will then know why they are not like on this blog.
Totality of the Circumstances Test
Definition
A standard that considers all of the relevant facts and circumstances, rather than a few specific factors.
I am with John V. on this one.
It looks like someone on the council or from village hall sent the email. In reality no one has been held accountable and no one has owned up to the act.