UPPER SADDLE RIVER MAYORAL CANDIDATE QUESTIONS MAYOR’S USE OF SWIFT911 EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

UPPER SADDLE RIVER NJ , Upper Saddle River residents who subscribe to the Borough’s Swift911 emergency notification system received a blast email Monday at 1:19 pm alerting them not to an urgent immediate situation in town but rather a message from Mayor Joanne Minichetti trying to explain away her failed leadership.

The email discussed questions posed at the September mayor and council meeting by Democratic mayoral candidate Marshall Grupp and other concerned citizens regarding the Borough’s annual audit and its findings. While addressing the Borough’s troubled finances may be urgent for Minichetti’s re-election campaign, it does not constitute an actual life-threatening emergency. Use of the service for this purpose rings more like an ethical violation as well as an example of questionable judgment.

Marshall Grupp is the Democratic candidate for USR Mayor issued the following statement:

“In Joanne Minichetti’s Upper Saddle River there is a very blurry line between government and politics. Everyone knows the two must be separated by law. The simple fact is that Mayor Minichetti cannot direct the borough to use the Swift911 system as her personal political blast email system. I want to know who authorized the use of this system for the message, when was it approved, copies of all discussions regarding it and ultimately, why was there a need to respond like this? Did the Council approve this, or is this like other social media infractions, simply
pushed by the Mayor – blatantly ignoring the law?”

“This is not how I would govern,” Grupp added. “Using an emergency alert system paid for by the government to try and repair her damaged reputation is just another example of her disrespect for our community as a whole. I personally invite everyone to the Grupp, Garbar & Galasso town hall on October 17 th, 7 pm at the Upper Saddle River Public Library to hear a better vision for our town.”