Will the Berkeley Heights BOE Majority Exploit an Unlawful Ordinance to Block a Lawful Election Result?

Natasha Joly writes to the Town Council on Concerns Regarding Potential Election Interference on the part of the Berkeley Heights BOE Majority 

During the most recent BOE Meeting, the Board of Education voted to modify election policies just before this November Election. The final reading and vote is slated to occur in October. The public and BOE Candidates needed clarification and expressed suspicions in connection to these changes leading up to and during the meeting. Suspicion is entirely understandable given the track record of those involved and the deflection of concerns with more “save the children” messaging.

Today, BHCW was included on an email from a “concerned resident” to some BOE and TC Candidates:

I’ve been driving around town and noticed that many signs are very close to the curbing and the street. I never recall seeing this so much in the past. I checked online to see if there are any laws regarding campaign signs and I found that most all of the Town Council and Board of Education campaign signs that are out are in violation. There had to be some thought process behind why certain items are included and excluded in a law. I’m sure for aesthetics and safety. Why aren’t you following the laws that are in place and why aren’t the laws being enforced? To me, it seems like lawn signs are getting worse and worse.  

 

The law says that only 1 sign can be on a property. Sai has 4 signs on one property. Illis and Machado have 3 signs on a few properties that I saw.

 

The law says the signs must be 5′ from the property line. All of the signs I’ve seen are close to the streets. This is unsafe and a danger to drivers.

 

I also noticed that there are signs hanging from poles/signs (these are not campaign signs) but that to is a violation.

 

I was shocked when I read the law and saw that these are all in violation. Some more than others and I’m sure there were violations in the past. I hope this all gets corrected.

 

Regards,
Concerned Resident

Soon after Ms. Joly forwarded the email (along with our response) to the Town Council:

Dear Mayor and Council Members,

 

I wanted to share with you an email from a “concerned resident” regarding BOE and Town Council lawn signs (highlighted below). 

 

First, I think we can all agree that the placement of signs this year is in no way different than all of the signs that were out last year or any election cycle. In fact, may of our signs were on the same properties. This resident must have had blinders on last year given the number of candidates across multiple offices. Second, as you can see from Mr. Migues response to the “concerned resident”, this ordinance is likely unlawful. Finally, as a BOE candidate, I feel this email is directed at the BOE signs. The BOE is looking to approve a change to policy to allow the Commissioner of Education to fill a vacancy as a result of “failure to elect a member at the annual school election due to improper campaign practices.” (“election” was changed to “campaign”). The next BOE meeting is October 12th where this policy change will be approved.

 

I hope you act quickly to review the ordinance and take action so that fair elections aren’t impacted by exploiting a potentially unlawful ordinance. 

 

Thank you,
Natasha

We fully expect the Bloc to do everything possible to disqualify Natasha and Sai.  Whether it would involve preventing them from serving their full term or blocking their participation during the critical first meeting where decisions involving the selection of the BOE President, BOE Attorney etc are made, remain to be seen.

One way this can play out is by delaying the background check using this nonsense as justification.  Residents are encouraged to attend the next meeting and make their positions on changing election policies this close to the election.  We believe that whoever is elected – both BOE candidates should walk into the meeting as duly elected representatives and take their seats.  Let’s see if the BOE will use Law Enforcement to remove two individuals elected by our community.

The full email exchange, including John’s response, is here.

Related Articles:

Laura’s Notes on the 09/14/2023 BOE Agenda

Candidate Comments on Agenda Items during the 09/14/2023 BOE Meeting

2023 Election Page