Did Mayor Minichetti Violate Law By Using Town-Paid Email for Covert Campaigning?

UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ (Oct. 7, 2019)–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 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.”

Marshall Grupp is the Democratic candidate for USR Mayor. He is running on the USR Forward
slate with Borough Council candidates Marc Garbar and Leandra Galasso.
For more information on the campaign visit https://www.facebook.com/grupp.garbar.galasso/ .

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