Say What NJ - Red Bank Council Citizen Watchdog Project

05/08/2023

Incumbent Councilman Michael Ballard paid for and oversaw a mailing that intentionally obfuscated his identity unlike any prior mailings he sent to residents before.

The law is clear.

"False disclaimers"/concealing the identity of a political mailing "constitutes misrepresentation."

On election day, remember that your elected officials conduct tells you all you need to know about their character and lack of integrity.

It is interesting ignores this and blocks or ignores residents asking questions about it.

intends to denigrate residents asking legitimate questions like this, labeling them attack/dogs for the other candidates or insinuating this is "bully" behavior.

Simply for asking what our elected officials are doing by anonymously mailing us propaganda pieces to manipulate election outcomes.

All because one resident is demanding public accountability from his local elected official...

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11 CFR § 110.16 - Prohibitions on fraudulent misrepresentations.

§ 110.16 Prohibitions on fraudulent misrepresentations.
(a) In general. No person who is a candidate for Federal office or an employee or agent of such a candidate shall—

(1) Fraudulently misrepresent the person or any committee or organization under the person's control as speaking or writing or otherwise acting for or on behalf of any other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof in a matter which is damaging to such other candidate or political party or employee or agent thereof; or

(2) Willfully and knowingly participate in or conspire to participate in any plan, scheme, or design to violate paragraph (a)(1) of this section.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/11/110.16

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“public communication” includes a “mass mailing,” which is defined as more than 500 pieces of substantially similar mail. 2 U.S.C. 431(22), (23). Section 441d(a) refers to a “mailing,” without any numerical minimum. Congress, through BCRA, removed the pre-BCRA reference to a “direct mailing” (emphasis added).

The Commission has determined that “on a matter that is damaging” includes actions or spoken or written communications that are intended to suppress votes for the candidate or party who has been fraudulently misrepresented. A violation of section 441h(a) does not depend on whether the candidate or party who is fraudulently represented goes on to win an election.""

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2002/12/13/02-31521/disclaimers-fraudulent-solicitation-civil-penalties-and-personal-use-of-campaign-funds

04/14/2023

👉 we are here to provide transparency to a process that has been anchored in dysfunction for far too long.

Our should not be .

This town needs to hold their elected officials accountable for THEIR CONDUCT using the power of good old fashioned investigative journalism. 👈

✅ The receipts are attached below in the images and links available to the public for independent review of the veracity of these statements.

✅ Councilman Jackson, Councilwoman Sturdivant & Councilman Ballard conspired during the last Mayoral Primary to unlawfully sign two petitions in the same election cycle in violation of N.J.S.A. 19:13-5 AND N.J.S.A. 19:13-14.

✅ This was such a monumental BREACH OF THE PUBLIC TRUST that their own party sent out a Press Release & the Monmouth County Dems engaged their legal representatives to CALL THIER OWN OUT to the Monmouth County Clerk for acting in violation of NJ Our Laws. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

✅ This was widely reported in the local media as well:

https://www.redbankgreen.com/2022/06/red-bank-monmouth-dems-challenge-sturdivant-petition-061322/

👉👉 The slate is now PURPOSEFULLY not discussing or commenting on this publicly & we would like to know why.👈👈

🤐 Silence is complicity.🤐

💡 So, we encourage all residents to ask themselves if this is the kind of conduct, they want to see in the people that represent their interests on the Council.

🚨 THE MINIMUM STANDARD in Red Bank should be to elect law makers who aren't actively engaged in breaking laws around opportunistic power plays during elections.

Please like, share & comment to help bring transparency to the dysfunction in .

by being better informed through better investigative journalism.
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SayWhatNJ was originally an astroturf & propaganda website owned by Red Bank Counilman Ed Zipprich.

It is now under new ownership & repurposed to be a REAL watchdog site, and not just an anonymous Councilman's mouthpiece to posture behind for self interested purposes.
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The Original EZ SWNJ About:

"Welcome to saywhatnj.com where we’re committed to holding policy makers and policy influencers accountable for their words and actions.

We think the people of NJ deserve to know what elected officials are doing with the power we, the voters of NJ, have given them.

And we want to give every voter the right to speak out. So if you’re making laws or trying to influence the people who do – we’re watching.

Democrats, Republicans, Independents – we don’t care who you’re affiliated with.

We care about what you’re doing."

https://web.archive.org/web/20140108011005/http://saywhatnj.com/about/

https://www.redbankgreen.com/2013/10/red-bank-zipprich-owns-astroturf-url/

04/14/2023

The Council is a joke right now.
A bad one at that.

Every single issue is deferred to a seemingly endless committee discussion apparently designed to delay unnecessarily.
How they allow this to happen to our Red Bank Fire Department is shameful.

RBFD FULLY DISCLOSED our own Council is questioning the borough departments integrity when it comes to their fiscal responsibility.

I HOPE RED BANK VOTERS TAKE NOTE:
THESE ARE THE UNDISPUTED FACTS.

Nickel & diming the volunteer dept while simultaneously posturing about responsible spending is BS Michael Ballard.

Are you really intimating there is a possibility of irresponsible spending on a volunteer FD that costs a fraction of a paid or outside contractor alternative?

Come on man...

Every time we have an issue it goes around in circles with these obstructionist members of the current council.

It makes you wonder if they are intentionally trying to strangle the FD to replace them like the Red Bank Together Zipprich faction did with the Biz Administrator, town Counsel, the BS over the Trash Contracts, etc.

There always seems to be an angle for delay & in this case when the FD submits all the requested paperwork & Ballard & Mirandi delay/forget about our FD for a year (which they conceded to), I say fire them.

Tim Hogan & Linda Hill were discussing accountability before the media yesterday saying we need performance reviews.

After the public discourse here, I say Ballard & Mirandi not only here, but they only to when THEY were assigned to this issue for the past year before the budget was created,
therefore, based on deductive logic, they MUST be fired for the EMERGENT HEALTH & SAFTEY concerns not being addressed in this town...

Thanks to Sue Viscomi for the video.

I took the liberty of condensing it for the pertinent points of the discussion in a 6:30 compilation video so there is no question as to what went down without having to cut through the BS of "political spin".

04/12/2023

Even when it costs you certain relationships, you can never go wrong by doing the right thing.

Integrity means being courageous enough to speak out against malicious actors, not hiding in the shadows to play "the game"...

04/12/2023

Institutionally backed & insulated political parties legalizing public corruption to shield people from criminal activity is "a thing."

In the DC Beltway & at the local level.

It's up to the public at large to vote these bad actors with unclean hands out because clearly the Republicans & Democrats will not police themselves when it comes to wrongdoing in their leadership.

BRAVO Jon Stewart
The Problem With Jon Stewart

Fox News has one thing right: We do have a two-tiered justice system. But Trump is firmly planted on the top tier – not the bottom. Watch our season finale o...

04/12/2023

Red Bank Investigative Journalists Ask:

✅ Since Councilman Michael Ballard did indeed transmit by mail (UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICES) this astroturf political communication, can one make the case that this was a violation of the public trust to residents?

✅"FALSE DISCLAIMER CONSTITUTES MISREPRESENTATION
A disclaimer that falsly claims the solicitation is paid for and/or authorized by a candidate or political party CONSTITUTES A PER SE MISREPRESENTATION UNDER SECTION 30124(b)"

�https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/Commissioner_Lee_E._Goodman_Policy_Statement_-_Fraudulent_Misrepresentation.pdf
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✅The Law in NJ For Political Communications (the law is clear, so why the deviation from your prior campaign mailers Councilman Ballard?):

https://www.elec.nj.gov/pdffiles/forms/compliance/man_pc.pdf

04/12/2023

"Politicians on the left and right are manipulating the news to bolster their election efforts with fake headlines, websites and articles.

Why it matters: Media manipulation has always been a part of the political playbook, but technology has enabled politicians to take the practice a step further by changing or mimicking real stories and news outlets to mislead voters."
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If the elected officials using this tactic are identified, IT IS UP TO THE VOTERS TO HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE.

THEY ARE PLAYING THEIR CONSTITUENTS FOR SUCKERS.

ARE YOU A SUCKER?

Fake news websites backed by political candidates and groups have been popping up all over the country.

04/12/2023

PRESSING CONSTITUENTS QUESTION for Red Bank Together's Tim Hogan:
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Why is Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich tying Riverview Medical Center President Tim Hogan to an ILLEGAL ASTROTURF SITE & a ILLEGAL LOBBYING CAMPAIGN?

✅ ILLEGAL POLITICAL ASTROTURF SITE:
Keep Red Bank Red Bank!

✅ ILLEGAL LOBBYING CAMPAIGN:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1042325549782238/posts/1076826729665453

✅Ed Zipprich's tying them together:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1042325549782238/posts/1175831586431633/

What is Riverview Medical Center doing around all this illegal activity perpetuated by Councilman Ed Zipprich?

04/11/2023

Common ground IS attainable between rival factions.

You just need to know where to look for it.

Case in point...

04/11/2023

It is absolutely refreshing to real investigative journalists to see 's own Jon Stewart is using his powers for good over at The Problem With Jon Stewart to bring accountability & transparency to politics and government.

Thanks for giving us back & leading a new generation of hard hitting journalists to do a very neccessary job in this Country.

Being a check on corrupt governmental actors who use money, power, influence to harm our national and global interests as members of the

04/10/2023

When your elected officials maliciously weaponize social media to manipulate your potential votes, you need to stop being a pawn in their game, become a chess master & blow the whistle on em'....
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“There’s nothing better for self-reflection than just brutal honesty, right? I call it radical transparency.

Just being totally honest about exactly what happened and making yourself live through that.

Every time you have to say it, you re-punish yourself for the decisions you didn’t make back then.”

— Brittany Kaiser
Former Director of Business Development,
for Cambridge Analytica
Whistleblower

The Great Hack

04/10/2023

Just a friendly reminder to all Residents / Voters.

Open Public Records Act (OPRA) Requests (for adding transparency to our local government operations) can be found her at the Borough Clerk's page:

https://www.redbanknj.org/160/Clerk

https://www.redbanknj.org/DocumentCenter/View/12240/OPRA-request-form

It's amazing what you can find out about the things our elected officials with unclean hands want to keep secret.

More information relating to the power of OPRA requests in below in the comments...