Jeff Regan, the Vice President of the Roselle Park Library Board of Trustees as well as a candidate for this year’s Board Of Education (BOE), sent an e-mail to the newspaper on August 30th threatening to file a complaint of harassment (NJSA 2C:33-4).
An attempt had been made earlier that evening to hand-deliver an invitation for a one-on-one conversation with Mr. Regan as a BOE candidate. This is a practice that the newspaper has conducted for years and was doing that evening for all the 10 residents who – at that time – were running for five (5) elected offices in the borough this year. The person who answered the door stated Jeff Regan was not home.
No direct contact was made with Mr. Regan at that time.
The following are the only three written communications from Roselle Park News to the public official this year. The two (2) Facebook messages and one (1) e-mail were directed to Mr. Regan in his capacity as an appointed official serving the residents of Roselle Park as the Vice President of the Roselle Park Library Board of Trustees.
August 21, 2016 @ 11:15 a.m. via Facebook Messenger
Hi Jeff.I am reaching out to you for Roselle Park News regarding a statement you made at Thursday night’s meeting. When asked from the dais about the Library Board’s approval of the silhouette you said the following: “There was a quorum and there was an actual meeting.”
I am writing to ask for clarification or comment on what you stated on the record that there was a meeting of the Library Board about the silhouette during the RPDC meeting. If you wish you could call me at 908.998.4500 to discuss. Thank you in advance.
August 23, 2016 @ 6:38 a.m. via Facebook Messenger
Just FYI, the article on this is coming out this afternoon so I just wanted to offer you an opportunity to comment or clarify for publication. Thanks again.
August 23, 2016 @ 12:48 p.m. via e-mail
Jeff,The newspaper is just doing its due diligence to make certain that every opportunity is afforded to you to comment on an upcoming article with a deadline this afternoon by 5 p.m.
I have already reached out to you via Facebook but just want to provide you with as much opportunity for you to clarify or comment.
I am reaching out to you for Roselle Park News regarding a statement you made at Thursday night’s meeting. When asked from the dais about the Library Board’s approval of the silhouette you said the following: “There was a quorum and there was an actual meeting.”
I am writing to ask for clarification or comment on what you stated on the record that there was a meeting of the Library Board about the silhouette during the RPDC meeting. If you wish you could call me at 908.998.4500 to discuss. Thank you in advance.
The following e-mail was sent to the newspaper by Mr. Regan on August 30, 2016 at 8:07 p.m.:
I’ve been advised by RPPD to send this notice to you.
The next time you ‘reach out’, or try to make contact with me, I will sign a harassment complaint against you.
Not certain what the harassment would be for Mr. Regan other than being upset at an article written on the possible violation of the Sunshine Law made by him as the Vice President of the Library Board (link). That article cited statements that Mr. Regan made freely and publicly during the public comment portion of the August 18, 2016 Mayor & Council meeting but now refuses to clarify or correct in his official capacity.
If Mr. Regan’s response as a public official is to try and silence questions with a threat of harassment, perhaps he should reconsider wanting to continue to serve the residents of Roselle Park as a member of the Library Board or Board Of Education.
For now, maybe someone else can reach out to Mr. Regan because if the newspaper does, he would consider the asking of legitimate questions harassment.