We are back with another update on the Ramsey saga. Last time we asked that you contact the NJ Attorney General’s office regarding the potential conflict of interest between the Mayor of Ramsey and the law firm that has agreed to represent them in the event that they pass the ordinance banning all gun ranges in the town, triggering our lawsuit. Well their office has responded to us with further information.
The Attorney Generals office has told us that they are looking into the case. We were told that they would get back to us within two to three weeks with further information regarding what they found. For now, they told us to let everyone know that it is no longer necessary for anyone to contact the Attorney General’s office regarding this case, because it is on the list already. We thank those of you who contacted them after we put out the story. They told us they received many calls and emails.
Additionally, NJ2AS filed an Open Public Records Act request (OPRA) regarding all information and communications between Ramsey and Mayor Dillon’s husband’s law firm, and also a copy of the contract between the Borough of Ramsey and the law firm Troutman Sanders.
The resolution is available here.
And the contract is available here
Now, here’s the thing about the contract we received and the other potential information we did not receive. Originally, our request was delayed, and the Ramsey Secretary claimed that she wasn’t even aware of the request. They became aware of our request at the town meeting that NJ2AS President Alexander Roubian was at. Below is a video of the NJ2AS President questioning the town attorney, Peter Scandariato, regarding the contract between the town and the Mayor’s husband’s law firm. He claims that the Mayor’s husband is named in the contract, however, if you look at the contract, the only place the husband’s name appears, is in the header. The town attorney has still not replied to our email asking why that is the case.
Note the body language when being questioned about these things. Additionally note that following this, Ramsey then provided us with the OPRA information we requested. The information in the contract looked suspiciously tailored to the specific questions asked and requests made by NJ2AS. This is complicated further by the fact that they denied our requests for communications between Ramsey and the law firm, claiming it is “privileged” information.
Is it possible they went back and changed the contract after-the-fact to fit it to our requests following our exposure of their potential conflict of interest? We are hoping that the Attorney General’s office will get to the bottom of this. If they did in-fact change the contract after the fact for the OPRA request, that will be a separate can of worms for them to deal with…
We’ll provide more updates as information becomes available. At this time the town attorney, Peter Scandariato, has advised the NJ2AS that the ordinance may be considered for final passage at the April 12, 2017 meeting.
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