Jason O’Grady’s Blog

I’ve been spending a lot of time on the campaign trail these past few months and I was very troubled by a few things that I heard on the street last night.

• One resident in Sutton Woods told me that Mr. O’Neill promised to “reduce their property taxes by 15 percent.”
• Others told me that he was telling everyone in Dunkin Donuts at New and Tilton Road that I run “a porn site.”

When is Mr. O’Neill going to realize that no one wants to hear his lies? His negative campaign is the worst that Northfield has ever seen and even his own party is distancing themselves from him.

Welcome new readers, please be sure to bookmark this site and come back every day.

I want to comment on Mr. O’Neill’s comments this morning on the Hurley show.

• Timeline of posts. I posted the Mission Accomplished piece because O’Neill lied to The Current saying that he’s “accomplished” making Northfield green (his words) and because he was the only candidate to bash another candidate in an article that was supposed to be about his platform and him. Poor form Mr. O’Neill, no one appreciates a negative politician.
• “I don’t want to be on his site.” Mr. O’Neill complained that he doesn’t want to be on my blog. As a public figure Mr. O’Neill doesn’t have a choice. Second, the photo I posted is his publicity photo that he submitted to the newspaper. My opponent may want to read up on my post about the First Amendment.
• Objectionable content. When it was brought to my attention that I had a picture on my blog from two years ago that someone found objectionable, I removed it immediately. What did Mr. O’Neill do? He printed out dozens of copies and brought it to a Pee Wee sports team that he coaches and handed it out. That’s right, he handed out what he considered objectionable content at a Pee Wee game.
• Positive campaign? Mr. O’Neill accuses me of running a “porn site.” (this site). As you can tell, nothing could be further from the truth. This isn’t the first time Mr. O’Neill has lied to the newspaper either.

The Republican Party of Northfield has endorsed Jim O’Neill for City Council. This is the candidate that they think will best represent them. Do you? It’s a real shame that the Northfield Republicans (many of which I am very fond of) have put their eggs in Mr. O’Neill’s basket.

Mr. O’Neill has lied to the newspaper not once but twice and is running the most negative campaign in Northfield’s history. I think that Mr. O’Neill should withdraw from the campaign before he drags the rest of the Republican ticket with him.

One thing that I find ironic is that my opponent in the upcoming election for City Council Mr. Jim O’Neill, found a picture that I posted on my blog over two years ago highly objectionable, so what did he do with it?

He took it to his pee wee game, where he is a coach (!) and he distributed it at the game. Besides the fact that this is an obvious cheap shot at discrediting me, he took what he considered to be an objectionable photo and distributed it at pee wee game with lots of young children around.

Say what you will about the picture, but would you distribute it at a pee wee game? I think that Mr. O’Neill should have used better judgment in this case. Is this the kind of person that you want representing you in City Hall? Should he be coaching your children?
Northfield is the city that I love and a city that I’m proud of. I want to be on City Council to keep Northfield great.

Welcome to my blog. I’d like to show you around a little.

A blog is defined as:

a publication of personal thoughts, experiences, and web links. It is updated frequently and is usually a mixture of what is happening in a person’s life and what is happening on the Web or in the media.

This is my personal blog, it hasn’t really been read that much–until recently I’m also a professional blogger by day, blogging daily about Macs and mobile technology for 12 years. My professional blogs are O’Grady’s PowerPage and The Apple Core. I encourage you to read them.

I am also running for City Council in the Second Ward of Northfield, NJ and President of the Democratic Party of Northfield.

Recently many lies have been spoken about me and my blog in an attempt to discredit me, but it’s all for political gain. It’s all part of my opponents bag of dirty tricks that they’re famous for.

One thing’s for sure, voters are more intelligent than that. They know how to read and they don’t like dirty politicians and dirty politics. I encourage you to read my blogs for yourself and to make up your own mind. Don’t let a desperate politician who can’t run on his own merit tell you how to vote. Read, educate yourself, and decide for yourself.

The Democratic Party is all about Northfield. We’d want to get the speeding problem under control, keep our kids safe and control spending. We love open space and we want to keep Northfield green.

Thanks for reading and come back often, things are going to heat up around here the next week or so.

In an unfortunate turn of events, my opponent in the race for Northfield’s 2nd Ward City Council seat slandered me today in the Press of Atlantic City.

The reporter, Linda Cohen, was calling candidates to get information on our background, bio and platform for a piece in the Press of A.C. about the local Northfield candidates–pretty standard stuff.

Rather than talk about himself and his record, Mr. O’Neill use the opportunity to slander me and my family name saying to the reporter “he’s got a porn site.”

Ms. Cohen latched onto Mr. O’Neill’s allegation and published the story in the newspaper under the headline “Northfield candidate accused of running ‘porn site’”

Obviously nothing could be further from the truth. Please read through my alleged “porn site” (yes, this site) and come to your own conclusions.

This appears to be a pattern of negativity for Mr. O’Neill.

When he was contacted by The Current newspaper for the usual bio and background piece, Mr. O’Neill was the only candidate to bash someone else–in a piece that was supposed to be about him!

What’s worse is that he also used that article as an opportunity to lie about his record, boasting that he’s already “accomplished” making Northfield green.

Nobody likes a negative campaign Mr. O’Neill and you took the opportunity to slander my family name in the newspaper or record.

My opponent had this to say in the October 17, 2007 issue of The Current page 8:

“While Mr. O’Grady talks about making Northfield a green community, I have accomplished it.”

While he’s right that I would like to make Northfield greener, Mr. O’Neill claims to have already accomplished making Northfield a green community. How?

Did he make Northfield green by receiving state grant money to subsidize the solar panels on his home? For certain. But that only benefits him and does nothing for the community.

Mr. O’Neill: please tell us how you’ve accomplished making Northfield a green community.

Next week: How Boogeyman O’Neill is using fear and lies to scare voters.

It appears that the Building Department in Northfield, NJ is engaging in questionable ethical practices. Here’s an (edited) copy of a letter that I sent to the chairman of the Building Department about clear ethical violations in the department that he supervises. After requesting a response about these serious violations, I still have yet to hear back.

September 24, 2007

Chairman, Building Department
1600 Shore Road
Northfield, New Jersey, 08225

Dear Mr. Carew,

I wish to bring two items to your attention that involve the Northfield Building Department.

I’ve received reports that Jim Dickinson has been providing misinformation about me to residents of Northfield. Mr. Dickinson has been telling people that I’m not eligible to run for City Council because I am “renting” the home in which I live. This statement is not true.

I live at (removed), a property owned by my mother, Anne Craig. I do not pay her rent, however I do pay the taxes, utilities and maintenance on the property.

I visited Mr. Dickinson on Wednesday, September 19, 2007 at approximately 11:00 a.m. to ask him about his statements. He informed me that “anyone other than the owner” living in Northfield must register with the city and advised that I had to complete a Rental Unit Registration and Tenant Registration form and pay a fee of $50.

After consulting city Solicitor Keith Bonchi, Mr. Bonchi referred me to city Ordinance #10-97, article 73-3 section A (attached) which clearly states that “the owner’s family” does not, in fact, have to register with the city. Mr. Bonchi agreed, saying that it was “a reasonable interpretation” that I didn’t have to register with the city. Consequently, Mr. Dickinson is misrepresenting this Ordinance.

Why is a city employee in your department giving out inaccurate information? Is his position as Treasurer of the Northfield Republican Club conflicting with his role as a government employee? This appears to be an abuse of a city position in an attempt to harass and discredit me for political gain.

The second item is even more troubling.

While I was in the Building Department speaking with Mr. Dickinson about this issue, I noticed a copy of the building permit from 1999 for the geothermal installation at my residence sitting on the counter. I asked Mr. Dickinson about the document in plain sight and he stated that “someone must have requested it.” When I inquired about who had requested it, he said that he “didn’t remember.”

City Clerk Carol Raph informed me on Thursday, September 20, 2007 that an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) application is required to obtain a copy of a resident’s building permit and that none had been requested in the last several weeks.

Why is the Northfield Building Department providing personal and private information without the required request forms being filed with the city clerk? Furthermore, who requested the copy of the building permit? And for what reason?

It appears that the city is engaging in selective enforcement of State of New Jersey OPRA laws, violating my federally protected right to privacy and abusing a city position for the purpose of slander and political gain.

I will wait for your response on these two most serious matters before deciding how to proceed.

Sincerely yours,

Jason D. O’Grady
Enclosure
cc:
Cindy Kern, Council President
Jeffrey Bruckler, Administrator
Keith A. Bonchi, Solicitor
Frank Perri, Mayor