For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: LAURIE TIETIEN, BEFORE THE SCHOOL v ETHICS COMMISSION OF NEW JERSEY PAM ROGERS, ROBIN STELLA. SCHOOL ETHICS ACT AND NICHOLAS DIFRANCO 1, Laurie Tietjen, residing ED the Schoo! Ethies Commission to consider complaint against the above Rpondent(s) whose home addresses are Pam Rogers, President, Board of Educatiot Robin Stella, Vice President, Board of Educatio Nicholas Di Franco, Member, Board of Educatior in accordance with the authority of the Schoo! Ethies Commission to entertain such complaints under N.LS.A. 18A:12-21 et seq, assert a violation of N.J.S.A. 18A:12-24 Conflicts of Interest: Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing First violation: b. No school official shall use or attempt to use his official position to secure unwarranted privileges, advantages or employment for himself, members of his immediate family or others Statement of Facts: Please see paragraphs 1-33,37,47,56-60 below, Summary The three board members who organized and partic embers who are currently up for r sd in this event are the three board three board members used! their official positions for attention, free media exposure and marketing to gain favor with local political ‘groups and community members in order to obtain votes and further their political ear and the political careers of family members, lection. Thes L assert the following to be violations of Nul.S.A. 18A:12-24.1 Code of Ethies for School Board Members:For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: rst viola & Twill uphold and enforce all laws, rules and regulations of the State Board of Education, and court orders pertaining to schools. Desired changes shall be brought about only through legal and ethical procedures. Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing Statement of Facts: Please see paragraphs 15-19 and 34-37 below. Summary of Violatio Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco intentionally violated the Governor's clear and unequivocal Executive Orders by helping to organize, support, and actually congregate with students on school grounds when the schools were ordered closed due to the COVID 19 public health hazard. Second Violation: b. I will make decisions in terms of the educational welfare of children and will seek to develop and maintain public schools that meet the individual needs of all children regardless of their ability, race, reed, sex, or social standing. Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing Statement of Facts: Please see paragraphs 1-35 below. Summary of Violation: Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco have failed to meet the needs of children ‘who attend Middletown Public nds or family members who are law enforcement officers or who have opposing political views by allowing signs, statements and hateful language that was extremely anti-police and anti-Republican. They also allowed and encouraged teachers to attend and work the event. They chose to take no action to stop this behavior during the event, and even after when there was public ‘outery, all but one openly refused to denounce what happened. As a result, many community members feel threatened and concerned that their careers or choice of political views will negatively impact their children in school. ‘Third Viol [will recognize that authority rests with the board of education and will make no personal promises nor take any private action that may compromise the board Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing, | | |For Agency Use Only Docket Number: Statement of Facts: Please see paragraphs 15-33 and $6-60 below. Summary of Violation: Upon information and belief, Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco disregarded egal counsel and failed to consult other Board members about the appropriateness of the rally, never submitted the issue for a full vote, and unilaterally decided to utilize scretionary board funds and district assets to support the protest. ‘The three board members took private actions and acted unilaterally, without ever consulting the other board members or following district-wide protocol, resulting in a large outery from the comm cted to serve. Fourth Violation: £ [will refuse t0 surrender my independent judgment to special interest or partisan Political groups or to use the schools for personal gain or forthe gain of friends. Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing Statement of Fact Please see paragraphs 15-37 below. ‘Summary of Violation: Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco used Board of Education contacts and resources to host a political protest, which is in line with their beliefS, on school grounds in order to gain votes and secure re-clection to the Board. As shown, Pam Rogers has repeatedly referred to her position as political and is seeking reelection and a “political career” and even reached out to a political candidate to help advise on the protest. Fifth Violation: 4. 1 will refer all complaints to the chief administrative officer and will act on the complaints at public meetings only after failure of an administrative solution, Date of Occurrence: May, 2020 and ongoing Statement of Facts: Please see paragraphs 38-55 below: Summary of Violation: Upon information and relief Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco never made the chief administrative officer aware of the many complaints they received about the political protest or about the petition signed by close to 3,000 people in under a week. They repeatedly, and without provocation, praised the event publicly and systematically one of them has ever ignored questions and concem from the public. To dat responded to, or even acknowledged, the petition,Statement of fa ‘The facts upon which this complaint For Agency Use Only Docket Number: based are as follows: Background 1 Upon information and belief, on or about June 20, 2020, a Facebook page was created entitled “Spread Love not Hate”, to promote an upcoming “Unity Walk”, which was advertised as a unity walk with “no politics, no sides, no finger pointing” and would strive to “erase all lines” in relation to police and the community. The event was scheduled to be held at Middletown North High School on June 28th. See Exhibit A. Upon information and belief, a small number of Middletown North High School alumnus and students, including Marissa DeWitt and Frank Meade, created and ‘maintained the Facebook page and posted the event. This group has also presented a petition including approximately 700 signatures (many from out of state) to the Board of Education to change curriculum within the district to more closely reflect their beliefs and values. Upon information and belief, other than a Facebook Page, Spread Love not Hate is a complete anomaly. They are not a legal entity registered with (Attached is business Entity Status Report” and they are not registered with Division of Consumer Affairs as required by NISA See Exhibit B. Upon hearing about the event, I reached out through the Facebook page to confirm that it was truly a unity event. 1 explained that as an alumnus, the sister of a murdered police officer (who was also an alumnus) and also the founder of a charity, which has worked for 19 years to help bring minority communities and police together, I was very excited about the thought of a true unity walk, especially given all the protests going on around the area. Marissa DeWitt Wooley responded and confirmed that it was, in fact, a true peaceful unity rally and that both community members and police would be speaking. Given that it was held at the local high school, I assumed that would be the case. Upon attending the event, I quickly realized that this was not the unity rally that 1 was told it would be. There were approximately 125 students, along with a number of adults. The speeches were mainly focused on the belief of police brutality and systemic racism, with much of the language being exactly and/or very similar to what is found on the Facebook page of Progressive Democrats of New Jersey and the website blacklivesmatter.com. What shocked me, however, was that a number of students and adults were carrying signs stating things such as ACAB (All Cops Are Bastards), F-12 (F-the Police), All Cops are Murderers and the Antifa symbol, Manny as well as many other divisive messages. One of the students actually marched a few feet from the Chief of Police holding an Antifa symbol, referring to all cops as bastards. In addition, the police chief was heckled multiple times during his speech as the crowd cheered on the heckler. During the march portion of the event, the group \was shouting and cursing at neighbors along the route who disagreed with them and starting screaming political chants, such as “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho Donald Trump has got to go", among other things. See Exhibit C. (Please note that I did not take any photos ‘or video at the event, All images and video were proudly posted on the event website and have since been removed.) A short video clip that they posted can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/9f6ynFnZYKo.For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: With the exception of one announcement asking people to not shout out after the Chief of Police finished his speech, not one organizer, teacher or Board member stepped in to stop these behaviors. In fact, they themselves participated and in many ‘cases, encouraged the crowd behavior by shouting through a bullhon. Throughout this, Board of Education members, Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco, actively participated in, and did nothing to stop, the use of profanity, hate or political divineness. 6. Based on the original description of the event and my communication through the Facebook page, I attended thinking I was supporting unity. What I heard and ‘witnessed on Middletown North School premises was saddening, frightening, highly political, divisive and completely inappropriate for school grounds. 7. Iwas quite upset by the behavior and extreme politics I saw take place at this school event, so the next morning I called the principal of the school. Shockingly, she was totally unaware of the event. She informed me that there was no permit issued by her or the school and that nothing had come across her desk. She said all events needed to have a permit and insurance, as well as other safety measures such as security. I personally knew this to be true due to other events my charity had participated in with the school 8. In addition, the school premises were supposed to be closed due to Covid Executive Order 104. (See Exhibit D) She was further shocked when I told her that there were Board of Education members and a number of teachers at the event - some of them ‘even working it. The principal seemed quite concerned that she has missed something at which she was supposed to have been in attendance. She was equally concerned about the content of the protest and agreed that a denouncement of the hate directed at our officers should be made, which she would write and send to the Board of Education for approval. Upon information and belief, itis our understanding that she never received approval from the Board. 9. Twas very confused when I got off the phone with the principal, so I reached out to Bill George, Superintendent. He initially told me that the Board had nothing to do with the event and that it was held by an outside group. When I informed him that I had spoken to the principal and she had told me there was no permit or anything issued for the event, and that I knew it had been publicized by both high school web pages and the electronic board at Middletown North, he admitted that he, and others fon the Board of Education, allowed them to use school grounds, but were not involved beyond that. 1 asked him to meet with me to come up with a solution and to Publicly denounce what happened at the event, specifically the hateful speech and signs toward our police, and he refused. He said he would speak to the Board attorney and get back to me. 10, Afier receiving no follow up cal, I called Bill George again and asked, yet again, to sit down with him and the Board to come up with a unifying solution to this mounting issue. He again refused both a meeting and a denouncement from the Board and insisted that the event was held by an outside group, despite the fact that there were no permits or insurance and the fact that it was promoted by the schools and attended bby multiple board members and teachers, 11. Unsatisfied with the clearly untruthful answers 1 was getting from Dr. George, I Visited the event page, Not only were they proudly displaying the ACAB and Manny signs from the event on their homepage, as well as disturbing video (which has since been removed), but they were also talking about how peaceful and unifying the event 31B For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: was. I commented on how I was saddened by what happened and an immediate attack began on me, including threats to assemble outside my house, being called a racist and spreading lies about my charity, among many other disgusting things. These Personal attacks, which have come from family and friends these board members, continue today against myself and anyone who has spoken out against what happened at the protest. In fact, Robin Stella's husband (who is a teacher and currently running, for a seat on the Monmouth County democratic committee) and a friend (Alex Michael) launched a public attack (incl newspaper article, petition and a personal attack on personal charity and business) on other community members who decided to run for the Board as a result of this situation. After Stella’s identify was made public and shockingly graphic and (what he labeled posts ‘were found on his page, Robin's husband and her friend issued an apology and removed all posts and social media accounts. Sadly, the damage was already done. See Exhibit E While reading through the Facebook page, I started to find many concerning posts implicating Bill George, President Pam Rogers, Vice President Robin Stella and Board member, Nick DiFranco. Asa result, in July, [filed three OPRA requests. One with Middletown Township, one with the Middletown Police and one with Middletown Board of Education. The town and police fulfilled my OPRA request immediately. The Board of Education denied my request and, even after I supplied the additional information asked for, they have yet to fulfill my request. After making many attempts to arrange a meeting with the Board of Educations, specifically Pam Rogers, were ignored, as was our petition, { had no other recourse but to file a formal complaint. Actively helped organize the event and circumvent the current permit policy 14. Despite publicly denying involvement in the event, (See 16. 18. ‘hibit 8A) upon information and belief, a committee was formed by Board of Education President, Pam Rogers to work with a small group of alumni and students who call themselves, Spread Love, Not Hate to organize this event and also make changes to school curriculum. They are holding private meetings and the invitation was not extended to others. My independent research, review of board meeting agendas and minutes, and the OPRA requests failed to produce any evidence that the Board of Education's sponsorship, payment, services, etc. to host this event on school property was ever discussed in a public meeting, voted on by the board, or submitted for public comment. Upon information and belief, all of these decisions were made unilaterally by Board of Education President, Pam Rogers, with the cooperation of Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco. Both Board of Education President Pam Rogers and Vice President Robin Stella attended meetings with students and alumni to help organize and support this event con June 28, 2020. See Exhibit F Upon information and belief, at least one meeting was held at the BOE Administrative Offices See Exhibit G Ina June 19, 2020 email, from her official Board of Education email account, Board of Education President Pam Rogers initially suggested the use of Middletown High 6For Agency Use Only Docket Number: __ School North as an appropriate place for the event as it would accommodate social distancing. See Exhibit H. 19, The school principal confirmed there was no permit issued and, in an email dated July 1, 2020, Board of Education President, Pam Rogers, states that “[tJhey were not required to purchase insurance. If they'd asked to use our fields, we would've had to have charged insurance”. In this same email, Mrs. Rogers also refers to Spread Love Not Hate as an “organization”, when in fact they were, and still are, nothing more than a Facebook page. See Exhibit I. 20. Despite Board of Education President, Pam Rogers’ claims to the contrary, the Spread Love Not Hate Facebook page stated “[{]he MHSN and MHSS page was kind enough to promote us. We appreciate the school and school boards[sic} involvement in this. ” See Exhibit J. 21. The Spread Love Not Hate Facebook page stated “[wJe also continue to thank the MIPD, B.O.¢ [sic] all the teachers who were on staff yesterday working our tables and marched.” See Exhibit K. 22. In a June 17, 2020 email from Board of Education President Pam Rogers, she confirmed that she worked with organizer Frank Meade and that “[he and is group are fine with the proposed route and gathering at high school north parking lot and the proposed date/time. They are grateful for the use of the sound system (with microphones).” See Exhibit L 23. In an email dated June 17, 2020, Pam Rogers reaches out to town officials requesting help on a number of logistics issues related to the protest. See Exhibit L. 24, Marissa De Witt Wooley discusses private meetings with Pam Rogers to discuss changing curriculum, See Exhibit M. Provided Board funding, donations and resources to the event 28, As per an August 20, 2020 email from Amy P. Doherty, Middletown Board of Education Business Administrator/Board Secretary, the district paid for the security, which is completely outside of normal protocol. ‘The memo states, “[t}he district had security staff on site at HSN during the event to safeguard our property. The dollar amount for the time worked by our security staff during the event was $1,140." The cost of additional police overtime was $4,899.05. Sce Exhibit N. 26. In fact, at the Board of Education meeting on August 2 Minnuies questioned Pam Rogers on the Board's involvement and pointed out that this was outside the current policy. When Joan asked the question of “is this all the Board paid for?” Member Tom Giaimo mouthed “no” and Pam Rogers admitted to paying for security, which she previously denied. Please see the video here: hitps//voutu.be'xdiPQ_X2tWk. The discussion starts at 2:31:06. 27. Further, when Joan asked if the policy was now being changed, the Board attorney answered with “no’. To date, there is still no explanation as to why this event was given special treatment and was not required to follow the same rules as other groups, including students, teachers and PTA’s, who use school grounds that are required to fundraise to pay for the cost of security 28. Per an email from Bill George to Marissa De Wit member Joan whel in she inquired where the stage would be placed for the speakers, he noted that the school’s electricity from the scoreboard would be used to run the sound system and “Supervisor of Security Mr.For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: John Maguire and the security staff will be onsite beginning at 12:30 PM to provide additional assistance.” See Exhibit O. 29, Per a June 26, 2020, email from Bill George to Marissa De Witt he states “we have worked out the issues with the portable toilets and sound system. There were 3 portable toilets moved to Tindall Park, we rectified the sound system issues and provided the North site to gather”. See Exhibit P. 30. The Board of education is thanked for supplying email addresses of business contacts, which were used by students to solicit for donations. See Exhibit Q. 31. The Board of Education is publicly thanked for their donation of food and s See Exhibit R. read Love Not Hate Facebook page stated “[w]e also can’t thank enough the members of the B.O.E. for not only coming to show support, but also bringing donations and marching with us as well.” See Exhibit S. Actively participated in the event knowing it was not a unity walk: 33. Although this was publicly promoted as a unity march, Pam Rogers was promoting the event on her personal page as a BLM protest. Her Spread Love. Not Hate.” [sic] Rally begins at 3pm at high school north. Proud of our community for hosting/supporting our students and alumni. We all can and will do. better. #BlackLivesMatters (sic].”. See Exhibit T. | 34. In a June 22, 2020 email from Marissa De Witt to Dr. George, she states “Spread Love Not Hate sparked after the lives of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor were both violently stolen in acts of police brutality.” This mission statement isin stark contrast to the publicized purpose of the walk, which was to include “no polities, no sides, no finger pointing” and would strive to “erase all lines”. See Exhibit U, 35. Pam Rogers repeatedly refers to the event as a protest, as opposed to a unity walk, in ‘many mails, including in her response to a concerned parent. See Exhibit V. 36. Upon information and belief, all three Board members publicly support BLM and the democratic party on their public social media sites and promoted the event as a BLM protest, while publicly the town was being told it was a unity walk with “no polities and no sides”. Pam Rogers openly identifies herself as a Progressive Democrat of New Jersey, which routinely posts anti-police rhetoric on their Facebook page. Defended and/or _ignored_the_hateful_and_political_messages that_took _place_and Systematically ignored public outery affer the event by actively avoiding and/or being 37.1 applied for three sperate OPRA requests. One from the town, one of the police and fone for the Board of Education. Through an OPRA request, I asked for emails between Pam Rogers, Robin Stella, Nick DiFranco and/or Dr. George and others concerning the event, Spread Love Not Hate, and I was denied access to the same isa violation of OPRA. See Exhibit W speech and signs from the event started Sunday's 38, Afier a negative mounting, Pam Rogers made the following statement about the event protest was not a school event. It was organized by Spread Love, Not Hate mission, The board allowed students to use our parking lot atthe high school as we support our student’s right to rally and march for what they believe in, Students have a right to39. 40. 4. 2. 43. 4 45, For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: assemble on our grounds as per the First Amendment, even if not sanctioned by the board.” See Exhibit X. Even after the negative response, Education President Pam Rogers, proposed to make “this “Spre annual event”. See Exhibit Y. ‘On June 30, 2020, Board of Education member Robin Stella responded to an email from Marissa DeWitt Wooley wherein Marissa criticized police officers who safeguarded the event noting that “[i]t was incredibly clear to us yesterday that no matter how much food and water we gave out, how many times we smiled or sa hello, some officer's [sic] wanted to do their jobs and go home.” In her response, Mrs. Stella noted she has “seen lots of negativity on social media and it is so frustrating!” See Exhibit Z. The event organizers even submitted a complaint and a vid stating that the officers “were not clapping” or enthusiastic’ officer who asked online (separate from this event) if there were any pro-po scheduled in the area. They claimed he was “stirring the pot”, SEE Exhibit Z. After receiving no response afier multiple attempts, 1 and others attended a virtual Board of Education meeting on July 14, 2020 Pam Rogers, Nick DiFranco and Dr. George proactively talked about the wonderful rally that had taken place, but failed to mention any of the hate, which took place or the many people, like myself, who had expressed major concer. When I confronted the issue, Pam ignored my concern and instead focused on the fact that I repeated some of the language that was used on the signs at the event. [ found it unsettling that she was “appalled” by the language | repeated, but neither her nor anyone else, expressed any concem that I was merely reading the signs, which were held at an event that they helped organize, fund and attended. B the point of this meeting, Board Members were well aware of the issues ‘and chose to ignore all of the complaints they received. Instead they chose to p the event and publicly infer that 1 was misconstruing what happened that day. Nick DiFranco inaccurately said that the hecklers waited until after the chief spoke and that they were admonished on the spot. The video of the event, hittps://voutu.be/9f6ynFnZYKo , clearly shows the crowd cheering the heckler on. 1 received no further communication or outreach from Pam or any member of the Board. hitps:!/voutu.be/vZ78NLqdkVA. The discussion starts at 1:34:45 Bill George sent the following response to a concerned parent. “This event was not sponsored by the District. Current and former students requested to hold a rally/march in solidarity for social justice. The Board, Administration and the Township coordinated to assist our students and alumni in bringing the rally to fruition.” See Exhibit Al In a July 1 email to a concerned parent, Pam wrote, “Sunday's protest was not a school event. It was organized by Spread Love, Not Hate mission. The board allowed students to use our parking lot at the high school, as we support our students’ right to rally and march for what they believe in...Students have a right to assemble ‘on our school grounds as per the First Amendment, even if not sanctioned by the board... The event was not promoted by the high schools. The event was promoted by the Spread Love, Not Hate Mission organization and private citizens in town.” See Exhibit A2 After pressure from the community continued to mount, in an email dated June 30, 2020, Board of sad Love note Hate’ an to the chief of police They also reported an rallies ice President, Robin Stella, reached out and afier a multi-hour call, agreed to release a statement saying, 9For Agency Use Only Docket Number: condemn all hate speech and hateful visual media, some of which was pointed out at the rally on June 28" at High School North, All students and families deserve to feel safe. We, as a community should embrace diversity, as well as appreciate our law ‘enforcement officers...” See Exhibit A3. 46, Although Pam Rogers and the full Board of Education ignored our request for a Public statement, upon information and belief, Pam Rogers was unhappy that Robin had made a public denouncement and in tum, sent an email to Marissa DeWitt Wooley, which included a private statement that she asked to be read to followers of Spread Love, Not Hate. “Please note that that Mrs. Stella does not speak for the full board and that the board has made no agreements with Mrs. Tietjen. The board of education supports the first amendment rights and does not denounce any person or their right to express their beliefs as they see fit...” See Exhibit A4. 47. On July 18th, I drafted a petition on change.org, which quickly garnered over 2,800 electronic and paper signatures in a week. Please note that educators and police are not allowed to sign petitions and, very sadly, a large number of parents reached out in uupport, but said they were afiaid to sign out of concer for retaliation against their children. The outrage on social media has been extensive and widespread. Here is the link to the electronic signatures and some very moving comments hupz//chng.iverSvWg9TS8. Also attached is a copy of the paper signatures. See Exhibit AS 48, Afier multiple requests to meet with the Board or have them issue a statement, almost a month later on July 22, Bill George sent me a copy of the response he had sent to concemed parents. “I have received numerous emails from community members relating to the Spread Love Not Hate rally...Thank you for taking the time to communicate your thoughts on the June 28 Spread Love Not Hate rally. The district was asked by the students and alumni who organized the rally for use of the High School North parking lot. The intent of the rally was to peacefully show solidarity and support for social justice...We are aware of a different perspective demonstrated by the acts of a few rally participants who denounced police officers in an attempt to alter the goals expressed by rally organizers. After receiving numerous ‘communications, it is my perspective that the acts of this small group did not reflect the sentiments of the vast majority of rally participants who have been portrayed as respectful, peaceful and exemplifying a strong social conscience. It is my belief that the organizers achieved their goal as the rally served as a show of unity to promote social justice....” See Exhibit A6, 49.1 responded to Dr. George and asked him to rectify how he could say that the signs did not represent the intent of the organizers, when one of the organizers and main speaker is proudly displaying a photo of herself wearing an ACAB/Manny slogan as her Instagram cover photo. See Exhibit A7. ‘50, What's more concerning is that, even after knowing this, Dr. George, Pam Rogers and the Board of Education stated that “The organizers of the rally will be meeting ‘with district administrators next week to continue the discussion on how our district can expand and improve upon our curricular offerings and staff’ professional development opportunities in order to effectively educate our students on issues related to race.” Once again, the invitation was not extended to anyone with opposing views. See Exhibit A8, 51. We submitted the petition to each member of the board via email July 27%, them fora response, To date, there has be ind asked 10For Ageney Use Only Docket Number: 52, On multiple occasions, the Board members and followers of Spread Love Not Hate attempted to push blame to the mayor and town, saying this event was approved and sanctioned by them, See Exhibit A10, 53. The mayor's office unequivocally denied this and released a statement saying they did not approve of the event, See Exhibit AL 54. Based on information and belief, the Board agreed to meet with Spread Love, Not Hate to change curriculum and create and pay for an event based on a petition with just 700 signatures (many of whom were not local), yet our petition with close to 3,000 concemed local citizens and the huge outery on Social media has gone without an answer or even an acknowledgement for months. See Exhibit A12. personal beliefs and political gain, 38. The three Board of Education members involved in this event are the only Board of Education members who are up for re-election this November. 56. This email was sent from Mrs. Rogers's official Board of Education email and included only some students and alumni, not all. She further stated that “Board leadership feels that change must start at a young age, And, if parents are not educating their children about African and Asian literature, culture and art, it would bbehoove us, as leaders of the community to step in.” See Exhibit Y. 57. In this same June 30, 2020 email, Board President Pam Rogers states, without any proof or evidence that “I've learned that Most [sic{] Middletown parents do not take their kids to Newark Museum for MLK day or visit the Moma in NYC frequently like Ido with my friends and our kids. I see an opportunity here not only to educate the | students at school Monday-Friday, but also to promote free annual events that would broaden their spectrum of experience in the town on a weekend.” She also referred to ‘community members who lived alone the route the group walked as “ignorant homeowners on the route.” See Exhibit Y. 438. In a statement to the Patch, Pam Rogers stated that she feels the cit iced ‘concerns about the clearly hateful rhetoric and signs at the rally, specifically, me, were trying to “take me down, politically” and smear her name. Twas not aware that a volunteer position on the Board of Education is considered political. In fact, I believed it to be non-partisan, See Exhibit A13. 59, Pam Rogers, Robin Stella and Nick DiFranco actively promote BLM and the democratic party on their public social media, Pam Rogers has openly given interviews for Progressive Democrats of New Jersey, identifying herself as the Board of Education President and expressed interest in “getting more involved”, Robin Stella’s Husband, Chris Stella, is actively running for a seat in the democratic party ‘and was personally involved in social media attacks on people who spoke up against his wife’s involvement in the event. View video here: hitps://youtu,be/eFq_w5k7sCw zens who v WHEREFORE, |, as Complainant, request that the School Ethies Commission find and determine that the above-named Respondent(s) has violated the School Ethies Act and that he or she be subject to such penalty as provided by the Act # sae vae__ 29/90 Sianatre of Compl or his or her AttorneyFor Agency Use Only Docket Number: CERTIFICATION UNDER OATH Laurie Tietjen, of ful and says: age, being duly sworn upon his or her oath according to law deposes 1, Lam the complainant in this matter. 2. Thave read the complaint and aver that the facts contained therein are true to the best of my knowledge and belief and Iam aware that the statute that created the School Ethies Commission authorizes the School Ethics Commission to impose penalties for filing a frivolous complaint. N.J.S.A. 18A:12-29(e). [am aware that if the respondent alleges that the complaint is frivolous, I shall have 20 days from receipt of the answer to respond to the allegation. 3. The subject matter of this complaint is not pending in any court of law or administrative cy of this State. I will advise the Schoo! Ethics Commission if I subsequently become © that itis pending elsewhere sfemarcot Life pae:_GYPE/IO ‘Swom and subscribed to before me this <9 _ day of Dep MIAH ager Notice: All final decisions issued in connection with complaints that come before the School Ethics Commission for review and determination are public records uniformly posted on the Department of Education’s website at htp://www.nj.gov/education/legal/. As a general rule, selective requests to remove a particular decision for reasons of personal preference are not entertained.