Pay special attention to the last five paragraphs of the editorial below featured in this week’s Westfield Leader newspaper. Starting with “In 2018, former Westfield Police Chief David Wayman…….”
Over two years ago, I was interviewed by the Union County Prosecutors Office. Det. Colin McNamara and Asst. Prosecutor Melissa Spagnoli were asked, “Why is a white Westfield police chief collecting a pension worth over $100,000 a year after it was determined he was involved in thefts from the police department, while a black Union County police officer was tried, convicted, and sentenced to prison?”
AP Spagnoli’s answer, “This interview is over.”
I followed up with a visit to the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders on March 5, 2020 and asked the same question.
Board President Mirabella stated that they aren’t in charge of the UCPO. I guess he forgot that the freeholders are an oversight committee. The next month Covid hit and there were no in-person meetings to follow-up after my three minutes at the microphone were up.
Something ain’t right in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office and the Westfield Leader newspaper isn’t the first to question it.
I appeared before the Westfield Town Council in 2018 and asked Mayor Shelley Brindle why the town wasn’t dealing administratively with the corrupt police chief David Wayman. Her response was she could not comment and referred me to the UCPO
This goes above the UCPO and NJ Attorney’s General Office. Time for someone at the FBI to get involved, especially after recent events in Clark, NJ.
This is what happens when a municipality is allowed to hire / promote one of their buddies, donors, or ass suckers. The fact is that Dave Wayman was not qualified to be the Chief of the Westfield Police Department. In 25 plus years he never attempted to educate himself through higher education. Mr. Wayman was incompetent, malfeasant and over his head as the chief of this tight knit community. Why would the mayor and council promote this ignorant fool. Did he extort municipal officials. Did he have information or pictures on someone. Look at Mr. Waymans resume and you probably would no give him the town dog catcher position. Someone in town please tell me why was he the top candidate. Someone please tell me how much the past three chiefs have cost the town in lawsuits. It is no wonder Westfield has some of the highest taxes in the state. You allow the police to be led by fools. Maybe it is time for a Public Safety Director to oversee these appointed fools.
ReplyDeleteThe Union County Prosecutors Office is incompetent. Lindsay Rutollo had no right attempting to LEAD the office. Stop the patronage
ReplyDeletePatronage? Appointing a “Public Safety Director” would be total patronage.
ReplyDeleteTime to boot town administrator, he had his hand in the hiring of the last 4 police chiefs.
Tracy, Parizeau, and Wayman were all ill-advised but yet the administrator still pushed for them. What dirt do they have on him?
While there is little doubt that Wayman was chosen by the then mayor and the Administrator,he was allowed to retire with the commendation of "in good standing" by this administration.
ReplyDeleteThis administration "worked the game" with the Prosecutor's office that oversaw the debacle in Mountainside for at least a year before it was required to acknowledge a problem. In that case, there was video evidence. The Prosecutor still let the town "handle" it.
In Westfield, this Administration had video proof of theft but wanted to "name their own chief (from outside the department) so badly it agreed to settle with him to retire as long as both it and he kept quiet. Thus the confidentiality agreement. That agreement, like Mountainside and Clark was with the full knowledge and support of the Prosecutor.
There seems to be little doubt that the AG's office is considering charges against Lt.Manata. It would seem to be a problem for him to have made these recordings for years without bringing them to the attention of superior agents until he suffered a bad back and was being considered for investigation of arson. His desire to retire two years before he was eligible seems to have motivated his social conscience. The word extortion is being considered in balance to the term whistleblower.
Hopefully, the present section of the AG's assigned to this case won't ask for advice from the section of the office run by Ms.Ruotolo whose record in Union County gave us this problem.
Ms. Ruotolo was and is in way over her head. She is riding on daddy's name. The bad news is that the A.G.s office is even worse than the prosecutors office. The have the canny ability to never answer any questions, never take responsibility, and when it looks bad they will shuffle the deck and put someone new in. It is a disgrace that law enforcement has become a political game. It is a shame that there are very few leaders in the career of law enforcement. It is disgusting to watch Murphy use the state police colonel as his personal puppet. Grow a set already. To all the chiefs in the county, learn how to be a leader, and lead young men and women in the realm of right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou really think Freeholder Mirabella was going to do something? He is pigging at the trough also, having been given the scotch plains twshp managers job without any experience. In 3 years he bumped his pension up from $15k/year to $90k a year. Had to hire people under him to do his job while he cavorted out on county press ops. Lest we not forget him getting his wife a job at the county college as communication director, again without experience, but hey, he and the freeholders fund the college to the tune of $15 mill, quid pro quo. She previously worked in a real estate office. And his kids. Pig pen alive and well. Greg when the model govt is so full of corrupt stupid people, this is the toothless representation. And to Lyndsay ruoltol; I railed about her failure of leadership as County Prosecutor for months until it was so unavoidable that the state came in a "promoted" her to a state job. Rise to the level of incompetence as the saying goes.
ReplyDeleteanon april 9, 2022 notes a "confidentiality agreement". This can be had under the freedom of information act FOIA (not just OPRA BTW) which supersedes the confidentiality since the public interests are involved. These publicly made confidential agreements have been split open time and again.
ReplyDeleteLindsey Ruotolo needs to be brought up on malfeasance charges. Lets see how that would play out.
ReplyDeleteA Union County Sherif’s Officer commuted suicide yesterday supposedly in Clark NJ. Union County is trying to keep it hush and canceled all “Bring your kid to work activities at the Administration Building in Elizabeth today and at the Sheriff’s Office. What are they covering up?
ReplyDelete