Neptune Committeewoman Tassie York. (D) was appointed, not elected, in early 2022; elected later that year.By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor, Blogfinger.net
TIMELINE:
Blogfinger post Feb. 2022: The public should know about this member of the Township Committee:
Tassie York is a familiar face in Neptune Township starting when she was a Scarlet Flyer at NHS. When Carol Rizzo, Committeewoman from OG, resigned, Tassie York was chosen to replace her in February, 2022.
In November of 2022 she was elected to that Committee seat.
In July of 2022 Ms. York attempted to influence police charges/tickets against her son-in law, Tristan Charleau, who was stopped by Neptune Police for failing to react lawfully to traffic signage and for reckless driving.
And York also called upon the Neptune Municipal Prosecutor James N Butler, Jr. to do something about the charges, and he did, creating a plea deal favoring her son-in-law.
The Asbury Park Press said, ” Neptune Committeewoman Tassie York allegedly accused an officer of racially profiling her son-in-law before saying she was going to call her “very good friend,” prosecutor James N. Butler Jr., to get the tickets thrown out.
“The Neptune Police were found to have done their jobs by-the-book according to the Monmouth County Prosecutors’ office which investigated after Ms. York accused the NTPD of racial profiling.”
This is from that Prosecutor’s report, “Our review indicated no misconduct whatsoever by any of the officers involved,” the Prosecutor’s letter said.
“The motor vehicle violations committed by Charleau were clear and were captured on the (police cameras). The officers who dealt with Charleau at the scene and with York when she called the police department were professional and respectful.”
Now York and Butler face an investigation by a New Jersey Department of Community Affairs ethics agency. The investigation was requested by the Neptune Mayor Nicholas Williams.
The APP reported: “Prosecutors found no wrongdoing on the part of officers, but said York and Butler’s conduct “raises ethical and conflict-of-interest concerns that warrant review.”
Neptune Republicans said, “The Township GOP Chairman is calling on a Democratic committeewoman to resign because of an ethics investigation stemming from her son-in-law’s traffic tickets.
“Neptune Republican municipal Chairman Kevin Sheehan accused Committeewoman Tassie York of using her official position in an attempt to sway the outcome of her son-in-law’s tickets.
“The revelations regarding Committeewoman Tassie York’s conduct in connection with her son-in-law’s automobile incident displays a level of arrogance this town hasn’t seen in quite some time,” Sheehan wrote in his statement calling for York’s resignation.”
As far as racial charges against the Neptune police, there have been other charges based on race which have surfaced in the past involving the NTPD.
So this one case causes the State to come in right away, and that is appropriate given the climate regarding such matters locally.
But the Committee must be squeaky-clean itself.
This Committeewoman, by accusing the Neptune Police of racial profiling, may have opened a can of worms. If she is found to have been unethical in this matter, then she must be fired by the Mayor. And the same for the Township’s Municipal Prosecutor who seems to have caved to pressure from a Committeewoman.
It will be fascinating to see what Mayor Williams does, because the buck stops with him, and there have been ethical concerns when it comes to the Committee’s approval of the North End plan zoning. It would be for the public good if that North End subject could also be scrutinized by the State of New Jersey.
When it comes to investigations, what’s good for the goose…… But we don’t know what the Neptune Mayor Nicholas Williams later did with this situation. His term was over on Dec. 31, 2022, and we have no information about any ethics investigation which might have cleared York’s reputation which remains tarnished.
Editor’s note. 1/7/2023: Obviously the Committee accepted York anyhow despite the charges. Shouldn’t the new (2023)
Mayor (Keith Cafferty) tell the public how he feels about such public unethical behavior? Note that current Mayor Cafferty was a Committeeman when the York matter was before the Committee in 2022.
If anyone else in Neptune government repeats such behavior, will they get off the hook also? Are there double standards in Neptune governance?
3/2/23. Blogfinger: Mayor Cafferty: Blogfinger has not seen the report of the ethics investigation. How about making it public if it actually exists; or was it buried or quietly dismissed without proceedings?
Do you have a transparency issue at the Neptune Committee? You made Ms. York a Deputy Mayor, but what has she done to deserve that title and what has she done to deserve being placed in charge of the parking controversy? Putting her in charge suggests that you did not have high hopes for the plan, and sure enough, it died a quick death at your workshop.
1/1/24. And now, in January 2024, she floats into the mayoral position at the Mother Ship in Neptune.
What happened to that ethics complaint?
ELVIS COSTELLO. From the movie. De-Lovely