Photo-News Publishes Misleading Story Allowing Trustee Freiband to Fool the Public
A misleading statement, provided to the paper by Woodbury Trustee James Freiband, was published with some pretty important information left out.
I mentioned this before, but I don’t actively read or look at The Photo-News anymore.
Unfortunately, they are the only print media publication left that has actual local news in it.
The Times-Herald Record is only good for obituaries and LLC announcements, I’m told. (I don’t look at that one anymore either.)
Straus News (the publisher of The Photo-News) also publishes weekly papers across Orange County and Northern New Jersey.
So, when they say or do something weird in one of their papers, it’s important to call them out on it.
First, we covered how Monroe Supervisor Tony Cardone threatened to pull advertising from The Photo-News because he didn’t like the coverage he and his political allies — Including Woodbury Town Supervisor, Kathryn Luciani — were receiving.
Second, we covered how The Photo-News ran an advertisement from the American Chemistry Council without properly labeling it as an ad, and obscuring the identification of the Ad’s creator by making it almost illegible. This goes against a suggestion in the Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) that all sponsored content and advertising be properly labeled.
The Monroe Gazette is a member of the SPJ and follows all of the relevant rules. The only rule I don’t follow, because it’s baked into the very nature of the Gazette, is labeling advocacy articles when published.
As a publication that practices advocacy journalism — Which is why you get opinion mixed with facts and suggestions on how to fix things — I feel that additional “advocacy” label on the articles published here are redundant.
It’s all advocacy.
Anyway …
Today, we’re going to take a brief look at Woodbury Village Trustee, James Freiband, and his attempt to trick the public by sending misleading statements to The Photo News, which they then in turn published as news, which you can see here.
Recently, I covered the May 23rd, 2024 Woodbury Village Trustee meeting.
If you watched the meeting, you’ll note that Freiband (and Fabbro) wanted to amend the minutes from the previous week’s meeting.
As Maria Hunter — Woodbury Beautification Chairwoman and secretary for the Village of Harriman Planning Board and Zoning Board of Appeals — pointed out, Mr. Freiband’s attempts to adjust the minutes was unnecessary.
That’s because meeting minutes aren’t supposed to be transcripts.
The minutes are meant to be skimmed and provide a quick overview for the public to see what was discussed at the meeting, what was voted on, and who voted for what.
The transcript is where everything else lives.
For two meetings in a row, Trustee Freiband has attempted to add statements and other language to the minutes to cover up, or otherwise spin, his buffoonery.
Here’s the latest example, from that May 23rd meeting in case you missed it, beginning at 1:27:56 at the end of Part 1 …
Before we get to The Photo-News, I want to point something out. If you watched the May 9th meeting (below), you’ll note that during the discussion with Mr. Gargano, he’s informed that the Village Board and Village Attorney CAN NOT SPEAK WITH HIM because of he filed a notice of claim.
This is the beginning step toward potential litigation with the Village.
See for yourself:
Mr. Gargano begins speaking at 15:16.
At 30:42, Attorney Kelly Naughton asks the Board (this includes Mr. Freiband) NOT to speak with Mr. Gargano because of the notice of claim he filed.
She also points out that, because Mr. Gargano has an attorney, she is also not able to speak with him.
At 36:11 Trustee Freiband, ignoring the advice of Attorney Kelly Naughton, asks Mr. Gargano to stay and speak with him after the meeting is concluded. Mr. Freiband insisted this comment be added to the meeting minutes at the May 24th meeting.
(Minutes from the previous meeting are voted and approved by the board at the following meeting.)
Mr. Gargano concludes speaking at 40:37.
He spoke for just over 25 minutes, well in excess of the 5 Minute Rule that Trustee Freiband wants the Village to enforce, and has attacked the mayor for wanting to get rid of.
Again, I’ll point out that 83% of municipalities in the State of New York do not have a time limit on public comment. Southern Orange County has at least three municipalities that do: South Blooming Grove (3 minutes), Monroe (3 minutes), Village of Woodbury (5 minutes.) Like the Town of Woodbury, the Village of Woodbury often does not enforce the time limit.
The Town of Monroe and the Village of South Blooming Grove STRICTLY enforce that three minute rule to shut down discussion they don’t like.
At no point did Mr. Freiband admonish Mr. Gargano for speaking over twenty minutes, nor did he get up to excuse himself, which is what happens next.
At 40:50, Jimmy Ng gets up to speak.
At 48:01, under ten minutes later, Trustee Freiband gets up and leaves the room at the mention of ACE Farm.
That alone is something you should pay attention to.
Freiband then proceeds to speak with Steven Gargano, against the attorney’s request, in a meeting where there’s no documentation of what was said between the two of them.
At 50:25, Mr. Ng finishes speaking.
None of this is meant to take away, at all, from Mr. Gargano’s issue. He’s dealing with something that needs to be addressed immediately.
What we’re focused on here, is only Mr. Freiband’s behavior.
That’s because he tried to mislead the public about what happened at this meeting using The Photo-News to do so.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the version of events as portrayed in The Photo-News, after they received a statement from Trustee Freiband.
As an FYI, I have submitted a FOIL for the full contents of his statement to the newspaper.
“Woodbury residents have the right to expect the village board to take their concerns seriously and to work with them wherever possible to seek solutions. As trustees our job is to ensure that people can bring issues to us and know that they will receive respect and attention.”
Mr. Gargano spoke for 25 minutes with little interruption.
Anyone watching the video who thinks Mr. Gargano did not have the attention of the board is welcome to convince me otherwise.
The Photo News then states:
Freiband explained that at the May 9 meeting, resident Steven Gargano appeared seeking help regarding last September’s downpour at the village culvert that allegedly damaged his and neighboring properties. He appeared at the town board and was informed that the village is responsible for addressing the backup of water at the culvert. Frieband said Gargano’s request was “met with near silence,” adding that the village lawyer advised the board not to comment. (Emphasis Added.)
The reason for the silence was because Mr. Gargano had filed a notice of claim.
This notice of claim is not mentioned AT ALL in the article by the reporter or by Mr. Freiband.
That is a pretty serious omission to make.
Freiband went on to say to The Photo-News:
“As a trustee, I asked [Gargano] to wait for the end of the meeting to talk further. He agreed. However, in reviewing the minutes of that meeting, I noted that my comments had been omitted. At the following meeting, I requested that my comments be included in the minutes to ensure an accurate record of May 9’s meeting. The mayor denied this request.”
Again, the Village Attorney instructed all Trustee members, Freiband included, not to speak directly with Mr. Gargano because of the notice of claim being filed.
His comments, at 36:11 in the above video, came after the Board was told not to speak with Mr. Gargano.
His request to speak with Mr. Gargano, as pointed out by Trustee Susan Fries-Ciriello at the May 24th meeting, and then his getting up to leave while Mr. Ng was speaking to talk with Mr. Gargano, opened the Village up to potential legal issues.
This violates Mr. Freiband’s fiduciary responsibility to local taxpayers to keep the Village out of legal trouble.
The Photo-News went on …
Freiband also wanted the minutes to include a statement from Mayor Andrew Giacomazza where he said he wouldn’t abide by the five-minute limit for public comment. He wanted the board to adhere to the time limit for public comments, which he said should be for addressing village issues. (Emphasis Added.)
In his statement, Frieband said the mayor “did not plan to honor the rule” and instead let resident Jimmy Ng talk for “more than 10 minutes.” He added, “All this time Mr. Gargano was waiting to talk about steps that could be taken regarding his flooding issue. Eventually, I left the meeting to catch up with him before he went home.”
This is not an accurate version of events, and The Photo-News should have fact checked it by watching the full video of the meeting.
The fact is: Mr. Freiband should not have been speaking 1-1 with Mr. Gargano.
Not at the end of the meeting.
Not during Mr. Ng’s comments.
Not at all.
Mr. Freiband, who claims to want to enforce the Village’s five minute rule for public comment, let Mr. Gargano speak for 25 minutes.
Mr. Ng spoke for about eight minutes before Mr. Freiband got up and left.
He got up and left when Jimmy Ng mentioned ACE Farm — property that Mr. Freiband, Mr. Etzel Jr., and Mr. Keleman along with their accomplice Zak Constantine may try to give to Palm Tree.
Mr. Freiband conveniently left out in his statement that he was instructed not to speak with Mr. Gargano because of the potential for litigation.
The Photo-News did not themselves mention the attorney’s request for the Board not to speak to Mr. Gargano, which was plainly caught on camera and reiterated by the village attorney multiple times.
Finally, The Photo-News article stated:
Freiband concluded his post-meeting statement by saying, “I believe residents with legitimate concerns affecting village oversight deserve to be heard. I hope that, as village trustees, we can honor our responsibilities and ensure that we are supportive, accurate, compassionate, and transparent in our actions. Residents deserve a village board that is fair and consistent.” (Emphasis Added.)
It’s interesting to note that, apparently the concept of a Board Takeover, which is what happened in South Blooming Grove, and the potential for further annexation of ACE Farms is not a “legitimate concern” in the eyes of Trustee Freiband.
He left just as Mr. Ng was speaking on those two issues.
I hope voters in Woodbury are paying attention, both to Mr. Freiband’s attempt to spin and explain away his buffoonery, and The Photo-News just running with what he sent them.
That kind of bullshit won’t fly here at The Monroe Gazette.