Board of Education Trustee Vivian Yudin King is employed by her family’s business Yudins Appliance. At the same time, she was working on the district’s Finance Committee, which issued purchase orders to her parents’ business. When four local parents asked questions about a possible conflict of interest, the Yudins sued them.
Imagine being a parent and taxpayer who attended their local School Board of Education (BOE) meeting and asked a question during the ‘Open Public Session’ about a recent school purchase from a vendor whose daughter sits on the Finance and Facilities committee that issues purchases orders to local vendors. Now imagine the shock when that vendor demands they stop asking that question and sues to silence them.
Unfortunately, asking a simple question has elicited a full-blown lawsuit, sending an unmistakable message to other Rampo Indian Hills High School parents – “Don’t ask questions.” Four New Jersey parents face a blatant obstruction of parental rights, freedom of speech, and civil liberties because of a frivolous lawsuit and a misuse of our legal system. We’ve already lost our freedom when parents can’t ask a simple, obvious question seeking transparency. We encourage everyone to support, preserve and uphold fundamental rights as parents and community members. Today it’s us. Tomorrow, it could be you.PRESS RELEASE
Download the official press release from the Ramapo Indian Hills parents targeted by a local business.
Download Press Release PDFSEE, HEAR & LISTEN
FOR YOURSELFScroll down to watch the one simple question and three comments that elicited this costly lawsuit and misuse of our legal system.
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Email the moms and dads in this unseemly lawsuitIn the news:
Check out journalist on Chaos & Control
…“Additionally, parents are being sued for comments made at BOE meetings. You are probably aware of the porn pushing Roxbury Librarian using the court to punish parents for speaking out against pornographic books detailing how to give good handjobs and proper use of butt plugs. Salacious indeed.
The parents in the Ramapo Indian Hills Regional High School District (RIH) are being sued by an appliance company for asking too many questions about the relationship between the BOE VP and a school appliance vendor.”
One Question
Cynthia Phillips asks a very obvious question. Would it not be a conflict of interest if a board member who sits on the Finance and Facilities Committee, reponsible for awarding purchase orders, to engage with her family business who is a vendor for the district and is also her employer?
Watch now2 Comments
Joel Ansh makes an observation and two comments – only 1 is about Yudin’s Appliances. Deb Mutterer makes a short simple comment. Both resulted in a lawsuit.
Watch nowOne Follow-up comment
Cynthia Phillips makes a follow-up comment, at a subsequent board meeting, to address a highly disparaging statement Vivian Yudin King made because she asked about the “possible conflict of interest.”
Watch nowVivian Yudin King says “Our business is great!”
Vivian Yudin King, RIH Board of Education Vice President, and employee of Yudin’s Appliances, Inc. makes a statement about her family business, thanks the audience for the free advertising and proclaims our business is great despite you.
This is in direct conflict with the Yudin’s lawsuit that claims their business suffered financial hardship because parents asked a question at a local school board meeting. A question directed to and about their daughter’s committee position on the board, not their business.
Watch NowTo date, the Board of Education’s legal council supplied a less than credible response to the question, noting that he sees no conflict of interest because Vivian Yudin King is “just an employee.” This completely discounts the fact that she is their daughter. This has never been about Yudin’s Appliance, it has always been about Vivian Yudin King’s position on the Board at that time and her seat on the Facilities and Finance Committee.
Check out the New Jersey School Ethics Act – 18A:12-24. Conflicts of interest bullet points a), b), c).
That’s it.
The one question and three comments above elicited a lawsuit.
Additionally, the lawsuit demands that the podcast Board Buzz, hosted by Cynthia and Filomena, be removed from all broadcast platforms despite giving this issue only several minutes of coverage over 18 hours of broadcasting footage. The First Amendment Protects all independent journalists. Board Buzz is a service to community and does not profit in any way.
Final Thoughts
When a parent poses a simple, polite question during an open public meeting to an appointed official about purchase contracts and the disbursement of funds that pertain to spending tax dollars on behalf of our children, and it results in a lawsuit…the message is quite clear – Don’t ask questions.
It is hard to imagine that the Ramapo Indian Hills Board of Education “majority” would condone, by their silence, an appointed official’s family initiating a frivolous lawsuit against parents for asking a question. By rights conferred upon us by the Constitution of the United States of America, freedom of speech is an inalienable right that, in this case, entitles parents to ask questions and expect a credible response from public officials, both elected and appointed. Transparency is essential, and anything less is unacceptable. When we fail to make public servants accountable, when we are prohibited from asking pertinent questions that demand transparency from our elected and appointed public officials, we fail to be the checks and balances government requires to properly complete their tasks and duties under the watchful eyes and scrutiny of the community. Parents, we are the watchful eyes that are essential to having a board of education that functions professionally and adequately fulfills their fiduciary duties to the parents, children, and citizens of the community they serve.