Friday, October 13, 2017

An Off Note From The Barn Raising

Note added, October 14: After this post appeared on October 13, Mr. Clark threatened to take me to court if I did not remove specific passages of his own writing from the account of his actions. His rationale was that the fine print at the bottom of the emails with those passages included a paragraph that begins by referencing the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. 119 Sections 2510-2521. What you see below is an edited version, in which I have removed any of Clark's words that appeared above his fine print disclaimer. 

This is a follow-up to a previous post: Note From a Barn Raising In Middletown.  In fact, it might be added as one more note. 
This is a personal account, not intended to be journalism. Click on each image to enlarge.
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It started with a simple inquiry and has become a convoluted fantasy of imagined Devoto malfeasance.

Fellow Planning and Zoning Commissioner Molly Salafia sent the following email to the city's Planning Department:
Hi Bruce - can you check I got reports Devoto didnt have a staff pz review for barn he raised over the weekend on his property. Thank you.
It was a perfectly reasonable and proper request, although unusual--staff in the Planning Department could not recall any previous such inquiries from Commissioner Salafia.

The Planning Department staff determined that I had gotten both a demolition and a building permit from the Building Department, but because of a mistake in city hall, those were granted without a formal Planning Department permit.

In fact, we had initially gone to the Planning Department for a permit, but were told that our project, which was to replace an existing barn with a new one with the exact same footprint, did not need a Planning Department permit.

The Director of Planning, Joe Samolis, said, "It was a simple mistake."

Having been informed of the mistake as a consequence of Commissioner Salafia, we have now rectified it.

Brian Clark, Investigative Journalist

But the news that Commissioner Salafia's question had a very mundane answer did not apparently reach the ears of the investigative journalist for The Middletown Insider.  Brian Clark approached me on Facebook Messenger with the following:
... I have a lot of people, who've provided a lot of documents, on the barn you built on your property, and the lack of Planning and Zoning paperwork you have for said barn. ... And before you go about wondering who's playing pointing the finger, reevaluate that thought because these people are closer than you'd ever believe.
The next morning he continued in an email. He informed me that he was not motivated by politics, but was simply working for the good of society. He said my actions had made many people justifiably furious at me, and he had a duty to expose me.

Clark then offered me a reward. He promised that all I had to do was cooperate with his investigation; if I did he would present my side of the story.

I encouraged him to publish the results of his investigation, suggested he make sure he had all the current information, and essentially declined to write "my side of things".

This led to his final communiqué, in which Clark told me that he would be publishing his article with or without my cooperation. He informed me that he would not spare me his full wrath, he made it very clear that I would regret being such a donkey (he used a synonym for this animal).

Clark said that his extensive investigation had provided all the information he needed.

The Director and the Deputy Director of the Planning Department each confirmed to me that they had not received any inquiries from him.


I look forward to Clark's article, which on Facebook he has promised will appear Saturday.
The New Barn, before the siding went on


Footings Inspection


The Old Barn

Foundation Wall Inspection

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Intrepid, eh? This is hysterical. Thanks for posting.

Tree Fanatic said...

I'm thinking sad, rather than funny.

Steve Smith said...

Thankfully you were spared the “Wrath of Clark”! Hopefully he willl realize that there is nothing to write about and we will all be spared the”Writing of Clark”. Apparently being an investigative reporter for The Insides does not require the ability to investigate or report.

musicmike said...

Any time someone claiming to be a reporter takes to swearing at another person in writing, it delegitimizes their credibility in my book. Further, why is their always a "mystery citizen" who is furious at something? If they're so upset, why don't they 1)do a little research and ask some questions before venting, 2)identify themselves before explaining why they are "furious", and 3)chill out a bit before overreacting to something- it's a barn, no one died (I mean really, with all the tragedies in the world, this is what someone chooses to be "furious" about?). I really don't think there is anyone "furious" about this barn raising. It is a false claim that should be dismissed and ignored unless legitimate concerns are brought forth.

Anonymous said...

"The Director of Planning, Joe Samolis, said, "It was a simple mistake.""

Of course it was a mistake, said one Democrat to another . . .

"The Director and the Deputy Director of the Planning Department each confirmed to me that they had not received any inquiries from him."

It's doubtful the Director of Deputy Director answer the phones at the Planning Dept. Inquiries are usually answered by secretaries, who don't ask for the caller's name.

Middletown Eye (Ed McKeon) said...

Anonymous 4:25

I can't say you're a complete idiot because I don't know who you are. I can assume you're a coward.

I wonder if you've taken the time to investigate if the "investigative reporter" actually investigated to see if the proper paperwork had been completed? Devoto provided the information, and images to prove that the work done was completely approved and legal. We call those facts around here.

As for your attempt to cast doubt on who answered the phone, you may not have considered that Devoto actually visited the offices of the planning director to receive the information. Sorry for unraveling your "stroke-of-genius" logic, Sherlock.

So, please cast your aspersions in some other forum where they will be readily greeted as chum by the rest of the bottom feeders.

My name is Ed, what's yours?


Anonymous said...

I think you're overreacting because no story was ever printed by Mr. Clark. It seems he was investigating, by asking you questions. As an elected official, isn't it part of the deal that you are held accountable by the members of the community that voted you into the position you're in, press or not?

At the end of the day, for doing what you did, makes you a petty individual. You had my vote last time around, but this time you blew it. If you can't take light softball questions, you seriously don't belong in a leadership role.

Middletown Eye (Ed McKeon) said...

Anon 12:06:

For someone who feels so strongly, I'm surprised you don't have the courage to use your name. Pity.

When a so-called "investigative journalist" indicates that he has damaging evidence against you provided by unnamed sources, and then threatens to publish it if you won't concede to an interview, that is not what you would call a "softball question." When this so-called "investigative journalist" is too lazy or incompetent to get independent verification of a story that could be damaging to a person's reputation and standing as an elected official, that is not petty. When that "investigative journalist" then provides a cock and bull story about how he was mistreated, after he issued threats and insults, why, that's just hilarious.

When someone who is wrongly accused stands up for himself, and prints the facts, that is not overreacting.

There are a lot of elected officials who could be labeled "unaccountable." Devoto is not among them. It's too bad that your prejudice clouds your perspective. We need more public elected officials like Devoto.

My name is Ed. Maybe yours is too, but I wouldn't know that.