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