Woodland Park Officials Launch Investigation Following Surprise Resignation of Councilman

WOODLAND PARK, NJ - Woodland Park officials are moving quickly to seek answers to the surprise resignation of Councilman Ron Arnau, from both his elected and his Democratic Party positions.

On Thursday, as first reported by NJ Globe , Arnau sent a letter via email to more than 30 individuals, including Mayor Tracy Kallert and Business Administrator Sam Yodice, saying that he no longer sees “a viable path forward to be an effective councilman, candidate, or WPDO Co-Chair.” By late Friday Arnau also sent the letter to Woodland Park’s Municipal Clerk, a necessary step to officially give up the seat on the local governing body.

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Arnau reflected on being appointed as the local Democratic organization’s co-chair in October 2023, saying that he immediately requested a meeting with Mayor Kallert to discuss “concerns” he had with the “some of the conduct demonstrated at the caucus meeting by members of the administration.” Aranu then acknowledges that while the requested meeting took place on December 1, he didn’t discuss his concerns, and instead accepted an appointment to the borough council.

Almost immediately, Arnau claimed in the letter, he was “subject to, witness of, and/or have received complaints about members of this administration conspiring against (him) and/or intentionally inflicting distress and retaliatory behavior.” Some of the “conduct”, he said, came in the form of discriminatory comments about people of color, members of the LGBT community, and their appearance/physicality.

Asked to clarify the claims made in the letter Arnau told TAPinto Passaic Valley via email that he had “no further information to add at this time.”

It is the lack of clarity regarding the concerns, Yodice said, that led Borough officials to immediately seek to get to the bottom of them.

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“We are taking this very seriously,” Yodice said, adding that the Borough has already decided to hire a law firm to ascertain any occurrence of misconduct. The investigation process may encompass tasks such as obtaining witness statements, conducting interviews, gathering documentary evidence, evaluating the evidence, and providing recommendations or corrective actions.

The firm will be tasked with collecting and reviewing any evidence including written documents, text messages or screenshots, social media screenshots or messages, voicemails or recordings, and oral witness testimony, items which Arnau did not produce in tendering his resignation.

The goal of the investigation, Yodice concluded, is to determine whether there is validity to the concerns and what actions must be taken, in the short term, to ensure that the sort of toxic behavior described in the letter is stopped immediately.

“The contents of the letter were disturbing to all of us,” Yodice said, noting his surprise that despite their seriousness, and the numerous leadership positions he held, Arnau did nothing to bring them forward when they allegedly occurred.

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