Former Edison school board president cleared of ethics violation
EDISON - The state School Ethics Commission has ruled that the former president of the Edison Board of Education did not commit an ethics violation when his name and title appeared on a Facebook campaign poster for a 2021 mayoral candidate.
The Commission voted to last month to sustain a ruling by an Administrative Law judge dismissing the ethics complaint filed against Jing Wei "Jerry" Shi.
In June 2021 Anthony DePasquale alleged Shi violated the School Ethics Act when his name, picture and title as the board president appeared on a Facebook campaign post for mayoral candidate Mahesh Bhagia in the heated June 2021 Democratic primary.
Bhagia was removed from the Middlesex County Democratic Organization slate in April 2021 by Middlesex County Democratic Party Chairman Kevin McCabe due to Bhagia's alleged connection to the investigation into racist flyers distributed during the 2017 Board of Education election. Shi's face was featured on the racist flyer.
Mahesh Bhagia shares a township address with Raj Bhagia who, along with Shi, was cited as among the people who allegedly worked on the racist flyers.
No charges have been filed in connection with that case.
In October 2021 the School Ethics Commission adopted a decision denying Shi's motion to dismiss the alleged ethics violation. The commission at that time also found the complaint was not frivolous and transferred the matter to the Office of Administrative Law for a hearing, the decision states.
Shi then made another motion to dismiss the case last year which the Administrative Law judge denied.
Then on Jan. 29 the judge dismissed the complaint and forwarded it to the Ethics Commission which voted to adopt the judge's decision on March 26.
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According to the final decision, the campaign post with Shi's picture and title as school board president contained a disclaimer in small print indicating it was made in Shi's capacity as a private citizen and township resident and not on behalf of the school board.
The Facebook page also featured a "like" icon that DePasquale attributed to Shi. DePasquale responded to the post by asking why Shi was endorsing the mayoral candidate using the school board president title. Shi's title as board president was later removed from the the post and the disclaimer was enlarged.
The Administrative Law judge found Shi testified credibly that he wasn't aware of the advertisement, wasn't involved in the design and wasn't consulted before it was posted on Facebook. The campaign consultant also testified that Shi was not involved in the design of the ad.
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The judge also found DePasquale did not provide any evidence to dispute the campaign consultant's testimony and had not met the burden to prove Shi acted on behalf of the mayoral candidate's team or used his position for personal gain.
Shi testified his wife has access to his social media account and perhaps she inserted the "like" icon. The judge found DePasquale didn't provide evidence that Shi "liked" the post.
"The Commission agrees with the ALJ that respondent did not surrender his judgement to the mayor or use the schools to gain a benefit for himself or for the mayor. As respondent did not authorize the Facebook post, he did not take any action, and therefore, did not surrender his judgment to a special interest or partisan political group, or use the schools for personal gain or for the gain of friends. As such, respondent is not in violation," the final decision states.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Former Edison school board president cleared of ethics violation
