Legal Costs and Lost Trust: Hardyston's Taxpayer Money Under Fire
At a time when every dollar should be going toward helping kids learn and schools thrive, it’s frustrating-and frankly, infuriating-to watch taxpayer money get burned on personal political games.
And once again, Donna Carey is leading that charge.
During the last election season, Carey made it crystal clear: her priority wasn’t students-it was protecting her own political ambitions, even if it meant misusing district resources along the way.
👁🔍 Weaponizing Legal Counsel for Political Retaliation
Here’s how it went down:
- Mayor Frank Cicerale publicly endorsed Carey and her running mate Robin Marotta.
- Superintendent Mike Ryder responded-factually and professionally-with a letter highlighting Hardyston’s successes and correcting the misinformation.
Mayor Cicerale’s Letter
Dr Ryder’s Response
Did Carey engage in a fact-based discussion?
Of course not. Instead, she formally requested that district legal counsel investigate Ryder-questioning whether he even had the “right” to defend the district.
Let’s be clear: using taxpayer-funded attorneys to silence the superintendent during an election isn’t just unethical. It’s an abuse of power.
And it’s not leadership-it’s retaliation.
🤔 Hypocrisy, Front and Center
Carey and Cicerale love to talk about “failing schools” and “problems in the district.”
Here’s the kicker: Carey’s been on the Board the whole time.
So… either:
- She ignored real problems for years and is now pretending to be shocked
- Or she’s inventing a crisis to win political points
Either way, it’s not a good look.
If Carey truly cared about fixing things, she had every chance to lead, propose real solutions, and make Hardyston stronger.
She stayed silent-until it suited her politically.
💸 The Real Cost to Taxpayers
This isn’t just about bad optics. It’s about real money-your money.
- Frivolous legal reviews triggered by political feuds
- Skyrocketing legal costs over baseless complaints
- No ownership of her role in any so-called “failures”
And let’s not forget: just one week after the election, Carey filed a retaliatory ethics complaint against a fellow board member-yet another drain on district resources.
Hardyston taxpayers deserve better than this.
💪 Hardyston Deserves Better
Donna Carey’s actions have made one thing painfully obvious: she’s more interested in silencing opposition than helping students.
While classrooms could be getting stronger, teachers getting more support, and kids getting new opportunities, Carey has spent her time (and your tax dollars) playing political games.
Hardyston deserves leadership that puts students first-not petty vendettas.
And trust us: we’ve kept the receipts.
Stay tuned as we continue exposing the waste, the hypocrisy, and the mismanagement that Hardyston families can no longer afford to ignore.