Westfield approves sign ordinance amendment after resident accusations of prior enforcement

The Westfield Town Council adopted General Ordinance 2025-21—amending the town code to prohibit posting advertisements or offensive language in public spaces—with a staff amendment that cites New Jersey statute NJSA 2C:34-3.

Town staff explained the amendment as a clarifying change to align local language with the state hate-crimes statute. The staff presentation noted the amendment was intended to avoid vagueness and did not require reintroduction.

During public comment, Sean Mullen, a town resident, criticized past enforcement and said the revision was prompted by outside legal intervention. Mullen credited the Institute for Justice and attorney Ben Field for prompting changes and alleged that a 10/09/2021 incident at Tamaques Park involved Councilman Michael Dardia asking police to remove political signs. Mullen called the incident “hypocrisy” and said it illustrated the ordinance’s potential for selective enforcement. He urged the council to make the ordinance constitutional.

The transcript contains a brief defense by the town attorney (summarized by the public commenter) that the town does not generally police content in public spaces and that the amendment was intended to track state law. The council then moved, seconded and adopted the ordinance by roll call.

The ordinance as adopted now references NJSA 2C:34-3. The meeting record does not show the council discussing an enforcement protocol or retroactive actions related to the 2021 incident during the hearing. No council member read a formal statement responding point-by-point to the allegations during the meeting.