Mayor Mike Reina has suspended Jackson Code Enforcement Officer Bill Campbell following a social media post in which he threatened Jackson Council President Jennifer Kuhn.
Campbell’s inflammatory remarks, posted on Facebook, were directed at Kuhn amid heightened scrutiny of Jackson’s Code Enforcement Department. In his post, Campbell wrote: “Keep coming at us Ms. Kuhn, been there, done that. We are not idiots in code enforcement as you may think. Bottom line, [expletive] with retired cops, and you will get burned.”
The controversy comes as the Jackson Township Council advances its “DOGE” (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative, aimed at identifying and eliminating waste and inefficiencies in local government. Code Enforcement has recently been a focal point of the initiative following numerous reported issues within the department.
Campbell had previously engaged in online discourse regarding allegations of misconduct within Code Enforcement. Lakewood Alerts previously reported that the department had misled officials and the public by falsely claiming it lacked the software necessary to modernize its system. Deleted emails, recently uncovered, contradicted those claims, revealing that officials had knowingly withheld information that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and impeded essential services.
Following the revelations, Campbell took to Facebook to dismiss the allegations, asserting that they could be “disproven.” However, when pressed by Lakewood Alerts to provide evidence refuting the claims, he failed to respond. Instead, he again posted on Facebook, suggesting that Lakewood Alerts had attempted to “bait” him into a response.
Mr. Campbell’s refusal to publicize the evidence he claims to have that would refute the serious allegations made against his own Code Enforcement department raises questions over whether such evidence really exists.