Political sticker dispute between Park Ridge councilman, activist dismissed

The nearly yearlong case involved campaign messaging, local sign rules and allegations of retaliation.

A municipal judge dismissed dueling lawsuits last week between a Park Ridge councilman and a local activist over a political sticker placed on one of the councilman’s campaign signs.

Greg Hoffman, a Republican member of the Park Ridge Borough Council, filed a complaint against resident Lori Fredrics last November for allegedly pasting a political sticker on one of his election signs near the town’s electronic notice board at the intersection of Park Avenue and Kinderkamack Road.

Fredrics later filed complaints against Hoffman alleging that he violated a local ordinance by placing the signs on town property where they weren’t allowed and broke state law by recording her with his cellphone while driving, according to court documents.

At a Sept. 28 hearing in Westwood, Judge Matthew Fierro said Hoffman and Fredrics wanted to withdraw their complaints and end the case.

“You both agree to leave each other alone and not have any further contact?” Fierro asked.

Both agreed, although Fredrics said she often volunteers for the town and Hoffman is a councilman.

“I don’t think we can legally, completely sever communication since I’m an elected official,” Hoffman, an attorney by trade, told the court. “But to the extent absolutely possible, I will make that agreement.”

“I agree as well,” Fredrics added.

Fierro dismissed the complaints and said Fredrics and Hoffman could apply for expungements.

Fredrics’s attorney, Kathleen Redpath-Perez, told The Vindicator she was happy with the resolution, but she added that is may not be the end of the case.

“I’m pleased that the prosecutor and judge righted the wrong that was exacted against Mrs. Fredrics,” she said. “But Mrs. Fredrics and I will be discussing every legal avenue available to her to address the retaliation she faced for exercising her right to free speech under the Constitution.”

In an email, Hoffman said he and Fredrics agreed to dismiss the complaints without admitting any liability.

“Per the parties’ agreement, I unfortunately cannot provide further comment, but I think both sides are ready to put this behind us,” Hoffman wrote.

Fredrics told The Vindicator she was relieved that the charges were finally dismissed but said they never should have been brought against her in the first place.

“This has been a nightmare with Mr. Hoffman pushing for the maximum penalty,” she told The Vindicator. “This has gone on for almost a year, and I feel like I’ve been a victim of the weaponization of the criminal justice system.”

“Americans shouldn’t face criminal charges for opinions they express,” she continued. “This is un-American, I was targeted, and it’s just unfair.”

The case began just after 8 p.m. on Nov. 2, 2025, when Hoffman allegedly saw Fredrics “defacing campaign signs that were placed on the grass” as he drove along Park Avenue, according to the complaint he filed with the Park Ridge police.

“After I stopped, I used my iPhone to record Ms. Fredrics kneeling down in front of one of my campaign signs,” he said in the complaint. “She was finishing putting a sticker on one of my signs, and walked to a second sign. My video captured her defacing the second sign, but I personally witnessed her deface the first one too.”

“I called out, ‘Hi Lori!’ to which she replied, ‘Hi!’” he added.

Hoffman then flagged down Park Ridge Police Officer Carlos Alicea, who was parked nearby, as Fredrics walked to the passenger side of a car registered to her husband, Howard, and left, according to the police report.

“I parked my patrol vehicle at the entrance to 99 Park Ave. and exited to investigate,” Alicea wrote. “Upon arrival at the campaign signs, I observed two signs that had been defaced with stickers. Mr. Hoffman met me at the location and stated he would like to sign complaints against Ms. Fredrics.”

Hoffman signed a complaint alleging criminal mischief by tampering, a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

Several months later, Fredrics filed a complaint alleging that Hoffman had placed his signs on public property in violation of a local ordinance. The Borough Council then repealed that ordinance in September.

About a week after filing that complaint, on April 25, Fredrics filed another one alleging that Hoffman violates state law by using his cellphone to record her while he was driving, according to court documents.

“Throughout the time when defendant was filming and photographing with his cell phone, he remained in his vehicle, with the engine running,” Fredrics said in the complaint. “At no time did defendant move his vehicle to a safe and legal parking place in order to use his cell phone’s camera.”

The dispute came after Fredrics repeatedly challenged Hoffman and his running mate, Bruce Goldsmith, on their campaign Facebook page leading up to the 2025 election.

In some of the posts, which were included in court documents, Fredrics asked whether Hoffman and Goldsmith would renounce what she called the “false and misleading Republican attack” against Democratic opponent Tommy Greco regarding overdevelopment in the borough.

The sticker at the center of Hoffman’s criminal complaint addressed the same issue.

After the case was dismissed, Fredrics’s attorney Redpath-Perez wrote in a statement that Hoffman pursued a criminal complaint against Fredrics because she “publicly questioned him on his own campaign Facebook page.”

“By his own description, the conduct he sought to criminalize was political expression intended to influence voters against him,” the attorney said. “When a politician manipulates and weaponizes the criminal code to silence a constituent, it threatens one of the most basic freedoms a democracy has: the right to question the people in power.”

“That should concern every one of us, whatever our politics, and is precisely the kind of government action the First Amendment is meant to guard against,” she added.

Hoffman’s campaign sign said, “Oppose overdevelopment, vote Republican.”

The sticker Fredrics allegedly placed on it said, “Park Ridge Democrats Oppose Overdevelopment, too.”