A government official at the Town of Ramapo failed for years to report his role as the leader of an influential Haredi nonprofit organization, despite being required to do so in financial disclosure forms.

Josef Margaretten, a constituent services assistant at the Town of Ramapo since 2019, is also the leader of Chaverim of Rockland, a volunteer emergency response and public safety organization that receives funding from the town and has often partnered with it on public safety initiatives.

Margaretten, a leading Haredi activist who has led Chaverim since at least 2016, failed to report the role in forms he filled out in 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The documents were obtained by Shtetl through the Freedom of Information Law. No form was supplied for the first year of Margaretten’s tenure.

Margaretten did not disclose any property, either, even though he was prompted to do so, and a Rockland County portal showed a deed for his personal house in 2019.

Chaverim means “friends” in Hebrew, and organizations with that name exist in many Orthodox Jewish areas, including Brooklyn, Central Jersey, and the Five Towns, where they are known for providing free roadside assistance and completing odd jobs. People, Jewish or non-Jewish, can call Chaverim if they have a flat tire, get locked out of their home, or need help removing unwanted creatures.

In Rockland, however, the organization — and Margaretten himself — have taken on more ambitious projects. Last year, Margaretten, who makes $111,395 yearly from the Town of Ramapo, led a boycott of non-Jewish-owned taxi companies in Rockland County after spreading rumors, without evidence, that non-Jewish drivers had sexually harassed Haredi women.

Taxi service owners who spoke to Shtetl at the time said that Margaretten demanded they install cameras in taxis and give Chaverim and rabbis access to the footage if they wanted him to end the boycott. Two other taxi service owners said they either already complied or were in the process of complying with this demand. Margaretten had recently been appointed to the town’s newly formed taxi and limousine commission, which separately created new rules for all taxi drivers to follow.

According to documents from the Town of Ramapo, the nonprofit received $20,000 in town funds in 2022, $25,818 in 2023, and another $20,000 in 2024. Ramapo town clerk Maureen Pehush told Shtetl the money was designated for community services and traffic safety equipment such as reflective cones.

Margaretten’s role at Chaverim is no secret, and has been documented frequently in religious media, secular media, and social media, including when he first began working for the town. Still, experts say that such forms must be filled out properly to ensure transparency and help authorities prevent conflicts of interest.

Susan Lerner, the executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause NY, told Shtetl Margaretten must disclose his Chaverim role.

“Every government employee must disclose any outside position that could influence their decision making,” Lerner said. “Margaretten must fix these forms ASAP so the public has transparency between his government and nonprofit job.” 

Reached by Shtetl on Thursday, Margaretten said that he updated the form sometime after May 9 to reflect his Chaverim affiliation. An amended filing the Town of Ramapo shared with Shtetl on Friday shows that, using a red pen, Margaretten indeed added his role at Chaverim and his house to the form first filed in May. Margaretten wouldn’t say when exactly he made this change or whether he did so as a result of Shtetl’s reporting. He also did not explain why he didn’t disclose his role at Chaverim sooner.

When Ramapo Supervisor Michael Specht hired Margaretten to work for the town, Specht defended the decision against criticism from his opponent Bill Weber, who accused him of hiring friends. According to the Journal News, Specht said Margaretten’s work at Chaverim made him a strong candidate for the gig. "He's familiar with the Monsey Community and speaks the language (Yiddish)," Specht said.

Reached by Shtetl, neither Specht nor his chief of staff, Mona Montal, commented on Margaretten not disclosing his role at Chaverim.

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