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Blackridge Strategy is run by Farahi and Thames Valley District school board trustee Jake Skinner. It worked on at least 11 different campaigns in London’s 2018 municipal election – including Mayor Ed Holder’s.

The Cassidy attack website was advertised on lawn signs that were styled to look like the candidate’s own election advertisements, but with the phrase “Integrity?!?!” added. Within hours of the Ridley website launching, the one-term city councillor had figured out how to link the website to Farahi’s cellphone number – which, while fairly convincing, was not definitive proof.

“It was important to us to go through the process of obtaining the information and then making that information available to the public,” Cassidy said Thursday.

“I wanted to find a way to discourage these kinds of attacks in future campaigns by showing that this information can and will be obtained.”

Blackridge worked with rivals of both Cassidy and Ridley – Ward 5 candidate Randy Warden and Van Meerbergen in Ward 10, respectively.

WHO IS RONALD YOUNG?

The appearance of the name Ronald Young in the court documents presents something of a mystery so far. Young’s address is listed as 38 Lavender Way in London.

That came as a surprise to the woman who lives there, and answered the phone number for that address. There is no Ronald Young living there, she said.

She and her husband have been living there since 1994, she added.

Neither she nor her husband know anyone by the name of Ronald Young, and their only involvement in the last municipal election was to cast votes, she said.

Municipal tax records confirm that she and her husband pay the taxes on the property, not a Ronald Young.

A call to Young’s phone number listed in the court documents is answered by a message saying the text mail subscriber is not available, and to leave a message.