“Once we get elected, the partisanship needs to stop,” she said. “We as Democrats want to bring peace and civility back to Neptune City so we can get along.” – Councilwoman Pamela Renee, via Asbury Park Press
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On Sunday, September 30th, a member of our community shared a public post by Mayor Robert “Bob” Brown, in which he publicly shared a meme expressing his feelings towards Democrats, aka “Liberals.” We will not post the offensive content here, but you are free to look it up.
Nutshell: He called half the town’s population…some derogatory terms. And never addressed what he said. Nor did the current Republican candidates for the Neptune City Council.
Given the heated political climate today, it’s not surprising that Mayor Brown expressed this sentiment – and he’s absolutely entitled to his personal opinion. However, when it’s made public and he feels as if there’s nothing wrong with it, stands by it, and didn’t delete it until he got negative attention from it – as an elected official, the situation is unprofessional and problematic.
No one has asked him to apologize, nor do we expect him to – as I said, we’re all entitled to our opinions. What does concern us, and residents, is that he has issued no statement whatsoever to reassure residents that his personal beliefs will not affect decisions made for the people who live here who aren’t on the “same side of the aisle” as he is.
Mayor Brown was elected to govern ALL residents fairly and equally, not just the ones who agree with his political beliefs. Will there be bias towards residents because they happen to be Democrats? If they apply for permits, have grievances, need help, will they be treated fairly and more importantly, will they be discriminated against? The Republicans running for Council seats have not disavowed his statements either – can we expect the same from them if they are elected? Our Democratic candidates want to govern for all, regardless of party, and do what is right for the town and its residents. We have yet to hear any such statement that they intend, have been doing or will do the same.
As the Neptune City Mayor, a statement of reassurance that he has and will govern fairly and equally is the least he can do. We need to end the hyper-partisanship and bring civility back into our local government. We accomplish nothing if we cannot all agree to respect one another and work together.
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