‘Nazi’ Flier Repudiated

(Analysis, Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Oct. 27, 2010) SOUTH AMBOY — A full-color flier depicting local Irish activist Peter “Pete” Kenny as Adolf Hitler with the heading, “The man pictured below is publically (sic) supporting Mary O’Connor for mayor” and “Enough said,”

was repudiated at the beginning of last week’s City Council meeting by Council President Fred Henry, the Democratic nominee for Mayor in next Tuesday’s election.

Henry was chosen to run for Mayor after Mayor John O’Leary, who served as South Amboy’s Chief Executive since 1986, announced in March that he would not seek a seventh four-year term but instead would retire.

Before the Council meeting got-underway, Henry stated that “the flier having to do with Pete Kenny” was “a very-despicable thing to do” and that “nobody from my campaign had anything to do with it.

“I would not do something like this,” he continued. “This flier is lower than low, and I want to condemn that flier, just like the anonymous letter that circulated last year against Mayor O’Leary.”

Henry’s reference was to two letters of unknown origin circulated last summer allegations of wrongdoing by O’Leary, members of his family and his political allies.

One of them, an 87-page document which was circulated anonymously to media outlets covering the county, was entitled “Make The Right Decision, Assembly 2009.” Another, a nine-page letter entitled “O’Leary Crime Family Syndicate,” disparages O’Leary and members of his family and the city Administration and accuses them of abusing the public trust for personal gain.

O’Leary has reacted to those reports by repeatedly denying any wrongdoing, although state and federal investigators examining political corruption in the county may have visited City Hall, N. Broadway, and Perth Amboy with subpoenas seeking additional documents.

O’Leary has not been charged with committing any criminal acts.

Henry said that such anonymous materials “don’t belong in South Amboy.”

He said the flier on Kenny, a former close political ally of O’Leary who is supporting the Independent O’Connor for Mayor, “was sent to me at my house.”

The back of the flier reprints a campaign advertisement containing Kenny’s endorsement of O’Connor which appeared in another newspaper, with Kenny’s signature emphasized.

The Kenny flier is just the latest in a series of unusual events that have taken-place during this year’s rough-and-tumble election campaign in the “Pleasant Little City.”

A highly-politicized version of the biweekly South Amboy Citizen, which ceased publication about a decade ago after being purchased by Devine Media, be gan appearing in stores around town.

The new weekly publication, containing articles and advertising promoting the local Democratic ticket and attacking O’Connor, appeared to be a campaign missive and not a journalistic enterprise.

“It sounds like the rights to publish under the old name have been legally obtained, but from an ethical standpoint, this sounds downright fishy and wrong,” Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Communications Director Scott Leadingham said.

Leadingham said that he would forward information about the new “Citizen”

to SPJ’s Ethics Committee for further comment.

Former Councilman Stanley Jankowski, now a member of the Board of Education, brought-up the matter during the public portion of the Council meeting.

Calling the new “Citizen” paper “a disgrace,” Jankowski said, “I knew (former Citizen Publisher) Joe Wojechowski when he was alive, and everything in this so-called ‘newspaper’ goes-against what he stood-for.”

“It’s a newspaper, and it has nothing to do with this Council,” Henry responded. “I have no control over what’s printed in the newspapers. We have a free press.”

“Who’s paying for it?” Jankowski asked.

“If anyone-else comes-up and talks politics, I’m going to close the public portion,” Henry declared.

Then, an anonymous organization calling itself “South Amboy Tea Party”

surfaced with its endorsement of Independent mayoral candidate Vincent Mackiel.

Contacted for comment, Middlesex County Tea Party Chairman Steven Maness denied that there are any local Tea Party endorsements in the county.

As for Kenny, he acknowledged “dressing-up as Hitler at a Halloween Party in 1983 at the old Lion’s Den,” but denied that this had anything to do with his political leanings.

He said that others, including some current city officials, also wore Nazi gear in the photo, but were cropped-out.

“That’s funny; I wasn’t a ‘Nazi’ when I was working for Jack,” Kenny said. “I was alright until I started asking some questions.”