A New Jersey Republican mayor was removed from his position after his party ousted him over a flag controversy. Rochelle Park Mayor Perrin Mosca refused to fly a Pride flag outside town hall because he feels any flag that singles out a particular group should not be flown. The only flag that should be visible is the American flag, which now-ex-Mayor Mosca felt was the consensus (via News 12 The Bronx)
A mayor was removed from office in one Bergen County town after objecting to the raising of a Pride flag at town hall.
Rochelle Park Mayor Perrin Mosca was ousted last week when council members from both parties voted to remove him from office.
It all stems from a contentious May 24 Rochelle Park Council meeting when Mosca objected to the town flying a Pride flag outside of town hall for Pride Month.
“A majority had agreed that as a township we would not put up any flags that singled out one group over another group. That should have been the end of the issue,” Mosca said.
But instead, it was the end of the line for the Republican mayor, and last week the three other Republicans on the committee joined the lone Democrat who promoted the Pride flag – Councilwoman Linda Boniface – to force Mosca out of the mayor’s chair. Those Republican council members have also accused Mosca of missing council meetings.
Mosca is still on the ballot for November but will be running for office without support from the Rochelle Park GOP.
This blow-up is local politics at its worst. The Daily Voice, a local paper, had more details about the Pride flag fight and allegations that Mosca had missed committee meetings. As with any dispute at this level, it's devolved into a nasty whisper campaign between Mosca and the rest of the committee. Whether or not he's an incompetent mayor is irrelevant. The fact that fellow Republicans booted this man over a flag is absurd:
Deputy Mayor Jennifer Appice took over as acting mayor following the work session vote on Wednesday, June 14 to give the committee time to select a temporary successor in advance of this fall's municipal election.
Mosca, who remains a committeeman, is scheduled to run for re-election in November.
Mosca, who allegedly has skipped recent meetings, "embarrassed the township and brought its governance to a screeching halt, threatening two decades of progress,” GOP Municipal Chairman Frank Valenzuela said
Valenzuela, a former mayor himself who once backed Mosca, said he "used his position to create a negative atmosphere guided by his personal ideals versus what is best for the residents of Rochelle Park.”
Critics said the now-former mayor "called everyone he knew" to join his bid to prevent the pride flag raising. Some fellow Republicans disagreed, allegedly prompting the "not good Catholics" comment, they said.
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For his part, Mosca said he never made the "not good Catholics" remarks and claimed that "somebody with a political motive" provided "incorrect details."
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Mosca -- who teaches physics, chemistry and forensic science at Lyndhurst High School while coaching girls basketball there -- said to "consider the political motives" of Valenzuela, who he said is "struggling for relevancy within the Republican [P]arty."
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"My position is that private flags do not belong on public property. The only flags that represent the entire community of Rochelle Park are the American Flag, the NJ state flag, the County flag and our Township flag. All other flags will only create division and open up our township to a myriad of other issues. I am not the only one who believes this to be the best policy."
There seems to be a squishy Republican Party problem in Bergen County, New Jersey.
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