Howell Mayor William Gotto. Photo via HowellRepublican.com
A heated exchanged between Howell Mayor William Gotto and a 19 year old Township resident, Chris Cohen, that ended with both parties apologizing, shaking hands and expressing their respect for one another has ignited a social media outrage now that a video of part of their encounter has been posted on facebook and YouTube, more than a month after the incident occurred.
On October 14, there was a petition drive at the Howell library to collect signatures of residents opposed to a proposed affordable housing development at West Farms on Route 9. Grotto and Deputy Mayor Robert Nicastro went to the gathering to answer questions about the proposed development.
The questions were heated and pointed when Cohen says he asked the mayor, “Whose pockets were being lined here?”
Gotto says he heard the question as an accusation of personal corruption. He lost his composure, as can be seen on the video:
Any day now, Gov. Chris Christie is expected to formally announce that he’s exploring a presidential run. In six years he has gone from a relatively unknown US Attorney in New Jersey to a household name around the country. He did it by running a sophisticated media operation that capitalized on his charm, temper and ability… Read the rest of this entry »
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s ascent to the status of would-be savior of the national Republican Party started with one viral video – a clip of him telling my colleague, Star-Ledger Editorial Page Editor and columnist Tom Moran, “you must be the…
Now that the Obama administration’s spin that the ongoing anti-American riots in the Middle East that started on September 11 are caused by a reaction to an idiotic video is failing to hold up under scrutiny, the State Department has told reporters to stop asking about the crisis. Most mainstream reporters and media outlets seem to be fine with that.
Have you seen the video? Probably not. According to YouTube’s counter, it has only been viewed 3.6 million times. That may sound like a lot of views. By typical YouTube standards the video is viral. Yet for the supposed impact it has had on the world, the lives it supposedly cost and the news generated about it, the equivalent of less than half the population of New Jersey has viewed it. More people have seen pictures of Princess Kate’s boobs, which were easier to find on the Internet than the video was. I guess it is refreshing to know that the President of the United States has more influence on the media than the Queen of England does.
Governor Chris Christie was in great form this morning as he met with over 200 residents who came out in the snow for a Town Hall meeting in Middletown.
About 40 minutes into the meeting Christie turned to the residents for questions. The first questioner, a councilman from a town with a large regional high school, asked the governor if there was a way that students who drive themselves to school could sign a waiver giving up their school busing privileges to that the district could save money on transportation costs.
Note the reactions of the three lawyers sitting directly behind the governor.
