HOBOKEN — Last week, Jake Stuiver, an ally of Mayor Dawn Zimmer, submitted a letter published here and in the print edition of the Hoboken Reporter complaining that 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason should practice what she preaches by calling on her supporters on the internet and elsewhere to stop making personal attacks on their opponents, particularly attacks on their families or their physical appearance.
However, a supporter of Mason responded this week that there are Zimmer allies on the web whom she feels have engaged in similar below-the-belt tactics. Recently, one Zimmer ally published graphics on her blog of a group of school board candidates whom Zimmer did not support in a punch bowl beside a floating bit of feces, and last week, there was a graphic of Mason in a Dumpster.
While politicians can’t control their supporters, writer Elizabeth Markevitch — a former school board candidate who was among the people in the pictured punch bowl with excrement — says that if Stuiver is going to call on Mason supporters to be more civil on the internet, he should extend that to everyone.
Her letter:
I am writing in response to Jake Stuiver’s letter that was published in last week’s Hoboken Reporter. I am a mother who has been politically involved in Hoboken for many years. The participation of Beth Mason’s two daughters in her political campaign does not make them fair game for political opponents to use as targets for attacks. No matter what level of government a person seeks public office for, it is never acceptable to attack their children.
I agree with a call for a more civil political discourse. However, several hours after Stuiver’s letter, in which he calls for a more civil political discourse, [was published] Nancy Pincus, a Hoboken Zoning Board member who is allied with Mayor Zimmer and Kids First, published an Internet graphic that showed Councilwoman Mason tossed in a Dumpster with Jake Stuiver standing in front of it along with a [post] congratulating Stuiver for unloading [on] Beth Mason.
Jake Stuiver’s call for a more civil political discourse is disingenuous because he made no mention of a more civil political discourse from Nancy Pincus or any of his allies who continually attack anyone who disagrees with them on the internet. As someone who has been a victim of Pincus’ online graphics, one of which included my face floating in a punch bowl with a piece of human excrement, I have one simple question: Is this any way for a public official who represents the people of Hoboken to conduct herself?
I hope that every person in Hoboken will agree with me that children are always off limits and it is time to stop the cyber-bullying that has increased to a ridiculous level due to the “bravery” of anonymous posters.
Elizabeth Markevitch
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