Tensions Rise Following Mayor's Apology at Clark's July Council Meeting

CLARK, NJ — During Monday’s Clark Township Council meeting, one of the first things Mayor Sal Bonaccorso did was apologize.

At the June 20th council meeting , at approximately an hour and 10 minutes into the gathering, Bonaccorso called resident John Greaves, one of the Democratic candidates for city council, in the mayor's words, a "f*** retard."

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“I was honestly not aware of it until I was called by the press and heard a tape of it,” Bonaccorso said this past Monday. “I want to apologize, first to you, John [Greaves], about that, because you were the last speaker, and the community at large for that. It's not something I'm very proud of. There was a moment of frustration, and I will do my darndest never to do that again.”

Bonaccorso also described a number of ways that he and the community had sought to help people with mental and physical disabilities in the past.

For Greaves, who spoke later during the public comment period, it wasn’t enough.

While initially accepting the apology, Greaves went on to say, “It's to be expected at this point [as] he's acted this way for years and the town has paid dearly for it.”

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Greaves also expressed dissatisfaction with the level of transparency from the town, claiming that many initiatives had taken place without residents' knowledge. He assigned blame to the council members themselves for failing to speak out on recent controversies concerning the mayor and, instead, choosing to follow his lead.

Resident Daniel Fuchs agreed.

“That was some apology to start the meeting with, Sal,” Fuchs said. “‘I don't think I said it, but I might have said it. And, in case I did say, I apologize.’ And then he [the mayor] goes on to tell us all about all the great things he did for the community that he may have offended.”

Mayoral candidate Michael Shulman approached the lectern to express how the recent assassination attempt on Trump had divided the country and that people needed to unite. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with the political discourse on social media in Clark.

“The folks here in Clark deserve to make an informed choice based on facts and not Facebook fantasies,” Shulman said, before challenging Bonaccorso to a debate in the fall.

Glenn Fogarty spoke next, directly addressing Shulman while facing him with his back to the council members. Fogarty said that Shulman, as a mayoral candidate, is not originally from Clark, refuses to support Israel, and was late to condemn the Trump assassination attempt. When asked to turn around and address the council, Fogarty continued by saying that Shulman is a hypocrite for blocking people who wish to debate him online.

Bonaccorso later responded to Shulman, particularly the latter's debate challenge, by saying that “there is nothing to debate” and, as a mayor, he “doesn’t have as much power as everyone thinks he has.”

“You have no idea . . . the trials and tribulations we put up with [from the] state government every day,” said Bonaccorso. “We are the bottom of the barrel, it all drips down to us and that's with every matter. Every mayor in the state, we got to deal with what they do in Trenton.” He also said that if Shulman wins his seat for mayor, he would promise him the smoothest transition ever.

But Bonaccorso admitted he wasn’t expecting that to happen.

“You've been here two years,” Bonaccorso told Shulman. "You probably have to put if you're going to the Deli King into your GPS to get there. You know no history about this community.”

Bonaccorso called the backlash to his words at the June meeting “Sal Derangement Syndrome,” insisting that individuals who were criticizing him were doing so regarding matters not central to his administrative work and unrelated to his position as mayor.

The mayor wrapped up his remarks, saying, “I go to bed every night and not worry about you [Shulman] because you're insignificant, in plain English.”

Shulman and Bonaccorso continued to argue back-and-forth for several more minutes, though the mayor's microphone was eventually muted.

Following the meeting, TAPinto Clark reached out to both Shulman and Bonaccorso to ask if either wished to make any additional comments about the meeting.

Shulman expressed his frustration with the members of the Clark Council, calling them the "silent seven" and adding, "Citizens come to these meetings, rant about Hamas, they [the Council] can’t control them, nor the mayor, and are silent."

A representative for the mayor said that he did not wish to comment.

A copy of the meeting agenda can be found here .

A recording of the meeting itself can be viewed here .

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An additional article covering the agenda items of the July 15th meeting and the regular business of the council is forthcoming.

The next meeting of the Clark Township Council will take place on Monday, August 19.

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