Anonymous writer had compared him to Stalin
By:David Learn
A prominent political Web site recently removed a posting from its forums page after local Democrats claimed it was defamatory.
The posting, which originally appeared at 8:27 p.m. June 4 on PoliticsNJ.com, compared Mayor Joseph Tricarico to former Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin. It also accused him of routinely lying and taking credit for the achievements of other politicians. The posting also made similar statements about John Guererra, the Democratic municipal party chairman.
In a statement released Monday, Wally Edge — a pseudonym for the webmaster of PoliticsNJ.com — announced the posting had been deleted. It was deleted sometime Thursday.
"We have decided to remove the posting from the message board due to the use of terms such as ‘liar’ to describe the mayor," said the statement. "We prefer an open and honest political dialogue, not necessarily devolving into name-calling."
The anonymous comment stemmed from a series PoliticsNJ.com ran in June, in which it identified Deputy Mayor Christine Jensen as an up-and-coming political star.
An interactive feature on the site allows visitors to suggest other rising stars. Mr. Guerrera nominated Mayor Tricarico, saying, "His talents will be needed at a higher level."
The anonymous posting that followed stated in part, "Tricarico routinely takes credit for work others have done, he lies more often than he breathes, and he’s basically lazy."
The unidentified writer also predicted Mayor Tricarico would lose his re-election bid this November when "a real cross-section of Hillsborough comes out to vote – not the puny, (sic) hate-mongers who voted the past two years."
PoliticsNJ.com received a certified letter from Somerville attorney Craig Voorhees of Lieberman, Ryan & Forrest demanding an apology and the removal of the posting.
"Failure to comply with this demand will result in legal action," the letter stated.
A copy of the PoliticsNJ.com statement about the posting and letter from the attorney was the third item from the top on the site’s front page Wednesday afternoon. The entire text of the statement includes a link to the letter from Mr. Vorhees.
The Web site’s front page receives more than 15,000 hits a day, according to an e-mail from Mr. Edge.
"All the mayor accomplished was to call attention to an obscure posting that hardly anyone saw in the first place," Mr. Edge wrote Wednesday. "From the feedback we’re receiving, the consensus from pols of both parties is that this guy should just toughen up a bit."
But Mayor Tricarico defended his action Wednesday, saying he does not object to criticism of his record or performance, but feels such criticism should be done openly and not anonymously.
"When you’re in politics, you expect that. But the post was a lot more vicious than that," he said in a phone interview. "Part of the reason people don’t get involved in politics is the ancillary aggravation, and this is part of the ancillary aggravation."
Rather than allowing site visitors to make comments anonymously – a practice currently allowed on the Democratic forums at www.dems.org – Mayor Tricarico said he feels the same stringent requirements should be in place as in other media.
"When (an editor) gets a letter to the editor and it’s signed, you know who sent it," he said. "I think there’s an inherent danger in the way you can post anonymously."
The mayor also indicated that he expects the Democratic forums to make similar changes.
PoliticsNJ.com has no mechanism in place to review postings before they appear online, nor does it track the Internet Protocols of visitors, which would allow investigators to track down a poster.
A legal disclaimer on-site reminds visitors what sort of comments are acceptable and which are not.
"We have a very liberal approach to protecting someone’s interests," said Jordan Lieberman, marketing director for PoliticsNJ.com. "This is all so new that nobody really knows the right or wrong way to do it."
Mr. Lieberman added that the site complies with all requests to delete postings.
"This is the first lawyer’s letter we’ve gotten," said Mr. Lieberman. "Some of the things that we remove are downright nasty. This is pretty mild."
See also:
Deputy mayor on the way up, site says
PoliticsNJ.com
A copy of the letter from Mayor Tricarico’s attorney