RED BANK — With Election Day looming, an anonymous flier attacking the current administration for an alleged problem with illegal immigrants and illegal boarding houses has surfaced.
The flier states — without any supporting information — that "suspected illegal aliens" are flooding into the borough and taking up residence in "illegal boarding houses, single-room occupancy transient hotels and flop houses."
Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels dismissed the flier saying "this is unadulterated racism" that is clearly motivated by political considerations.
He said the accusations are completely lacking in credibility.
Borough Republican Party Committee Chairman Jim Giannell said he and candidates Dick Bennett and Gene Goellner have nothing to do with the flier. Until receiving a copy from The Hub, Giannell said he had not seen the flier.
The single-page notice printed on both sides gives several specific addresses for the alleged "illegal conversions."
Sickels noted that a number of the addresses cited are legal boarding houses (licensed by the state) and multifamily dwellings. The others are currently being investigated.
"When we get a complaint, we investigate," Sickels said. "We don’t go door to door. This is not Nazi Germany."
In addition to the incorrect information regarding borough code violations, the flier states, "The invasion of illegal immigrants into Monmouth County is becoming a flood with no end in site (sic)."
Sickles noted that during the summer there was an investigation by federal authorities that found very few undocumented aliens in the area.
Democratic Mayor Edward J. Mc-Kenna Jr. dismissed the accusations of the flier out of hand.
"It’s nothing but a bucket of lies and mistruths," McKenna said. "It’s political trash and clearly politically motivated."
Because it is written and distributed anonymously, McKenna said, "It shows it has no credibility.
"Thankfully, the people of Red Bank are too smart to fall for this sort of thing," he added.