Councilman confronts mayor face to face
By Mary Ellen Day, Special Writer
Councilman Richard Onderko stepped down from the dais Monday night to confront Mayor Angelo Corradino about a campaign flier delivered the weekend before the Nov. 6 election in which Mr. Onderko failed to win re-election.
He took a seat at the table and microphone on the floor during the public portion of the meeting. Mr. Onderko said he wanted to be the first to speak during the public portion of the meeting, walked down and sat at the table in front of the council.
The mayor said to him, “Rich, you are part of the council.”
Mr. Onderko said he wanted to speak “as a resident and as a taxpayer” and wanted to face the mayor as he spoke.
Mr. Onderko, a Republican finishing a three-year term, voiced his concerns about a campaign card titled, “Rich Lies,” that the Democrats distributed.
Mr. Onderko and running mate Susan Horensky-Star lost to Democrats Mark Gregor and Ron Skirkanisch. They had 1,632 and 1,616 votes, respectively, to top Mr. Onderko’s 1,522 and Ms. Star’s 1,394.
The results will mean a 3-3 party split on the council in 2013.
Mr. Onderko told the mayor he wanted “to set the record straight and label you as a liar since you endorsed the vicious political flier you put out door to door in this town. Your name was on it.”
He claimed the mayor knew of the flier in advance, “but choose to ignore (it) for self-political gain.”
Mr. Onderko said he accepted the election result.
”I accept it, and I was not upset, however, I value my integrity and my honesty,” he said. “And when you attack it, I will defend it.”
Mr. Onderko asked Mayor Corradino to look at him, but the mayor told him, “I am writing notes.”
Mr. Onderko continued, “I grew up two blocks away from this council chamber on North Second Avenue, playing in the asbestosis dust on my parents’ front porch. I am extremely proud to have served all residents of my hometown to the best of my ability the past three years. You may not like my political views of lower taxes and less spending, but that is what makes this country great. My opinions are protected by our First Amendment rights.
”I wanted what was best for all residents, not just a select few. It’s a shame others on this council couldn’t see it that way. I since moved out of the flood zone to higher ground and not the other way around to take advantage of cheaper housing, like some have done.”
He said, “Living the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s in a flood zone and seeing the waters rise faster and faster, leading to the problems we have today, is very sad. Nothing was ever done about it. Good people have left this town left and right. I guess one needed to live it like I have to do something about it.”
He held up the campaign card, which held seven purported “lies” about him, he said.
One alleged he was a “Tea Party extremist.” Never, he said.
Another claimed Mr. Onderko was chairman of the council’s Finance Committee.
The next day, the mayor acknowledged that was wrong, but said Mr. Onderko was a member of the Finance Committee.
The mayor said at several points he only would claim a statement on the other side of the card. When asked by Mr. Onderko who wrote the “lies” side, the mayor said, “Whoever our consultant was.”
Mr. Onderko told the mayor, “I think you acted with actual malice towards me since you knowingly knew the information you were publishing was not true.”
He added, “I also heard your two candidates wanted nothing to do with it, but still helped deliver it to every home in town.”
Other statements Mr. Onderko labeled as “lies” were his responsibility for making up the borough budget, his attendance at safety committee meetings, his alleged “obstruction” of Rustic Mall redevelopment efforts and the number of flood committee meetings Mr. Onderko held in years before the formation of a regional flood commission this year.
”If it was so easy to create a commission, why didn’t you do it during your first 16 years (as mayor)?” Mr. Onderko asked rhetorically.
The ’mayor tried to speak of his actions in getting $4.3 million for a federal Army Corps of Engineers study.
Mr. Onderko was critical of Mr. Corradino’s formation of a Shade Tree Commission this year “because you think it is so important for the borough,” yet criticized Mr. Onderko’s flood committee efforts.
”Very sad,” Mr. Onderko said.
Mayor Corradino told Mr. Onderko his efforts “went down the tubes.”
One statement in the flier said Mr. Onderko was out of town during Hurricane Irene.
He said, “I was away celebrating my 25th wedding anniversary three days after the storm. And I prayed for the good people of Manville in every church I went into.”
The mayor asked multiple times, “Were you there?”
Mr. Onderko told the mayor he should “clean up your political tactics. Gutter politics has no place in my hometown. It needs to end. You can always move back to Brooklyn!”
The audience clapped after his remarks.
The mayor said at several points he only took responsibility for his statement on one side of the card.
It quoted the mayor as saying, “While flooding is not an issue we want to politicize, I share your frustration that under Councilman Onderko’s three years, we received nothing but lip service. He says he went to Washington. We have not seen flood mitigation funding. He says he went to Trenton still have not seen any funding.”
Mayor Corradino said in an email response Tuesday that he had reviewed the flier, and “everything on there is correct.”
”The only exception would be Councilman Onderko being head of the Finance Committee,” he said. “The Republicans had the 5-1 majority for the last three years and could have passed any ordinance or resolution they pleased. The two budgets discussed in the flier were supported by Mr. Onderko, one when he was on the Finance Committee and the other when he was on other committees. It included one of the largest tax increases in the history of Manville.”
He added, “The Republican campaign was geared toward the policies I proposed this year. In a way, I guess it was successful, since I did not receive one vote.” The mayor wasn’t up for election this year.
The mayor said, “There are two ways of going out after losing an election gracefully and professionally or the way Mr. Onderko did by complaining about a political flier and blaming everybody else but himself for losing.”
”I can recall the stories and falsehoods he participated in when I was running the last two times,” Mayor Corradino said. “If half was true, I would have been run out of Manville. I took it as part of campaigning, and I needed to respond to the allegations. One election which I lost I did not; the other I did and won.”

