Jackson Township Council President Marty Flemming pulled the nomination of an individual to the Zoning Board after Lakewood Alerts made him aware of the nominee’s troubling actions and affiliations.
Last week, an agenda released for Tuesday night’s Jackson Township Council meeting showed that a man named Peter Vicinio was slated to be appointed to the township’s powerful Zoning Board.
A cursory review of Mr. Vicinio’s social media accounts showed that he is an active member of CUPON – an organization working to subvert Orthodox Jewish interests in Jackson. CUPON is infamous for its members vitriol against Orthodox Jews and was named in multiple discrimination lawsuits the township is currently working to settle.
On Facebook, Vicinio barely hid his association with CUPON. In multiple posts, Vicinio promoted CUPON activities and clearly demonstrated his antipathy toward the expansion of Orthodox Jewish activities and institutions in Jackson Township.
Perhaps most disturbingly, Vicinio liked a comment from a commenter on one of his posts which stated, “Omg these people [Orthodox Jews] are insane, they are killing this town.”
Upon finding these social media posts, Lakewood Alerts reached out to Jackson Council President Flemming, asking whether he was aware of Mr. Vicinio’s activities and whether he felt it was prudent to appoint him to a position of such importance like the Zoning Board considering those facts.
Flemming, who is not on social and thus likely did not know of Vicinio’s posts or active involvement in CUPON, was shocked upon being apprised of Vicinio’s social media posts, though no decision on his appointment was made clear in response to Lakewood Alerts’ query.
To his credit, Mr. Flemming pulled Vicinio’s appointment – scheduled to be voted on at last night’s meeting – with his nomination scrubbed from the agenda prior to the meeting’s commencement.