~ Op-Ed ~ Who Divided the City? It all began on Church Street

By James Mitchell

As you have been reading for over the last three years, it’s well known that the Leader Herald has been disgraced as a result of a defamation lawsuit filed by the Mayor. The result of these false stories was the creation of a small circus of clowns who they believe have been empowered to continue with the lies created by the newspaper’s disgraced owner Matthew Philbin and his corrupt publisher/reporter Joshua Resnek. A band of clowns, also known as Team Capone, after failed mayoral candidate Fred Capone, have accomplished nothing, and don’t even know that their support has a negative effect on those they hope to help. They simply do not know that people think they are irresponsible bullies that echo only each other’s small mindedness.

So, who do the Leader Herald and the clowns endorse? Mike Marchese, Darren Costa, Peter Pietrantonio, to name a few.

Darren Costa, who holds a City Council seat only because he finished in second place, is so obviously upset that the City and its officials were cleared of racism by the United States Attorney’s Office (even more than one of his fellow council members, that we hear had his social media investigated before he changed accounts), which should have been celebrated. Costa uses proven false headlines from the Leader Herald to smear his opponent.

Costa, however, is a hypocrite. Costa believes people cannot be redeemed. Yet his hand-picked ward captain, Tony “The Razer” Raymond, has been arrested for violent crimes dozens of times and has served numerous years in prison as a convicted felon. Tony has used the “N” word on his social media and has demeaned the City’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion officer by calling her names and giving the opinion that she “is a traitor to her race.”

Not surprising is that Costa looks the other way when it comes to Tony, whose social media presence is nothing less than a perpetuation of who he truly is. Costa has never spoken about Tony’s racist acts or violent actions. Tony is redeemed in Costa’s eyes. Tony represents Costa. He was hand-picked by Costa. That should tell you everything about Costa’s motives.

And truth be told, if you’re endorsed by the Leader Herald, there’s no truth to be told.