Councilman Foerst Gets Defensive After Resident References E-Mail

Fourth Ward Councilman James Foerst

At last night's Westfield Town Council Meeting, town resident Maria Carluccio advised the members of the town council that fellow residents, neighbors living in the vicinity of the new traffic light on Central Ave. (south of Clover St) feared retaliation by the town council, or council appointed commitees, if they attended a council meeting and spoke out in opposition of the traffic light's location and demanding it be moved.

Unbeknownst to Mrs. Carluccio, her fears are not without merit.  Westfield resident Greg Kasko referenced an e-mail sent by Councilman Foerst in 2005.  Councilman Foerst became visibly angry, interupting Mr. Kasko as he spoke.  See details below of the Westfield Leader's coverage of Councilman Foerst's email sent to administrative assistant Joan Thermann.

The following was copied from the December 8th, 2005 Westfield Leader.  Go to http://www.goleader.com/05dec08/05dec08.pdf  to read the original press coverage. 
At the time of this press release, current council members Andrew Skibitsky, Mark Ciarrocca, JoAnn Neylan, and Jim Foerst were members of the Westfield Town Council.

 "At Tuesday's council conference meeting, the mayor and council addressed concerns of Westfield police officials performing illegal background checks, an e-mail from a council member talking about "patrolling places" frequented by advisory group Westfielder's Concerned About Responsible Development (We Care),.............."
"In a matter related to town officials keeping tabs on residents, Fourth Ward Councilman James Foerst apologized to the Mayor and members of the council, for an e-mail that circulated last week.  Unbeknownst to the sender, the e-mail sent to administrative assistant Joan Thermann was carbon copied to the town administrator and other officials, eventually reaching the general public.  The e-mail responded to a We Care suggestion of a moratorium on teardowns, which recently occurred in Chevy Chase, Md.  The councilman's response spoke of a "moratorium on complaints in general" and went on to create a fictional "multi-phase incremental plan controlling residents attempts to pontificate."  Councilman Foerst called for the limiting of (the group, referred to as a derogatory acronym) to meetings and said "we will begin patrolling the places where your group congregates and are now counting (the group) on a daily basis."  Councilman Foerst defended his piece as a "satirical response to a constituent."  He said he has apologized to the citizen who was directly named in the e-mail, and he and I have reached a mutual understanding that this was all in good humor.  I have also apologized to the mayor and Councilman (Mark) Ciarrocca, who were directly named in the satirical letter.  My e-mail was simply the conduit to some comic relief, which I feel is sometimes needed when discussing serious matters.  The councilman formally apologized, saying, unfortunately, my attempt apparently failed and if this offended anyone, I apologize."  Councilman Foerst further stated his belief in democratic principles of free speech and open government "and certainly has no intentions of curbing anyone's right to speak at meetings."

The Fact of The Matter is:

Be careful what you think…
Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions
Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your character
Your character is everything

Be careful what you think, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful what you say, for your words become your actions.
Be careful what you do, for your actions become your habits.
Be careful what becomes habitual, for your habits become your destiny.

Be careful what you think, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful what you say, for your words become your actions.
Be careful what you do, for your actions become your character.
And character is everything.

The Fact of The Matter has pasted a link to "Amateur Night at The Apollo" in Harlem, New York City.  Perhaps Mr. Foerst should test his comedical expertise there before using his councilman's office as a litmus test.  http://www.apollotheater.org/events/details/38-amateur-night-at-the-apollo

Question:
1. At what point did Councilman Foerst's e-mail become satirical?  Was it while it was written, when he pressed the "Send" button, or after it was exposed and an apology was made?   
2. Does an e-mail become a satirical letter, once it has been exposed to those it was not intended to be sent to?
3. Why does satire need an apology?  Is it because nobody else but the writer took it as satire?
4. What was the "satirical" derogatory acronym, allegedly used by Councilman Foerst, that referred to the "group"?

Fact: 
1  As far as politicians go, Assemblyman Jon Bramnick is funny, Mr. Foerst, you are not.  Don't quit your day job.

*****Next up......Westfield resident arrested at 2004 council meeting after speaking out and in opposition of "issues of which the Westfield Town Council has jurisdiction over".