Community Post: Marie Strumolo Burke Must Go!

The following post was submitted by community member Jeff Mattingly, who attended last night’s Town Council Meeting:

“At last night’s Council Meeting Marie Strumolo Burke, sitting 1st ward councilwoman and candidate for Mayor, reacted angrily to township workers calling them “cronies” of Mayor Kimble’s. Their attendance was not for political reasons but, to wait on her for some sort of explanation or apology following the last council meeting where an explosive phone message captured her and a friend speaking about town matters when she, in a moment of rage, shouted that Belleville was becoming an “f’in n’er town”. (You can hear it on Youtube if you are one of the few who have not already done so.) At the same prior council meeting her cousin, who sits on another town board, stands accused of workplace intimidation by a DPW worker who was approached at his home and made to feel uncomfortable about his job should he not vote their way.

Well, Mrs. Burke was anything but contrite when answering the public’s questions last night. In fact, she was down right hostile! She came out swinging and it escalated from there. She denies the recording was her voice, she called the attending public “cronies”, she also told one of her 1st ward long time constituents that “no one in Silver Lake likes you!” To most anyone in Belleville who knows Mrs. Burke’s angry outbursts, her signature voice and her long term ally who made the call and the subject matter discussed, there is NO DOUBT whose voice that is, HERS! To deny that it is not her voice, and in view of what she said and continues to say, is offensive to all Belleville citizens and especially shows her dinosaur roots to our minority citizens. She is a liability to Essex Democrats and an embarrassment to the State in general. She is a disgrace and the longer she stays in the public’s sight she will only bring harm to Silver Lake, the Democrat party and Belleville in general.

Where are you Assemblyman Ralph Caputo? You, her long time mentor, ally and adviser? Where are you Joe DiVincenzo, supposed leader of the all powerful Essex Democrats? If you Democrat power brokers don’t do something about this you will be painted with the same brush. There are sins of commission and sins of omission and this contains both! BURKE MUST GO NOW and YOU should be the one’s to do it, it’s your job! Don’t force the NAACP to do your job.”