Official responds to letter about primary
I write to agree in part with Jake Lynn's recent letter ("Resident Says Ricigliano Should Be Ashamed," Sentinel, June 24, 2009). Since Jun Choi burst on to the Edison political seen in 2005, local politics have become far too dirty. In 2005, I, along with Mayor Choi, worked together to make some changes in the Democratic Committee. At that time, Choi and I used a campaign mailing format that highlighted the voting records of our opposition candidates, and to our delight, we won many committee seats.

During the recent primary, both I and Choi again used the format that had been successful in the past. It's important to understand that I used information obtained from the Middlesex County Board of Elections, and in the case of the other candidate that Mr. Lynn refers [to], I have records that indicate he lost his voting privileges because of a felony conviction relating to a crime of impersonation of a police officer, not because of any service to our country as Mr. Lynn states. It should be noted that there is no record of any absentee vote in this person's case, and being a journalist, it is a shame that Mr. Lynn refuses to seek and face the facts.

As for the letter I sent to Choi's small army of committee people, including Mr. Lynn, it was just a lastditch effort to enlighten them with respect to the future outcome in the primary. As a citizen activist and Edison Democrat, I felt I should bring them into our fold; fighting taxes and waste was the message Choi seems to have forgotten when elected in 2005.

I never meant to dissuade anyone from running for a party office. I only felt an obligation to remind those following Choi of what I call the Big Lie. It is also important to note that there were those who begin thinking about my letter and in fact begin working with us through the election, and this has made me proud. I would ask that Mr. Lynn and his mom begin working with us to bring much-needed change to a town that has been torn apart over the last three years.
Anthony Russomanno
Member
Democratic District
Committee
76th District
Edison