From NJ Herald
| ‘Hell no’ Newton mayor says, after being asked to resign |
Newton’s mayor rebuffed a call from his peers on the Town Council to resign his honorary title during Monday evening’s special meeting which centered around his social media behavior and overall representation of the town.
The Town Council voted 4 to 1 to censure Mayor Wayne Levante for what the majority deemed “inappropriate and unprofessional behavior” by engaging in “conduct unbecoming of a mayor in his interaction with the public” and requested he resign from the office of mayor. Levante — the lone “No” vote, to which he forcefully responded “Hell no” — rejected the council’s request and will remain the town’s mayor until his term expires on June 30.
……The catalyst for the special meeting was two social media posts shared by Levante on Feb. 21 in respect to a 17-year-old student survivor of the Feb. 14 Parkland, Fla., shooting and the media’s subsequent coverage of the violence which claimed the lives of 17 people. The videos that Levante shared cast doubt on the teenager’s credibility, which has been the subject of debunked conspiracy theories. Levante has denied buying into the conspiracy itself and has stated he wanted to put a spotlight on the media’s coverage, which he maintained was agenda driven.
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