Politics & Government

Defeated Mayoral Candidate's Negative Campaign Material Irks Councilman

Foerst and Haas bickered during Wednesday's council meeting.

A councilman's campaign literature in his quest to unseat the incumbent mayor in Tuesday's election annoyed at least one of his colleagues on the dais.

“I’m very disappointed with David [Haas] and the people that he supports with regards to the negativity that you brought to this campaign,” Councilman James Foerst said during the discussion of resolutions at Westfield’s town council meeting on Wednesday night.

After Foerst read resolutions to demolish single-family dwellings in Westfield, he asked if there could be discussion before the council voted. He then expressed his congratulations to the winners of the Westfield election and added his disappointment with mayoral candidate David Haas’ negative campaigning, which led Haas to slam down his pen.

“I’m glad that the people of Westfield saw through that and were able to elect people who had positive things to say about the town and I hope that you appreciate that in the future. Negative campaigning does not work in the town of Westfield,” Foerst added. “And I hope that you and your friends will stop.”

Haas replied that the campaign was over and it was an inappropriate time to have the discussion. However, he added that during Foerst’s first election he ran several pieces of negative literature, as did Mayor Skibitsky during his first election.

Haas closed the discussion by saying, “and I would point out that in this election there was a negative piece of literature about me as well.”

Prior to the election, Haas published a blog post on Patch that explained Skibitsky’s negative campaign materials distributed about him that weekend was the "kind of politics Westfield does not need."

Acting Mayor Jo Ann Neylan asked if the council members may end this discussion and Haas replied, “that’s what happens when you bring it up in this type of forum.”

Foerst continued to say something to Haas once the meeting was adjourned and the two briefly spoke before exiting the dais.

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Skibitsky, who defeated Haas in Tuesday’s election by 1,000 votes, was not in attendance during Wednesday’s council meeting. Neylan explained that he was the guest speaker at a Westfield function for small businesses.

Check back with Patch on Thursday for a story on a resident’s request for the preservation of a new home in Stoneleigh Park and the Town of Westfield declaring November as "Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month."


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