Billboard blaming Union City mayor for unemployment, higher taxes torn down again

February 15, 2010, Jersey Journal

A billboard blaming Mayor Brian P. Stack for unemployment, increased property taxes and problems in schools has been torn down; and the man who paid for it is claiming that Stack or someone from his administration did it.

"Certainly not," said a spokesman from the mayor's office, refuting the allegations. "Mayor Stack encourages spirited debate of the issues," he said.

The Union City resident who purchased the billboard space from CBS Outdoor, Inc. says this is the third time in two months that he put up a billboard and it was torn down.

The latest billboard, located at 27th Street and Kennedy Boulevard above Alba Furniture, read: "15 percent unemployment; seven percent property tax increases; the most violent schools in the county-keep up the great work, Mayor Stack." It was put up on Jan. 26 and torn down on Feb. 5 between 1:30 a.m. and 7 a.m., said the resident, who referred to himself as "Mr. Anonymous."

Anonymous runs hastalavistabrianstack.com - "a blog for Union City residents who want a new mayor."

The blog writer declined to make his name public because, he said, he doesn't want this "to become a mudslinging issue."

"I'm not a political person running against Stack," he said. "I'm just putting out the facts."

He originally bought space at Summit Avenue and 22nd Street for a billboard that was put up on Dec. 17 and ripped down the following day, said Anonymous. The billboard was put up once again on Jan. 4, but was gone by the 7th, he said.

An invoice from CBS Outdoor, Inc., indicates that anonymous has spent $2,200 on costs for the billboards, and he's willing to spend more: "I'm just going to put it up again and again," he said.