Fighting New Jersey mayor Gina Laplaka faces a call to resign after being arrested on St. Patrick's Day after being drunk on St. Patrick's Day.
An infuriated Lumberton Township residents packed up committee meetings on Thursday to meet with a 45-year-old Democrat who missed the event.
“Now we have huge black eyes and black clouds in our town,” local business owner Amy Callahan said in the public comments section of the hearing. According to the WCAU.
“We believe we need to move forward as a community and move forward to truly turn the page. We believe that cannot happen with her on our council.” Callahan has been added.
The comments from the frustrated resident came in response to an email she received from Laplaka, confirming that she would not resign from the mayoral position she had held for the past three years.
“I will not leave my position. Our community needs to be kinder and understand more about people trying to make themselves better. As we all know, now we have huge black eyes and black clouds in our town,” the email obtained. FOX 29 By Read.
Laplaka was not at the meeting after she and her husband Jason Curty separately confirmed that she was getting help with her addiction.
The former Anheuser-Busch regional director argued that her work in the town was not affected by her legal issues.
“In spite of my problems I am committed and responsible for dealing with and improving myself, my work for Lumberton has never been struggling or ignored,” Laplaka said.
Laplaka's fellow committee member Terrance Benson sided with the residents and called for her to resign.
“My personal opinion is that the mayor will step down and heal himself,” Benson said.
Concerned residents were not easily made by the fact that the mayor was still in charge while seeking treatment.
“She should not be here, she should not be mayor,” one resident said.
Public comments were not limited to the public comments portion of the hearing. Many people competed on Laplaka's social media accounts and called for her to step down.
“You are dishonorable and dangerous not only for your children but also for the public. Be embarrassed and resign and bring your life together!” wrote one commenter.
“Before selfishly putting a child's drunk driving intoxicating danger.
Laplaka, the township's Democratic Party chair, was first elected to the Lumberton Township Committee in 2020.
She was elected mayor by a five-person committee in 2022 and was re-electioned in 2023 and 2024.
There is no charter or law to allow the remaining committee members to take her out of the office, township lawyers told the disgruntled crowd on Thursday.
“She's been elected to you, and the only way she's taken away is to resign or take any action you think is necessary to move forward in the recall election,” the lawyer said.
Police were warned of allegedly unstable behavior by another driver who said that politicians were unable to maintain her lane and almost crashed onto the utility pole.
Laplaka told officers that she picked up her 2-year-old son from daycare and took him home.
She admitted to being drunk and admitted that there was an open container of alcohol in the car.
Police arrested and charged her for driving under influence, reckless driving and putting the welfare of children at risk.
She was released on a subpoena for appearance in court on April 28th.
Carty posted about his wife's drinking issues and then checked in a subsequent Facebook post to ask for compassion when he asked for treatment.
“Don't ignore exaggerated political exaggeration and keep in mind your passion for helping others. This should not erase everything she has achieved for our community,” Kurt wrote.
The couple shares their toddler son with Laplaka's son-in-law from Karti's previous relationship.
