Emsworth official targeted for posts

&emsp;&emsp;A crowd of Emsworth residents attended Wednesday's borough council meeting to protest the "hate speech" of an elected official only to find that the problem — while bad enough — may only be the tip of a political iceberg that will impact the town for years.&emsp;&emsp;Residents became concerned when someone finally stumbled upon, and widely shared via social media, the Facebook page of council member and vice president Daniel Lenz. The page, which is public, is an endless stream of far-right posts that attack everything and everyone from President Joe Biden to the COVID vaccine, to electric vehicles, to drag queens and immigrants.&emsp;&emsp;Each post is prefaced by Lenz's all-caps rant filled with expletives, emojis, and an assortment of spelling and grammatical errors. &emsp;&emsp;Many of the actual posts include unsuccessful links to material he attempts to share from his Xfinity account. An example from Jan. 4 includes Lenz's commentary that refers to Biden as "the worthless commie demo-rat" who has "WELL PLACED MAYAN GUSTAPO (sic) PARTY MEMBERS"&emsp;&emsp;One of the most troubling posts due to its reference to violence and murder includes a link that says a church had decorated a Christmas tree with pictures of drag queens. The article linked does not identify the purported church or its location or provide any factual support whatsoever for its headline. Nevertheless, Lenz commented the following: REALLY, ALL THESE "SICK F***S" NEED "EXTERMINATION", !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEN YOU "A******S", 💩💩💩💩. DECORATE A "CHRISTMAS TREE", 🎄🎄🎄🎄, WITH THESE "R****DS", 🤬🤬🤬🤬. IF I WAS PART OF YOUR "CHURCH" THAT WOULD CERTAINLY BE THE END OF YOU, !!!!!!!!!!!!!! THESE "FREAKS" ARE A "SOCIAL DISEASE", ☠️☠️☠️☠️. THEY NEED TO HAVE "SANTA" PUT "CYANIDE CAPSULES", 💊💊💊💊. PUT IN ALL THEIR "CHRISTMAS STOCKINGS", !!!!!! &emsp;&emsp;An Emsworth resident commented that Lenz's statement was of particular concern because Lenz has appeared as Santa Claus at borough celebrations.&emsp;&emsp;The many residents who attended Wednesday's council meeting hoping that Lenz could be removed from council, or even his position as vice president, were disappointed. Political speech, no matter how offensive, is protected by the constitutions of both the United States and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the borough solicitor stated that council did not have the authority to remove a member elected by the public.&emsp;&emsp;Lenz refused to resign from council or step down as vice president. One council member made a motion to reorganize council and elect new officers, but that was defeated in a 4-3 vote that represents the battle lines that have been drawn this year.&emsp;&emsp;Last year's election was a harbinger of what was to come. With only one candidate (Michael Mary) filing a petition to appear on the ballot, and four seats open, the field was wide open for a well-organized write-in campaign. Former council member Alexander Nalevanko took advantage of the opportunity, not only launching his own bid for the open mayor's seat, but campaigning for three write-in council candidates — Kathleen Dine, William Bauer and Nalevanko's own son, Benjamin. The three new council members teamed up with Lenz to oust eight-year council president Kevin Yurkovich and install Bauer as president and Lenz as VP.&emsp;&emsp;Alexander Nalevanko has a stormy record on council, where he frequently feuded with other officials.&emsp;&emsp;With Mary re-elected and Abby Donovan still on council along with Yurkovich, the three find themselves without much of a voice. At Wednesday's meeting, when the reorganization motion was defeated, the three stepped away from their council desks and joined the public seated throughout the room.&emsp;&emsp;Lenz said that he would not stop making his Facebook posts, although he admitted that he could refrain from using so much profanity. Bauer said that he did not agree with Lenz's opinions, but felt it was up to Lenz whether he remained on council or as VP. Asked by a reporter if he condemned Lenz's posts and opinions, Mayor Nalevanko said, "I'm not going to play that game."&emsp;&emsp;Lenz's current term on council is up in two years.&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;