The Tony Perry Email List Controversy, and why it matters

Since Middletown Republican Mayor Tony Perry is considering running for the county board of commissioners seat that the controversial Republican Monmouth County commissioner Ross Licitra has decided to retire from, it's only fair that voters from Monmouth County know more about him. For years, Middletown residents had signed up for a municipal email newsletter called "Middletown Minutes" to receive updates on non-partisan issues like garbage collection, road closures, and community events.

In September 2018, approximately 11,000 residents on that list received a political attack email from a group called "Residents Against Over Development." The email targeted Perry’s Democratic opponent, Sean Byrnes, regarding a controversial local development project. While the email was sent by an outside group, it contained links that redirected users to Tony Perry’s official campaign Twitter page. Furthermore, the email lacked the legally required "Paid for by" disclaimer at the time of distribution. When residents expressed outrage over their private contact information being used for political "spam," the Township and Perry defended the action based on state law. Then Township Administrator Tony Mercantante explained that the town was legally obligated to hand over the email list because an OPRA request had been filed for it.

The request was made by a mysterious email address, Watch07748@gmail.com. Because OPRA allows for anonymous requests, the township claimed they had no choice but to comply. Perry maintained that his campaign team acted "100% legally." He argued that since the list was a public record, any individual or campaign could (and should) be able to access it, regardless of how residents originally intended their data to be used. This highlighted a "loophole" where residents provide data to the government for essential services, only to have it harvested for political or commercial gain. Even if the acquisition was legal, the use of an anonymous email address and an outside group to mask the source of the attack ad was a lapse in political transparency.

When residents sign up for municipal updates, whether it’s for garbage pickup or local road closures, they are trusting the government with their personal information. They aren't signing up to have their email addresses harvested and used as a weapon for political hit pieces. In 2018, we saw a clear example of why that trust is being eroded. Over 11,000 Middletown residents had their private data pulled via an anonymous request and immediately funneled into a political attack campaign. While the defense was that "it was legal under OPRA" there is a massive difference between what is legally permissible and what is ethically right.

To put it simply, We shouldn't be hiding behind anonymous email addresses and loopholes to bypass campaign disclosure rules. If a candidate wants to talk to the voters, they should do it with the 'Paid for by' disclaimer front and center, not by exploiting a list meant for community service. I believe we need to modernize how we handle resident data. We need to ensure that when you engage with your local government, your privacy isn't being auctioned off to the highest political bidder. It’s time for leadership that puts public service over partisan spreadsheets, and that leadership will not come from Middletown Mayor Tony Perry, or the current political establishment, and Republican dominated government here in Monmouth County.