With Jackson officials continuing their march towards installing Joe Sullivan and Richard Egan – two men with colorful pasts who resigned their previous positions in disgrace – on influential boards and commissions in the township, it’s important to point out that, at the same time, Jackson lost one of its finest public servants in Councilman Ken Bressi.

Councilman Bressi entered public service in Jackson in 1989, and over the course of the following 31 years served in numerous positions, including mayor, deputy mayor, committeeman, council president, council vice president, councilman, planning board chairman, and on the zoning board. Bressi was also an outspoken fighter for veterans, and continues to be the vice president of the Veterans Memorial Garden. So why is he no longer in his most recent position on the Jackson Township Council? Because he was just too friendly to the Jews.

You see, Mr. Bressi worked towards hammering out an agreement of understanding between Jackson and the needs of its Orthodox Jewish population, an agreement that was scuttled at the last minute by Mayor Mike Reina and his posse. Bressi sat for a deposition in the lawsuit filed by Oros Bais Yaakov against Jackson Township, where he, under oath, revealed the extent of the chicanery going on in the township. And he was accused of leaking the resignation documents of the above-mentioned Sullivan and Egan to TLS, although I can confirm that he was not our source.

In retaliation for telling the truth, promoting harmony, and standing up for what is right, Bressi was stripped of every one of his positions on township committees and subcommittees, excluding the Veterans Committee. And Bressi was effectively kicked out of the Jackson GOP, with its leaders making it very clear to him that he was unwanted and shouldn’t bother trying to run for reelection on the party line. And that is why Bressi, despite being popular, is no longer serving on the Council. In fact, Mr. Bressi is so popular that voting records from Jackson show that he received far more votes than any other write-in candidate, despite other write-in candidates having coordinated campaigns and Bressi not having campaigned at all (see attached picture). And in the previous election, when he ran on the GOP ticket, Bressi received more votes than any other candidate, including Rob Nixon and Barry Calogero, two high-ranking officials who resigned after accusations of anti-Semitism.

So this is where we’re at with Jackson’s officials. While they warmly welcome back in individuals like Joe Sullivan and Rich Egan, they shun those who have sterling records and who have given decades to actually trying to make Jackson a better place to live. Shame on them.