Afterthoughts
Charles W. Kim
Attack on candidate’s birthplace despicable

Just when I thought local politics couldn’t get any dirtier, I was proved wrong this week.

State Assemblyman Gary Guear (D-14th district) charged his GOP challenger, Bill Baroni, with lying about his birthplace — and with that charge jumped into the gutter and began rolling in the mud.

In a campaign flier, Baroni had stated that he was "born and raised in Hamilton."

Guear, in a move that smacks of desperation, pounced on the fact that Baroni was not born in the state, and then called Baroni a liar in a Aug. 22 press release that stated Baroni "will stoop to any level to misrepresent himself for the sake of gaining favor with Hamiltonians."

Guear was technically correct in his dispute over Baroni’s birthplace — but his use of that fact in an attempt to smear his opponent is repugnant. It turns out that Baroni was actually born in Jacksonville, Fla., in 1971 and brought to Hamilton by his adopted parents seven weeks after his birth.

According to Elizabeth Meyers, a spokeswoman for Guear’s campaign, the assemblyman did not know that Baroni was adopted before broadcasting the birthplace to the media in a press release last Friday.

If that was an attempt to explain his shameful statements, it is hollow at best.

In his own release, Baroni said that the attack was "hurtful."

I can certainly understand that. I, too, was adopted.

The fortunate thing for me, and apparently for Baroni, is that we found loving families with roots in the community to provide a stable home environment for us to prosper in.

The people who raise an adopted child are their real parents. This is something that only adopted people really understand, and it is only through ignorance that people question that bond.

Both of my late parents were wonderful people that I still love dearly and miss terribly. I have never even had an urge to locate my biological parents.

I think the question we should all ask now is if Assemblyman Guear deserves the respect of his constituents to hold office for another term. Does he think that anyone cares where Baroni lived for seven weeks?

By contrast, in his campaign Baroni has brought up issues that are real and tangible, such as why a newly enacted traffic safety law sponsored by Guear did not include a section of road in one of the towns that he represents — just ask motorists traveling on Route 1 in South Brunswick.

Baroni also questioned why Guear gave his wife a $55,000 per year job in his legislative office — a job financed by taxes. That is not criticizing Guear on a personal level, but rather disclosing information that voters and taxpayers need to know.

A sitting legislator should display more class during campaign season, and not hit so far below the belt.

Where Baroni was born and spent the first weeks of life does not matter, nor does it relate to his ability to be a legislator.

Has Guear helped his campaign by this unfortunate press release? I have to believe that voters here are smarter than that.

All Guear has done is belittle himself and show just how little he deserves to represent his district in Trenton.

Guear should personally apologize to Baroni for this incident and publicly apologize to all his constituents for being so disrespectful on a truly personal and human level.

I’m not holding my breath for that apology, however. Guear has already demonstrated he doesn’t have that much class.

Charles Kim is managing editor of the Sentinel